Year 6 - Murderous Macbeth

From recreating the pocket portraits of Henry VIII’s wives in art, to making Tudor houses in DT to studying Shakespeare in English, this has been an Autumn term inspired by history. A trip to Hampton Court complemented these studies perfectly. It is lovely to see the children so engaged in this cross curricular work and developing a real understanding of life in the time of the Tudors. In other news, the Y6’s have participated enthusiastically in the house photography, football and rugby competitions and eagerly await the announcement of the winners.

The Year 6 children have loved their introduction to Shakespeare and in particular their study of Macbeth. This gory and gruesome tale really captured their imaginations. Activities such as insulting each other in Shakespearean language, playing Conscience Alley to persuade Macbeth to kill or spare Banquo and taking on the role of the ruthless, power-hungry Lady Macbeth in drama have given the children an excellent understanding of the story and hopefully an interest in watching and reading more Shakespeare.

The children have had another busy term in Maths. We had some remarkable scores in the Primary Maths Challenge this year and look forward to seeing how some of the children progress in the next round in January. They have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into their weekly problem solving sessions and we are really seeing the benefits of their improved reasoning skills in class. This term we have looked at multiplication and division (a lot of the children were pleasantly surprised at their mastery of long division). We have ended the term with a very successful fractions unit.

Our Year 6 children have been very excited lately, waiting for their first letter (and perhaps a Christmas card) from their new French penpals. Having written (in French) and sent their own first letter and Christmas card to France in the last couple of weeks, the anticipation has been palpable. But they need wait no longer, as packages of letters and cards arrived this week. Their counterparts had made great efforts to introduce themselves (in English) and tell us some of their interests.

Year 6 can’t wait to showcase their knowledge of French, German, as well as a bit of Japanese (and even some Spanish!) at their Carol Concert next week.

In Design & Technology, Year 6 have used their knowledge of nets from earlier Maths lessons to aid in the creation of architectural models of Tudor houses. They have learnt about the important role of manure as a construction material in mediaeval times and how the addition of a jetty would keep pedestrians dry. Their safe use of the glue guns has been particularly impressive!