Year 6

Academic Year 2023/2024

Year 6 Construct Pulley Systems

Here are some photos of Y6’s pulley systems we made in DT. They were asked to create a pulley system that would help Mayan construction workers to build pyramids. The pulley system would be needed to lift the heavy building material up to the tops of the pyramids.

World Book Day 2024 in Year 6!

For World Book Day, Year 6 created some Whispering Poems, inspired by the poet laureate Joseph Coehlo, to create mood and atmosphere within poetry. Using an image as a stimulus, we gathered together vocabulary and considered different poetic devices. We then performed our poems in a whisper, trying to create an atmosphere of suspense and fear. We had lots of fun!

Year 6 Investigate Printing

During art week, Year 6 looked at printing. We tried two different styles – relief and collagraph – before creating our final design using relief printing. Our work was inspired by the work of the artist William Morris, and we also studied pattern and symmetry in Islamic art. Our final designs were really impressive!

Margaret from Humanists UK Visits Year 6

As part of their RE learning looking at ideas around Creation and Science, Year 6 were visited by a representative from Humanists UK. Margaret discussed her values; the reasons why she identifies as a Humanist (a person who relies on Science rather than faith); how these link to the beliefs of other religions and also what impact this has on her world view. The children really enjoyed having the opportunity to ask questions, which helped to deepen their knowledge and awareness of people who choose to believe in a world shaped by scientific understanding rather than a specific religion.

Young Writer’s Competition – St Mark’s are WINNERS

Children from Year 6 were offered the opportunity to take part in a ‘Mini-Saga Competition,’ requiring them to write a short story of no more than one hundred words. The competition was a national one, with winners having their stories published in a compendium of mini-sagas. We are proud to announce that four of our children won and look forward to having their work published in the coming months. Picture L-R Mason, Fatimah, Zainab, Ana-Maria.

Year 6 Make Woolton Pie

To link with our topic on World War 2, Year 6 were given the challenge to cook a dish that would have been suitable for the wartime diet. This meant we had to consider the availability of products due to rationing and ensure that the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign was taken into account. We looked at the design of the Woolton Pie and innovated this recipe to match with our own tastes and seasonal availability of produce. We worked together in our teams to make the pastry, prepare and boil the vegetables before assembling our pie and making it look appealing with individual designs. They tasted much better than we expected; a job well done!

Year 6 Visit the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery

6J visited the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery to take part in a workshop, which linked with their Geography topic, looking at WW2. First, they had the chance to study the Spitfire Gallery, where they learnt about Stoke-born engineer Sir Reginald Mitchell, who helped to design the famous aeroplane. After that, the children created a ceramic plaque to commemorate those who gave their lives during WW2. The children had a fantastic time, adding first hand experiences to their growing knowledge of the topic.

Year 6 Visit St. Mark’s Church

Year 6 visited St. Mark’s Church to experience an art exhibition and also be curators themselves! Under the guidance of local organisation Stoke-on-Clay, children from 6J learned about the history of the church and then had an opportunity to see examples of work from local ceramic artists as well as the incredible altar piece by master ceramicist, George Tinworth from 1890! As an added bonus, the children then curated their own mini exhibition, thinking carefully how they would select and arrange their artworks.

Year 6 Knife Crime Workshop

On Tuesday 12th November, pupils in Year 6 completed a knife crime workshop with PCSO Washington from Staffordshire Police. The children who took part in the workshop learned about the dangers of knives and how situations can lead to knives being used to harm others. This was an extremely informative session and really does support our children in being safe when out of school.

Year 6 Create Musical Soundscapes Based on Water

As part of their investigation into the topic: Will You Ever See The Water You Drink Again? Year 6 created musical sound-scapes based on the water cycle. Each group where given a specific part (evaporation, condensation, wind, precipitation), which they then re-created with a variety of instruments. Children notated their compositions using graphic scores as well as adding appropriate musical vocabulary. Finally, the groups performed for the rest of the class to create one continuous piece of music.

Please click on the following to listen:

Year 6 Learn Music Notation

Year 6 have spent their recent sessions with Mr Anderson learning about musical notation. We have learned the notation for a variety of notes including crotchets, quavers and rests, working together using percussion instruments to perform ostinatos. We then listened to a short piece of music, writing down the correct notation by ear onto the stave.

Will You Ever See The Water You Drink Again?

As part of our Geography Topic, ‘Will You Ever See The Water You Drink Again?’, Year 6 enjoyed a visit from Severn Trent Water. We found out about how water is cleaned and prepared before it reaches us and attempted to clean some ‘sewer soup’ that we had created. It was a thoroughly enjoyable visit and we learned a lot about the importance of looking after our water.

Academic Year 2022/2023

Standon Bowers

Year 6 have had a fantastic time at Standon Bowers for their residential trip. They started their morning by building their own tents and then over the next three days they took part in lots of different activities including: BMX biking, caving, high ropes and bridge building. Year 6 enjoyed singing around the camp fire and toasting marshmallows too! The children showed great determination and perseverance throughout and definitely had lots of fun!

Year 6 Create an Everest Rescue Vehicle

For Design and Technology week, during the 1st half of the spring term, Year 6 had a fantastic time creating an Everest Rescue Vehicle. Over the week, the children worked together to create a chassis and axle for the base of their vehicle, added a motor and electrical circuits to allow the car to move. Finally, they measured and designed a net to form the body of the vehicle. All of the children worked so well together in their groups, solving problems that arose along the way! They should be really proud of their achievements!

Year 6 Visit The Library

On the 9th and 10th January, Year 6 visited Hanley Library. During our visits, we picked three books at random out of a bag and read the title and blurb of each. We then voted to see which book most children would like to read as a whole class. After that, we had time to browse the books in the library and sit somewhere quiet to read one. Both classes had a great morning and are looking forward to visiting the library again.

Year 6 Make Woolton Pies

Last week, Y6 completed their first DT project. Over the week the children researched, designed and made their own Woolton Pie based on food that was eaten during WW2. They had to make the pastry using flour, butter and water and prepared their vegetables to put into their pie. The children used a variety of seasonal vegetables including: potatoes, swede, cauliflower, leeks and even brussel sprouts! Once they were cooked, all the children got to taste their pies and evaluated the success. We had a fantastic week and learnt some essential new skills!

Year 6 Experience Life During World War II

On Monday 28th November, Year 6 were visited by Private Samuel Barter and taken on a journey through time to WW2 where they experienced first-hand stories to gain an understanding of life during the war time. Children participated and took part in the acting out of different activities including a pretend air raid. Year 6 had a great morning!

Severn Trent Visit – Thursday 13th October, 2022

As part of our Geography topic – Will you ever see the water you drink again? – the children in Year 6 had a visit from Severn Trent Water. The children took part in a workshop exploring how we clean water. They created some pretend sewage and worked together to clean the dirty water. Each group had to use a variety of methods to filter the water. We all had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the workshop but we definitely didn’t drink any of our filtered water.