Living and Learning: I know that being physically active is physically and mentally healthy.
In our living and learning session this week, years 5 and 6 were learning about the five ways to wellbeing, with a deeper dive into the ‘being active‘ section:
Regular exercise can lift your mood and increase your energy levels. It doesn’t have to be strenuous or sporty to be effective. Pick something you enjoy so you’re more likely to stick with it.
For example:
- going for a walk during your day
- following a workout video
- doing some ‘easy exercise’, like stretching, in the morning
and before you go to bed - walking to school once or twice a week (if you live close enough)
Help at home:
What does your child already do to stay active on a daily basis? Is there anything you can add/change to these routines to stay healthy? Perhaps set some achievable goals with your child to be active – this could be daily or just a few times a week!
Living and Learning: I know the importance of ‘five a day’
This week, our living and learning statement is based on healthy eating and ensuring we keep a healthy, balanced diet. A key part of this is in the contents of our packed lunches in school. For our fluency sessions, we have been reading into our school policy around packed lunches (below). We discussed elements of our packed lunches that are vital (protein, carbohydrates, fruit and veg), and some elements that are fine in small portions (oils and spreads). We used some great examples of what pupils have bought in their lunches and compared this to our recommended guidance – the packed lunches were successful against our healthy, balanced dietary advice.
Help at home: Encourage your child to make up their packed lunch with you at home. This way, your child can learn the contents of a packed lunch and why a variety is so important. You could ask questions whilst packing a lunch such as ‘Why are we adding this to the box?’ further develop understand of a healthy, balanced diet.
Wonders of the Amazon Rainforest!
In geography, years 5 and 6 have been focussing on the Amazon Rainforest (which spans across 9 South American countries, Brazil being the most prominent). We’ve learnt a lot about the climate, biome types and vegetation within the Amazon, but found it difficult to piece everything together. To help with this, the children researched the four layers of the rainforest, along with plants, animals and climate within them. We then used our notes to draw our interpretation of what the Amazon might look like, just like being in our Class Novel (Survivors)!
Here’s some of the brilliant learning from our pupils:
Living and Learning: I know the importance of sleep.
Our living and learning statement for this week was:
I know the importance of sleep.
As well as individual class living and learning sessions, the whole school attended our ‘Tuesday Viewsday‘ collective worship to learn more together. We discussed the role of sleep in our lives and it’s importance/lack of importance both personally and collectively (the world).
Children put forward some fantastic points of view to debate both sides of the importance of sleep – here’s some of the quotes:
‘I think sleep is important because it gives our brain a chance to rest so that we can do well in school the next day.’ (JC, Year 6)
‘Sleep is important for us to switch off and not think about things for a while. If we didn’t sleep, we would all just be tired and moody.’ (FJ, Year 2)
‘I don’t think sleep is important because it wastes time. We could be doing other things that we like instead of sleeping.’ (NE, Year 5)
‘Sleep can be important if you have a job, but if you don’t have a job or something to get up for, you’re wasting time in your life that you could use to help others or find something that you enjoy.’ (JS, Year 5)
Help at home:
Discuss the importance of sleep for a healthy, happy lifestyle with your child. Does your child know what a good amount of sleep is? Explore their thoughts on what might happen if they don’t get enough sleep, or they sleep too much!
Reading – The Highwayman (by Alfred Noyes)
This week, years 5 and 6 have been getting their teeth stuck into a new poem – The Highwayman (by Alfred Noyes). After reading the poem as a class, we discussed the meaning behind the story of the poem, and which emotions may have driven the way for this sad story.
Here’s what we came up with as a class:
Lots of these ideas derived from Tim the ostler, who’s plan to have the Highwayman killed ended with the death of his beloved Bess, the landlord’s daughter.
The vocabulary in this poem lead to further learning in our writing lessons – we looked at speech between characters within this story and what they may say to one another. The vocabulary used in the poem suggested a formal piece of speech was necessary to suit the purpose and the timeline, so the children have been hard at work practising their formal writing!
Towards the end of the week, the children practised their retrieval skills. One of their tasks was to draw and label the Highwayman, based on information they could retrieve from the text. Below is a small snippet of the text and some fantastic learning the children – do you think they have retrieved information successfully? Which parts of their drawings were retrieved facts, and which elements were their own interpretations?
