Advent Service 2023 – songs to practise
Please practise the songs for the KS2 Advent Service, using these videos to help you.
Year 6 Week Beginning 20.11.23
On Monday, 12 members of Year 6 had the most wonderful time at London’s Royal Albert Hall, performing alongside the world famous Royal Symphony Orchestra!
Although the day was long, the children still managed to have some fun in the park when they took a break from rehearsals. As day met night, the lights illuminated the Royal Albert Hall and the surrounding buildings and monuments, giving off a sense of excitement and magic. When the time came to perform, the children wowed the huge audience with their voices, making their teachers and parent very proud. It was an experience that no one will forget!
In Art, the children finished their propaganda art piece based on the work of artist Sheperd Fairey. This art piece required the children to use and further develop collage, intricate cutting and painting skills. During this unit, the children were introduced to the idea that artists can use their skills, vision and creativity to speak on behalf of communities, changing the world for the better.
Year 6 have expressed their own message to the world through creating their own individual art pieces.
As the Advent service draws ever nearer, your home learning this week is to continue to learn the words to the Mexican song- Los Posadas. Please use the video to ensure that you get the pronunciation correct. Please also rehearse your lines for the service, speaking clearly, slowly and loudly!
Los Pasadas
Information about the song:
In Mexico over 9 evenings until Christmas Eve, a group of singers called “peregrinos (pilgrims)” reenact Mary and Joseph’s search for room in an inn. They go to different homes, and the “posaderos (innkeepers)” sing call and response with the carolers. After singing all verses, the peregrinos enter the home, where they all sing together.
Lyrics – Spanish
(Mexican folk carol)
En el nombre del cielo os pido posada,
pues no puede andar mi esposa amada.
Aquí no es mesón sigan adelante,
yo no puedo abrir, no sea algún tunante.
No seas inhumano, tenos caridad,
que el Dios de los cielos te lo premiará.
Ya se pueden ir y no molestar
porque si me enfado los voy a apalear. (Christina solo)
Mi esposa es María, es Reina del Cielo,
y madre va a ser del Divino Verbo.
¿Eres tu José? ¿Tu esposa es María?
Entren, peregrinos, no los conocía.
Dios pague señores vuestra caridad,
y que os colme el cielo de felicidad.
Dichosa la casa que abriga este día
a la Virgen Pura la hermosa María.
Entren santos peregrinos, peregrinos, reciban este rincón
no de esta pobre morada sino de mi corazón.
Have a lovely weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 13.11.23
This week has been Anti-Bullying week! The week launched with both children and staff wearing odd socks to school; this fun opportunity encouraged everyone to express themselves and celebrate their individuality!
As we are celebrating the Year of Diversity at Pope Paul, our Anti-Bullying Week focussed on the message of anti-racism. In class, the children learnt about what racism is and how they can be actively anti-racist. They also learned about unconscious bias. During lesson time, the class explored different scenarios where an anti-racist would speak out against racism through actions and words. They also made connections between anti-racism and our own school mission prayer, where we strive to respect and care for each other and to build a better world.
In Maths, Year 6 have been focussing on prime numbers, factors, common multiples, square and cube numbers and they have begun to write and edit the first drafts of their diary entries, in English.
In Science, Year 6 had lots of fun creating models using themselves, to show how light helps us to see.
Home learning has been set on the following websites:
Mathletics
SPaG
Spelling Shed
Please remember to practise your multiplication skills regularly using TT Rockstars.
Regular daily reading
Please familiarise yourself with our class song for the Advent service. Parts and lines will be given out next week.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 6.11.23
This week, the children in Year 6 have been thinking about Remembrance and began the week by making special prayer poppies which were displayed in our prayer area in the classroom; it ended today with a whole school pilgrimage around the school. This was a wonderful opportunity to visit each class and see their remembrance displays with their reading partners.
In English this week, the children began planning their Windrush diary entries, ready for the write-up sessions next week. The children are REALLY enjoying this text and complain every time I stop reading, so I am expecting some fantastic writing next week!
In Science, Year 6 began their new topic on ‘Light’. This week, the children had to find out how light travels and enjoyed setting up their own investigations; as a result, they learnt that light travels in a straight line!
In PE, the class continued their new dance unit based on the themes from WW2. They had lots of fun putting together simple dance steps to create routines in pairs. This was set to music from WW2.
Home learning has been set on:
Mathletics
Spag.com
Spelling Shed
Please continue to read daily and please bring your reading logs in on a daily basis. Thank you Year 6.
Have a good weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning: 30.11.23
This week, Year 6 began their new writing unit based on the story Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah.
