Emerald Class

Teachers: Mrs Blythe and Mrs Evans

Adults in class: Mrs Kite

Welcome to Emerald Class. We are a Year 6 class and we love learning! Please keep visiting our class website page as we will update it regularly. Our most recent learning will be at the top of our page.

Please see the documents below for our yearly overview and planning pathways.

Yearly overview Emerald Class 2023-2024

Emerald Class Planning pathway Autumn 2023

Emerald Class Spring term learning pathway 2024

Kilve Court Camp 2024 – Thursday 18th 2024

After 8 hours sleep last night, we have had a wonderful final full day at camp. The weather has been glorious and we have taken part in fun activities.

We have taken part in a stream walk, where we got VERY muddy (see the before and after pictures). All of the children took part in mountain biking, where we went over a range of obstacles, along tracks and over a pump track. We also went grass sledging, on a fantasy trail and on a Jumblies Quest. This evening, we had a disco and the teachers were #SlayQueens!

Tomorrow, we are all going to walk to the beach for fossil hunting, having lunch then heading home! 🙂

Kilve Court Camp 2024 – Wednesday 17th 2024

We have had an incredible day today, the weather has been glorious and we have had great fun. We started off with a 3 hour hike (in true Emerald style) across the Quantocks. At lunchtime, Mrs Evans, Mrs Blythe and Miss Frewin arrived to join us.

This afternoon, we have had fun rifle shooting – there are some great shots in the class! We also braved the abseiling tower, where everyone in the group had a try. The other group went grass sledging. We are looking forward to getting to sleep earlier tonight 🙂

Kilve Court Camp 2024- Tuesday 16th July 2024

Another amazing day! The weather has been much better. We started the day with team building activities and had a great time! In the afternoon we all tackled the climbing wall! The bravery shown was amazing!

We have also tried archery today and we learnt all of the technical vocabulary for the arrows and bow. We are about to go and try out the maze- we will keep you posted on this tomorrow!

Kilve Court Camp 2024- Monday 15th July 2024

3.7.24 – Tyntesfield Walk

In spite of the drizzly weather, we had a brilliant day out with Year 5 and Year 6 students.  As we walked, we enjoyed looking at the beautiful surroundings, chatted with our friends and sung songs.  When we arrived at Tyntesfield after our long walk, we had lunch, before exploring the play areas in the woods.  Pupils were brilliantly behaved and it was a pleasure to spend the day with them.

Production: Please have a read of the full script this week ready to begin rehearsals towards the end of next week!  Please aim to learn your lines – this will make rehearsals much faster and more efficient. Please also begin to think about your costume – if you need support, please let us know.

27.6.24 – Athlete Visit

Kingshill students were lucky enough to receive a visit from an amazing athlete – Corey Samuels – from the Bristol Flyers.  During his time at our school, he delivered an engaging assembly with audience participation and also led children in carrying out a variety of exercises as part of our sponsored event.  Pupils were amazingly behaved and it was a pleasure to see them excited and actively participating.

14.6.24 – Learning Update

We have had a busy couple of weeks in Emerald class.  We have been working hard on our writing in order to showcase how much we have improved over the past few months: the progress is really amazing!  Pupils have produced some amazing pieces including: writing an informal letter about SATs; writing the opening for a narrative and a diary entry for the story Broken: Rock, Paper, Scissors (Literacy Shed+); and editing and improving a biography from earlier on in the year.

Maths: 

We will be continuing our learning on algebra next week and will be covering:

• Substitution: we can use symbols, images to replace (substitute) numbers
• Using formulae: a rule or relationship that uses letters to represent amounts which can be changed.
• Forming Equations: a specific known value.

Questions for home:

– Where can I see algebra in the real world? 

English: 

We will be completing our last big piece of writing at the start of next week focusing on narrative.  We will be revisiting a unit from earlier in the year: The Alchemist’s Letter.  Children will be focusing on creating an exciting opening, utilising their excellent narrative writing skills.

Questions for home:

– What makes a piece of narrative writing enjoyable to read?

– What figurative language can I use in my narrative writing?

