A group of pupils in Year 6 welcomed our gardening partners back for a little light winter preparation. They planted the boat ready for Spring colour and the allotment has had a fresh covering of bark. The children are really enjoying the improvements that they have helped make to our site. 😁 We also discovered some fabulous fungi, and wonderful worms, a sure sign our soil is healthy and fertile. Looking forward to planting the raised beds in Spring and enjoying another harvest.

Thank you to all the parents who visited our Autumn Term Project Exhibition. Children and parents completed a craft activity linked to our geography and art learning this term. After that, children spoke about their learning across the curriculum.

Well done everyone!

This afternoon Year 6 had their Christmas Experience with CrossTeach. Children visited the three different zones to develop their understanding about the story of Jesus’ birth. Throughout the session, children collaborated to complete tasks to support their learning.

Year 5 and 6 went on a local walk as part of our fieldwork for Geography. We collected data on the flora, fauna and litter at a lake. Year 5 were lucky enough to see a heron! Both classes recorded their observations well and will now analyse the data. Well done!

Look at our amazing sketching and shading techniques! Class 6 are very creative and artistic, well done.

This afternoon children completed our first science lesson by creating different electrical circuits. After they created working circuits, children had to accurately draw the circuits using the correct symbols. Fantastic perseverance and collaboration on display!

This morning Year 6 have been practicing their long multiplication by completing an investigation. Children competed against each other to create calculations with answers within each increment up to 100,000. Showing great perseverance, children worked hard to complete the calculations before their partner!

Inspired by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Year 6 pupils designed and built their amazing model suspension bridge.

They used trusses, towers, beams and a deck to make their bridge sturdy and strong.  After, they tested with weights and toy cars.

Future STEM ambassadors!

This morning Year 6 were visited by Belong Nottingham as part of Black History Month. Children were fascinated by the story of Jacob Wainwright, a companion of Dr David Livingstone. Unfortunately, Jacob’s reputation has been tarnished over the years, highlighting the racism and prejudice that different minorities have faced throughout the years. This project improves his reputation as well as exploring Jacob’s links to Nottingham.

A fantastic final afternoon of Forest School with Ms Turner-Jones & Mr K. The fire has been burning all afternoon as children have been baking chocolate orange sponges which tasted delicious. On top of this, children enjoyed the full range of usual activities such as den building and whittling.

Thanks to Ms Turner-Jones & Mr K!

This afternoon in Year 6 children investigated how to prove yeast is a microorganism. In groups, children wrote a prediction before completing an experiment using warm water in a bottle that was mixed with yeast and sugar. On top of the bottle was a balloon which gradually filled with gas, proving yeast is a microorganism.

A group of pupils from Year 5 and 6 took part in a poetry workshop with poet Manjit Sahota.

They focused their poetry on the themes ‘Identity and Belonging’. Our pupils were thoughtful with their vocabulary choices, making creative connections with the work around them. Manjit shared his own works and ideas, to help the group create their own poems. They were all unique and inspiring. Each pupil performed their work with such pride and enjoyment. Well done to our future poets!

A fantastic end to our Year 6 Into University Focus Week. Children performed a short show about their important individual from WW2 before receiving their certificate from David, who works at Nottingham University. Before this, children further developed their WW2 knowledge while also participating in a campus tour to see what university life is like.

Today was Year 6’s first day at Into University. Children were introduced to their focus week before being placed into their groups. Using the focus of WW2, children then completed four tasks relating to important aspects such as rationing, morse code & VE Day. The afternoon saw the start of the secret mission – shhhh!

As part of the Urban Nature Project Explore project, Year 6 visited Wollaton Hall yesterday to participate in a range of outdoor activities examining the diverse range of living things. Children completed a botanical garden survey using quadrats before engaging in a water investigation at Wollaton Lake. This involved pond dipping and identifying different species. Our pupils are now part way through achieving their Crest Award. An excellent day; well done all.

This morning Tiny has challenged Year 6 to find a six digit number. However, Tiny was clear it was a very specific six digit number. Children used their logical skills as well as their digit cards to experiment. Children really didn’t like making incorrect guesses but they showed fantastic perseverance to tackle the challenge!

A lovely first session at Forest School with Ms Turner-Jones. This year, Year 6 are looking at survival skills and children were challenged to filter some dirty water. Other tasks included a bug hunt, wood whittling & den building. Of course, the session was ended with a fire and s’mores!

As part of our history hook day, we looked at a range of photographs that had missing sections. Children used their investigative skills to think about the missing sections. Next, the whole photograph was revealed and children wrote about what each section displayed.

Key Stage 2 had a fabulous time at Bluecoat Wollaton this morning, taking part in the Go for Gold fun run. We were so impressed with everyone’s positive attitude and energy!

This morning, Year 6 had their final Transition workshop – this time with Into University. After a brief recap of their Into University journey since Year 4, the focus changed to moving up to secondary school in September. Children completed four activities including giving advice, timetabling and skills. After their recent visits to their secondary schools and the recent workshops, children are excited for September!

This afternoon, we completed our final lesson on light.  Children investigated how filters affect the colour of objects. Children had to make predictions before completing the practical part of the experiment. Once results were discussed, children had to write a conclusion.

Year 6 had a fantastic time at Walesby Forest for their two-night residential. Throughout the stay children’s attitude and perseverance was fantastic, and children tackled so many new challenges such as climbing, kayaking and laser tag. Well done Year 6!

This morning Year 6 have been busy creating hybrid creatures so children are ready to write about them in their non-chronological report next week. Children looked at examples before creating their own creatures as well as using vocabulary sheets.

This morning in Year 6 we have been practising our ruler skills to create optical illusions through curves of pursuit. Children showed great perseverance to improve their examples. More to follow on Friday….

Despite the weather, we had a cracking day out at Wollaton Hall today.  Children participated in an Ancient Greek workshop where they showed off their fantastic knowledge & understanding of aspects of Ancient Greek life. After that, they created Ancient Greek theatre masks after learning about comedies, tragedies & satire before exploring the rest of Wollaton Hall. Well done Year 6!

This afternoon, children continued their light science learning by investigating how light refracts through a prism before investigating spectrum wheels! Children made a prediction before using their learning to make a conclusion.

This afternoon children participated in an exam workshop led by Barbara from MHST. Throughout the session children learnt about the positives and negatives of too much stress. Most importantly, children learnt strategies to help deal with stresses.

Today, Year 6 finished their Forest School learning by visiting Wollaton Park. Children participated in a scavenger hunt, created mini-habitats for their clay creatures as well the usual den-building and tree climbing. Thanks to Ms Turner-Jones for so many wonderful sessions; Year 6 have loved it!

The children in Key Stage 2 were all ecstatic to receive a surprise book yesterday, chosen specially for them, as part of the National Literacy Trust Young Readers Programme. This is the first of three events, where the children will receive a free book to support reading for pleasure. Next time, it’s their turn to choose. It’s been joyful to see everyone enjoying their books around school and sharing them with each other. Southwold loves reading!