Hello Year 6, we are so glad to have you back.

This is your final year of primary school and the year where you become role models for the entire school - how exciting!

Let's hope for a fantastic year ahead.

This week, in order to celebrate the transition into high school, Y6 have been hatching duckling eggs. Out of the 6 eggs, we were lucky enough to have 5 of them hatch: Bandit, Fidget, Pingu and The Twins. 

Y6 learned all about how eggs hatch:

1. First they must be in the perfect temperature of 38 degrees.
2. After 28 days in the egg they will make the first pip.
3. The ducks then rest.
4. They begin to unzip (work their way around) the egg.
5. They then hatch.

The children loved taking care of the ducks and took it in turns to feed them, water them and  clean them out. 

On Friday the 14th of June we had our yearly Eid party. 

Y6 had a day full of fun which included lots of competitions such as building the tallest tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows, and who could build the strongest bridge made from tinfoil. See below for photos!

Here are some photos of the children learning how to break dance and mix their own Hip Hop tracks.

On the 11th of March, we were lucky enough to get an actor/director called Robert Beckett to help the children put together a play in a day all about E-Safety. Robert was impressed by the acting skills, confidence and behaviour demonstrated by the students that day.

Please click the link below for our video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XkFrmVx2r9FMHilEtRphXC2qsOhKzNRK/view

Fairtrade Fortnight

During the Spring term Y6 have been learning all about Fairtrade. This is when workers in developing countries are paid a fair wage by companies in developed countries. It ultimately improves the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. They have learnt that:

• Fairtrade premium provides communities with additional money to spend on commodities such as water and education.
• Fairtrade can improve workers wages by approximately 100%
• Without Faitrade, children as young as 5 are forced to work in factories because their parents cannot afford to make a loss and send them to school.
• Fairtrade items usually cost the same as alternative products.
• The quality between Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade items does not differ!

Please watch the following assembly made by Miss Maragakis and her lockdown bubble to find out a little bit more:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10r8tQy5XkCNXOc-YipSR_dhc1pkqiRBy/view?usp=sharing

On Thursday the 3rd of December, Y6 were lucky enough to have a virtual session with the author Andy Seed. He has won various award including the Blue Peter Book Award in 2015. 

The children learnt about

• His own story
• What an author does in their day to day life
• Weird and wonderful animals which he has written about 

The children even got a chance to compete for their own signed book - congratulations Ellis for winning!

This week (16th - 22nd November) is national friendship week.

At St Augustines we are extremely pleased that we are able to celebrate the diversity of our pupils and staff. We are proud that our pupils are able to build friendships with one another despite their religious background, race or gender. 

To celebrate this diversity, Friday the 20th of November will be ODD SOCKS DAY where all members of our school will come in wearing odd socks to represent how unique we are.

The focus of our classwork this week will be reinforcing these values with the children and discussing the important qualities of friendship such as respect.

• See our class video below!

After a thought-provoking seven weeks of learning about life on the home front during World War II, this half term we are moving our focus towards life on the frontline during World War I.

This will involve learning about:

• The events leading up to war - such as the dreaded assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
• Life inside the trenches
• The Christmas Truce between British and French soldiers

We are currently reading the book 'Private Peaceful' by Michael Morpurgo which will give the children an excellent insight into life on the frontline.

This year, for Remembrance Day, Y6 delivered a whole-school assembly (via Zoom). Y6 were perfect for the job after some intense learning about the war. 

The children shared some of their favourite war poetry, delivered a touching speech and sang a beautiful remembrance song. The assembly finished with a two-minute silence at exactly 11:00 on the 11th day on the 11th month.

October is Black History Month - an incredibly important time of year for us to reflect on the contributions of Black people and their struggles for freedom and equality.

This is an extremely important topic for us as St Augustine's, because we are a school which celebrates diversity and believes everyone is equal.  

In order to educate the children, we have been learning about historic black figures. Please see our short video below, which celebrates the life of Walter Tull - one of the first black footballers and senior army veterans.

A photo of Walter Tull

In line with our half-term topic of 'Britain at War' Y6 went on their annual trip to the Stockport Air Raid Shelters on Monday the 19th of October.

In Stockport there is a 1-mile system of underground shelters where local residents used to shelter

 from air raids in WW2. The area has been preserved and is now used to educate visitors about the

experiences of those living on the homefront during the war.

We arrived in Stockport at 9:45AM. Once greeted by the lovely volunteers, the first thing on our itinerary was to explore the Air Raid Shelters!

We learnt that:

• The shelters kept people safe and underground during air raids
• They were designed to accommodate for up to 6000 people.
• There were only 1500 beds - most people had to sleep on benches or on the floor
• Toilet facilities were very limited - approximately 25 people had to share one bucket!
• There was only one doctor and two nurses to look after everybody 

After lunch, we went up to the museum:

• Where we got to experience what a real air raid siren sounded like!
• Learnt the protocols for assigning evacuees to their new families - children were picked depending how hardworking they looked!
• Learnt and performed the chores often carried out by evacuees - knitting, cleaning and cooking.
• We handled historic artefacts; gas masks, missiles and protective clothing. 

On Thursday the 8th of October, the nation celebrated CLEAN AIR DAY. 

With air pollution getting worse each day, the school thought it was important to educate the kids on the matter, as they will be affected the most by air pollution in the future. 

Therefore on CLEAN AIR DAY, St Augustine's Street was closed to allow for the children to hold a peaceful protest.

Miss Cookson explained to the children why CLEAN AIR DAY is so important, please see the slides below.

On the lead up to CLEAN AIR DAY Y6 got their arts and crafts gear out and designed some beautiful placards to WOW the parents and the local residents.

Y6 then took it to the streets on Thursday to have their peaceful protest outside school - encouraging adults to make more pollution-friendly decisions. 

On the week commencing Monday the 14th of September the whole school celebrated Parliament Week. 

The aims of this week were to:

• Engage young people with parliament and empower them to get involved
• Learn about the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives
• Learn about how people have power to contribute towards big decisions made across the country

To celebrate Parliament Week, on the 19th of September the school had their annual 'take-over day'.

This is when children are given the opportunity to act as members of staff for the day and do their own lessons.

Y6 enjoyed learning about:

• Origami-making 
• Drawing
• Shading using oil pastels
• Rounders

However...

With being the oldest in the school, Y6 students were voted to be the Head Teacher, Deputy Head Teacher, School Business Manager and Office Administrator.

A huge congratulations to Esther, Patrick, Leslie and Rose for achieving these roles! 

They did a great job!

This term we are going to focus on... Britain at War 

This will involve learning about:

• Life on the home front
• The experiences of soldiers on the front line
• Is it justified for nations to go to war?

We are also reading 'Letters from the Lighthouse' by Emma Carroll - this story tells the narrative of a young girl from London who has to evacuate to Devon.

On top of this, it is important you are aware of the following notices:

• P.E is on a Tuesday and Thursday - please come into school wearing your kit; black leggings/shorts/joggers, a white t-shirt and  appropriate footwear

• In preparation for SATs, please make sure you stay on top of your reading and Maths. We are encouraging the children to use the Reading Eggs and Mathletics website every night.

Please see below for a copy of the autumn newsletter:

We are looking forward to a fabulous year with you all.

From team Y6 - Miss Cookson and Miss Maragakis