21.11.25

I hope this newsletter finds you well after the recent awful weather. Despite the challenges, Year 6 have continued to work hard, and I am very proud of the respect they showed for Remembrance Day. The students wrote and performed persuasive speeches to express why we should continue to mark this important day. They made fantastic use of the green screen to enhance their performances, bringing their speeches to life in a truly engaging way. In our expressive art sessions, we explored a new technique to capture the likeness of poppies. The children drew and glued the outline before filling it in with shaded pastels, resulting in some gorgeous artwork. Additionally, we have been creating wire sculptures in the style of Alberto Giacometti, focusing on capturing emotion without facial features. The end product, which follow on from our foil and clay armatures, looks fantastic, and we can’t wait to showcase these pieces at our Year 5/6 art gallery. We have also begun a mini humanities and maths topic, analysing how children get to school based on the estimated population figures of the surrounding villages. In maths, we have been focusing on division and pie charts, learning how data is represented visually and ultimately drawing our own pie charts. Although the weather altered our original plans for Children in Need, we still managed to hold our run earlier this week. On Children in Need Day, we completed a fitness session with Years 4 and 5, which was lots of fun! During Forest School, we undertook a Pudsey woodland quest, demonstrating how teamwork and kindness help us succeed—an extremely enjoyable afternoon was had by all! When we did complete our Pudsey run, year 6 managed to run the equivalent of 53km – amazing! We were also fortunate enough to have Google visit our school to teach the children about internet safety. The Be Internet Legends programme empowers younger children to navigate the web safely and wisely, allowing them to become confident explorers of the online world. We have been discussing our current media balance and whether we need to make any adjustments. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

07.11.25

What a busy fortnight we’ve had, especially with half term right in the middle! In Literacy, we’ve had a fantastic time creating stories for the BBC 500 Words competition. It’s been wonderful to see so many skills on display, from developing characters to drafting and editing. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed as the stories have now been submitted! As we approach Remembrance Day, we’ve also begun writing persuasive speeches. The children are exploring the importance of remembering those who fought for our country and our freedom, which has sparked some thoughtful discussions. In Numeracy, we’ve wrapped up our work on percentages and have moved on to factors and prime numbers. The children are making great progress and are really enjoying the challenges that come with these concepts. Our Science and Technology lessons have been particularly engaging this week. We investigated what clickbait is and discussed how to identify it before clicking. Additionally, we used a green screen app to create informative videos about the functions of the major organs in the body. The work on genetics has been amazing, as we learned about chromosomes and how we all have 46, making each of us unique. This knowledge was put to the test when we created “Reebops,” small animals made by selecting different combinations of chromosomes. Take a look at the amazing creations made from the same set of chromosomes, just picked in different orders.  In Humanities, the children wrote about how the transport, facilities, and location of Trellech, The Narth, and Overmonnow affect their population. They had previously worked this out using census data before half term, demonstrating impressive analytical skills. Lastly, we were fortunate to take part in a sign language workshop this week, teaching us vital communication skills that will benefit our community. Thank you for your continued support. 

17.10.25

What a super busy fortnight it has been for Year 6! In literacy, we have been deeply engaged in analysing the character of August Pullman from the novel Wonder. Our students used emotion graphs and “I Am” poetry to explore his feelings, showcasing some truly thoughtful work that demonstrates a great understanding of the text. We then turned our creative energies towards writing our own “I Am” poems, encouraging a deep dive into our individual characters and identities. The culmination of this was diary entries written from August's perspective, where the children expressed his emotions during a particularly poignant part of the book. In maths, we have been focusing on multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, and 1000. The students have applied these skills to find percentages of different amounts, using practical applications to calculate the approximate population of Trellech and its surrounding villages. The level of skill demonstrated by all has been commendable. Although swimming has come to an end for Year 6, we have embarked on a new adventure learning the fast-paced game of handball, which has proven to be both exciting and skill-enhancing. In Welsh, we have been practising expressing our opinions on various subjects, providing justifications for our likes and dislikes. We then utilised our oracy skills by reading and recording paragraphs about ourselves in Welsh. Da iawn dosbarth 6! In our expressive arts lessons, we began exploring the works of Alberto Giacometti and constructed armatures using foil. Creating figures from a single piece of foil and posing them presented quite a challenge, but the results were impressive! We also enjoyed our first trip to Forest School this year, where we continued our expressive arts theme by whittling sticks to create natural armatures. The fun and creativity experienced by all were evident! In science, we focused on our own bodies, learning about the major organs. To round off the week, we participated in "Shocktober", an initiative by the Welsh Ambulance Service, teaching vital life-saving skills such as CPR and how to use the emergency 999 number. These are essential skills for everyone to have. We also took part in the "Show Racism the Red Card" campaign, learning about hate crimes, who they affect and how to report them. 