The book tells the story of a 10-year-old boy called Leonard. In 1958, Leonard travels with his mother from Jamaica to England to join his father. The novel follows Leonard as he struggles to adapt to life in Britain.
Although Windrush Child is a fictional story, Benjamin Zephaniah was inspired by historical events when he wrote Windrush Child. He also drew on his own experience of growing up in Britain in the 1960s.
In class, the children have been doing lots of learning about the Windrush generation, in order to have a better understanding of the themes within the book. They learnt:
The Windrush generation
In the book, Leonard’s father is a passenger on the Empire Windrush. This was a real ship which travelled to Britain from Jamaica in 1948. Many of the people on board had left their homes in the Caribbean having been encouraged to find work and a better life in Britain. They were all British by law so they were all free to stay. This group of people were the first of the Windrush generation. Many stayed and built lives and families in Britain.
The Immigration Act 1971 granted permanent leave to remain in Britain to those who migrated before 1971. This meant that those who were part of the Windrush generation remained legal migrants and could stay in Britain to live and work. However, no paperwork stating that they had the right to permanently remain in Britain was given to these individuals.
In 2017, the Windrush scandal revealed that many people who were part of the Windrush generation, like Leonard, had been wrongly arrested or forced to leave the country because they had no proof of their legal status.
By 2019, the British Prime Minister apologised and promised to pay compensation to the 15,000 people affected.
In Maths, Year 6 have been solving real life maths problems by working backwards. They also had lots of fun learning and playing a strategic Chinese maths game called ‘Nim’.
In Science this week, the children finished their Animals Including Humans topic by creating ‘Healthy Living’ information booklets for younger children.
In PE, the children had lots of fun participating in a war themed dance lesson!
Home learning this week is:
Mathletics– Four operations
Spag.com– Parenthesis and commas activity and a general grammar quiz based on the learning you did in Year 5
Spelling Shed
Daily reading
Have a lovely weekend and enjoy any fireworks displays you may be going to!
See you Monday,
Ms Pemberton
What a wonderful One World Week Year 6 have had!
This week, the children have been very busy finding out about Zambia.
On Monday, the class baked vitumbuwa, a type of Zambian fritter. Year 6 opted to use an air fryer rather than the deep fat fried variety- everyone agreed that they were delicious!
On Tuesday, the children found out about why Zambia celebrates Independence Day. They also researched some unknown facts and presented the information in the form of posters.
On Wednesday, Year 6 presented their inspirational Zambian people home learning to the rest of the class.
Thursday was a jam-packed day! The class painted Zambian scenery inspired paintings in acrylic, on canvas. The results were simply stunning!
The class then had a fascinating visit from Mrs Heymoz, who shared a PowerPoint about the time she lived and taught in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Straight after that, the children participated in an African dancing online lesson, which proved to be both lots of fun but very tiring!
Today, Year 6 were treated to a wonderful visit from Naomi and Julia’s mum. She talked to the class about lots of different aspects of Zambian life and brought lots of different food for the children to sample. Finally, she explained that because Zambia gets long electricity power cuts, families have to find other ways to cook- she demonstrated this by cooking sausages over an open fire in the peace garden. Thank you so much for visiting us and helping us to bring learning to life!
Finally, this afternoon, the class took part in a whole school One World Week sharing session, where the class were split up into groups and went off to different year groups around the school. It was fantastic to find out about all the lovely learning that has taken place around our school this week.
Thank you to all the parents who joined Year 6 for a class mass on Wednesday. The children’s behaviour was exemplary and the reading and singing were superb!
It was lovely to catch up with parents this week during parent consultations- thank you for coming to see me!
No home learning over this half term break. Instead, spend time having fun with your loved ones.
Have a well deserved break Year 6. You have all worked incredibly hard this first half term and you have been a pleasure to teach.
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 9/10/23
It has been a very quiet week in Year 6!
The children have been working really hard completing some assessments in Maths and Reading. These assessment will be very helpful in identifying any misconceptions or gaps in their understanding, and will also help to inform next steps in their learning.
In English, the class have been very busy composing narratives set during WW2, written from an evacuee’s perspective. This has been part of our unit of work based around the book, Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian. The children have really enjoyed doing these and I am looking forward to reading them!
In History, the children have continued to learn about how Potters Bar was affected by both world wars. After doing some research, they found the exact locations of bombsites around our local area and also learnt how the Catholic church was bombed in Southgate Road. Year 6 also found out the names of the 13 soldiers buried in St Mary’s Cemetery, Mutton Lane.
In Science, the class have been learning about the importance of drinking water and how it keeps us alive.
Gentle reminder-On Wednesday, we have our class mass at 9.15am- we really hope you can join us!
We are looking forward to next week, where we will be learning about Zambia as part of One World Week!
