Week Ending 9th July 2021

It's coming home!!!!

Football mad this week....lots of singing!! We're reading a Euros football ghost story by Tom Palmer that he is posting every other day....it's gripping!!

Lots of rehearsals, transition meetings on Zoom....

The children have a post-it note with costume details on. I'm aiming to film on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so they will need their costumes for all 3 days! They are to come in school uniform on Monday and Tuesday, PE kit on Wednesday and tie dye t shirts on Thursday for the trip.

Fingers crossed for Sunday! Monday morning could be interesting!!!

Next week:

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - filming

Wednesday - PE

Thursday - trip to Gullivers

Friday - SRE lesson!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 2nd July 2021

Lots and lots achieved this week!! Rehearsals for the production are going well...I just hope my filming and editing skills will be up to the job!! Some of you have asked about costumes....they will be very simple, but I will let the children know next week exactly what they will need and for when. We will be filming individual scenes and songs separately.

We've been doing lots of written work linked to Holes - as Reading Lead in KS2, I'll be using the work for a display to encourage other children to read and write!! I'll post pictures when I'm done!!

Interesting week in Maths - calculator and number puzzles which the children really enjoyed!!

Nearly finished Science - digestion this week...interesting afternoon!

We've also squeezed in an RE unit looking at British Values (links beautifully to the football!!); we looked at The Rule of Law - very interesting conversations ensued!!!

This morning,  we've tie dyed!! Mrs Douse has stirred the dye tub and put everything through the washing machine. I would advise handwashing the first couple of times!!

Next week:

Virtual transition meetings - Ken Stimpson Wednesday, QKA Thursday and Kings Friday!!

SOKE Athletics - Thursday

Fingers crossed for Saturday night!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 25th June 2021

Year 6 have really shown how mature, sensible and responsible they are this week! I have received lots of compliments from other members of staff regarding their behaviour and politeness around school. Mrs Jensen was so pleased with how well they looked after the younger children during the KS1 Sports Afternoon. I had a lovely time with them yesterday for the KS2 Sports morning - they were so supportive of each other and so brave....they had no clue what I'd planned for the novelty race but they all lined up ready to go anyway!! We discovered some excellent ( and some not so...) skippers!!

It was National Thank a Teacher day on Wednesday so I challenged them to thank as many adults in school as they could. I said I would give them dojo points if the teachers asked me about it....they got 3!! 3 very confused adults who asked "Why do all the Year 6 children keep thanking me?" or " What's up with the Year 6 today? They're being very strange!!" It was brilliant - only Mr Kendall guessed why!!

Massively busy week - painting the BookBench which was collected yesterday and goes on display somewhere near the Central Library in Peterborough. The children brought home the brochure and map to show where they all are.

Rehearsing every day for the Year 6 production - unfortunately, it will be an online show, we are still not allowed an audience!! It's very funny and the songs are brilliant!

We've done lots of transition activities which we will continue with next week!

Reminders:

Gulliver's Trip payments are due.

Plain white T shirt due in by the end of the week.

SumDog competition this week!

Next week:

Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals and more rehearsals

Transition stuff!!

We'll try and squeeze in some Maths and English(and all the other subjects!!) too!!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 18th June 2021

Started the week dressed in costumes, sweltering in the heat....ended with wet play and lunch!!!

Monique came in on Monday and the children were filmed doing their Shrek dance....she was very impressed with their costumes which (apparently) were better than any other school!! 

The production will be available to watch from 25^th – 27^th June and household streaming tickets are now available to purchase from the Cresset by calling the box office on 01733 265705 or online (Ticketsolve - Cresset). 

We have started using the new transition activities - Go Big and You Are Awesome. We did 2 lessons this week on Kid Awesome vs Kid Average and Changing Mindsets.

Started our new Science topic on Tuesday - the Human Body - will be interesting!!

Mr Weston is doing First Aid with the class on Wednesdays.

Yesterday we went for our nature walk with Mr Donnelly - it was incredible. At one point we were walking along the path when a deer bounded across the field in front of us. The children were spellbound!! Mr D knows so much about the area, I learned such a lot!!

Next week:

Sports Week

Monday - no PE, starting production rehearsals

Wednesday - Y6 helping KS1 Sports afternoon

Thursday - KS2 Sports morning

Mrs Mulqueen

Incredibly busy week.......

