5/6 Pupil Voice – Euro  2016

This week in 5/6 we have been carrying out a Pupil Voice session ready for our whole school mini context, ‘Together, Stronger.’ We are focusing our learning on Euro 2016 as it is the first time Wales has qualified for a major football tournament since 1958. We are exciting to be given the opportunity to take control of our own learning. We had to think of ideas under the following sub-headings:

iCalculate- numeracy

iCommunicate- literacy

iCreate -art and DT

iThink- history and geography

iDiscover- science

iThrive- health and wellbeing 

For iCalculate (Maths) some of us thought that we should calculate the goal ratio for every game.

For iCommunicate (Literacy) we thought that we could write a diary entry from the perspective of a Welsh football player

For iCreate (art & DT) our group thought that we could either draw a Welsh football kit or a Euro 2016 trophy.

For iCompute (ICT) some of us considered the option of programming our own football game /penalty shootout or creating a powerpoint to tell people all about the Euro 2016 tournament.

For iThrive we could have our own football match/tournament.

For iDiscover we would have a lesson on which bones or ligaments of our body we use when play football or how much force will we need to kick a ball from a certain distance.

For iThink we think our lesson should be on the history of football itself or we could learn about the timeline of Wales’ football events.

To show the school what we’ve done, we decided that we were going to put some of our work in the newsletter, on display boards and make our own pic collage. We also thought it would be a good idea to share our work here on our school website. 

Y6 Residential Llangrannog

On Sunday 24^th May year 6 pupils went to Llangrannog in West Wales for an adventure packed residential trip. The children stayed at Gwersyll yr Urdd (Urdd Campsite) which is ran by Urdd Gobaith Cymru (The Welsh League of Youth) -an organisation that promotes the use of the Welsh Language whilst providing children with the opportunities to do adventurous activities that challenges their nerve, builds confidence and gives them opportunities to learn independency. The children were accompanied by students from our cluster primary schools . This gave the pupils a chance to meet their future class mates as they prepare for the transition to High School.

The residential began with a walk to Llangrannog village where the children spent time on the beach. The activities on the camp included, skiing, tobogganing, archery, trampolining, horse riding, high ropes, go carting, quad biking, low ropes, rock climbing and swimming in the onsite pool.

The evening activities included a Twmpath and a disco where the children impressed us with the way they interacted with other schools and made friends with other children in preparation for September. The children had a fantastic weekend and were a credit to the school in their behaviour and attitude. 

Cardiff Children's Literature Festival

This week the children in 5/6 have been lucky enough to visit Cardiff Museum and meet the famous author Tony Bradman. He shared with us his knowledge on William Shakespeare and we had a fantastic sneak peak into his new book, 'The Boy and the Globe.' What a fantastic experience! 

The Great Energy Debate

This week in Years 5 and 6 we have been using our reasoning skills to solve a problem posed to us via a video message from The First Minister of Wales –Rt Hon Carwyn Jones. The problem was about which energy source would be best for each region. We had four regions which were North West Wales, North East Wales, South East Wales, South West Wales; we had to find out the best possible fit for each region. We had a number of factors to consider.

Success Criteria:

Which power stations produce enough energy?

Is there enough space?

Can the region afford it?

Will it be built in time?

Here are Johannah's solutions:

North West Wales

We think the best solution for North West Wales would be Solar Power. This is because the region can afford it as our budget is £140 million and the solar power plant costs £100 million. The area of solar power is 55km and the area available is 6km x 10km which equals 60km. Also, the solar power plant needs to be built within 26 months (2 years and 2 months) and the solar power plant only takes 2 years to build. It needs to able to power 200,000 households and solar power can power the exact amount. In addition solar power would be perfect for North West Wales.

