As an introduction to our new topic, World War Two, the children created their own gas mask boxes and participated in a gas mask drill in the classroom. We then walked around the school grounds to discuss where children might have gone in an air raid at Reid Street School during WW2. Grace from 6B also brought in a real gas mask that would have been used in WW2. This was a fantastic opportunity for children to observe real life artefacts and help put our new topic in context.
On Monday, we visited the Mayor’s Parlour in Darlington. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet the Mayor of Darlington and have a tour of the Town Hall and the Parlour. We had the opportunity to ask the Mayor questions and discuss his role as Mayor. When we returned to school, we wrote a letter to the Mayor as part of the ‘Junior Mayor for the Day’ competition. We hope that someone from year 6 might win and get the opportunity to be Junior Mayor for the day!
On Thursday 7th November, 3 children from year 6 attended the Life Centre in Newcastle to complete a range of different challenges involving maths. Firstly, we worked with a range of different children, from three different schools, to solve a range of mathematical problems. They were really tricky and involved a lot of thinking. During the session, as a group, we discussed the importance of making mistakes and learning from them to help develop different methods of solving a problem. After this, we spent time in the Planetarium learning about how to find different constellations and how we can use this information to help work out the time and the longitudinal and latitudinal lines to find a location. After lunch, we investigated the Space section of the centre, solving maths problems as we went. Finally, one of our favourite parts of the trip, was learning about different card tricks, using our mathematical knowledge.
The children behaved impeccably and were a credit to the school. A thoroughly enjoyable day.
On Tuesday 5th November, Year 6 children attended an event in Newton Aycliffe called Safer Future Live. During the day, we learned how to keep safe in different environments and situations. In the fire safety session, we completed an interactive quiz about what to do in a fire and the importance of checking fire alarms weekly. We learned about the importance of keeping safe online, what information should be kept private and what we can do to help ourselves and others stay safe. With the lifeguards, we developed an understanding of how to stay safe around water, including what the flags mean at the beach, importance of floating if you end up in cold water and the role of the lifeguard. We became investigators in the road safety demonstration as we had to solve the cause of the accident and what we could do to avoid it happening to us. Northern Powergrid completed a workshop on the dangers of electricity in the home and at substations in the area. During the session, we learned about the importance of the yellow signs on the substations and what to do if a wire is frayed in the house. Our final workshop was from the NHS and it involved understanding the importance of staying safe at home and whilst out. We discussed the dangers faced in the home and developed an understanding of the warning signs which we may see in everyday life. We understand the importance of ensuring mobile phones are not left on charge overnight and especially not left under the pillow. Overall, we had a thoroughly enjoyable day and we learned a lot from a range of professionals. Last week, children worked in groups to create questions that they would like to ask someone who was alive during WW2. On Tuesday, the children were able to meet Phyllis and Charles who were both children at the start of WW2. Our speakers informed the children of their memories from their childhoods and answered the questions the children had produced. All children showed great respect and mature behaviour when hearing about our guests’ stories. They found out some amazing facts from primary sources and will use this information in future lessons.
To tie in with World Book Day the author Antony Wootten visited the school and spent the day working with pupils in years 5 and 6. His sessions were both lively and engaging as he encouraged each year group to create a story together which he then retold at the end of the session. Year 5 book club were especially excited to meet Antony as they are currently reading his book ‘A Tiger too Many’. At the end of his session pupils were given the chance to buy one of Antony’s books which he personally signed for them.
Over the last half term, children in year 6 have been lucky enough to have additional science and art lessons with teachers from Wyvern Academy. This has been a fantastic experience for the children and has helped prepare them for their transitions to secondary school next year.
In art, children have studied various mediums and artists including Turner, Hokusai, Hockney and Monet. Children have been able to learn new skills to create pieces of work including water colours, sketching and observation drawings. In Science, children have been able to experience more complex experiments including using microscopes, prisms and chemicals such as iodine and PH neutralising solution. Children have received a variety of lessons relating to physics, chemistry and biology. All children have thoroughly enjoyed the lessons and they have behaved impeccably. They were a credit to Reid Street and we hope this has helped prepared them for their future education. Children took part in a variety of activities throughout the day relating to tackling racism. They participated in football activities and workshops where they discussed important issues and looked at how racism affects individuals. All children worked exceptionally hard and were a credit to the school. They were asked some thought-provoking questions and responded with mature and sensible answers. Leaders also questioned the children about the use of racist language and discussed with the children the difference between discrimination and racism.