Practicing for The Cresset Dance every day, Mrs Douse sorting costumes, trying on and dress rehearsal!! very funny...got some great pictures!! Will share these next week!!

We're set up for Euros 2020 - we did a sweepstake and I don't think my team (Austria!!) has a chance of winning. The children have been researching facts about their country ( links to our Geography too) and presenting to the class. We are reading a story linked to the competition by Tom Palmer - he writes a chapter every other day and links the story to the action in the competition. So far we have read Chapter 1 and are currently on a Zoom webinar with him. It's fascinating to see where he gets his ideas from!

Year 6 were volunteered (!!!) to complete the reading bench so we've been thinking about that. Benji's awesome Mr Men design won the competition so the preparation has been done and we will be painting next week!

We had a great afternoon yesterday around the pond - Mr Donnelly showed us loads of different creatures!! Next week, he's taking us for a walk around the village to the river!!

Plus, it's been Science Week. Year 6 found the David Attenborough film profoundly moving - lots of suggestions of how we can all help to save our planet.

Next week:

All week - painting the bench!!!

Monday - filming The Cresset Dance

Wednesday - PE

Thursday - nature walk

Week Ending 28th May 2021

There's no teacher tired like a back from residential, still a week to half term teacher tired!!! Children are ready for a break too.

We had a wonderful time - cold, wet, dirty and tired - but it has been good to be back in school!

We've been working on our expanded Shape topic in Maths - naming, drawing and describing in detail 2d shapes. We've used protractors, compasses and rulers...today, we are investigating tessellation!

The children are gripped by Holes!!! Can't wait to watch the film! This week, we've completed double-page spreads about the yellow-spotted lizard and have started to work on a brochure to advertise Camp Green Lake.

Rehearsals for the Cresset dance are at full-steam!! They are so good! Mrs Douse is working on costumes!! Tickets will soon be on sale for the online show - Monique ( our dance coach) sent me this:

The final performance will be available to view online over the weekend of 25^th – 27^th June. Access codes to view the performance are available from the Cresset at a cost of £10 per household and these codes cannot be shared. You can purchase these by calling the box office on 01733 265705 or by going online and clicking on the event ‘Musical Madness’. Tickets should be on sale by the end of this week.

Parts have been allocated for the Y6 Production and we have begun to read through the scenes. At the moment, we still don't know how we're going to perform it - hopefully outside with an audience!!!

Next Week: Half Term

Week beginning 7th June - Science Week

Monday - Cresset rehearsal

Tuesday - AMVC Year 7 teachers visiting

Wednesday - PE

Have a good break

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 14th May 2021

No Weekly Planner for next week....residential!! Those children staying at school have a mini-project to do on Google Classroom and Mrs Douse has planned some lovely practical activities!!

Tough and tiring week but the children have been brilliant!! We had a lovely time at the park as our end-of-SATs treat!!

Once I'm back from residential, I'll share the results with you. I'm so proud of the progress that they have all made since September considering the challenges we've all had!

The children have been given a Shrek script and permission slip for our Cresset performance and a script for our Year 6 Production (whatever form that will take!!). We will sort out parts before half term. Please can you return the Cresset permission form as soon as you can so that Monique can collate all the information before we are filmed!

Next Week

RESIDENTIAL!!!!!! Fingers crossed for good weather!!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week Ending 7th of May 2021

A short (but long!!) week this week! Sad too as we're saying goodbye to Subhaan!

We're really moving through the curriculum...nearly finished all the Maths for Year 6 so we're adding in topics that will be useful for transition. We're absolutely loving Holes and The Ickabog - we've been doing some great writing linked to Holes - diaries and factual reports about a fictional creature.

We're linking Topic and Science - looking at Weather and Climate in the USA, living things, habitats and biomes.

All the Secondary Schools have now contacted me so I will be liaising with them over the next few weeks.

Next week:

SATs week - we will be doing the tests in the classroom and they won't be time-restricted. It will be nice to give the children the best chance to increase their scores. I will be using these scores for transition information and will share them with you once I have marked them all.

Less than 2 weeks to the Residential!!!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 30th April

We've had a very busy week starting with learning our new dance on Monday. Monique came to teach the class a dance to 'I'm a Believer' from Shrek. Eleven schools have signed up to the project and by the end of June, we will have recorded our dance which will be combined with the others to create a performance.