South East Wales

The best solution for South East Wales is a coal power plant. We think this because the South East Wales region needs to produce energy for 500,000 households also our budget is only £250 million and the coal power plant only costs £200 million. This will fit perfectly because the area available is 20km x 20km which equals 400km2 which also is the amount of area the coal plant takes up. The only problem is that coal produces a large amount of CO2.  In addition, a coal plant would be perfect as the region can afford it and you would also have £50 million left over. 

South West Wales

The best solution for South West Wales would be wind power. We think this is the solution because although there is not enough energy to power all the households it is a best fit. It also is in the budget (120 million) also, the area also fits well because the area given is 90km and 60x6=360km so we have enough space. The wind farm takes 1 year to build which is perfect because the power plant needs to be built within 12 months (a year).  In addition, wind power would be the best solution for South West Wales as the region will be able to afford it.

ESAFETY WEEK:

This week we have been learning about e-safety but we have especially been thinking about being SMART on the internet. We have learnt that you should think carefully about what you say before you post something online and never give out passwords. E-safety aims to equip people with the understanding, knowledge and skills to use information and communication technology creatively and purposefully. Online technologies play a huge role in our lives so providing E-safety knowledge is vital to ensuring everybody uses the internet safely and positively.

To protect yourself from cyber-bullying, remember:

• Hide your personal details such as: family details, password/pin and home address
• React appropriately to hurtful or nasty messages
• Block the sender of hurtful or nasty messages
• Set networking sites and profiles to private
• Save nasty links, texts, messages and emails
• Never open messages from someone you don’t know
• Always ask for permission before revealing someone else’s details
• Only give personal details to trusted friends you know in real life
• Change your password oftenn

Eisteddfod Preparation

In Years 5 and 6 we have been preparing for St. David's Day and our school's eisteddfod.

Eisteddfod Art Competition

Eistddfod Cystadlaeuth Barddoniaeth Cymraeg

Y5/6 Let’s Fly Transition Project

This week we have started our Cluster Schools Transition project. Mr Griffiths and Mrs Davies have been working with other teachers across to plan and resources and mini context that will be under taken by all year 6 pupils. The work will then be shared with their High School teachers to help them have a deeper understanding of the children’s abilities and potential.

The project is called Let’s Fly and is based around the theme of flight. We began by carrying a numeracy investigation in which the children use their maths skills to solve problems that they might face in real life in an airport when flying to another country.

The children are also developing their literacy skills of reading, oracy and writing through exploring the history through the biographies of key figures such as Emelia Earhart and the Wright Brothers. The children had to set their partners a challenge and write a variety of statements. Some which were true and some which are false. The children had to carefully read the text to correctly place the statements. 

Here are some of Ben’s facts ready for his biographical writing:

•Born: July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas

•Died: She disappeared on July 2, 1937 over the Pacific Ocean. She was declared dead on January 5, 1939

•Best known for: Being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean

Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. Her father, Edwin, was a lawyer who worked for the railroad. She spent a lot of her childhood playing with her younger sister Muriel.  Growing up Amelia and her sister had all sorts of adventures. They collected insects and frogs. They liked to play sports including baseball and football.

Sources Assembly 5/6G

In 5/6G last week we celebrated and shared our current ‘Come and See’ topic, ‘Sources’ through our class act of worship. The focus of our act of worship was the importance of scripture and how the words of the Bible influence our lives. We thought particularly carefully about how we live our school mission statement.

It is also important that, as Christians, we know our story, where we have come from and where we are called to go. We know we share in the story of those who have gone before us. For Christians, the Bible is a guide for living. Through the Bible, Christians begin to know more about God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and try to discover how we should live our lives.

The four Gospels have some stories which are the same and some which are exclusive to a particular Gospel. The one that is very different is John. The Gospels were written for slightly different audiences. Matthew and Luke have some stories which are the same, word for word. They are the only two which describe the birth of Jesus. All four Gospels give a detailed account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are also similarities and differences between the accounts of the re-telling of the story of the feeding the crowd with loaves and fishes. Here is Krish’s double bap map comparing and contrasting the two accounts:

We wrote our own prayers praising God and thanking him for the most important book of all- The Bible. Our prayers reflect on how the Bible brings us into the presence of God. It is God who speaks through the words of Scripture. Through Scripture, we are given strength and courage in our lives, not only to hear the Word of God, but to put it in action in our lives.

