On Wednesday 13th July, Year 6 visited the Go Ape site in Temple Newsam for a very well deserved reward trip. The children absolutely excelled at the various activities showcasing the physical skills of balance, agility, strength and coordination as well as the mental skills of resilience, determination and incredible teamwork. They were once again a credit to the school and every single child completed all 4 courses with some displaying real courage and bravery when faced with challenges and overcoming all of them. Children also did everything with a smile on their faces and we also enjoyed some running around time in the open spaces and may even have found time for an ice cream. Thank you to the parent volunteers who helped make it such a great day that was enjoyed by the children (and the adults!).

While many pupils have been at Boston Spa or Tadcaster for transition days, there have been several still with us at Primrose Lane and they have been doing a brilliant job of helping in other classes. They did some fantastic reading with reception, helping out with sports day practise in year 1 and have been supporting the Year 3s with learning how to tell the time. All of the year 6s have been excellent this week and have been showing what great role models they are by helping others.

As part of our Ancient Greece topic we designed and made Greek style vases. Children observed ancient Greek designs (primary sources) to help them design and make their own and then also looked at the skills involved in crafting a vase and how to work effectively with clay and useful tools. The children showed excellent perseverance and determination when things did not always go to plan and constructed some fantastic vases showcasing their creative skills.

In Year 5 and 6 we gave all children the opportunity to be the Key Stage 2 reading champion who would then be put forward to be a Leeds ambassador. After giving speeches in class, Elizabeth (year 5) and Aidan (year 6) were chosen to give speeches to Year 5 and 6. After a democratic vote, Aidan was selected to be our representative and we wish him the best of luck in his application.

Both Elizabeth and Aidan gave brilliant speeches outlining their love and passion for reading and how they help other children in the class and share their knowledge and passion. They were both fantastic.

Here is the newsletter for this half term- please let me know if you have any concerns or questions.

• Spring 1 newsletter year 6.docx

The Leeds Schools Music Association organised a Big Sing. These events are usually held at Leeds Town Hall but, due to renovation work, there were 3 events held in smaller town halls. Year 6 all come to Morley Town Hall - a really grand building - and joined forces with a whole room full of children from 7 primary schools across the city. We sung our hearts out and it was an afternoon to remember!

As part of our sequence of orienteering lessons, we were visited again by Simon who provided two very challenging games for the children. A tag team race to find 12 flags as quickly as possible was first, with children sprinting all over the site to locate them. Jack and April finished first, Isaac and Charlie were second with Oliver and Toby finishing third. 4th placed Honour and Melody missed out on 3rd place by just one second!!!

The second game involved hiding toys beneath flags but the children were only given small portions of the map and had to work out where the points were based on their previous knowledge of the site.

I continue to be amazed at the children's ability to complete the challenges at such high speed. Their orienteering knowledge is absolutely incredible!

As part of our Titanic topic we explored upthrust, buoyancy and density to help us understand what happens to balloons when they are pushed under water and how to make objects like plasticine and tin-foil float on water by adapting and changing their shape. Children learnt that increasing the surface area is one of the main features to adapt in this investigation as well as changing the sides of the 'boat'. Children had varying levels of success with their boats as we tested them holding plasticine weights with two groups managing to hold 10 before they sank to the bottom of the water just like the Titanic!

Here are some quotes from children in year 6 about their thoughts on World Book Day and their love of reading! We had a great time sharing our favourite books and characters and discussing why we think reading is such an amazing thing!

Reading books is important because they open your imagination. They also give you somewhere to go when you have to stay where you are. The more you read, the better your vocabulary will become, so your writing becomes better- Aidan

Reading is brilliant and gives you knowledge and gives you imagination and takes you away on a magical journey and gives you magical thoughts. - Cairo

I think that World Book Day is an important day to celebrate books, which help people with great ideas for brilliant writing and awesome imagination. Stories can transport people.- Cameron

I think World Book Day is good because it brings people together as they tell each other what their favourite books are and reading is the most important thing you can do- Toby

Books are amazing because you get transferred to a new world you can read and read and they make you laugh, cry and scream and it's amazing!- Charlie

World Book Day is important because books are very important to your mental health. - Riley

World Book Day is a great day to have in school because it's nice to express yourself in a costume and finding out what other books people read and maybe you can be inspired about books to read next. Reading is good because if something has happened reading will help you and also reading can make you smarter and wiser- Heidi

I think World Book Day is very important because it's a time to express what you think about reading! It's also a time to appreciate all of the authors that have given their time and passion to make and write books. Many books are also amazing as they help you use your imagination and improve your writing through your vocabulary! April B

I like reading since its transports you to new worlds of imagination and happiness- Oliver

Last week, KS2 were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience being part of an interactive webinar with author Georgina Stevens (who wrote 'Climate Action: The Future is in Our Hands'). Georgina spoke of her back-story of what inspired her to write the book, but also took us through the book, explaining the importance of taking action now as a collective to ensure future security and safety. She explained about our use of fossil fuels contributing to the change in our climate and that the main things to focus on include our use of electricity, light and heat, factories, farming, tree loss and transport but to name a few. Furthermore, she informed us about Leeds declaring a 'climate emergency' and that Leeds have committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2030 - through our help!