I haven't laughed so much in ages!! The children were so enthusiastic and welcoming to Monique but the dance is extremely fast which led to lots of laughter! We'll get better with practice!

We've been looking at angles in class and we've discovered areas of the maths curriculum that we definitely need to revisit!

We're up to Chapter 13 in Holes - the children are gripped!! They wrote some incredible diary entries about Stanley's first few days at Camp Green Lake.

We're getting prepared for the residential. You should all have received kit lists and various forms. Please return them as soon as possible.

Some homework is starting to arrive in school...looking forward to getting more to add to our display board.

I've set an extra task this week - the children are to research a mammal of their choice.

Next week:

Bank Holiday Monday

PE Wednesday.

Have a restful long weekend...

Mrs Mulqueen

Week Ending 23rd April 2021

This week Year 6 celebrated Earth Day and St George's Day...we did reading comprehensions to learn about what the days represented, St George Maths Mystery and made our own carbon footprint promises.

We've spent the week looking at pie charts in Maths and I was very impressed that the children managed to use a compass, a protractor, a ruler and a calculator all in one lesson!! Definitely preparing for Secondary school!!!

We also started reading 'Holes' and already the children are hooked!! We will watch the film after we've read the book so no spoilers please!!!!

Next week:

Very exciting on Monday - we have Monique ( a dance and drama specialist) from The Cresset coming to work with the class in order to produce a video in conjunction with other schools. She will be working in school for four weeks. PE kit as usual!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 16th April 2021

It's been a lovely start to the new term....bit noisy on Tuesday but back in the routine by Wednesday!!

We launched our Amazing America topic on Tuesday - it is more of a Geography based topic but we will be including some history, art, design, music, culture etc. The children have been given a Homework menu to complete. Tasks can be brought in to school at any time.

You will have received the ParentMail notification about the residential...fingers crossed!!!

Can I remind you that the children are allowed to wear their Leavers' Hoodies for PE on Monday and Wednesday!

Thank you to all the parents who attended our Zoom Parents' Evenings before the break. If you were unable to attend and would like a chat, let me know via email.

Next week:

PE - Monday and Wednesday

Tuesday - Dogs Trust Zoom call - Safe Behaviour Around Dogs

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending Friday 12th March 2021

We've had a lovely week....Monday morning was so special..I couldn't wait until 8:40 to open the doors!! The children were overjoyed to be with each other at last!! I've seen some really wonderful acts of kindness towards each other...small things, like helping with a craft or offering to put spare paper in the recycling bin.

The timetable has been slightly altered this week and we've done two great projects in Maths and English. In Maths, we covered some areas we were unsure about through art and movement - place value runaround, decimal bubble popping, 3d shape sculptures, Egyptian hieroglyphs ( letters and numbers) and Celtic knots. In English, we started a two day unit on The Ickabog and liked it so much, we're carrying on next week!!

We've done lots of creative activities....cards and paper tulips for Sunday!

Next week:

Maths - Ratio

English - The Ickabog

Topic - Egyptian pastimes

Science - Colour

RE - Hope and Lent

Art - making Egyptian toys and games

PE - Monday and Wednesday

Friday - Comic Relief

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 5th March 2021

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the children - those at home - working hard online, submitting work, joining Google Meets and sharing extra activities....and those at school in the 'bubble' who have worked tirelessly, been enthusiastic and lots of fun!

Thank you to the parents who have been doing a rather unexpected job and who have learned quite how difficult Y6 maths is!!! Thank you for all the supportive emails - I really appreciated them!!

We're all really looking forward to Monday...seeing all their smiling faces again.

There will be some anxiety but please be reassured that we have every measure in place to keep us all safe!! The first two weeks will be quite relaxed with lots of breaks and mindfulness activities to ease the children in gently.

One of the children asked me a very interesting question this morning...

Are we behind or ahead?

A lot has been said in the media about 'catch up' and children being behind......as I said this morning, 'behind' who? We're all in the same boat....yes, there will be things that some children have missed or not understood so we will go over everything that we need to. As we don't have the pressure of SATs, we have plenty of time to get the children ready for Secondary School.