03.10.25

What an exciting fortnight it has been in Year 6, brimming with learning and creativity on our current topic, "Who Do You Think You Are?" In Literacy, we have delved deeper into the characters from "Wonder" and crafted a school prospectus for Beecher Prep. The children have used persuasive language, ensuring a positive tone throughout their writing. Our literacy has taken a more scientific turn as we began researching and writing non-chronological reports on Treacher Collins syndrome, the condition experienced by the main character in "Wonder." This has sparked meaningful conversations about identity and understanding amongst the pupils. In Numeracy, our focus has been on pictorial methods of subtraction to reinforce the concept of exchanging. The highlight of our week was undoubtedly the lively game of "Refund Rush", where children used receipts to find totals and then practised subtraction to determine refunds. It was such a hit that they are eager to play it again! We also tackled multiplication using the grid method, applying it to calculate the average population in areas surrounding Trellech. Expressive Arts has seen us creating drawings that explore our personal and private identities, drawing the two faces we show and subsequently don’t show to the world. Additionally, we have begun studying the work of Alberto Giacometti. In Humanities, students took the time to write reflective letters to themselves about their identities, showcasing thoughtful insights. We’ve also created pieces of drama, considering how our actions impact others in terms of health and well-being. The live Spanish lessons are continuing well, with the children particularly enjoying the songs that allow them to practice. Fantastic attitude from the children in swimming these last two weeks, with this week's session involving clothing to simulate real life-saving situations. To top off a busy week, we held a wonderful harvest service in the church, where our Year 6 pupils led the service with respect and confidence. 

Well done, Year 6, for all your hard work and enthusiasm! 

19.09.25

Congratulations to all Year 6 students on their new roles! It is wonderful to see our ministers, house captains, and ambassadors taking the lead in our first pupil committee meetings of the year. Their enthusiasm and leadership skills are commendable. It is lovely to start our swimming lessons, which will help us build on the skills developed last year. It’s a fantastic opportunity for our children to enhance their confidence in the water. In literacy, we have recently completed our study of "Can I Build Another Me?" and embarked on writing Kenning poems about ourselves. This particular challenge was met with great creativity, and I am immensely proud of everyone’s efforts. We have now begun reading "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio, a wonderful book that beautifully illustrates the value of embracing our uniqueness. The students have been analysing characters, exploring vocabulary that conveys emotion, and using evidence and inference to describe the school the main character attends. In numeracy, our focus has been on recapping place value from millions to thousandths, as well as mastering addition through the column method using word problems and reasoning skills. Our topic, "Who Do You Think You Are?", has sparked a wealth of interesting activities. We are exploring family history and geography by drawing family trees, crafting interview questions for family members, and mapping out where our families have lived and were born. These discussions have provided valuable insights into how our backgrounds shape our identities. In expressive arts, we are depicting ourselves as others see us compared to how we view ourselves. Our ICT lessons have involved creating Google Forms to collect identity-based questions and compiling a database of the results. In R.V.E., we are discussing how to create a sustainable harvest and understanding the differences between sustainable and unsustainable food sources. It has certainly been a busy few weeks as we look forward to our upcoming harvest service. Thank you for your continued support

05.09.25

It is so lovely to be back and to see everyone again! It truly felt like old times for us, but it’s wonderful to have a change of classroom and a fresh perspective as we embark on our Year 6 journey together. Our new topic is "Who Do You Think You Are?" In this topic, we will be delving into our family history, discussing the meaning of identity, and honing our analytical skills. This week may have been short, but it has certainly been busy! We have commenced work on a short graphic novel titled "Can I Build Another Me?" This engaging book has sparked some fascinating conversations about identity and the uniqueness of everyone. In maths, we are exploring the place value of both large and small numbers within real-world contexts, which has been exciting for the students. Our humanities lessons have involved investigating our family trees to help us understand more about ourselves and our backgrounds. To finish our week, the children have been busy preparing their entries for the Usk Show, using pop art to create artwork based on the theme "Dreams Can Come True". Thank you for your ongoing support, and I am looking forward to a fabulous year ahead in Year 6!