13.6.24 – Exploring Voltage

In our lesson today, we explored voltage. We begun by discussing what voltage was; some of us had an idea of what it was connected to, but could not yet define it fully. We then looked at the voltage of different cells, discussing and comparing different types and sizes. Next, we made predictions about what would happen to a bulb if we increased the voltage, before moving on to build our own circuits and test our initial thoughts.

7.6.24 – Frisbee

Today, Emerald class took part in a fun trial of frisbee golf.  Children worked collaboratively to throw and catch the frisbee and even had a go at throwing and catching two at the same time.  It was lovely to try something new and develop a new skill.

6.6.24 – Emerald Class Showcase – Exciting Electricity

For our showcase, pupils shared their knowledge of electrical components and circuits.  Pupils collaborated with their adults and peers to predict and test a variety of circuits. It was great to see pupils working as ‘scientists’ and drawing on their scientific skills of prediction, observation, as well as posing their own questions.  Some pupils also moved on to draw some of their own circuits which they then tested. Thanks to those parents who came and visited us – it was great to see you all.

4.6.24 – Transition Workshop

This morning, Year 6 have had a really productive workshop with Hayley and some additional members of the MHST (some practitioners we met work at Nailsea regularly). We reflected on how we are feeling about going to secondary school and what worries we might have. We identified strategies which we could use to overcome the worries that we have and difficulties which we may encounter. We reflected on ways to help look after our mental health as we transition from the safety of our familiar school to our new, much bigger secondary schools.

17.5.24 – Ancient Maya Talk with Harry Cadwallader

Today, Year 6 pupils were treated to a brilliant Talk by Professor Robert Jones (Harry Cadwallader) from Indiana University.  During the session, pupils were taken on an exciting journey where they learnt about: the mystical powers and value of cacao; recent historical discoveries from the Maya era; the most well-known Maya gods; the influence of the stars, moons and planets and much more! Pupil also listened to some traditional Maya tribal music and tried out some traditional dance. What a great way to develop our understanding of Maya.  We will be continuing our learning linked to the Maya for the rest of the year – we look forward to sharing our experiences!

16.5.24 – A Fun Afternoon

To celebrate the end of the SATs we had a wonderful afternoon playing outside today. We enjoyed going on the bikes, playing football and spending time with our friends.

16.5.24 – The SATs are finished!

A huge congratulations to our wonderful Year 6 students on completing their SATs in Spelling Punctuation and Grammar, Reading and Maths (Arithmetic and Reasoning).  We are so incredibly proud of the dedication and resilience you showed throughout the week.  We know that some of you were nervous, but you showed everyone how brave you are.  Well done to each and every one: we know that you all tried your very best and we could not have asked for more.  We can’t wait to celebrate with you over the next few days and to end the year with our Year 6 production, a trip to Tyntesfield and our exciting Year 6 camp at Kilve Court.

SATs preparations:

Over the past few weeks, we have been working really hard to prepare for the upcoming SATS which will commence in just over a week.

Children have been completing a variety of activities to help them prepare including:

– Past paper questions

– What Went Wrong Papers

– Focused sessions linked to misconceptions/gaps in understanding

– Small group targeted focus group

We will continue to work on test technique and strategies right up until all the exams have been complete. We are so proud of their continued efforts and can’t wait to celebrate their successes with them at the end of the exam period. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

3.5.24: SATS Stress Workshop

Today, Hayley our Mental Health Practitioner came in and spoke to our wonderful Year 6 students about strategies to help support with any anxieties related to the upcoming SATs. Pupils discussed how they were feeling and shared both positive and negative thoughts they have been having. Children then worked with Hayley to discuss strategies that they could utilise to support them. We are so proud of all the hard work that Emerald class are putting into their SATs preparation and we know that they will all try their very best.

30.4.24: Robotics Workshop

On Tuesday, we had an amazing visit from Bristol University staff and students to show us some amazing robots.  The children were brilliantly behaved and had a great time exploring the different robots and working with teams from Bristol University.

18.4.24: What do we already know about electricity?

We started the lesson by retrieving our prior knowledge about electricity – some of us remembered lots from studying electricity in Year 4, but some of us needed to be reminded!

