Year 6 SAT maths revision check list

We've all got the links to the best revision sites, as well as our own revision plans for the holidays. You also have your past papers so here are just a few things to remember;

1.  Remember to go over your knowledge of converting units of measure. This should involve metres, centimetres and millimetres, litres and millilitres, grams and kilograms and minutes, hours and days.

2.  Remember to look at converting fractions, percentages and decimals – did you know that 0.7 is the same as 70% and not 7%? Did you know that 5% is the same as 1/20 and not 1/5? This is a vital basic skill!

3.  Remember your times tables – saying them out loud is the best way to remember them and they will be needed in every question you answer in one way or another!

4.  Use your past papers to guide you – whatever you didn’t get right last time is your ticket to improving so focus on that!

5.  Keep your mental skills sharp – working things out in your head quickly and accurately is the key to mental maths so talk to a friend of an adult and test each other every single day. 5 minutes is enough each day!

Pirates Exhibition - Creative Curriculum end of term theme day 27th March

Wednesday March 27th saw Year 6 invite the rest of our school to our second creative curriculum exhibition of the year and this time the theme was pirates.

Year 6 displayed detailed reports on the history of pirates (both old and modern) as well as complicated history work explaining the reasons for key events in history linked to piracy.

In addition to the work in our books, we also created a large art exhibition, demonstrated our gymnastics skills and showed off our reading comprehension progress.

Here's a look at the exhibition - thank you to all the children who visited and asked so many interesting questions and to all of the parents and carers who managed to come and see us!

Always nice to see a random 'Mobot' at a pirates exhibition...

No pirates were harmed in the running of this art exhibition

All of our PE work this half term has been themed around pirates in preparation for this exhibition.

Ellie and Joe explaining our wall of colour to some budding young artists

The younger members of our school, as always, made our day what it was with their excellent behaviour and barrage of questions to keep Year 6 busy!

Megan and Niamh explaining the flag wall to a class of visitors

Is there any escaping that annoying creature? He gets everywhere!

Ben and Jack guarding a couple of swarthy individuals ; )

Year 6 enjoyed performing their gymnastics routines for the younger children in school.

FAB friends doing a FAB job of explaining their learning to the other children in school

Balances, rolls, poses - all of the key gymnastic skills applied to original, pirate-themed routines.

If your name's not on the list, you're not coming in i'm afraid...

A wall of colour - beautiful depth and variety, only possible with 23 people all working together.

Not bad for a creature with behaviour as bad as the Fish Finger Monster

Year 6 Creative Curriculum - Art Exhibitions

As one of our pirates mini-challenges we have revisited our art work from the autumn term.

We are still using a variety of wet and dry media but this time our inspiration is pirates. The main difference between this term and last term is the qualty of the work. Pieces are more refined and demonstrate better control of the chalks and charcoals, which shows that pupils are more capable of using what are quite delicate resources.

This term we have also drawn inspiration from some of the greatest artists of modern times. Look out for work inspired by the likes of Warhol, Kandinski, Dali and Picasso.

We will be displaying our exhibition on the morning of Wednesday March 27th so make sure you're there to see it all!

Year 6 PE - Gymnastics

This half term we have been looking at gymnastics in greater detail than you may expect.

We have discussed and defined a balance, a pose and a roll and have developed some pretty impressive skills based around these PE actions.

We have learned about muscle stress and contraction and learned a bit more about how our bodies work. Our next step is to create a routine based around pirates but so far here's what we've managed to come up with...

Balanced require core muscle strength and place stress on muscles to support the body's weight.

This balance requires a lot of effort from the core muscle group but this group made the task easier by using each other's feet to lean on.



Poses are easier (see Megan) as there is usually less stress on the leg and adbominal muscles because both feet are usually on the ground.



Learn By Heart; Shape Properties

Our current LBH task is to understand and recognise 2D and 3D shapes and their properties.

• Test 1; Thursday 28th February 2013
• Test 2; Thursday 7th March 2013

Typical questions will include the following...

• What is a vertex?
• Describe a pair of perpendicular lines.
• Link these shape names to the number of sides they have.
• Which of these shapes is not a prism?
• Tick the shape which is not a quaderilateral.

The pass mark will be 80% and there will be two tests.

The next LBH task will be discussed in the maths clinic and will be agreed upon and given out to all students on Thursday March 7th.

For help with this task use the following links;

N-rich maths 2D shape activities

N-rich maths 3D shape activities

Talk Time - Improve Your Discussion Skills

Here is a variety of topics you may like to discuss with an adult at home, a friend or anyone who wants to talk.

Talking is the most basic skill we have as human beings and it is important to be able to express yourself as an individual with their own thoughts, feelings and opinions. Respecting the views of others is a vital life skill and so is the ability to respond to what other people are saying (so not just 'waiting to talk') in order to join in with a lively and interesting conversation.

Try some of the topics below and try some of these conversation prompts in order to have a mature conversation...

I agree with you because...
My opinion is... because
I see your point, but...
Because of... I believe...

Remember - the best discussions get you thinking, not just agreeing immediately.

·      Why should people work so hard and pay taxes when other people don’t do anything and are given things for free?

