WELCOME TO THE YEAR 5 AND 6 BLOG FOR THE SPRING TERM! 

Week beginning Monday 25th March

Please see below for details of our last week of the Spring term. We have enjoyed an inspirational assembly from Martin Chivers about the importance of working hard to achieve your goals, and the LKS2 play in addition to our curriculum learning and end of term activities!

End of term message - Friday 28th March

Dear Years 5&6 and Parents/Guardians,

Thank you for an AWESOME term of learning in UKS2. Just scrolling down this page has reminded me of how many brilliant things have been achieved both inside and outside of the classroom: I am a very proud phase leader! We hope that you now have a lovely, relaxing break with your families and look forward to welcoming you back to school for the Summer Term on Tuesday 16th April. 

Miss Kropman x

UKS2 Design and Technology Viking Pouches - Wednesday 27th March

Years 5 and 6 have spent their D&T lessons this half term focusing on sewing skills. They firstly researched Viking pouches and designed their own, featuring embroidered runes based on personal identification (such as their name, initials, sporting shirt number etc). After practising their joining and decorative stitches, UKS2 then made their own fantastic draw-string pouches. 

Week beginning Monday 18th March

Please see below examples of our excellent work in UKS2! Don't forget to also check out the Sports Blog for news of Year 5's handball tournament and the boys' football team, and the Music Blog to see our iRockers in action! 

Year 6 writing - Thursday 21st March

Year 6 completed their narrative unit this morning by writing a character description of Gollum from Tolkien's The Hobbit. Look how sinister these two talented writers have made him sound!

Down with the dark lived gruesome Gollum; he was vile and sinister, broken out from Hell. Ones who dared to meet him trembled, cried, ran. They were never heard from again. Gollum's lamp-like eyes - penetrating your soul - were the only thing to bee seen in the cloaking darkness. On a lake he floated, preying upon any unsuspecting fish with horrible jerks, throttling them in moments...

By Owen

Deep down in the soul-destroying waters lurked a vile creature who stole the happiness from everyone in its path. So evil, was he, that if you dared to stare at him directly, your heart would melt right in front of you. This was a Gollum. His pale, lamp-like eyes were deathly. His skinny body hunched over, he looked up: I was his prey...

By Ella

Topaz’s PSHE lesson – Wednesday 20^th March

This afternoon, Topaz explored how differences within communities create diversity, making for an interesting PSHE session. Using various images of apples, we discussed how they were similar as were all the same fruit, yet their shape/feel/size/distinguishing features/colour/flavour all made them unique. We were then able to liken this to our school community, where our diversity allows us to interact with people who are different from ourselves. By the end of the lesson, Topaz members were able to appreciate the value of being part of a diverse community at Brookmans Park School, and embraced this by writing some incredible acrostic poems for Miss Kropman to display in the classroom. Well done, Topaz!

Topaz’s Science – Monday 18^th March

In our science lesson today, we investigated whether the numbers of bulbs/batteries in a circuit affects the brightness of a bulb. In order to do this, we planned our investigation carefully and considered how to ensure it was a fair test. Upon completing our investigation, we looked carefully at our results in order to write a successful conclusion. Some of us also repeated the investigation using a buzzer as our variable, whilst we also explored ‘current’ and the use of a complex circuit (namely that used for Christmas lights). Miss Kropman was very impressed with the scientific vocabulary and reasoning used today!

Year 6 Writing - Monday 18th March

Year 6 have been using figurative language to great effect today in order to describe a forest scene. Here are some of Miss Kropman's favourites!

The moon lit up the lake like a match and candle, filling the forest with light. Like a wave of majestic embers, fire-flies lifted up the dead leaves and returned them to their homes. Nature was restored to the golden days of the past as the dead rose again to protect their land...

By Max

The grass danced, swaying side to side. Like a majestic carpet, the grass welcomed its wildlife home. The river lay there silently, watching the ghost children play happily. Whilst the rest of the world slept, the moon awoke to say hello.

