Year 6 pupils have really enjoyed finding out about what it was like to live in Wales during World War Two and how everyone helped in the ‘war effort’ in one way or another.
At the start of term, Year 6 enjoyed taking part in a World War Two immersion day and had the chance to do some code breaking, make spitfires, create war and peace images using charcoal, take part in role play scenarios, learn some ‘Make do and Mend’ sewing skills and cook some war time Anzac cookies. Following on from that they also had the opportunity to take part in a virtual experience where the children got to learn about how World War Two started and about the history of Newport being bombed, inside an interactive dome.
We were lucky enough to go on a fantastic trip to Cardiff Castle a few weeks into our theme, which really brought the topic to life. The children had the opportunity to explore the historic grounds whilst being taught about the significant role the castle played in providing shelter during air-raids for residents nearby. All classes had the opportunity to go into the air-raid tunnels and experience a taster of what it was like when the siren went off and the procedures that had to be followed. The conditions were very authentic and certainly helped the children to get a feel for what people had to go through during times of war. As always, the workshop session was brilliant. They got to see artefacts such as gas masks and replica bombs, learn about Blackout rules, rationing and evacuees. Most were very shocked to see a gas mask that had to be worn by a baby!
As part of STEM children took part in practical investigations involving ‘Training like a soldier’. They measured their heart rate after doing exercises such as star jumps, burpees and press ups and applied their Numeracy skills to calculate the average from a set of data. Following on from that we delved into studying the ‘Journey of a blood cell’ by programming Spheros.
To celebrate Safer Internet Day, we took part in two live workshops, one where children were spoken to by a local Police officer about choosing and playing age appropriate games online and the other where they learnt how to use Adobe Express to create internet safety awareness posters and websites.
A new exciting initiative was launched just recently. Year six children have buddied up with children in year two and three to help boost their digital competency skills. It was so heartwarming to see how they took such pride and pleasure in showing our younger children how to learn new skills on a Chrome book and how boost the confidence of those who were struggling to log in and out of everyday school accounts. This is something we hope to keep developing and improving on.
Community links with our local Police officer Alex were made recently and children had the opportunity to learn about the Police force and the role that they play in the community. This interactive session allowed the children to ask questions face to face and hopefully inspired some to think about a career in the Police force.
After half term we will be doing lots of Welsh themed work in preparation for our Eisteddfod. This is a fantastic opportunity for children to enter a wide range of competitions and to earn points for their house. It would be great to have lots of entries into the D&T competition where the children have to design and make a WW2 air-raid shelter.
As always we would like to thank you for your continued support at home with all aspects of school life. We have lots of exciting things planned for after half term and will continue to post photographs and videos on Dojo so you can see for yourself and celebrate your child’s achievements!
Have a safe and happy half term.