·      Why should British soldiers risk their lives in Afghanistan instead of Afghanistan looking after itself?

·      How has religion both blessed and harmed the world we live in today?

·      Do we really need a royal family?

·      What is happiness?

·      What is success?

·      Does ‘class’ have anything to do with money?

·      Is it ever okay to lie to somebody?

Quotes Corner; Feel Inspired!

Here are some quotes from famous people who have worked hard in life in order to succeed.

See if you can work out what they mean and how you can draw inspiration from these people in order to always be your best in life...

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”

Michael Jordan

“One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in”

Wayne Gretzky

“Things going wrong do not build character. They reveal it.”

John Wooden

“It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

Babe Ruth

“You can't be a winner and be afraid to lose.” 

Charles Lynch

“Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right.”

Henry Ford

“It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.”

Unknown

“Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.”

John Wooden

“Hiding is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere”

Unknown

“One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.”

                            Jack Penn

Leeds Rhinos visit February 2013

For two lucky young journalists from The Fieldhead Focus, February 6th 2013 will be a day they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Jack and Ellie were chosen to come with Mr Riley, Miss Stevens and of course the Fish Finger Monster to visit the hallowed ground of Headingley - home of the mighty Leeds Rhinos.

During our visit we got a guided tour of the stadium, saw what a horrible mess Hull FC made of the away changing room (it stank after they'd been in there - ask Miss Stevens!), sat on the home team changing room benches, held the Super League and World Club Challenge trophies, stuffed the Fish Finger Monster in one of them but sadly couldn't drive off in time before he escaped again, saw a whole host of international rugby league stars and then to top it all off... we interviewed Leeds and England legend Jamie Jones Buchanan and here's what he had to say...

What inspired you to play rugby when you were a child?	I started playing rugby league because my next door neighbours played. They were the biggest kids in the street so I wanted to be like them!
How do you keep yourself calm for the big games?	If I do look calm then it’s an act because I’m not! I’m pretty confident going into a game because I take great confidence from our training and preparation during the week and I also have confidence in the other players because I trust them and [the rest of the team] means a lot to me.
If you weren’t a rugby league player what would you be doing?	I’d have to say social worker because I like to help people in the community and I still do a lot of that in my spare time. If not a social worker then maybe an architect because I’m interested in buildings and in fact I’ve just started to build a house with my mum which I have designed myself!
How do you keep fit and healthy and how do you avoid injury?	The best way to avoid injury is by being fit and healthy! I make sure I get a good amount of sleep and I eat the ‘paleo’ diet. This is the diet that cavemen used to eat and involves no processed food or bread. Ian Kirke’s on it too and he calls bread ‘the devil’! I also do some extra work at home away from training. People who put extra work in are usually the ones who reap the rewards in rugby league; you get out what you put in.
When you were a young player in the academy did any other clubs try to sign you and if so then why did you stay at Leeds?	I did have a few offers from other clubs but I decided to stay because I love it at Leeds. I’m from Leeds, my family’s here and I grew up round the corner from Headingley so it’s always been a big part of my life both then and now.
You don’t fancy signing for Wigan then?	Ha ha – no thank you!
How was pre-season training in Portugal?	It was really good, actually. We went there for a a good week of warm weather training which was helpful because you can’t predict the weather over here at this time of year. It guaranteed us good weather so we were able to practice moves and drills we may not have been able to do in the snow so it was a useful trip.
Tea or coffee?	Tea! With honey instead of sugar though.
Summer or winter?	Oooooh, summer but not when it’s too hot. It’s also nicer for the fans in the summer so they’re not standing there freezing on the terraces! The game flows more freely when the gounds are firm and the weather’s warmer as well.
Training or match day?	Good question! I suppose I’d have to say both because the training sessions build you up for game day so you can’t really have one without the other. I suppose the only difference on game day is there’s 17 big lads trying to hurt you!
Rugby union or football?	Football, definitely football!
Any regrets?	I don’t really have regrets, I try and learn from the things that don’t go my way in life. I see failures as lessons in life and try to take something positive from them so I can try to do better next time.
Favourite holiday destination?	Bramley, seriously! I like playing in my garden! Honestly, I like Centre Parks as I prefer to go somewhere in the UK with my kids.
Who do you like best, Danny Maguire or Rob Burrow?	Neither, ha ha. Are they ever going to read this?
Who’s the hardest player to play against in the Super League?	Sam Tomkins of Wigan. Terrific player. He’s like a chicken because he never stops running and he’s almost impossible to grab hold of, and when you do get hold of him you want to ring his neck for giving you the run around!
Cat or dog?	I’ve got both but I’d have to say dog as they’re more loyal.
Christmas or Easter?	As a Christian I’d say Easter is the most important holiday to celebrate, but I also enjoy Christmas with my family
Blackpool or Bondi?	Blackpool, every time! I love going anywhere in the UK.
Hardest team you’ve faced in your career?	St Helens. Other teams have had their day and been up and down but over my career St Helens have always been up there and they have the best record against the Rhinos over the past ten or eleven years.

It was a fascinating experience and one of the best days of our lives getting to see the Rhinos behind the scenes and interview Jamie Jones-Buchanan – one of the greatest players in the Leeds team.