I cannot believe I am sitting here writing this at the end of the half term –I know I often say this, but where did the time go?! Having said that, it did feel like a long slog at times and I’m sure that the children are looking forward to the break just as much as the staff are.

This week of course saw our parent consultations and I trust that you found the opportunity to talk to your child’s teacher informative and worthwhile. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to welcome most of you into the school as I was taking part in the Year 6 consultations along with Mrs Cresswell. This is a tradition that started before I took over as head but one which I thought was good to continue as it helps to prepare the oldest children of the school not only for the challenges of their last year here, but also for their next step as they head off to secondary school.

Whatever you are up to during the half term break, I hope that you get to spend some quality time together. Next Saturday of course will see our annual Fireworks display so if you are coming along and you see the staff or me, do say hello. I did tell the children in assembly today that due to the bright spotlights often shining in our direction it can make it difficult to work out who we are talking to, so please do not be offended if we do not recognise you straight away. It will be good to see many of you there though and for those who are coming, enjoy the show!

Bye for now.

24.10.25

 Year 6,

WOW! How are we already at the end of the half term? You were shocked to realise it this week and it has definitely flown by. You have been incredibly busy and worked really hard. This week alone, you have: solved word problems and multi-step problems in maths, finished work on The Arrival and revised direct speech in English, developed your understanding of networking and Black History Month with a few cross-over sessions to research and create PowerPoints on influential black individuals, and created a photomontage on the same topic.

Home Learning

Reading – Poetry – pages 2-7 (all of the questions relating to ‘Lost Dog’).

Enjoy your half term and I will see you bright eyed and ready for another half term on Monday 3^rd November.

See you in November,

Mrs Cresswell 😊

Spellings wc20.10.25

 Please put at least 10 of your spellings into sentences in your Home Learning Journal (or on lined paper if you need your Learning Journal in school. Your sentences will be checked on Friday. Please ensure you complete these with the focus you would have in class - avoiding spelling errors, making sure sentences make sense, and having the basics such as capital letters and full stops. 

Please underline the spelling in each sentence. 

Mrs Cresswell's group

 This week, you have adjectives ending in -ent and the equivalent nouns ending in -ence/ 

-ency to focus on.

innocent

innocence

decent

decency

excellent

excellence

confident

confidence

existent

existence

EXT:

consequence

convergence

coincidence

persistence

adolescence

Mrs Stevenson's group

You are focussing on plurals.

boxes

foxes

taxes

flies

kisses

mice

men

geese

watches

loaves

17.10.25

Year 6, 

Phew, what a week! Firstly, I apologise for there not being a blog entry last week, I totally forgot that I hadn't written one. This week I have made sure to set myself a reminder.

This week, you have written reports in English and completed some arithmetic practise in maths, but most of your time for these subjects has been spent on practise SATs. Well done for showing resilience and for taking them seriously as a chance to show your best (what more could we ask for). In the afternoons, you have developed your understanding of networks in computing, learned about characteristics of organisms in science and have had a very informative NSPCC workshop. Today you began your art project on inspirational people with black and minority ethnic heritage.

Next week, in English, you will finish your reports and begin planning a 3rd person narrative, also revising direct speech and its punctuation. In maths, you will continue to work with division and problem solving. You will also have a chance to complete your artwork and to share your 500 words stories with your classmates. 

Home learning

Maths - pages 18+19

English - completing the parent consultation preparation sheet (also to return on Monday) 

Your half term project is due on Monday. Well done to those of you who have already completed it and brought a copy in. If not, remember to bring it in on Monday. 

500 Words Challenge

I would like all Year 6 children to write a piece that could enter the BBC's 500 Words Challenge. All you need to do is write a story you would love to read in 500 Words or less.  Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked - it's all about creativity! It is up to you as to whether or not you submit your story officially but you are still expected to bring a copy of your finished piece into class on 20^th October to share. We will be participating in a Live Lesson in September which can support this if you are finding it challenging, but feel free to begin writing as soon as inspiration hits you.

For those who enter the competition, 50 finalists will be invited to a star-studded grand final in February 2026, which will be supported by Her Majesty The Queen. If that's not enough, each winner will also see their story be read aloud by a superstar celebrity on TV, which will be shown as part of a special 500 Words programme with The One Show. The official panel of celebrity judges, Sir Lenny Henry, Malorie Blackman, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson and Frank Cottrell-Boyce will crown the winners. 

There are also lots of prizes to be won - each winner will take home a bundle of books and the gold winners also win 500 books for their school library. In addition to the book prizes, each of our winning stories will receive a framed illustrated cover produced exclusively by top children's illustrators.

Children can only submit one story each. There are very few rules on 500 Words but a few points to remember:

All the stories must:

• Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number)
• Be written by an individual and not a group
• Be a child’s own original idea
• Be prose, not rap or poem

Stories must not:

• Give any personal details of the child, including their name
• Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration)
• Be created, written or developed by AI

In every 500 Words competition, all stories are judged on the following criteria:

• Characterisation
• Plot
• Originality
• Language
• Enjoyment

Reminders

- Parent Consultations are next Wednesday and Thursday. This one is a bit different as it is 15minutes and you join myself, your adult and Mr Gradwell. Remember that this is a conversation, not a test!