By Hannah

The glistening moon hugged the woodland surface, a brick protecting from all evil. Meanwhile, the trees stood sturdily in the moonlight. Grass swayed side to side in the majestic light as if dancing in a royal ball. As time passed, the sun rose and turned the grass as golden as herself.

By Atoor

The lonely, glistening moon smiles at me as I enter the beautiful, green forest that holds the plants of the world within. The leaves of the welcoming oak trees dance like ballerinas in the wind. While the rest of the world sleeps, the water is a trembling earthquake, ready to awaken! 

By Georgia

Week beginning Monday 11th March

Please see below for what we have been learning about this week in UKS2! For news of the Year 6 Boys Football A team's fabulous week, please also see the Sports Blog.

Year 6 English - Tuesday 12th March

Year 6 have been demonstrating excellent writing to create tension in their English lessons with Miss Kropman. Today, we were inspired by a clip from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Here is Finley's awesome example:

With anger surging through his veins, Harry stomped down the deserted streets. He took a pause and sat down on the pavement. Suddenly, the streetlight flickered ominously above his head, signaling a warning. It continued. In the abandoned playground, the swings began to sway in line, with nobody on them. Harry could sense something was wrong as he turned to see a black figure emerging from the bush...Who, or what, was it?

Here is Frankie's incredible extract:

As rage pervaded his souls and his veins burst with anger, Harry stormed out of the house. He paced many gloomy streets before panting, struggling for air, he paused and collapsed onto the pavement. Up above his head, a mysterious streetlight flickered, leaving him with an uneasy sense of threat. The wind blew. The dark, abandoned playground froze, while the seesaw, roundabout and swings came to life. Creak. Creak. The toys screamed. Harry looked around as, from the bushes, rose a dark, ominous silhouette, ready to pounce!

Saltmine Theatre Production and Workshop – Monday 11^th March

UKS2 had a fantastic afternoon today watching the Saltmine Theatre’s performance of ‘The Rhyming Bible’ as support for our RE curriculum. Based around the story of the Bible (namely creation, Moses and Jesus) the play featured excellent enthusiasm from the young actors and some super audience participation! After the production ended, Years 5 and 6 took part in a fun drama workshop centred around key themes from the play. We also got the opportunity to ask some questions to the actors about their faith. Thank you, Saltmine, for a super performance and workshop!

DT Morning – Monday 11^th March

Years 5 and 6 had a practical start to the week as they practised their sewing skills in Design and Technology! They have been tasked with creating a Viking pouch in keeping with their topic learning. This morning, they had a chance to try out running, back, blanket and over stitch in order to experiment with different joining and decoration techniques. After break, Years 5 and 6 then worked hard to create a mood board, documenting their research about Viking pouches, in order to then design their own pouch.

Week beginning Monday 4th March

World Book Day fever has hit this week! Please see below the super activities we have undertaken in UKS2 in addition to a great start to our new science unit, too.

Quidditch Day – Friday 8^th March

To end our magic-themed week, we were treated to a day of quidditch – the sport featured in JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ books! The morning began with a sorting hat assembly, where Jack and Owen from Enrich Education placed our house captains under the hat. Their houses were assigned as follows:

Gryffindor – Fire

Hufflepuff – Air

Ravenclaw – Water

Slytherin – Earth

Each year group then got the opportunity to take part in an actual quidditch session for their PE lesson, which was great fun! At the end of the day, we gathered back in the hall, where the winners of the Brookmans Park School Quidditch Cup were named as….GRYFFINDOR! Well done to all of the children in Fire, with a special mention to Hunter for winning the ‘Chaser of the Day’ award.  

UKS2 English - Friday 8th March

Inspired by Shakespeare's 'Song of the Witches' from yesterday, Years 5 and 6 wrote some awesome sinister spell poems of their own today! Here is a super example from Josie in Year 6:

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a brown earth-worm,

In the cauldron turn and squirm.

Eye of rat and toe of frog,

Wool of sheep and tongue of dog.

Adder's head and blind-worm's eye,

Lizard's arm and howlet's cry.

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a furnace boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Cool it with a pig's heart,

Then the charm is set apart. 