5/6G and 5/6D Aberthaw Power Station

This week our classes visited Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan. We were invited by Npower to support our learning in our context Save Our Planet. We are learning about climate change and how we can stop the effects of this by living a more sustainable lifestyle. This week we have been preparing for our visit by carrying out research on how electricity is made. We used our white thinking hats to carry out collaborative research. We then had to sort our information to ensure that the facts were relevant and informative. Here are some of Group Melyn’s facts:

• Electricity can be generated using coal, gas, nuclear fuels, the wind or sunlight.
• Electricity is generated in power stations.
• Some ways of generating electricity, like burning gas and coal, create greenhouse gases. This then cause climate change. People are trying to make more of our electricity in ways that are good for the environment, like using wind power or solar power.
• It’s important only to use electricity when we need to, and to save what we can in order to save our planet.
• Electricity first came into widespread use in the Victorian era, when people started to use it to light streets, shops and homes.
• A bolt of lightning is electricity travelling from the clouds to the ground, or from cloud to cloud.
• With small solar panels and wind turbines, it’s even possible to generate some electricity at your home or school instead of at a power station.
• Wind power generates electricity by using the wind to turn the big arms on a wind turbine.
• Solar power generates electricity by absorbing the heat and light from the sun in special panels.

On our trip to Aberthaw Power Station, I enjoyed the part when we were making the wind turbine. It was challenging but we persevered, and we did it. I learnt that 1.4 million tonnes of coal is only enough to generate electricity for 3 months.

Hollie

On our trip to Aberthaw Power Station, I enjoyed the part when we generated electricity and  pulled the row machine , I made 62 watts . I leaned that coal isn’t the only source that can be made into electricity, there is  , water , hydro , mechanical , wind  and lightening. I also enjoyed the tour of the power station.

Angel

We began the day with a talk from two of the power station’s employees who talked to us about how the power station works, how electricity is made and what Npower does to safe guard the environment. Connor reported, ‘I learnt that at Aberthaw they burn both coal and wood to produce electricity. The fuel is burnt in big furnaces that heat water. The water turns into steam at 100 degrees. The steam turns turbines, these are like aeroplane engines. The turbines turn because of the steam. The turbines generate electricity using magnets moving within a coil.”

We will be carrying out a reasoning investigation back in class to determine which energy source is the most efficient in terms of cost, cleanliness and man power. Following this we  had a look at how different energy sources are used to supply the national grid. We also analysed data to identify at which times in the day the National Grid needed to supply the most electricity.  After that we looked at how hard it is to make electric by having a go on a rowing machine.

During our trip to Aberthaw power station ,I enjoyed the part when we had to make our  own electricity  using aa rowing machine. I scored 38 watts. I learned that that they had 3 low pressure turbines .

Tobias 

Y6G: Educational visit to Cardiff Castle: Life on the Home Front.

Last Thursday our class too part in a Life on the Homefront workshop at Cardiff Castle. Here’s Rena’s recount of the day.

Introduction

On Thursday 26^th November Years 5 and 6 went to Cardiff Castle. This linked to our topic The Blitz, Life in Wales during World War II. We took part in 3 activities that helped us to find out more about the lives of people in Cardiff during the War.

Tour of the Air Raid Shelter

Our first activity at Cardiff Castle (Castell Caerdydd) was a tour in the tunnels in the walls of the Castle. We were led by a man dressed up as an ARP Warden (Air Raid Prevention Warden). The man talked to us about life in Cardiff during air raids. He showed us photos of bombing damage as well as the different air raid shelters that people in the city used to take shelter from the falling bombs. We also found out more about how the war started and listened to a recording of Prime Minister Chamberlin declaring war on Germany. We found out about why many items were rationed and studied a number of different posters that encouraged people to ‘make do and mend’, as well as ‘digging for victory.’