On Wednesday 20th June, 10 girls from year 6 represented Darlington in the Tees Valley Cricket Final after finishing first in the Darlington competition. The girls were competing against the most able teams from across the Tees Valley, including teams with county players in their sides. Despite the unpredictable weather (rain showers), the girls easily won their first three games, battling against the elements. After lunch, the knockout event started. In our semi-final match, the girls played an extremely talented side from Durham who went on to win the tournament. Our side finished 4th place overall – an amazing result for a school without a field. Well done, girls!
On Friday 8th June, 54 Year 6 children set off to Kingswood to begin their weekend adventure. Once we arrived, we were shown around the site, given delicious food to start our weekend off and were required to make our own beds! It was a very interesting time of the weekend. We completed a range of activities on our first day such as orienteering, climbing and archery. After this, we gobbled down more food before our evening entertainment of a campfire. During the campfire, we sang songs and told jokes before heading back to our dorms for the evening.
On the Saturday morning after breakfast, we completed another fantastic selection of activities. During Saturday and Sunday, we completed a range of challenges which included: 3G swing, zip wire, aeroball, nightline (where we got very muddy), obstacle challenge, fencing, shelter building and the leap of faith. On Saturday evening, after a mouth-watering dinner, we started our evening entertainment of Mini-Olympics, where children and staff got very competitive! Everyone had a fantastic time playing a range of games and taking part in competitions. On our final day, after packing our cases, we finished off with breakfast and two more activities. After lunch, we loaded the coach and headed back to school. Overall, a fantastic time was had by all children and staff. The children were very well behaved and a credit to the school. Well done, Year 6. On Monday 21st May, fourteen children from year 6 took part in the Votes for Women Centenary Celebration at the Hullabaloo Theatre, Darlington. We were one of only two primary schools to take part in the event.
On our arrival, we were greeted by Heather who escorted us to our first workshop. We climbed so many steps we felt as if we were taking part in our very own Everest challenge! During our first activity, we produced list poems and created posters of why we would make good Prime Ministers. Many of us had very different ideas. Once this session was complete, we took part in an art session where we made rosettes – similar to those worn by the suffragettes. Before we travelled back to school, we joined everyone in the theatre and two children, Maddie and Arabella, bravely explained to the packed audience what they had produced and why they would make great Prime Ministers. We had a great afternoon! On Thursday 15th and 16th March, year 5 and 6 pupils took part in the first Primary Shakespeare Festival at Polam Hall School. This was an amazing opportunity to work with children from other schools – Polam, Skerne Park and St.Mary’s Cockerton.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, the children studied Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Each school was allocated a section of the play to perform, along with a choral chant and a song for the finale. The children worked incredibly hard to learn, and then perform, a very challenging script! We spent the afternoons rehearsing at Polam, along with the other schools. On the evenings, the children performed on the stage to a large audience. Despite initial nerves, the children performed incredibly well! The whole experience was amazing and one the children will not forget. On Friday 9th February, Year 6 took part in a Global Goals day. During the day, we completed a number of different activities, to develop an understanding of some of the Global Goals. Firstly, we looked at Global Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation. We conducted a science investigation to find out the best way to filter water. We learned about the dreadful conditions many people have to experience to gather water many miles away. They encounter many life threatening illnesses and diseases when drinking this water. We also looked at Global Goal 4 – Quality Education. We developed an understanding of what UNICEF are doing across the world to encourage as many children as possible to receive an education. During the day, we also completed our ‘Everest Climb’ to raise money for charity and support the Everest appeal for 7 Summit Steve.
The year 6 children went to visit the newly refurbished Hippodrome in Darlington. Children had the opportunity to look backstage, visit the dressing rooms and learn the history behind the theatre. We were very lucky to have a full tour of the Hippodrome and the children even got to go on stage!
During Science today, we continued to look at the size and shape of planets. We used our artistic skills to make a 3D representation of our Solar System. We worked in groups and used a range of different medias.
Year 6 recently enjoyed performing their leavers’ assembly to their parents and the school. They worked really hard to learn their lines and performed with enthusiasm! Well done, year 6.
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