Georgina inspired the children across KS2, so much so that children wanted to write letters to make a difference. Lower KS2 wrote letters to Mrs Bailey about things we could do in school to improve our carbon footprint, whereas Upper KS2 write letters to our MP Alec Shelbrooke on how Leeds could further improve. The letters were somewhat inspiring, so much so that Year 6 are planning on publishing their letters and sending them to Alec himself. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to do this and the children really enjoyed the coming together as a group to discuss this and produce some great learning.

***Be aware that the photos do show images of the hearts so should only be viewed by Year 6 children and parents.rnrnLast week in Year 6 we had the fantastic opportunity to dissect pig hearts. It was an amazing experience for all of the children to take on a challenge usually conducted by secondary pupils. The whole class took part and really impressed me with their determination, maturity and their scientific observation skills throughout the process. It was very impressive how the children were able to overcome the unusual sights and unpleasant smells and carry out some fantastic learning about the various parts of the heart (aorta, veins, arteries etc) and this opportunity will hopefully be memorable for them in years to come and also builds on the knowledge they have gained in their science lessons this term.rnrnThis was by far the most incredible opportunity school has ever given me! Discovering what was inside the heart, and what it looked like was fascinating. I can not wait for more experiments like this.rnCharlotte rnrnrnThe heart dissection was not my favourite thing in the world, though I did understand and explore the inside.rnBellarnrnrnThe pig heart dissection will have to be the best science lesson ever, in my opinion. At first, I thought I would not want to do it, because I am usually quite squeamish. Turns out I really enjoyed it! There was a lot less blood than I thought.rnNellrnrnrn***Be aware that the photos do show images of the hearts so should only be viewed by Year 6 children and parents.

On Tuesday the Year 6s and the Year 1s had their first ever reading buddy session. This has been in the pipeline for a long time but we were finally able to make it happen and both classes absolutely loved it. Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed being able to support the children with their reading skills and also form the foundations of supportive friendships that will help in the playground as well. Both myself and Mrs Dockree were hugely impressed by the maturity of the Year 6 children and the wonderful behaviour and reading skills of the Year 1s, who raced through their books and were able to answer questions from Year 6 about what they were reading. It was fantastic to see!\n\nJoe – I played with my buddy outside.\n\nGracie – I waved at my buddy this morning.\n\nLily – I gave my buddy a cuddle this morning.\n\nMia – I liked reading with my buddy and we liked the pictures.\n\nEddie – I practised my reading with my buddy and I got it all right.\n\nTom – I played football with my buddy.\n\nJames – He helped me when I got stuck in my reading.\n\n nnIn my opinion, reading buddies are a great opportunity for year 1 and year 6. We can get to know them and also help with their learning.nCharlottennReading buddies is a great way to interact with the younger years, and a great way to get to know them.nThomasnnDuring reading buddies, it was really exciting to get to know the year 1’s a little more and watch them develop like we did in reading.nAprilnn

Year 6 once again tested their navigation skills when Simon came to visit Primrose Lane for some orienteering. There were a variety of activities to take on and children were able to work in pairs or take each other on by racing 1 v 1. As their teacher, I was absolutely blown away by their ability to complete the challenges and even more impressed by the speed at which they did it! Our current geography topic dovetails nicely with orienteering and the children's map reading skills were absolutely superb finding markers and completing courses stretching over the whole school grounds. All in year 6 had a brilliant time and are looking forward to future sessions in the summer!rnrnMaddie- "I absolutely love orienteering, it's fun to map read as well as sprinting off and racing against a partner- it's always so much fun."rnrnAidan- "Orienteering is amazing! Simon makes it fun and interesting. All of the exercises test us too."rnrnIzzy- "I love when we do orienteering because you learn how to navigate yourself whilst you also get to run around and have fun with your friends. You also become a lot fitter because of the exercise."

This week, we have learned how to sing La Bamba in Spanish and we have mastered the fast and furious glockenspiel part - no mean feat! One of the pupils filmed our last performance. Enjoy!

On Tuesday 18th January 2022, as part of our Geography topic on ‘Natural Disasters’ (and focusing around oceans, seas and rivers), we took the opportunity to study our local Rivers Wharfe. We are lucky enough to be so close to a beautiful setting and were therefore able to learn all about relevant vocabulary to extend our knowledge of rivers, whether that be the course of the river, erosion, the flow of the river and many of its features (such as the weir, floodplains, deposits, pollution, sediments, meandering, tributaries and oxbows).