Christmas of the Home Front

To help us understand what it was like for children during World War II we took part in a workshop in which we made Christmas decorations like children did in Cardiff during the War. Because so many things were rationed people couldn’t go out and buy Christmas decorations as such people had to make their own. Subsequently, we painted fur cones with white paint to be used as Christmas tree decorations. In addition to this, we made paper chains from recycled paper. These would have been used to decorate homes. We all agreed that they weren’t as attractive as decorations we have now. We also looked at photos of school children in Cardiff during the War.

Tour of the Castle

Finally, we went on a tour around the castle and whilst at the top of the castle’s keep we spotted places that were bombed during the War. From the top of the keep’s tower you can look out over the skyline of Cardiff. We had to find the areas (such as the Bay and Llandaff Cathedral) that were badly bombed during the war. We looked at where there are new buildings and old buildings that had existed before the war and this showed us where areas were badly bombed.

Conclusion

We all really enjoyed our visit to Cardiff Castle and learnt so much more about the Blitz but in particular I will always remember finding more about the lives of people in my home town during the war as I hadn’t realised that so many bombs had been dropped or that so many people died in our city.

Y5/6G Computing: Excellent Educators- Creating a video tutorial.

This term in our computing lessons we have been learning to use multimedia software. Our task was to create a video tutorial to teach younger children how to use an iPad app. We began the topic by viewing an existing video tutorial on YouTube. We discussed its strengths and weaknesses and used it to generate a class success criteria. We used this to identify s the steps that we should follow to successfully create our own video tutorials. We worked hard to think about what the step would be like when it was successful.

Our first step was to write a script that we would record and add to the video. When we had written our scripts we tested its effectiveness by reading out the script and following the steps on an iPad. Following this we took screen shots of the different steps. We uploaded the pictures onto a computer and annotated the pictures by adding words and keys to point out what to do.

We used Microsoft Movie Maker to create our videos. We uploaded the photos that we had edited. We recorded our scripts using Microsoft Voice Recorder and added the recordings to our videos.

Once we had completed our videos we tested them on groups of other children and assessed the success. Have a look at some of our videos:

Y6G: LIFE ON THE HOMEFRONT

As part of our Context for Learning: The Blitz in Wales we have been thinking about life during World War 2 on the Home Front. Jessica reported, “We have been finding out about what people had to do help the war effort at home. We found out that alongside rationing people had to do a lot of special things including growing vegetables as well as making their own air raid shelters  in their gardens.” In our DT learning we are looking at making shelters and constructing model Anderson Shelters. Over half term we were set the homework task to make our own models. Here are some of our amazing constructions!

Last Friday Father Gareth celebrated mass in our classroom and the intention was: for those called to the Priesthood and the Religious life as well as our vocations to serve others. We choose readings from scripture that linked to our RE topic and wrote bidding prayers linked to the mass intention we also choose hymns that linked to the mass theme.

Y5/6 Other Faith Visit: Cyncoed Synagogue

In our Re lessons we are currently learning about other faiths. To aid our learning, we went on an educational visit to Cardiff United Synagogue in Cyncoed Gardens. We were so fortunate to be shown around by Rabbi Rose (the synagogue’s spiritual leader.) Rabbi Rose gave up lots of his precious time to help us to explore the synagogue to understand how Jewish people pray, learn and celebrate there as well as deepening our understanding of Judaism (the Jewish faith.)

We began the tour of the synagogue by ensuring that all the male members of group were wearing a Kippah ( A skull cap that reminds us that God is always looking over us from above and that it is a sign of respect.) Rabbi Rose also introduced us to the Jewish Prayer Shawl called the Tallit. He explained how Jewish wear these in the synagogue to remind them that God are all around them. The Tallit has 613 tassels that remind Jewish people of their 613 commandments that our found in the Torah (the Jewish holy book.)

