Orchard Primary
& Pre-School
Orchard Primary & Pre-School
"Small enough to care, Big enough to inspire"
Week 7
Thank you Year 6! You have been amazing - we wish every single one of you the best of luck! Take care, don't be strangers and come back and visit us, anytime you like! Good luck for Year 7!
Week 6
Wow! You guys are truly fantastic! You smashed performing the Amazing Adventures of Superstan this week and you should all be immensely proud of yourselves! Congratulations! This week has been jam packed with performing the play and transition linked activities, including two days at the High School - we hope you didn't get too lost. We enjoyed working with different friends for our PE transition task which include some orienteering, travelling around the UK to locate points along the course of different UK rivers.
Week 5
Wow, Year 6 - you really have been working those socks off again this week and we are immensely proud of each and every one of you! This week we have been exploring some of the Literacy transition activities from the high school, which have included exploring A Journey to the River Sea and writing a rainforest lagoon description. We have also explored a range of maths activities linked to our transition topic of rivers. On Friday we went down to Number 8 for our technical rehearsal - practicing timings, using props and positions. Not long to go until we have a real audience - eeek!
Week 4
This week has been another busy week, we have been working hard whilst the sun has been shining down on us! We have begun some transition subject lessons and activities ready for our teachers in Year 7 and enjoyed exploring artwork by Holly Webb, only using three colours, explored Hinduism and why the River Ganges is so important and begun to explore a historical mystery about what caused lots of people to die in the 1800s. This week we also had the bell boating regatta. We managed to get both teams (Orchard Reds and Orchard Blues) into the main final and Orchard Blue team came 2nd overall with a superb time of 1min 02seconds. We would like to thank the parents and grown ups who came down to watch, as well as Mr Cooper for buying us some nice cold treats!
Week 3
This week we did a full run through of our play for Mrs Bitcon, she reminded us that we need to make sure we project our voices so the back of the audience can hear - this is something we all need to practice! We have also been exploring animal adaptations in Science and designed our own organisms (animals) for a chosen habitat. We also helped Year 1 with a PSHE lesson, encouraging them to think about what they are good at, who helps them and what they find tricky. We talked to them about our own ideas and helped to be scribes for them. On Friday we had a lucky treat of our leavers hoodies too!
Sports Day and Summer Fayre fun!
Week 2
Another busy week complete in Year 6! This week we had a special visit from Mr Nockton, Mrs Budding and Mr Bennett from Pershore High, who spoke to us about what transition will look like and we had the opportunity to ask them any questions about high school. We have continued rehearsing for our school production and Miss Mabbott has been very impressed with how quickly some of us have learnt our lines - well done! In other news, we have enjoyed learning how to code a microbit, enjoyed designing our own mythical creatures for our writing, as well as, doing some still-life sketches! We have also been practicing for sports day and even practiced our leadership skills by helping Year 1 to practice too!
Summer 2 - Week 1
Welcome back to our final term of Year 6 and your final term of primary school. This week we have been continuing with play practice, knowing now that we have a deadline to when we need to have learnt our parts off by heart! Eeek! We also have had great fun this week bellboating on the River Avon, some of us got stuck in bushes and banks down the river and we even had some ducks and swans come to watch us! We would like to thank Mrs Cooper, Miss Riding and Mrs Swoosh for coming to help us!
Week 7
We made it to half term! What a long and busy term it has been! This week we did our auditions for our play and found out what characters we will all be. We have now begun to learn and rehearse our lines! In Science this week, we completed an investigation to explore how the duration of exercise affects our heart rate, concluding that the longer we do exercise for, the higher our heart rates! We then wrote up our investigation in Literacy. In DT this week, we have made a whistle-stop tour to India, making samosas with Mrs Groom and Mrs Marks. Well done for completing such a busy half term, one more half term and then you're going to be in Year 7! How exciting! Enjoy a restful half term!
Week 6
This week has been a busy old week for Year 6. They really have been such resilient and hardworking superpillars. We are proud of each and every one of Year 6 for completing their SATs (Secret Agent Tests) this week, even if breakfast was a motivator! The early starts were worth the breakfast to power and fuel us ready for the tests and also boosted our mental health and wellbeing. We even got to enjoy a special breakfast of bacon sandwiches with the adults on the Friday. Alongside these tricky tests, we have created our own artwork inspired by artist Fiona Rae, have made spring rolls in DT and have finally, yes FINALLY! found out what our school play is going to be!