World Book Day - Thursday 7th March

UKS2 had a FANTASTIC World Book Day today. We began the day with a whole-school assembly, where Mrs Davies introduced the theme of 'magic'. A number of teachers (Miss Shaw, Miss Kropman, Ms Hart, Mrs J Johnson, Mr Peacefull and Mrs Ingram) were then the brave performers for Mrs Davies' narration of her favourite 'magic' book: Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson. 

Back in the classroom, Years 5 and 6 learnt about William Shakespeare and one of his most famous plays - Macbeth. Seeing as it is World Poetry Day in just a fortnight, the children were challenged to explore the 'magical' and sinister witches' spell from Act IV of the play. They spent time discussing the rhyming pattern, meter and rhythm before then learning it off by heart in some incredible performances! Tomorrow, they will spend their English lessons writing a spell of their own, inspired by Shakespeare, which we also look forward to performing!

Camilla Chester Author Visit – Wednesday 6^th March

Our whole school were treated to an exciting visit from local author Camilla Chester today ahead of tomorrow’s World Book Day celebrations. Camilla began the day with an engaging assembly, where she shared some information about herself and the inspiration for her books. Camilla then shared what Selective Mutism is and how she had researched this in order to effectively write about a main character who suffers from this in ‘Call Me Lion’. After an interactive five minutes where we learnt Leo’s dance moves from the book, we had the opportunity to ask Camilla questions about her job. Key Stage 2 then took it in turns to take part in a workshop about ‘Call Me Lion’. The workshop included looking more closely at what makes an effective story opening and being challenged with re-writing the first line in order to capture the reader’s attention. In addition to a number of other fun activities, Camilla also kindly signed everyone’s booklets before then selling copies of her books at the end of the day. This was a fantastic event for all of our children and we would like to say a big thank you to Camilla for coming to Brookmans Park!

Week beginning Monday 26^th February

A jam-packed start to the half-term with interactive learning in the classroom and additional sporting opportunities too! (Please see Sports Blog for news of our Girls Football A team bringing home some silverware and an INCREDIBLE regional win for our Year 6 Indoor Athletics team!).

Year 6 narrative extracts based on Malorie Blackman's 'Pig Heart Boy' - Thursday 29th February

Year 6 have been dazzling Miss Kropman in their English lessons this week with their balance of short and long sentences to engage the reader, and use of ambitious vocabulary choices. Here are some excellent examples of their work:

I am drowning.

I am drowning.

I am going to die.

I push myself up, longing to take a breath. Only one, just one. As I open my eyelids, chlorine stings my eyes. Safety seems kilometers away. My blood is screaming, my lungs are burning and my whole body senses its danger!

I scream, but nobody can hear me. My only choice is to not give up. I pray, pray and pray, but nothing happens. What else can I do?

I hear my soul scream. Part of me - a tiny, tiny part of me - laughs. This is how I am going to die.

By Chloe C

I am drowning in this unbearable torture.

How am I supposed to survive? People say that there is always a choice. Well, not in this situation. Time is running out; I need to take a breath. A tiny, little breath…My lungs are screaming with the need for air. My veins cannot transport any more blood from my heart, which is beating like the unbearable speed of light.

Water starts to engulf my lungs and my infernal soul laughs. I am drowning and there is no escaping this hellish death.

By Veronika

Year 6 OLLIE Foundation Online Workshop - Tuesday 27th February

An inspirational leader from The OLLIE Foundation kindly invited Year 6 to join an online workshop this afternoon for their PSHE lesson. The charity focuses on positive mental health, with the acronym One Life Lost Is Enough, and were keen to encourage Topaz and Turquoise to achieve their goals with manageable steps. We started by taking part in a sit down/stand up game about our worries before discussing how we have been successful with various life events. After discussing our upcoming SATS, we explored goals and a four step approach towards achieving these. Firstly, we learnt the importance of setting a clear and definitive goal. Secondly, we noted down any concerns and obstacles that could be in our way. Most interestingly, perhaps, was the process of manifesting, where we imagined ourselves in the future and what our life would be like once the problem has been solved. The final section of the workshop was spent creating a step-by-step guide to achieving our desired outcomes. 

