Year 6 - ‘Vive la France!’ - Une semaine fantastique!

Our Year 6 pupils have returned buoyant from their fun-filled week in France with a host of fond memories and having gained so much in terms of knowledge, personal growth and self-esteem. The children have come back in high spirits, ready (individually and as a group) to take on their other exciting end of year exploits. In fact, most of them seem to have magically matured about an extra 6 months!

They all encountered all sorts of new experiences: joining in the fun activities at the lovely Château du Broutel where we stayed; learning so much on the various excursions about history, geography, culture and language; supporting each other, developing independence, resilience and further friendships. We all enjoyed visiting the largest sea life centre in Europe, an accrobranche (‘Go-Ape’ tree obstacle course), a goat cheese farm, WW1 battlefield trenches, tunnels and monument, a crêperie restaurant, a snail farm, the local town (stopping for an Orangina or diablo!), and a local market to buy a few gifts and souvenirs to take home. The week was capped off appropriately on our last evening with an entertaining ‘Gateway’s Got Talent’ show!

Having returned rather exhausted, the Gateway staff accompanying the group in France were all very pleased and impressed by the overall behaviour and attitude of the large Year 6 group whilst we were away. Pleasingly, there were also a number of other complimentary comments regarding the children from other people that we encountered whilst away. Our excellent coach driver also praised them for their politeness and respect.

Well done Year 6 - As well as having a wonderful week in France, you did yourselves proud! Bravo!

On their return from France, Year 6 have thrown themselves into Enrichment Week, which has given them the opportunity to work collaboratively to think of problems we encounter in everyday life, and how they could be solved. Our creative children came up with ideas as diverse as a ‘hydrating duvet’, edible snack wrappers, chopsticks which dispense soy sauce, and a body scanning app which allows you to try on clothes virtually. Three days of designing, planning, making prototypes, organising marketing campaigns and filming advertisements culminated in final presentations on Friday. We are so proud of all our pupils, not just for their tenacity in addressing all the different challenges thrown at them as part of the project, but for their ability to work together to harness their individual talents for the group. Their comments say it all:

‘There were no rules about what you could make - we weren’t told what the product was so could use our imagination’ - Oliver

‘The teamwork aspect has been great - it’s been good to put our heads together and think of lots of ideas we could take forward’ - Rosa

‘I liked making the prototypes because we all had to work together. It meant we could work faster, and meant someone in the group always knew how to improve our work’ - Saffron

‘I’ve loved working in a team with my friends - you feel more open to sharing your ideas’ - Kieran

‘I enjoyed the research - finding out more about how people suffer from nightmares for our product’ - Archie

‘I enjoyed the freedom of choosing your approach - you can choose something you are really passionate about. It doesn’t have to be achievable - it can be anything your imagination can create’ - Annie

Our pupils particularly loved the opportunity, on Thursday, to hear from parents about the skills they had needed to succeed in their chosen careers. Huge thanks to all those who came and spoke to Year 6 - they were really inspired by your stories.