Week 5
This week we have been practicing all of our SPAG and Maths skills, right back from Year 3, to support us in getting ready for our Secret Agent Tests (SATS) next week. In Computing, we have been continuing to design, make and code our own 'catching' games, using Scratch, as well as fixing any problems that we have found in our coding along the way through 'debugging'. In Art this week, we have been looking at artist Paula Rego. We explored her artwork 'The Dance' and thought about the story it could tell, then we had a go at showing our own stories through sketching. In DT this week, we have been making turkey burgers/veggie burgers and exploring how to cook meat safely and hygienically.
Week 4
This week, we have been busy practicing our SATs skills along with exploring our new text - a persuasive letter to the grown-ups at school, which tries to persuade them to reduce break and lunchtimes. It was a really convincing letter, although not true, lots of us thought it was really going to happen! We have started to explore human and physical features in Stratford-upon-Avon and have begun a new science topic about our diets. In DT this week, we have made falafels and on Friday we had a special treat of iSingPop!
Week 3
This week, we have been very busy writing our own suspense stories - making sure we created a tense atmosphere for our readers. We have also been recapping our 4 figure grid references and using these alongside Pacman to begin to explore 6 figure grid references. In Art this week, we have had a go at recreating John Singer Sargant's artwork - 'Gassed' but in tableaux form, where we had to act as one of the characters and freeze in the motion. In DT this week, we have travelled to Greece, experiencing the culture there and making our own Greek salads. We have also been lucky enough to meet PCSO Katie Radford, who came into school to chat to us about our safety online and to make sure we are accessing apps and games that are age appropriate.
Week 2
This week we have been busy exploring our map skills; investigating what an OS map is, recapping compass points and recapping 4 figure grid references. We have also explored what different symbols we can find on a map, as well as thinking about creating our own symbols. In Literacy, we have watched a video called Alma, which used lots of suspense and we innovated our class text, using this video. In DT this week, we have made foccacia bread with Mrs Marks and Mrs Groom, a bread made traditionally by Italians, although I don't think many of us were keen on the olives. In Computing this week we have been continuing to explore variables in Scratch and are beginning to think about designing our own games.
Summer 1 - Week 1
Welcome back, we hope you all had a fab Easter! Thank you to those of you who have worked hard with your SATS revision pack. This week we have begun to explore our new class texts; The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd and the Old Mill by Pie Corbett. We have been creating a story map in groups for the Old Mill and begun to explore its features. We have continued practicing different SPAG skills ahead of SATS and have loved the mini revision quiz cards in the classroom! In addition to this, we have begun to explore our new topic, Stratford-upon-Avon and have been busy recapping the counties in England, as well as locating where Stratford-upon-Avon is and what we can find in the town centre. We have also had a go at sketching our own Family Portraits in the style of artist Richard Brakenburg.
Week 5
Another term complete! Wow! Only a matter of weeks before SATs now - your Easter packs have been sent home, so don't forget to complete them, they will help you to recall all the skills we have practiced this half term. This week has been a busy one with hot writes and cold writes as well as practicing those reading, SPAG and maths skills in some end of term quizzes. Along side this we have had a go at using our spreadsheets to plan a party for 30 people and we have had fun baking carrot muffins in DT. Enjoy a well-deserved Easter break!
Week 4
Another full on week here in Year 6! This week we kick started our SATs booster sessions after school on Monday where we were practicing skills of fractions, percentages and working out discounted prices. Remember these boosters are every Monday after school until SATs week begins so please come along! We have been busy looking at a new text called 'The Plague' in Literacy, creating group story maps for this. We also had a special treat of a forensic science workshop, where we had to work out who had committed the crime of robbery by finding clues in our crime scenes. Alongside this we had a guest come in and teach us sign language to the chorus of 'This is Me'. We have continued to practice our skills in Computing by using different formulas in spreadsheets, as well as beginning to explore the role of the heart in our circulatory system in Science. This week in DT we have been making blueberry muffins - delicious!