For home learning, please find out about inspirational people who come from Zambia. Choose one person to make an information poster or booklet about and be prepared to talk about your inspirational person to the rest of the class!
Have a lovely weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 2.10.23
Year 6 have been very busy this week preparing for today’s class assembly.
They began on Monday by meeting in their new leadership groups and deciding on the key messages they wanted to deliver to the Pope Paul community, during their time on stage.
On Tuesday, they used the chrome books to write their speeches. They then presented them to the rest of the class and the children then gave suggestions in order to improve each speech further.
On Wednesday, the children edited their speeches and made improvements; they were then put together as an assembly!
The children made their teachers very proud this morning with their professional attitudes and outstanding delivery! Well done Year 6!
On Tuesday, the children met their new Italian teacher Corrado. He will be teaching the class Italian every Tuesday afternoon! Welcome Corrado!
Home Learning
SPaG.com
Mathletics
Spelling Shed
TT Rockstars
All learning has been allocated on these websites for you, as discussed in class.
In preparation for One World Week, please find out as much as you can about our focus country, Zambia!
I also attach information about the BBC 500 Words competition. There is no pressure to enter this, but it looks fantastic!
BBC 500 Words 2023: register your interest to become a judge – BBC Teach
Have a lovely weekend,
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 25/9/23
It has been another very busy week in Year 6.
The week started with great excitement and anticipation, as on Monday, the children finally found out which leadership role they had been awarded!
Some of the children have already been put to work in their new roles- The Laudato Si’ group have met and prepared something for the St Vincent mass on Sunday, the sports leaders have had a meeting with Ms Pringle and the new St Vincent captains, Grey and Lucy, have prepared and led a whole school assembly about the life of St Vincent. The class were all presented with their leadership badges during assembly on Thursday which they are wearing with pride!
In Science, the children continued to explore the question:
| Is there a relationship between the type of exercise that you do and the number of heart beats per minute (bpm)? |
They organised the equipment that they need and had lots of fun carrying out the test that they had planned the week before.
Today, Year 6 finally got to meet their Reception reading partners. The sun was shining and so the children spent time getting to know one another outside. Year 6 spent some time beforehand reminiscing about the time spent with their own learning partners when they were in Reception themselves and understand that this is is a very special relationship that will continue to build as the weeks progress.
For home learning this week, please write a letter to your reading partner, welcoming them to Pope Paul and telling them all about yourself. These letters will be given to the reception children next Friday.
Please also log on to Mathletics and Spelling Shed for additional home learning. The problems with Spelling Shed have been rectified.
For those of you who are going, I will see you at the St Vincent mass on Sunday. If not, have a lovely weekend!
Ms Pemberton
Year 6 Week Beginning 18.9.23
The children have had a very busy week filled with lots of lovely learning opportunities.
On Tuesday, they had a very special online lesson with Collette from the Safer Streets team. She held a workshop based on:
- Active and sustainable travel
- Seatbelt safety
- Highway street design
- Engine idling
She finished her session with a quiz and the children were able to demonstrate a clear understanding of how to keep safe on the roads and pavements.
In English, the class began their new unit of learning, based on the book Goodnight Mister Tom, by Michelle Magorian. This book has been our end of the day whole class read since the start of term. It is about a little boy who is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of the Second World War. The book itself fits wonderfully with our current learning in History too.
In Maths, Year 6 have been solving problems with negative numbers and have been rounding numbers to the nearest: 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, 10,000,000.
In RE, the children have been learning about the three Sacraments of Initiation, and the symbols, words and actions associated with each of them.
In Science, the class have continued their learning about the circulatory system and have planned their own comparative test which will be carried out next week.
In History, the class learnt about the Zeppelin crash in Potters Bar on October 1st 1916 and how the crash impacts residents even today. They discovered that our play area at Oakmere Park is themed on this historic event and that two streets are named after the man who shot it down (Tempest Ave and Wulstan Park).
Today, many of the Year 6 children sang at Ms Steff’s mother’s funeral. Both their behavior and singing were exemplary with many of the funeral party and parishioners commenting on how impressed they were. Well done children, you made us very proud!
This afternoon, KS1 and KS2 were treated to a theatre production of Alice in Wonderland; it was very exciting and a lovely way to finish the week!
Home learning this week is:
Mathletics– Recapping learning- rounding numbers. I have also set a ‘Quest’ for those of you that want a challenge.
Spelling Shed
SPaG.com– Grammar test and expanded noun phrases.
Daily reading for 20mins
In History on Monday, we will be learning about the national evacuation event. Please do a little background reading and/or online research over the weekend, to prepare yourself with some knowledge before the lesson.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Ms Pemberton