This was a highly useful and motivational way to spend the afternoon and Miss Kropman and Mr Neiman were very impressed with the maturity demonstrated by all of Year 6. We know that they will smash their SATS in May and hope that this has helped to alleviate any worries that they may have! 

Year 6 Science Investigation – Monday 26^th February

Year 6 had a fun start back to the half term this afternoon by conducting an investigation to explore how exercise affects your heart rate. They began the lesson learning that their pulse rate shows how fast their heart is beating, and were then taught how to accurately measure this. In small groups, Year 6 then planned a fair test to measure what exercise would do to their pulse rate. Please see below some excellent examples of their investigations! To conclude the session, the children were tasked with accurately plotting their results on a graph and then explaining their findings.

Week beginning 12th February

Miss Kropman here! I'm back and am delighted to share with you the carousel of Friday activities that your children have completed today on my first full day with them after returning from my broken leg. I have heard so many positive things about the way your children have adapted to change and behaved this half term, in addition to seeing the exceptional work which has been completed. Thank you to all of Year 5&6 for being so kind and helpful over the past two days. I have LOVED being back with you all and can't wait for next half term! 

Congratulations to Mrs Fisher and her husband for the (slightly earlier than expected!) arrival of baby Joseph on Sunday. We hope to meet him soon! 

Thank you to all of the UKS2 families for their continued support. I hope you all have a lovely half term break and look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday 26th February.

Miss Kropman x

Miss Kropman's first full lesson back with the phase was a total hybrid of science and computing, with the Spheros used very creatively by Years 5&6. After having learnt about the circulatory system throughout this half term, the children were initially tasked with drawing a life-size model of this. They used backing paper to draw around one member of their group of 3, and then drew a diagram of the circulatory system within this outline. Labelling the lungs, heart, veins, arteries and also colour-coding for oxygenated and deoxygenated blood challenged them, yet OF COURSE they rose to this with aplomb! The children were then tasked with coding the Spheros (using skills learnt in their computing lessons with Mr Neiman) to follow the continuous cycle of the system. Finally, they wrote a paragraph to explain their learning in science which they then narrated whilst filming the Sphero's journey. Miss Kropman was so impressed with how well UKS2 demonstrated their understanding in this end-of-unit cross-curricular activity! 

Week beginning 5th February

Ongoing technical difficulties are continuing to result in a lack of photographic evidence for what your incredible children have been up to. We hope to have this problem resolved as quickly as possible.

Week beginning 29th January

Please see the Music Blog for evidence of the UKS2 choir members' exciting concert this week!

Week beginning 22nd January

Technical difficulties have led to a lack of photographs being available this week. Please do ask your children about their history carousel, though, where they made helmets, figureheads and created runes on Viking swords! 

Week beginning 15th January

Please see below to see some examples of excellent learning in UKS2 this week! Despite the freezing weather outside, your children's brains are certainly on fire!

Sapphire worked exceptionally hard in their maths lesson today, using dienes and counters as manipulatives to aid their understanding of division. First, they created the whole number before proficiently demonstrating equal groups! 

Year 5 PSHE - Tuesday 16th January

In PSHE this week, we have been looking at money and how we are influenced to spend this. In small groups, we roleplayed a scenario where one person was a customer and the other children took on different roles to try and persuade them to part with their cash! 

Week beginning 8th January 2024

Welcome back to the Spring Term! It has been so lovely to welcome the children back to school for another busy week in UKS2. The children have settled back in extremely well and have coped with changes brilliantly, as we welcome Miss Shaw to Sapphire Class and Mrs Socratous as cover for the broken-legged Miss Kropman for Year 6 English lessons. 

UKS2 Art - Wednesday 10th January

Year 5 and 6 are incredibly lucky to still be taught art by Miss Shaw this term. We started our new unit today with observational drawings of Viking warriors. In order to inspire their work, the children were given the opportunity to get in role as Vikings. Miss Shaw loved their incredibly intimidating expressions and superb battle roars!