Year 6 Blog – Page 7 – Queen's Hill Primary School

Hapazome: Outdoor Learning inspired by Japanese art

17th January 202313th January 2023

In Outdoor Learning, to tie in with our art topic about dying materials, we learned the Japanese craft of hapazome. The Year 6s collected fresh leaves and safely used mallets to bash the colour onto triangles of cotton material. Some children made their own tools out of chunks of bark and stones to hold down the material in the wind. They discovered the lighter they tapped with the mallets the more detail their prints revealed.

Quite literally meaning ‘leaf dye’, hapa-zome is the Japanese technique of smashing flowers and leaves into fabric. The plant matter is often arranged into a mandala, but you can create any pattern you like. Be sure to use fresh, juicy plants though; these will leave the best imprint.

If you type ‘Hapazome’ into Google you could find some inspiration to try this over the weekend!

Maya: Ancient to today!

11th January 2023

Across our subjects we have started our new Topic: the Maya. In Art we learned about the importance of art in Mayan culture and how they were prolific storytellers, and one of the reasons we know so much about this ancient culture is because of their frescoes and sculptures.

The Maya used lots of repeating patterns and symbols in their architecture, sculpture and artwork.

They often represented the real creatures in the jungles and grasslands around them, as well as demon figures and mythical figures.

In History, we looked at where the Maya live today, what sort of climate and landscape they live in, and then detailed what we already know and what we would like to know.

We practiced our mapwork skills by filling in all the countries of Central America.

We discussed what we had already learned in just two days, and what else we would like to learn by the end of the unit.

Festive Fun in Year 6!

16th December 2022

Year 6 have had a festive-filled end of term! They have all worked so incredibly hard this term and us teachers are very proud of them! Wishing all of our wonderful Year 6’s and their families a joyful and restful Christmas – we look forward to welcoming everyone back in the new year for another busy and exciting term ahead!

Shadow Investigation

12th December 2022

Year 6 carried out a Science investigation to discover how the size of an object’s shadow depends on the distance between the light source and the object. Before the investigation, children made a prediction, explained the method, noted the apparatus needed and drew scientific diagrams. They then drew up a results table and used this to plot a graph to show their findings as well as writing a conclusion.

What did we find out?

The size of the object’s shadow increases as the distance between the light source and the object decreases. This is because light
travels in straight lines, so objects closer to the light source block light travelling in a greater range of different directions. As a wide light source moves towards an object, the shadow’s edges become less sharp (as it actually consists of overlapping shadows due to different parts of the light source). We only changed one variable to make it a fair test.

Year 6 History

16th December 202212th December 2022

Year 6 have produced some wonderful double-page spreads to celebrate all of their hard work in History over the Autumn term. Children collated a range of different ideas under subheadings to show their understanding, including: rationing, the role of women, key dates and countries involved and VE Day. Have a look at these brilliant examples!

Periscopes!

5th December 20222nd December 2022

Year 6 made their very own periscopes today as part of their learning about light and reflection. They used mirrors in their periscope and observed how the mirrors in the periscope reflected the light to enable them to see an image of an object around a corner or over the top of another object. Grit and determination were needed as well as independence and concentration whilst following the instructions!

Levers and Fulcrums!

1st December 2022

In Year 6 this week we have started our Design and Technology unit for this term. In this unit on ‘Mechanisms’, we have started by learning about levers and fulcrums. We learned that Archimedes discovered this concept that we can adjust how much weight we can lift by pivoting on a fulcrum. We learned how changing the distance of the ‘effort arm’ from the fulcrum can make a big difference to the weight we can lift.

During the lesson, we talked about the examples of levers we can see in our everyday lives; seesaws, nutcrackers, hammers, bottle opener and balancing scales. Using a fulcrum doesn’t make the item lighter, it just changes how we can apply pressure to lift the weight. Maybe you can have a go at home building your own lever systems. Send some photos if you make anything!

Maths Investigation

18th November 2022

We have completed our first Maths investigation of the year. This time we had to work to find all solutions to The Ladybird Challenge. It is always interesting to see the creativity with which children approach these challenges, as they are very different from arithmetic questions. This is about trial and error and sometimes fumbling your way through and collaborating with each other to find out new ways of thinking and recording.

The children worked on their problem solving skills and used our school crowns “grit and determination” and “curiosity”. It was lovely to see all of the children engaged and enjoying building on their knowledge and understanding.

What happens after..? Reincarnation?

14th November 2022

Year 6 have been delving into their own personal beliefs, and learning about those of other religions, when it comes to the presence of a soul, the possibility of an afterlife, and what’s the deal about karma? It has been truly fascinating discussing all the different things that might happen to us after we die, and the adults have been very impressed with how the children have handled these discussions with respect and curiosity. There are many religions, faiths, and personal beliefs represented in Year 6 and across our school. There have been many conversations about ‘what goes around comes around’, and big philosophical questions about why we should treat each other with respect and kindness throughout our lifetimes.

Today, we have talked about the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path, as well as the concept of Karma and reincarnation. We designed our own visual ‘Wheel of Life’ images, and thought about what we would choose as our areas for reincarnation and enlightenment.

Remembrance Assembly

11th November 202211th November 2022

Thank you to all those who joined us for Remembrance Assembly this morning. I think we can all agree that the Year 6’s presented themselves with the utmost respect and decorum for this special occasion. They have been working hard to learn their lines off by heart and deliver them to a huge audience with confidence and clarity. Year 3 pupils also created their own poppies and our school canteen kindly created special poppy cakes in recognition of remembrance day.

Well done Year 6 for bringing a tear to many an eye this morning! You should be very proud of yourselves.

In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.