You should be:

 -        Reading 5 times a week and completing a reading journal activity once a week

 -        Practising spellings each week between the pre-test and test; writing spellings at least 5 times and writing 10 of them into sentences (ensure that these are high quality and make sense) in your Home Learning Journal (set on Monday and completed for Friday)

 -        Completing the piece of English and piece of Maths set each week (set on Wednesday and completed for Monday)

 -        Practising maths on Sumdog

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cresswell 😊

Spellings wc13.10.25

 This week, you have spellings from the practise SATs papers you sat. For the extension, should you need it, there are some less common words for emotions. Please practise them on the practice sheet provided and put them into sentences in your Home Learning Journal.  

Some of Mrs Stevenson’s group have their individual spellings to be tested and reviewed on Friday. You are to complete the same tasks of practising on the sheet provided and putting them into sentences in your Home Learning Journal for Friday. 

Your sentences and practice sheets will be checked on Friday. Please ensure you complete these with the focus you would have in class - avoiding spelling errors, making sure sentences make sense, and having the basics such as capital letters and full stops. 

Please underline the spelling in each sentence. 

Mrs Cresswell's group

thumb

trouble

mixture

portable

dough

science

attention

obtained

weightless

council

suffered

typical

usually

cautious

essential

vague

adventurous

architect

descendant

inconceivable 

Ext:

incensed

sanguine

despondent

euphoric

jittery

Mrs Stevenson's group

thumb

trouble

mixture

portable

dough

science

attention

suffered

typical

usually

Spellings wc6.10.25

Please put at least 10 of your spellings into sentences in your Home Learning Journal (or on lined paper if you need your Learning Journal in school. Your sentences will be checked on Friday. Please ensure you complete these with the focus you would have in class - avoiding spelling errors, making sure sentences make sense, and having the basics such as capital letters and full stops. 

Please underline the spelling in each sentence. 

Mrs Cresswell's group

 This week, you have adjectives ending in -ant and the equivalent nouns ending in -ance/ 

-ancy to focus on.

observant

observance

expectant

expectancy

hesitant

hesitancy

tolerant

tolerance

relevant

relevance

EXT:

experience

experiencing

experienced

existence

hindrance

Mrs Stevenson's group

You are focussing on plurals.

bees

cones

skis

radios

angles

shores

excuses

yoyos

cameras

guides

3.10.25

Year 6, 

You have worked extremely hard this week! In English, you have continued reading 'The Arrival' and have completed writing on it. You have also begun thinking about the creatures that inhabit the New World and what their qualities are. In maths, you have revised square, cube and prime numbers, and worked on written multiplication up to 4 by 2 digits. In science, you considered how characteristics of living things link to their groups and in history you decided whether people were guilty or innocent, and considered their punishments in the context of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons.  You also celebrated harvest with your families today and visited Sky Studios on Monday (photographs below); I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

Next week, you will be revising relative clauses, planning and writing reports in English. In maths, you will focus primarily on division. Science will involve learning about microorganisms and in RE you will continue to study Yom Kippur. You will also have your next art lesson linked to photomontage. 

Home Learning

Grammar pages 4+5

Maths pages 14+15

 

You also have your half term project to be working on. 

500 Words Challenge

I would like all Year 6 children to write a piece that could enter the BBC's 500 Words Challenge. All you need to do is write a story you would love to read in 500 Words or less.  Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not marked - it's all about creativity! It is up to you as to whether or not you submit your story officially but you are still expected to bring a copy of your finished piece into class on 20^th October to share. We will be participating in a Live Lesson in September which can support this if you are finding it challenging, but feel free to begin writing as soon as inspiration hits you.

For those who enter the competition, 50 finalists will be invited to a star-studded grand final in February 2026, which will be supported by Her Majesty The Queen. If that's not enough, each winner will also see their story be read aloud by a superstar celebrity on TV, which will be shown as part of a special 500 Words programme with The One Show. The official panel of celebrity judges, Sir Lenny Henry, Malorie Blackman, Francesca Simon, Charlie Higson and Frank Cottrell-Boyce will crown the winners. 

There are also lots of prizes to be won - each winner will take home a bundle of books and the gold winners also win 500 books for their school library. In addition to the book prizes, each of our winning stories will receive a framed illustrated cover produced exclusively by top children's illustrators.

Children can only submit one story each. There are very few rules on 500 Words but a few points to remember:

All the stories must:

• Be 500 words or less (title is not included in the number)
• Be written by an individual and not a group
• Be a child’s own original idea
• Be prose, not rap or poem

Stories must not:

• Give any personal details of the child, including their name
• Recount an historical event (but they can use a real person or historical character as a source of inspiration)
• Be created, written or developed by AI

In every 500 Words competition, all stories are judged on the following criteria:

• Characterisation
• Plot
• Originality
• Language
• Enjoyment

 

Reminders

- PGL - you need to be registered on Arbor to be included in our numbers. We will be providing these to PGL shortly so check with your adult that this is done. 

You should be:

 -        Reading 5 times a week and completing a reading journal activity once a week

 -        Practising spellings each week between the pre-test and test; writing spellings at least 5 times and writing 10 of them into sentences (ensure that these are high quality and make sense) in your Home Learning Journal (set on Monday and completed for Friday)

 -        Completing the piece of English and piece of Maths set each week (set on Wednesday and completed for Monday)

 -        Practising maths on Sumdog

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cresswell 😊