Johannah  said, “ I found out that in the synagogue the main focus is the ark a special place where the torah scrolls are kept. A synagogue must have at least 3 so that more than one can be read at one time. The torah is richly decorated.”

Olivia reported that, “ I found out that the 10 commandments are displayed above the ark in the synagogue but I didn’t recognise them as they were written in Hebrew. The star of David is a Jewish symbol.”

Fredwin said, “I learnt that in the synagogue that you must not touch the torah scrolls in case you damage them therefore Jewish people use a yar stick.”

Richard learnt that, “Women and men sit separately in the synagogue.”

Y5/6G English: Changing a text into the third person.

Our current class novel this term is Carrie’s War by Nina Bowden which links to our context for learning The Blitz as it focuses on the life of Carrie a girl evacuated from London to Wales during the World War II.

This week we have been looking at the section of novel in which Carrie is billeted to the Evans family. We have been putting on our red thinking hats to help us understand the thoughts and feelings of the characters. This has helped us to understand what it was like for children being evacuated to Wales as well as helping us develop our writing skills. This week we focused on changing the voice of the text. Nina Bowden wrote the novel in the third person but we looked at rewriting scenes in the first person. To help us we hot seated the characters and prepared answers which helped us to see things from their point of view. We then utilised our knowledge of life in World War II to add extra details and events to our writing. Here’s Mason’s Diary entry for Carrie.

The Mabinogion: Blodeuwedd

In years 5 and 6 this week we have been retelling the traditional Welsh tale Bloduewedd, the fourth branch of y Mabinogi. The four branches of the Mabinogi are famous Welsh stories that have been told for centuries, passed down from generation to generation, and are widely regarded as the finest example of traditional Welsh storytelling. They are stories of heroism and heartbreak, love and disloyalty, and are set in a mythical landscape which corresponds to many places that can still be seen in Wales today.

We read a simple version of Bloduwedd. Each group were then allocated a scene in the story. The children had 15 minutes to think interdependently. Each child was given a specific character or role. The Big Boss was the director. We all used the Habit of Mind, ‘Listening and Understanding with Empathy’ to truly understand the actions, thoughts and feelings of each character. Each group had to perform their scene to the rest of the class.

On Friday September 25th September the children and staff at St Philip Evans Primary School celebrated their 40th anniversary Mass. We are very grateful to Father Gareth who celebrated the special mass with us.

We began our mass with our ‘Gather’. The children sang the Zimbabwean hymn, ’Come all you People.’ It was a wonderful way to gather as a school community and mark the successes of the school over the last 40 years. Our Head boy and girl and our Deputy Head boy and girl read our introduction. They set the precedent and were true role models as they used the Habit of Mind, ‘Communicating with Clarity and Precision.’ They gave us time to reflect on the achievements of the school and reminded us of the incredible community St Philip Evans has been a part of since 1975, and continues to be a part of today.

Our readings reminded us of the importance of treating others the way we want to be treated ourselves. Our school has grown in faith and love, and we recalled how Christ has always been at the centre of our school community.

Our Gospel reading shared the Jesus’ most important commandment:

John 15:12-16

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

“My commandment is this:

Love one another just as I love you.

The greatest love a person can have for his friends is to give his life for them.

And you are my friends if you do what I command you.

I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing.

Instead I call you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me; I chose you.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Our prayers of intercession focussed on the church and her mission to live and share the Gospel of love. We prayed for an end to injustice, violence and fear in our world.

We asked that governments and leaders work tirelessly for peace and equality so that all people can enjoy the happiness they deserve.

We prayed that we will be encouraged and inspired by the lives of the Saints especially St. Philip Evans and all who dedicate their lives to sharing and living the gospel of love.

We prayed for all pupils, parents and staff, both past and present that they will open our hearts and minds to the Word of God, and make time in our busy lives to hear his voice as he speaks to us.