Using our new equipment, we worked in groups to explore electricity, building circuits using lots of different components (including bulbs, buzzers, wires and cells).  We loved reactivating our prior knowledge and discussing what we were doing with our peers.

We ended the lesson by writing questions about what we wonder.  Some of our questions included:

How does electricity travel?

How does wind make electricity?

Is electricity dangerous?

What would happen if we did not have electricity?

We worked as scientists by:

• Using equipment to experiment
• Looking for patterns or anomalies
• Posing my own scientific questions.
• Presenting the evidence.
• Linking my scientific enquiries to prior knowledge.

This Term

We are looking forward to the term ahead! Term 5 is an exciting time as we get to show off the culmination of our academic learning throughout KS2, in our SATs.  The SATs will be taking place on the week beginning the 13th May – please remember to have a look at the resources shared (via email) from our SATs information evening.

We also have lots more exciting things to learn about, like the Maya, athletics, netball, electricity and lots more!

We hope that you have an egg-cellent Easter Holiday and come back to school egg-stra ready to learn 🙂

Easter Holiday Homework

We have sent a pack of homework home with the children.

There is:

• Maths Easter 10 4 10
• English

Below are the electronic sets should you wish to access them.

Year 6 – SATs Survival Easter English Revision BookletYear 6 – SATs Survival Easter English Revision Booklet – AnswersTen-for-Ten-KS2-Maths-Practice-Booklet—Working-TowardsTen-for-Ten-KS2-Maths-Practice-Booklet—Greater-DepthTen-for-Ten-KS2-Maths-Practice-Booklet—Expected-StandardEggstra support day 8-10 with answersEggstra support day 5-8 with answersEggstra support day 1-4 with answersAnswer-Pack—Working-TowardsAnswer-Pack—Greater-DepthAnswer-Pack—Expected-Standard

14.3.24 – Creating environmental art about The destruction of the frozen kingdom

Pupils collaborated to create some incredible 3D environmental art to explain the issue of global climate change and the detrimental impact that it is having on the frozen kingdom.

13.3.24 – DT Comparing Processed and Homemade Bread

Today, we compared processed and homemade bread by exploring the ingredients and the nutritional values. We tasted the bread and then considered the advantages and disadvantages of the different types.  Most of us concluded that the home made bread was tastier and more nutritious!

8.3.24

Learning Update

Maths: This week we completed our ‘Area, Perimeter and Volume’ unit of learning. Children worked hard to find the area of triangles and the area of parallelograms.  We then moved onto find the volume of 3D shapes by counting cubes, before moving on to finding volume by calculating using a formula.

As we head towards the end of the term, we will be exploring statistics. We will begin by reading and interpreting line and bar charts; exploring pie charts and looking for the connections between pie charts and percentages.  As we continue, we will practicing finding the mean and applying this to a range of reasoning and problem solving scenarios

Questions to ask at home:

Where can I see examples statistics in  real life

What jobs would use the skill of statistics?

What formulas can I use for finding area and perimeter?

How can I accurately read line, bar and pie charts? What skills can I use to support me?

English: 

This week, we completed the third week of our new unit – ‘Narrative (focusing on character): The Phone Booth in Mr Hirota’s Garden’.  We completed our narrative writes, using The Phone Booth in Mr Hirota’s Garden as inspiration for our own original stories which were set in San Francisco. The stories were amazing and showed how much they had learnt during this unit.

Next week, we will utilise our understanding from the unit and write our own diary entries from the perspective of character’s from the story. These will include emotive language, character and setting descriptions

Questions to discuss at home:

What natural disasters can occur in the world? What leads to them happening?

What impact do natural disasters have on the world?

What would you feel if you were involved in a natural disaster?

Topic:

Over the past couple of weeks we have worked as geographers by exploring natural resources in the arctic and investigated how indigenous people live.

Next week, we will be working as historians by exploring civilisations in Antarctica and significant people.

Questions to discuss at home: 

Who explored Antarctica?

Who was Robert Falcon Scott?