We were able to discuss at various points along the river about the features we saw, as well as link this to our knowledge of history of rivers (and why people used to choose to settle near rivers, compared to risks today). We also sketched images and discussed adjectives to inspire us in our writing back at school. We are now well equipped to take this learning back to class.
The children were well behaved throughout, courteous to pedestrians and responded well to questioning. We’d also like to thank the adults on the walk who accompanied us and ensured we were safe throughout the fieldwork
Here’s what some of the children had to say:
Matthew: ‘I really enjoyed watching the flow of the current and it was good to see the person swimming in the river to help us understand how deep it was and how cold it was!’
Harris: ‘I enjoyed seeing how still the River Wharfe was until it came to the weir, where the flow changed direction and started to speed up.’

Finlay: ‘I was fascinated when we were walking close to the river to see how wide and deep the River Wharfe was here compared to Kettlewell, where it was only up to my knees.’

Charlotte: ‘The river walk was a great experience to build on our knowledge of rivers in your areas and in general. We were able to expand our knowledge by being shown and told about the visible parts of the river; I particularly enjoyed learning about the weir and the salmon run.’

Chloe: ‘The river walk was amazing! I got to learn about nature and what’s around me. I learnt more about the different vocabulary linked to rivers such as: meanders, erosion and river banks and I am intrigued to learn more.’

On the 27th January year 6 learned more about the holocaust and explored this year's Memorial Day theme of 'One Day'. Exploring some challenging content, all of the children showed great maturity and expressed impressive insight into the topic; this built on their studies of World War 2 and their visits from Judith Rhodes and the Anne Frank trust in year 5. We learnt about the appalling treatment Jews and other groups received both before and during WW2 as well as the fact that that the Holocaust Memorial Day also raises awareness of other genocides that have taken place in history such as in Cambodia and Rwanda. The theme of 'One Day' showed us that we need to value each and every day as well as using the atrocities that took place as a warning to make sure it is never repeated and that 'One Day' can be the start of a new beginning. In year 6 we made posters summarising what we had learnt and also to raise awareness of such an important historical event and to ensure that the shocking statistic that 52% of the UK population do not know the holocaust took place definitely does not apply to the children of Primrose Lane.rnAidan- “On Holocaust Memorial Day, we learnt about Kristellnacht, the man who organised the Kindertransport (Sir Nicholas Winton) and more. I found it heart-breaking that so many children did not make it out.”rnMaddison- “Holocaust Memorial Day was really good for our knowledge so we know what happened in the past and make sure it never happens again,”rnMaddie- “Learning about Holocaust Memorial Day was a sensitive topic but I feel good that I know and can now spread awareness.”rn

This week we extended our knowledge of the circulatory system by making our own version of blood from common household products. Using a combination of food colouring, cheerios, marshmallows, porridge oats and some water we represented the main components of blood: platelets, red blood cells, white blood cells and plasma. By creating the blood we were able to have fun whilst also learning about what the different elements of the blood do. It was great to mix all the ingredients together and to get a bit messy! Now we know how and why blood travels round the body and what blood does to help us day to day.
Chloe- “When we made blood, I enjoyed seeing how it ended up with the cheerios (red blood cells) , marshmallows (white blood cells) and oats (platelets) mixed in with all of the yellow water (plasma) making it look like blood.”
April Ryder- “I found making blood really fun and I liked learning all of the different components to make blood.”
Izzy- “My favourite part of making the blood was that we got to be very adventurous with the materials we used.”

Here are the Spring home learning tasks for the first half term- all children should have a copy as well.

• Homework tasks- spring 1.docx

On Friday 3rd December 2021, Year 6 went on their ‘Home Front’ trip as part of their World War Two focus in History this term. We learnt lots, ranging from experiences of evacuees, women’s roles and rationing, to general way of life during the war times, as well as various facts about the war itself. Throughout the day, the whole class represented the school impeccably, showing excellent behaviour, but also willingly showing to the leaders how much they already knew about World War Two, as well as experiences that children went through during this difficult time. The leaders were very impressed at the knowledge the children were giving and the eagerness they had with answering and asking questions. He said 'Primrose Lane already know so much about this topic - is there any point in me doing this?!', to which he taught them stimulus beyond what he would normally teach on the trip to further their knowledge!

Children got right into character for the day, coming into school dressed as evacuees, with their labels attached to them showing who they were and where they came from. Throughout the day, children were straight in role conducting usual jobs expected from children and adults during the 1939-1945 era. The jobs ranged from creating rag rugs, cleaning and drying clothes using the ‘dolly’, making flapjacks and butter, putting out fire-bombs as fire-guards and putting up the blast tape. Having said this, we did have a real life air-raid, where we ‘pulled together’ and shared Anderson shelters to keep us safe.