I'll let you know how the week has gone next Friday!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 11th December 2020

Nearly there!!! Busy, busy week in Year 6 - fabulous Victorian Day on Tuesday...I was surprised how clean all their fingernails were, almost as if they had scrubbed them in preparation! I spent most of the morning in role - I wasn't too scary, no one had to wear the Dunce cap. The class did the 3 R's using 'slates', learned about an 'object' (potato), did drill, made Victorian toys and read the Log books from our school in the Victorian times. There are lots of photos on our class photo page....the costumes were brilliant!!

We are doing lots of Christmas activities - we've made two cards, dolly peg soldiers and calendars.

Next week:

Monday - PE (kit all day)

Tuesday- normal uniform

Wednesday - Christmas Dinner, Christmas Jumper Day (on top of uniform)

Thursday - party clothes all day

Friday - last day

Have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 4th December 2020

Well Christmas is definitely evident in Year 6...we have a tree, tinsel, lights, calendars, advent calendars, soldier decorations for the tree and the best Christmas Card post box in the world (made by Mrs Douse)!!

So get your 'bubble' cards ready and remember 'Stick not spit!!!'

We finally finished 'Street Child' - you could have heard a pin drop!! Fabulous book!!

Everyone looked great in the sports kit today - plenty of friendly rivalries!!

Next week: 

PE on Monday and Wednesday

Tuesday - Victorian Day - don't forget your costume!!!

Week ending 27th November 2020

Finally we have a full class!! It's been lovely to have everyone back!!

We're moving towards the end of our Victorian topic - remember costumes for the 8th of December when we have our Victorian Day.

We've just finished the first half of the Fractions unit in Maths. We did some revision on Monday and Tuesday, then the assessment on Wednesday. I was really pleased with how well the children did - four children achieved 46/46. We will be doing a short Geometry and Position unit until Christmas - coordinates, reflections and translations, we will be using these skills in our Christmas Maths. We made a coordinate snowflake today!!

The children did some amazing art on Thursday - we've used William Morris designs as a basis for our own printing. They worked out so well!!

Next week:

Monday, Wednesday PE

Friday - Wear a football shirt to school.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 20th November 2020

Year 6 were thrilled to welcome Lewis to our class.

We've had a busy week - finally finished fractions (for the time being!!), will do assessments next week.

We're absolutely hooked on Street Child - incredible book.

Two great PE lessons this week - I'm loving orienteering and Mrs Jensen is very impressed with the dancing!!

We appointed 3 Sports Ambassadors this week - Joshua, Ryan and Holly.

Next week - PE on Monday and Wednesday

It is getting very cold in the classroom - extra layers/coats may be required!!!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 13th November 2020

The children have completed a couple of assessments this week - Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling and Arithmetic. I am extremely pleased with how many children have increased their scores.

I was very proud of the children on Remembrance Day - they showed Key Stage 2 how to stand respectfully during the 2-minute silence.

We are continuing our lockdown challenges - coming up with quiz questions, doing a quiz, writing what we are grateful for on Autumn leaves and mindfulness colouring.

We've had a laid back day today doing Children in Need activities - Joe Wicks (see Photo page!), maths codebreakers and learning about the history of the day. We've had some board game time and have used the Chromebooks this afternoon.

Next week:

PE - Monday and Wednesday

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 6th November

Welcome to Lockdown #2!! We are doing a daily challenge as a class - yesterday we picked our favourite songs for an upbeat class playlist, today we played The Exquisite Corpse game which involves silly pictures on a flick flap book....

We were lucky to have Mrs Wilding in on Tuesday and together we began to assess the children on their Play Leader skills. As we can't cross bubbles, the children will be 'Play Leading' the class at the beginning of my P.E. lessons!

We had our first Bubble worship in the hall today - Year 6 sat on the benches at last!!!!

Next week:

Matchbox Challenge due in on Monday.

Wednesday - minutes silence at 11.

Children in Need - Friday.....dress down day.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 23rd October 2020

The end of a very busy half term...we're all exhausted!! Had a couple of chilled afternoons -Thursday we played board games ( see photo page) and today we've played Prodigy on the Chromebooks.

Thank you very much for all your support this half term and for participating in a rather unusual Parents' Evening! I think it worked very well!!

Have a restful and safe half term!