Living and Learning
This half-term, years 5 and 6 have been learning lots around how we treat ourselves and other people. Here are the living and learning statements that we’ve used on a weekly basis this half-term:
- I recognise emotions in myself and others
- I know that we’re all the same and that we’re all different
- I recognise that friends and family are important
- I can find solutions to different problems
- I can give and receive compliments
- I know how to cope with change
I’d like to share a few reflections on some of our statements. The children have been absolutely fantastic in discussing, offering advice and putting some actions into place to keep our school a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe.
I know that we’re all the same and all different
Each week, the children participate in our Philosophy Friday sessions. Here, we learn to think deeply about a particular aspect of life. The children have really excelled in: listening actively to others and responding appropriately; recognising that our opinions can be different and that’s ok; and building on others views, even if we don’t personally agree with them.
I can find solutions to different problems
Key stage 2 were fortunate to have a visit from our local PCSO, Louise. Louise spoke to the children in depth about potential problems and risks that we may come across in our lives, and how to deal with them appropriately. The children asked lots of fantastic, relevant questions and came away from the session with a better understanding of how to find solutions to tricky problems, both in person and online.
I know how to cope with change
It’s important to acknowledge that we all live very busy lives. For our year 6 pupils, there are lots of changes upcoming, such as preparing to move to high school. These changes can be accompanied with feelings of concern, upset, worry and anxiety. As a school, we make sure we have lots of ways that children can communicate any of these feelings. Here’s a list of a few:
- Tell a trusted adult
- Circle times
- Living and learning/worry boxes
- Through our Junior Leadership Team
- Talking to peers
- Childline (0800 11 11)
Through our yoga sessions, the children have had the opportunity to switch off their thoughts, even just for a moment. These sessions have given our pupils a chance to feel completely relaxed and to have an enjoyment of being in the moment. Years 5 and 6 will continue these sessions moving through the year.
Help at home:
Reflect with your child on our living and learning statements this half-term. Provide opportunity for your child to express their feelings and thoughts to you, and perhaps come up with some methods together on how to deal with these thoughts/problems that may arise. This way, all of our pupils will be better equipped to navigate through life successfully.
Year 6 CGP Books
Year 6 have recently been sent home with three CGP books to help support learning leading up to their SATS. Each week, Mr Freeman will provide specific pages for pupils to study and practise weekly. These areas may be different to the areas currently being learnt in maths – this is to help bridge any remaining learning gaps pupils may have.
Help at home: Encourage your child to spend some time working through their set pages. Remind your child that they’ll need to bring their books into regularly for class reviews. This will definitely happen every Friday, but children may also be asked to bring them in on different days.
Finally, please don’t stress about upcoming tests! Children often perform better when more relaxed and calm – let’s encourage this mindset.
Viking Boy (Class Novel)
This week, years 5 and 6 read the thrilling finale of our well-loved class novel, Viking Boy.
This book has had us gripped from start to finish! We followed the life of Gunnar and his journey of resilience, growth and fulfilling his oath to his father. The children have thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel as a class – we couldn’t believe the ending!
As we reviewed our novel, we reflected on the choices made and events that Gunnar went through during his adventure.
Here were some of the final comments from the children:
- Not everything goes to plan – it’s important to keep going in difficult situations.
- Gunnar persevered whilst he was made a slave and ended up keeping the promise to his father.
- You have to show resilience at times in your life. Sometimes, you might feel like you’re super unlucky, but in time your luck can change if you don’t give up.
Help at home: Ask your child about the class novel and whether they enjoyed being read to. Use this knowledge to read with your child using different books that they enjoy. Take it in turns to listen to your child read, and to read to your child. This way, you can take some of the difficulties/stresses of learning away from the child by allowing them to totally relax and enjoy the story.
Spellings term 2.2
Living and Learning: I know how how to treat others with respect online.
Years 5 and 6 have been busy this week with lots of our learning based around internet safety.
In our sessions regarding being respectful to others online, we focussed on messages being sent through social media sites and thinking about why people may choose to be unkind. This was mainly discussed in our reading fluency sessions with a text around respect and safety on the internet.
Here are some ideas of what children came up with when asked why people may choose to be disrespectful online:
- ‘It doesn’t feel like real life if you type it onto a screen.’
- ‘People don’t get caught easily and there’s no consequence.’
- ‘You can’t see the other person’s feelings through a phone so you don’t know how they feel.’
- ‘People say things online that they wouldn’t say in person because they can.’
Following these responses, we looked at some top tips to help prevent us from ever taking part in this kind of online activity, and what to do if we are a victim of this.
Help at home:
Check in with your child and their experiences online. Make sure they know that they can talk without worry about their thoughts, feelings and actions online. Could you create some tips at home to help your child feel safe and to continue being respectful online?