We prayed for ourselves as we journey from childhood to adulthood; that we may have the courage to face the new challenges that we meet along the way, and the strength and faith to stay close to God’s love.

We prayed for all past staff, governors, parents and pupils of St Philip Evans who have died in the peace of Christ; that they will enjoy the happiness of eternal life with God in his heavenly kingdom.

Years 5/6D Assembly: COMMITMENT

This week in 5/6D we celebrated our class assembly linked to our current ‘Come and See’ topic, ‘Commitment and Vocation.’ We were very lucky in our class to have had a visit from Lawrence Bryce who is a seminarian from the Cardiff Archdiocese who is currently based in St. Philip Evans Parish.  A seminarian means Lawrence is training to be a priest. Lawrence told us about how through the sacrament of baptism all Christians are called to share in the mission of Jesus.

In our reflection we thought about how we are called by God to follow is Jesus’ footsteps and how we should live our lives as Christians.

Y5/6G: Science Material Properties October 2015

This term we are investigating the properties of different materials. We have looked at changes that different materials go through and learning about how the changes are reversible or irreversible. We have been thinking about how some materials are soluble and can be dissolved into liquids.

We have carried out a number of different investigations to find out more about how different materials dissolve.

Karl reported, “My group investigated how different types of sugar dissolve in different ways. We have thinking about we can improve our predicting skills. We investigated how icing sugar, sweetener and granulated sugar dissolve in water. We investigated which one would dissolve in the least amount of water. To find this out we used a pipette to drop water onto to a table spoon of the different materials. We have been developing our predicting skills here is my prediction:

I predict that the icing sugar will dissolve in the least amount of water because the icing sugar has the smallest particles. I know this because the smaller the particles the less amount of water will be needed to dissolve. Whereas, I predict that the granulated sugar will dissolve in the most amount of water.

EVACUEES OCTOBER 2015

In years 5 and 6 we have been using the Habit of Mind, ‘Listening and Understanding with empathy’, to write a report about life in Wales as an evacuee. We carried out research as part of our Learning Log homework. We then categorised our information using a tree map. We discussed relevant subheadings for each section of our report.

Here are some of the facts which Jason has found out from his research:

When the children were being evacuated they didn’t even know what was happening.

About 800,000 children were evacuated, but that was only the first group of children. There were many more to be evacuated over the years.

When the children arrived at their destination the Billeting Officer would take them into a hall and they would stand in a line and wait for people to pick them. These people were called Host Families.

Every morning since they were in the countryside they would start the morning with a walk.

Some children were treated badly and they missed their homes so much. The only way they could communicate was by writing letters.

Y5/6G Maths Investigation SEPTEMBER 2015

This week have been using our learning about place value to carry out an reasoning investigation that came from the website Nrich.

Francesca reported, “we had to roll four dice and used the four numbers that we had to make a four digit number made 3124. After this we had to work with a partner to attempt to find all of the possible combinations of these 4 digit number. Mr Griffiths told us that there are 24. We worked hard to find them all but when another group checked our results we had repeated one of our answers. Mr Griffiths told us that we need to use the Maths Habit of Mind Pattern Sniffers and decide upon a system to help solve this problem without making a mistake.”

Tobias reported, “ we worked together in group[s to use the brace thinking maps to develop a system to solve our problem. I like the system because it was quicker and it helped my thinking when finding all of the different combinations. I would definitely use this in the future.”

MAGISTRATES IN THE COMMUNITY

This week the children in 5/6 G and 5/6G were lucky enough to have a visit from a bench of magistrates. We learnt so much about the legal system and the differences between Crown Court and the Magistrates Court. They gave a presentation and discussed:

•How magistrates are appointed

•What kind of cases they deal with

•How guilt or innocence is decided

•How magistrates decide to sentence

The children were able to answer a number of questions and had excellent prior knowledge. We then held a mock trial, where the children were allocated different parts and had to decide whether the defendant was guilty or innocent.