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 16th October 2020

We've had a bit of an achievement this week - three days with a full class!!!

We've just about finished our second unit in Maths and are about to move onto fractions! I will share your child's progress next week at Parents' Evening.

We have just completed our designs for the PGSA Christmas Cards so you should receive those in the next few weeks.

Next week:

Tuesday and Wednesday Zoom Parents' Evening

If you have any questions, please email me before our meeting.

Friday 'Dare to be Different' Day

Half Term

Week ending 9th October 2020

The children have worked very hard this week; especially in Maths! We have covered some challenging areas - factors, multiples, squares and cubes, primes and BIDMAS! We will finish off our Four Rules topic next week and then move onto fractions.

We are continuing to read Oliver Twist which the class love. At the moment, we are starting character descriptions ready to include in a narrative based on the book. The children have produced some excellent diary entries about life in a Workhouse.

We had a lovely surprise this week with Mrs Wilding from AMVC coming to work with the class on their first Play Leader training. They had a great time!!

Next week

PE - Monday and Wednesday

SumDog competition all week.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week Ending 2nd October 2020

It's been a very strange week with some children out on their bikes and some in the classroom. We've managed to do some presentations using the Chrome Books which was nice. We've had a tough week in Maths - long division(!!!), we shall come back to it later in the year! We've been looking at the Workhouse in History and English. The children could not believe some of the differences!! School photos coming home today!

Next Week:

PE as usual on Monday and Wednesday.

We will be starting Maths interventions. Some children will be working with Mrs Woods and Mr Kendall in the afternoons.

The SumDog competition starts on Friday.

Have a nice weekend.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 25th September 2020

The children are starting to find their feet more; they're starting to look like Year 6s!! We've had a busy week, finally finishing The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. I thoroughly recommend it, the children loved the inspirational messages. 

Can I remind parents that we have been advised to discourage children from bringing items from home. For birthdays, any treats must be shop bought and in separate packaging. They will be handed out as the children leave the classroom.

As the weather is changing, please can you ensure that your child is dressed appropriately. We have to keep the windows open all day for ventilation and it is already becoming cold.

If your child is not at school (but is well), work is provided on my class page and on Google Classroom.

Next week:

Monday - individual photos

Monday to Thursday - Bikeability. Please check your child's bike to ensure they are roadworthy. The children will be outside all afternoon, Monday to Thursday so please ensure they are wearing suitable clothing (uniform, not PE kit). I would recommend trousers/leggings.

There will be no PE on Monday but there will be PE for those who are not taking part in Bikeability on Wednesday.

Have a nice weekend.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week Ending 18th September 2020

We've had a lovely week...hard work but lots of fun too!! The children have completed their first practice SATs papers. I have shared their scores with them and will be using this information to help me plan intervention groups. We have also watched the film, 'Oliver!' to find out information about Victorian times. I can honestly say I've never seen such a captive audience!! I had so much fun just sitting and watching their faces!!!

The children are all set up with logins and passwords for several educational websites. Links are on my main page.

Next Week

If your child is doing Bikeability the following week (week beginning 28th September), this might be a good time to check their bike and helmet!!!

I will be adding tasks to Google Classroom that can be completed during the week if your child is absent.

All children also brought home an independent English and Maths workbook.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Mulqueen

Week ending 11th September 2020

Year 6 have had a brilliant start to the new term. I have thoroughly enjoyed their company this week! They have tried very hard to 'keep apart yet stay together' both in the classroom and out on the playground. They have kept to their seats and followed the new procedures sensibly.

Tonight they will be bringing their homework books home; they have 3 homework menus which they can dip in and out of any time they wish. There will be no set return date for homework - they can put their book in the quarantine box when they want me to check it. I give dojo points for a returned homework book and raffle tickets for each completed piece.

All homework is posted on the class page.

Next week:

We shall attempt our first SATs papers. I'm keeping this fairly low key; it's mostly to show me gaps in knowledge and understanding. I will share the results with the children but not with parents at this early stage.

PE on Monday and Wednesday.

Mrs Mulqueen 

Monday 7th September 2020

Year 6 are fantastic!!! We have had a brilliant day! Every single child was sensible and grown up...I'm very proud of them accepting new rules and a 'new normal'. And they've done lots of work!!!!

Mrs Mulqueen