Week 3
Halfway through this term already, wow! This week has been another busy week for us, we have been writing up our draft and hot writes of our own versions of 'The History of the Plague' and using research to add in some statistics for this. We have also had a Science Workshop at Pershore Abbey, where we met some real-life scientists and learnt about how the world began and how humans came to be. We combined our Computing and Maths skills this week to represent data using Google Sheets electronically; turning our frequency tables in to different graphs and charts. We had a fun day in our PJs on World Book Day and did some doodling with Liz Pichon (author of the Tom Gates books) on a virtual link. Don't forget to spend your book vouchers!! Then on Friday, we made some delicious cheese scones with Mrs Groom and Mrs Marks in DT.
Week 2
This week, we have been continuing to explore our new topic, Plague, Pox and Antibiotics and comparing the two different types of plague - bubonic and pneumonic. We have also explore the different view points of people in medieval times on how they believe the plague came about. In Maths, we have been exploring rotational symmetry in regular polygons, whilst in Writing, we have been boxing up our model text on the History of Smallpox. In Computing we have started to look at what a formula is and have had a go at creating our own in google sheets. In DT this week, we have made some apple tarts with ready-rolled puff pastry, practicing our chopping and slicing skills and learning how to preserve cut fruit so it doesn't go brown! Finally in Science, we have begun exploring our new topic, which is all about the circulatory system, so this week we have begun looking at blood vessels, veins, arteries and capillaries.
Spring 2 - Week 1
Another term is here and the first week is already over! This week we have been exploring famous pieces of artwork and having a go at recreating them using photography. I wonder if you can spot which famous painting we have been recreating in the pictures below?! We have also begun exploring our new topic, Plague, Pox and Antibiotics, were we had a go at creating our own plague doctor masks and lavender bags to help us stay plague free! In Literacy, we have been looking at our new non-fiction text, The History of Smallpox and exploring what smallpox was. In addition to this, we have begun to read a new class novel called Black Powder which is based upon the historical era of our topic, during medieval times. Then in DT with Mrs Groom and Mrs Marks we have been making shortcrust pastry and baking our own batches of jam tarts - delicious!!
Week 5
Wow! Another half term complete, we are now half way through our final year of primary school! Although we have being doing some practice 'quizzes' this week, we have also had some fun, including going to visit the High School on Safer Internet Day, making some delicious pizzas and performing our gymnastics routines in PE! Have a lovely half term and we will see you on Monday 19th February :)
Week 4
This week we have been writing our deforestation balanced arguments. We have also been continuing to explore our Topic, Brazil - looking at trade with other countries and what the terms import and export mean. In Science we have been beginning to investigate what changes the size of a shadow and continuing to develop our webpages in Computing. With Mrs Marks and Mrs Groom in DT, we have begun to make our pizza dough ready to make our mini pizzas.
Week 3
Another busy week in Year 6 and we are already half way through this term! This week Doctor Who, his Tardis and the Daleks have helped to introduce his our new text in Literacy. We have also been creating a new text map, alongside learning about what countries are MEDCs and LEDCS in Geography. In Computing, we have been learning how to use Google Sites to create our own topic themed webpages, in Science we have been creating shadows and in Art we have started to explore the theme of photomontage. Then in DT, we have been busy creating some delicious pitta and wrap pizzas with Mrs Marks and Mrs Groom - I wonder what yummy things next week will bring in DT.
Week 2
Wow! Another week of Year 6 already complete! This week we have been continuing to explore Brazil - looking at its climate and weather, alongside researching some of the six biomes that can be found there. We have also begun to write our own Rainforest setting descriptions in Literacy, alongside continuing to explore our class text (Journey to the River Sea). We have also started to look at light within Science and had fun experimenting with some torches!
Spring 1 - Week 1
Happy New Year - I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! This week we have been starting to explore our new text - Journey to the River Sea as well as exploring our new Geography themed topic, Brazil. We have also had fun in DT this week and made some yummy sweet potato brownies with Mrs Groom and Mrs Marks. There are also some pictures of awesome topic research from over the holidays too!
Week 7
Wow! Autumn term is complete - thank you for all your hard work this term Year 6! I hope you have enjoyed the festive themed treats this week and have enjoyed completing your Grinch themed instructions. I hope you all have a lovely Christmas!
