Robinwood Residential 2024
Fun Activities Back In School
The year 6 girls that stayed in school could choose from a variety of activities. They spent their time sewing (making tree decorations),they did cross-stitch (making bookmarks) including Hama bead creations.
They created their own lunch by making pizzas and cookies and had a film afternoon with popcorn and computer time.
Science – Light topic
Year 6 had to establish the best arrangement of a light source and material when creating a shadow puppet. They also had to consider a variety of things such as:
- The best material to use for the theatre, the screen and the puppets. We discussed transparent, translucent and opaque materials.
- The ideal place to position the puppets as well as the light source (torch).
- The size and position of the puppets to create their desired impact.
The children really enjoyed making their puppet shows and experimenting with light, position and size to create the best silhouettes they could.
PE - Invasion Games
During the Autumn term in PE, the children have been playing a variety of invasion games. They have been working on their hand eye coordination, team skills and gross motor skills whilst playing the following games:
- Handball
- Roll to score
- End zone
- Either end
- Hit the tower
The Thrive Bus
Year 6 were treated to a post-SATs visit to the Thrive bus before half term, they were able to use the various gaming stations on the bus and test their computing skills against each other. All the children enjoyed an ice-cream...despite the wet weather!
All Saints' Church Transition Visit
Before half-term, the children visited All Saints' church and were treated to a range of activities, thinking to the future and transition to Year 7. They were able to discuss their thoughts and feelings and all received a 'secondary school survival guide', many thanks to the church and everyone who made the visit possible.
RIAT Stem Superstars
Before half-term, Year 6 were able to complete the last session of the Road to RIAT engineering programme. They took part in a live, online session and met three STEM superstars, who all have high-profile roles in various fields of engineering. The children asked some fantastic questions and were inspired by the engineers, who promoted many different aspects of STEM.
Primary Engineer Day
After SATs, we took part in a whole-day engineering project. We were visited by an engineer through the 'Primary Engineering' scheme and really got to grips with locomotive engineering and the history of locomotive design. We worked in pairs to create our own locomotive inventions, some of us focused on creating a locomotive that had breaks and used an axle, whereas others worked on creating an electronic locomotive, using electrical energy to allow our creations to move.
We got to grips with some new tools, such as saws, wire-cutters and electrical components. We then celebrated our creations in a prize-giving event. It was a brilliant day, with a lot of fantastic designs.
Year 6 Trip to Coventry Cathedral
At the beginning of April, Year 6 went on an educational visit to Coventry Cathedral to link in with our World War 2 learning in history and in particular, the aspect of Peace, Conflict and Reconciliation. The children have been learning about the effects of the war in both England and Germany and how after the war the cities of Coventry and Dresden reconciled and since then, schools in both cities became ICON schools (International Cross of Nails). The children had a guided tour of both the ruins and the new cathedral and in the afternoon were able to take part in some art activities in the cathedral surroundings
Year 6 Magistrates in the Community Workshop
On 29th February, Year 6 were visited by three magistrates from our local magistrates court. We started the day by completing a ‘Crime, law and consequences’ workshop. We learnt about what happens in court, the people who work in court, skills required to be a magistrate and consequences of breaking the law.
The second part of the session consisted of a ‘Mock Trial’. Year 6 pupils became members of the court (witnesses, usher, magistrates, court solicitors and local police etc) whilst others acted as ‘Court Reporters’ and ‘Court artists’. We all followed the trial carefully and considered the evidence. In this case, Sam Little was found guilty of cyber bullying!
Compass Visit
Today, Year 6 were visited by Megan from the Warwickshire Children and Young People's drug and alcohol service. The children were taught about many topics such as drug use, alcohol and caffeine. We discussed reasons why certain drugs are illegal and classes used to identify different drugs.
As well as drugs and alcohol, we also considered the effects of tobacco and vaping. The children discussed the meaning of 'peer pressure' and 'peer influence'. The discussion was informative and insightful.
Japanese Visitors to Year 6
Last week, Year 6 were visited by Japanese Students from the Fukuoka Girls' High School (Japan). The students introduced themselves and presented a powerpoint all about their school, they taught us about everyday life in their school and Japan in general. They also taught us about fashion, in particular, the kimono and its many uses.
We spent the afternoon having fun and getting to know our visitors...there were over 30 Japanese students who visited, it was very loud but exciting! The students taught us lots of Japanese games and ran all of the activities themselves, this was part of their 'International course' that they are studying for at High School. All the students spoke in English and had prepared instructions in English as well.
We carried out lots of activities, such as using chopsticks, playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' (Japanese style), drawing Japanese cartoons and trying to interpret Japanese language. The students gave us gifts that they had created (origami) and also presented Mrs Sutherland with a gift of sweet biscuits...Mrs Sutherland wasn't allowed to open the gift in front of our guests, this is a Japanese tradition.
We had a fantastic afternoon with our guests and are looking forward to learning more about Japan through our forthcoming geography and art units.
Year 6 St John's House Victorian Christmas
On 22nd November we went on a trip to the local St John’s museum where we spent the day imagining that we were Victorians. We took part in several activities which focused on Victorian cooking, traditions and education.
Our focus for the day was Christmas during the Victorian era. We spent time in a Victorian kitchen and were introduced to Victorian inventions such as sugar scissors, weighing scales, a fire range and a mangle (to name a few). We worked as a team to make our own Victorian Christmas pudding, using Victorian ingredients and methods to make this.
The part of the day that illustrated the biggest contrast between 2023 and the Victorian era, was that spent in the Victorian classroom. We were introduced to the Victorian teacher (who was quite strict!), we were only allowed to speak when spoken to and had to reply with ‘Mam’ at the end of each sentence and were reprimanded if we talked, didn’t listen and slouched. Our Victorian day helped us to imagine the differences between modern-day Britain and Victorian Britain.
Parents Afternoon - Victorians (lots of DT and art based activities)
Music with Jeremy Dibb from Warwickshire Music Hub
Assembly - 6VK - British Rule of Law
Year 6 – Road to RIAT STEM day
In Year 6, we had a whole day of STEM! We took part in the RAF Road to RIAT (Royal International Air Tattoo) event, where we became engineers and designers for the day. We carried out a Space Challenge where we had to design, build and test a rocket. We worked in teams to create our rockets and then, as a year group, we tested them on the playground. We measured the distance our rockets travelled and the time it took, we then used this information to calculate the speed that they travelled. We also considered the effect of angles on the distance travelled and tested our rockets being launched from various degrees. The RIAT team taught us all about the effects of Space and the different parts of a rocket. During our afternoon session, we learnt about sustainability and renewable energy. We used this information to then design our own sustainable aircraft. These designs are being created for a competition being run by RIAT. Prizes include: tickets to the RIAT, lego kits, money vouchers and lots more…wish us luck!
Y6 Transition Workshop in Church
Year 6 went to the church to take part in some activities related to their transitions to secondary school. They were encouraged to think about how to overcome any worries they might have. This Included activities on how to make friends and remember new people's names and also videos with advice from previous children from year 7. This was particularly useful as they realised that other people are in the same position as they are.
Prison Fellowship Visitor
As part of their work in RE, Year 6 had a visitor from a Christian charity called Prison Fellowship. She told us lots of interesting information about the prison system and the work that goes on in some prisons to help prisoners.
We learnt about their Restorative Justice programmes.
One of their programmes is called Sycamore Tree which helps prisoners recognise the ripple effects of their crimes on the wider community and encourages them to reflect in order to not re-offend.
Geography Field Work Week