Spelling: 

Based on ongoing assessment information, we have decided to tweak spelling groups and focuses for the term.  We have selected specific patterns to target misconceptions and to ensure good progress as we head towards the end of Year 6. Your child will receive a letter outlining their focus spelling patterns for the rest of Term 3 and Term 4.  They will be set corresponding spelling patterns on SpellingShed to support in them learning their specified patterns.  If you have any issues or concerns, please let us know.

7.3.24 – World Book Day

We have had a brilliant day in Emerald class and have enjoyed dressing up as some of our favourite book characters.  Pupils selected their favourite picture book to share with their reading buddies in Pearl class – they read beautifully.  Working together, children also created their own bookmarks to use.

1.3.24 – Emerald Showcase

What a brilliant showcase – thanks to all parents and carers who were able to join us. During the session, we discussed the beautiful text ‘The Phone Booth in Mr Hirota’s Garden’ which we have been studying for the past couple of week, shared our excellent writing (focusing on the use of figurative language to describe the ocean’s movements, sounds and impact) and created some wonderful artwork to show the appearance, movement and impact of the destructive tsunami waves.  We look forward to seeing you all again soon.

1.3.24 – Super Science – Exploring the effectiveness of different insulators

Over the last couple of weeks, we have been planning and carrying out an investigating into the effectiveness of different insulators of an animal’s ability to keep warm in frozen conditions. We used our knowledge of different ‘frozen kingdom’ animals to help us make appropriate predictions. We used plastic gloves to act as an animal’s skin and then tested different materials as insulators including air, an additional plastic glove and lard. It all got a bit messy, but we had a great time building on our prior knowledge and developing our skills of observation, recording and discussion.

1.3.24 – Open Classroom – UPCOMING

23.4.23 – Lost Spells Poem

We have been working hard to learn the beautiful poem – ‘The Moth’ from the book – ‘The Lost Spells’. We have created some props, as well as thinking of ways to add interest to our performance through actions, voice projection and body language. We performed it to the whole school on Thursday 29th February – we performed brilliantly: we memorised our parts, added actions and projected our voices well.

23.2.24

Learning Update

Maths: This week we have continued our learning on ‘Fractions’ Decimals and Percentages, primarily focusing on percentages.  We have explored: finding equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages, understanding percentage, ordering fractions, decimals and percentage, finding percentages of amount and solving multi-step problems

Next week, we will delve into the world of ‘Area, Perimeter and Volume; we will explore the area and perimeter of rectilinear shape and the area of right-angled triangles.  As we continue our learning, we will also explore:

• finding the area of any triangle
• finding the area of parallelograms
• finding the volume of cubes and cuboids

Questions to ask at home:

Where can I see examples of area and perimeter in real-life? 

What jobs would use the skill of finding area and perimeter in their roles?

English: 

This week, we completed the first week of our new unit – ‘Narrative (focusing on character): The Phone Booth in Mr Hirota’s Garden’.  We explored the key features 0f the text, inferred from a variety of beautiful images and produced detailed character descriptions linked to a character’s physical and internal characteristics.

Next week, we will continue our learning journey by:

• creating detailed setting descriptions
• describing the impact and movement of a tsunami
• using dialogue to show character and to advance the action

Questions to discuss at home:

What natural disasters can occur in the world? What leads to them happening?

What impact do natural disasters have on the world?

Topic:

Over the past couple of weeks will have investigated  the natural resources found in the arctic and how indigenous people live. We also had a talk led by Richard Lancaster – see photos below.

Next week, we will be visiting Bristol Zoo Project to continue exploring animals adaptations, looking closely as ‘Frozen Kingdom’ animals.

Questions to discuss at home: 

What is a polar region?

Where can they be found? 

Where is the coldest place you have ever been?

What is contributing to climate change?

How can we help to reduce our carbon footprint?

Spelling: 

Based on ongoing assessment information, we have decided to tweak spelling groups and focuses for the term.  We have selected specific patterns to target misconceptions and to ensure good progress as we head towards the end of Year 6. Your child will receive a letter outlining their focus spelling patterns for the rest of Term 3 and Term 4.  They will be set corresponding spelling patterns on SpellingShed to support in them learning their specified patterns.  If you have any issues or concerns, please let us know.

20.2.24

Richard Lancaster from Greenpeace