Autumn 2

We were very lucky in Year 6 and got to go and watch a performance of A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic theatre. It was really exciting seeing the story brought to life on stage! It definitely got us all in a festive mood.

In Year 6, our science topic has been 'light'. We have loved learning about how light travels, how we see objects and how shadows are formed. We worked in groups to create a demonstration to prove that light travels in straight lines, made shadow puppets using opaque and translucent materials and used mirrors to reflect light onto targets around the room.

We have been celebrating international week at school this week. We worked in groups to make willow and tissue paper lanterns that we then placed a tealight in for our lantern parade with the rest of the school. This was because we were celebrating all of the festivals of light: Diwali, Christmas and Hanukkah! The children also shared stories about where their family are from; it was really interesting hearing about all the different nationalities we have in our class!

We visited the Museum of London to explore the Victorian galleries. We saw a toy shop, stationer's shop, grocers and many other Victorian shops and buildings. Using our clipboards, we had a go at sketching some of the artefacts in the galleries.

We had a fantastic time at the Charles Dickens Museum! Year 6 learnt so much about Dickens' life, his family and the methods he used in his writing. We got to try out using a real quill pen and ink to write about our own characters. It was tricky at first, but then we all managed! In the afternoon, we went on a Dickens walk around London to see many of the places that Charles Dickens lived, worked and used as inspiration. What a brilliant day! :)

In our History and Geography lessons, we have been learning about Victorian London. We went for a walk around the school area to look for Victorian influence. We found lots of impressive buildings that were built in the Victorian era. We also found cobbled streets and many Victorian lamp posts! 

We have loved reading A Christmas Carol so far this half term. We have learnt about Ebenezer Scrooge and written setting descriptions of the wintery, Victorian scenes of London. After watching a short clip of the film, we worked in groups to create freeze frames of different scenes. We 'came to life' as the characters, thinking about what they may be thinking, feeling and saying.