It really was a pleasure to see such great learning first hand, with handling such artefacts as ‘gas masks’ and helmets etc; as well as viewing what was a weeks ration for a child and adult would be.

As part of our continued study of William Morris and his work, Year 6 discussed how this pioneering and inspirational artist used colour (with a specific colour palette), line, shape, space and pattern within his work. The children engaged in very thoughtful discussion and recorded their thoughts on a double page spread and then began work on continuations of William Morris' work with challenging small examples of his work. Great effort Year 6!

As part of our science topic we investigated the relative distances of the planets from the sun. We used astronomical units and converted them into m and cm to help us recreate a significantly scaled down version of the solar system in the Primrose Lane playground.

After a shaky start, all of the groups managed to complete the challenge with some even extending themselves to doubling the amounts to make the solar system a little larger!

On Thursday, Year 5 and Year 6 worked together to look at our recently written chronological reports.

Each child partnered up with a member of the other year group and the two children discussed each others' work. The intention was for the year 5s to observe the completed year 6 work and see if there was anything they could learn and any features they could pick up on. The year 6s could offer advice on how the year 5 work could be improved but also offer praise on what they had done well.

The process was a really positive experience for all involved and both sets of children benefited from the experience; this should improve the learning of both year groups in future lessons.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr Simpson gave the children a commando fitness session in the mud! Sit-ups, crawling, obstacle courses came thick and fast as the children threw themselves into the challenge- they worked individually and as a team to great effect.

Teamwork came to the fore as two teams transported patients on a stretcher to the end of the field and back. Thankfully the patients (including Mr Keen at one point!) were strapped in as there were a few bumps along the way!

The afternoon finished with a series of tug of war battles. Many children ended up on the floor and the phrase 'Dig In for Victory' was used more than once with varying degrees of success!

Thanks to Mr Simpson for his help putting on the session; the class had a brilliant time!

In the first lesson of our art topic driver for the half term, we learnt about our focus artist William Morris. We discovered fascinating facts about him as well as his beliefs about the purpose and value of art as well as looked at some of his incredible artwork. Floral patterns are at the heart of much of his work, particularly his wallpaper designs which revolutionised how homes were decorated in the Victorian era.

You can see some of examples of the double page spreads that we completed that showcase his work and his life.

Here are some of William Morris' famous quotes:

• “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all details of daily life.”
• “There is no square mile of earth’s inhabitable surface that is not beautiful in it’s own way, if we men will only abstain from wilfully destroying that beauty.”
• “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
• “I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
• “History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.”
• “No man is good enough to be another's master.”

In English this week we have talked about the Windrush generation which links to our PSHE topic around stereotyping. We found out about the history around the Windrush generation and its links to post WW2 Britain as well as the challenges faced as people made the brave choice to come and live in Britain.

The children used their knowledge to come up with a playscript or interview that included aspects of their learning. As a class we came up with some brilliant ideas that included stowaways (which we learnt about), the difficulties faced in Britain after migration and the contributions the Windrush generation made to life in Britain throughout history.

As part of our WW2 topic, the children designed their own propaganda posters. This was after having looked at real life examples, evaluated them and then spent time thinking what was effective and how to apply that to their own work.

The process was interrupted by remote learning but there was still some fantastic work completed.

In this half term's newsletter you will find an overview of what to expect for Year 6 over the weeks leading up to Christmas and a couple of key dates.

• 2021 November Newsletter Year 6.doc

In our ICT lesson we explored internet safety and what it meant to protect your personal information and be safe online. We had some fantastic discussions around not sharing key information and how to not fall into traps and scams online. The children also showed an incredible understanding of how to treat each online and when using mobile phones and are aware of the dangers and risks of not sticking to the internet safety rules we discussed.

We made posters to show our knowledge.

In Year 6 we began an experiment just before half term where we analysed the effect of different variables on bread and how bacteria would grow more quickly/slowly based on different factors. Sadly due to our Covid interruption, we did not get to completely finish the experiment but we did obtain some photos before the pieces of bread were put out of their misery!

The effect on the bread of water, bacteria, heat and other factors was significant as you can see from the images. It's enough to put you off your morning toast!

Jodi came in again (through her Skipping School) and delivered a brilliant festival, where we learnt lots of new skills, including the forwards and backwards, Texas Star, Run-Jump-Out and many more individual skills. The children had an amazing time and it was great to have skipping back at Primrose Lane!

Maddie: The competition was exhilarating as well as competitive (extremely fun!)
Honour: I loved the skipping, I wish we could do it every day!
Phoebe: I have very much missed everyone getting together to share their skills! Even though I didn't quite make the Super Six, I still loved to see everyone coming together for an assembly!