Weeks 5 + 6
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been getting ourselves organised for our charity bake sale. We have made and iced over 60 shortbread biscuits for this bake sale. On the 15th December - we sold these alongside the bakes from Y4 and Y5 and raised £140 for both Make-a-Wish and the Dogs Trust. We have also started to get into the Christmas spirit by using the Grinch Who Stole Christmas as our final stimulus for our Writing this half term and we will be writing a set of instructions for How to Steal Christmas.
Autumn 2 - Weeks 3 + 4
Wow! What a busy couple of weeks we have had! Over the past two weeks, we have been continuing with our swimming, writing our own diary entries linked to World War and continuing to explore what life would have been like as an evacuee. We have also had a go at playing a jazz tune in Music and have made our first run of shortbread for our Christmas DT project.
Autumn 2 - Week 2
This week we have been busy exploring our model diary entry linked to WW2 and have begun to explore some extracts from Anne Frank's Diary. We have also started some market research by conducting questionnaires for our DT Christmas project, we had great fun visiting every year group to ask children questions. Some of us also went to the Hive, Worcester, this week for a Debating Competition.
Autumn 2 - Week 1
This week has been super busy! We have dressed up as World War 1/2 characters, explored lots of historical artefacts and enjoyed listening to the History man, David. We have also started our swimming sessions and on Friday, we took part in a special Remembrance Assembly with Y4 and Y5. We have also begun exploring a range of texts linked to our topic including The Lion and the Unicorn by Shirley Hughes, a DK Eye Witness non-fiction text and the story of Rose Blanche.
Week 8
This week we have been exploring climate change and have been thinking about ways in which we can stop the impacts of it on our wonderful planet. We have created posters to encourage people to be more responsible and think about how they can minimise their impacts on this environmental issue. We have also created our own 'earthquake-proof' shelters in Commando Joe/DT - where we used lots of teamwork. Sue from PSHE (SCARF) popped in to have a chat with us about decisions to and talked about who we could talk to, if we had a problem. Well done for all your hard work this term! Have a lovely half term!
Week 7
This week we have been reviewing our class text Floodland and comparing it to our other text Shackleton's Journey. We have also had a go at designing and creating our own microorganism in Science this week, as well as performing our poem 'Let No one Steal your Dreams by Paul Cookson' in our poetry recital assembly and for our parents too!
Week 6
This week we have been continuing to explore our latest model text, a magazine article about Colby Coombs, we have finished our text Floodland and clapped at the ending! We have also enjoyed creating our own seismographs and finishing our Great Wave pieces too. We also have begun to explore different microorganisms in Science (fungus, bacteria and viruses).
Week 5
This week we had exceptional fun on our Y6 residential at Condover Hall in Shropshire. We ate lots of amazing food, took lots of risks and were very brave. We had a go at many different activities including archery, multi-vines, rock climbing, abseiling and silent disco! We would like to thank Miss Mabbott, Mrs Bitcon and Mrs McCullagh for coming with us!
Week 4
This week we have been continue to explore our text Floodland, we have been thinking about reasons for Zoe leaving Eels Island alone and reasons against her leaving by herself. We have explored this through a drama technique called a conscience alley. We have also been continuing to explore our Topic - Endurance Explorers and have looked at the impacts of different, recent, earthquakes - using the skill of creating a case study. Finally, we have also been adding to our Great Wave artwork.
Week 3
This week we have been looking at the make up of the Earth in Topic, as well as exploring Hokusai's The Great Wave and beginning to create our own versions of this wonderful artwork. We have also begun drafting our own Endurance narratives, writing from a different perspective, other than Shackleton's. We also were lucky enough to watch a short drama performance about some topical issues.
Week 2
This week we have been busy exploring our new topic, we have been busy using maps to track Sir Ernest Shackleton's journey onboard his ship, Endurance, as well as recapping what tectonic plates are and labelling them on a world map. This week in Science we have been exploring different ways of grouping animals. In Literacy, we have been reading our novel, Floodland and hot-seating the main character, Zoe.
Autumn 1 - Week 1
This week we have been settling back into school and exploring the expectations of Year 6. We have been exploring our school environment to find living and non-living things, as well as working together as a team in PSHE to create some bridges. We have also written our House Captain speeches and presented these to our houses in house assembly! We were very brave to do this!