The magistrates asked the children to discuss the following scenarios and questions in groups:

1.School rules

             What are some of them?

             Why have them?

             Who made them?

             Are some unnecessary?  Why?

             What happens if they are broken?

2.Team Sport

             How many involved?     

             Who controls the game?

             What does that person need to know?

             What could happen if there are not rules?

             What happens if rules are broken?

             Who decided upon the game’s rules?

3.            Home Rules

             Who has rules?

             Why?

             Who made them?

             What happens if you break them?

3.Respect for other people and their property

             “borrowing” a classmate’s pencil

             taking someone’s sweets

             “borrowing” a bicycle

             Victim’s reaction

             Taking from the local greengrocer’s display

             Which was the more serious?

             Why?

             Who’s the victim?

             How does the victim feel?

We then took part in the mock trial of Alex Took. We heard from the Defendant and Prosecution. We then had to reach a verdict as a jury. The Magistrates also had to do the same. We had to justify our decision using the evidence we had heard. Once we had read the Probation Report we then had to take all of the new information into consideration before passing a sentence. We decided that Alex Took should be given a community order, the conditions of which are as follows:

• £175 court fees
• 200 hours community service
• Participation in a Thinking Skills Programme for rehabilitation purposes.

We are now going to be using what we have learnt to write a balanced argument, before individually deciding on a verdict and sentencing. What a fantastic experience, where we learnt an incredible amount of new information about the British Legal System.

Y5/6G: Assembly on  Loving

Our current RE Come and See topic is entitled loving or cariadus in Welsh. To begin our assembly we sang , “I will come to you in the darkness” we chose this hymn as it reminds us of God’s love for us during the darkest moments of our lives.

Following the hymn we began to share how we explored unconditional love in our families

 and lives. Kenzie said, “My group created a bubble map that used different adjectives that described the emotions that you feel when you experience unconditional love.” Both Rena and Lowri went on to share the poems that they had written about unconditional love. Frankie went on to tell us, “Alongside our friends and family, as Christians, we know that God loves us all unconditionally. He has created us and cares for us all. As part of our learning in this topic, and all other topics, we turned to scripture to find out about Jesus’s teaching about love and we deepened our understanding of this teaching and reflected on how it can shape our own lives.”

Following this Jessica read from the Gospel of John and the account of Jesus’ command to his followers, “My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you.”

After the gospel reading a number of us acted out the parable of the Prodigal Son Jesus often used parables to help people understand his teaching. Parables are stories with a deep meaning. Jesus used the story of the prodigal son as a way to help us understand God’s unconditional love.

After the dramatization of the Prodigal Son the class shared the Beatitudes which are more teachings of Jesus about how we should live our life. The children shared the different verses and explained how the other children could let these shape their lives.

RE lesson based up upon psalm 136. Then we lead the school through prayers of intercession answering in Welsh. We challenge the school t leave our assembly with the mission of loving others as Jesus’ loves us. To finish we sang our favourite hymn Here I am to Worship.

Dahlicious Day September 2015

To commemorate the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth we based all of our literacy activities around Roald Dahl’s life and works. We started the day by sharing our recommendations and writing book reviews. We thought carefully about the audience and purpose of our book review and how we had to use persuasive features in our writing. We also discussed the importance of justifying our opinions on characters and events within the book. Here is Maisy’s book review:

_______________________________________________________

English: Carrie’s War (September 2015)

At the start of the term we started our class novel for the term Carrie’s War which links to our context for learning about the Blitz and the life of evacuees in Wales during World War II. We have finished the first chapter and thought carefully about the information that we can infer about the characters and used this information to make predictions about the rest of the story. Inference is the reading skill of make decisions from a text by reading between the lines.

The first chapter gave us a number of clues linked to what was going to happen in the rest of the book. We used the habit of mind ‘Listening and Understanding with empathy.’ to put ourselves in Carrie’s shoes. We analysed the text and thought carefully about how the author was giving us more information about the characters.