Welcome back everybody! Our Spring term learning theme is 'Perilous Pursuits' where we will be delving into the most dangerous escapades and journeys of all time!

So far, we have written brilliant adventure stories based around the Micheal Morpurgo book 'Why the Wales Came' and we are currently investigating the Titanic disaster. We are particularly enjoying researching key facts about the vessel through documentaries and the Internet.

We hope to find out lots more over the coming weeks, and our working hard to put work together for our end of term showcase assembly on Friday 30th March. If you have any ideas or questions linked to our theme, please leave a comment below!

Over the past few months Max and Niamh from Year 6 have been involved in a very special project. They teamed up with scriptwriters and actors from the Live Theatre in Newcastle to work on the First Draft project. After lots of planning sessions, the twosome wrote and produced their very own playscripts. They then had the honour of watching their plays be performed by professional actors at the Live Theatre. Year 6, along with Mrs Pallent and Miss Heathfield, went along to support them and see the show. We were all extremely impressed by the magnificent show!

William Shakespeare now has some competition!

'There is a hero inside all of us' written by Maximus Lowthian

'The wonderful adventures of Jinxo and Luminous' written by Niamh Green

Extra Extra! Read all about it!

As part of our Ministry of Magic learning theme, we investigated the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In Literacy lessons, we planned, wrote and redrafted newspaper reports about the events at the time. Our finished work is brilliant, and can be found on display outside our classroom. Come along and have a look!

Mrs Sweeney recently arranged for us to receive some specialist PE coaching. Year 6 chose to have coaching in dodgeball. Lots of fun was had by all!

Over the past half term, Y6 have worked hard designing experiments and testing variables linked to our 'Micro-organisms' unit of work. We have made observations on environments where mould likes to breed, and have looked closely at how yeast acts on dough mixtures. We have developed our scientific skills throughout these investigations and definitely have some scientists in the making!

Mouldy bread - yuck! We made sure we worked in safe conditions, keeping the bread in sealed bags at all times.

Yeast investigation number One! Can you guess how we investigated how much carbon dioxide was produced by the yeast mixtures?

Yeast investigation number two! Will bread dough rise without any yeast?

Here at Brighton Avenue we have updated our old ICT suite into a state of the art 'Learning Zone' full to the brim with exciting new equipment and software. Year 6 started an ICT and Design Technology project last week using some of our fabulous Lego 'WeDo' equipment. In groups we set about building a hungry alligator using Lego blocks, motors, cogs and pulleys. It was great fun! Although we have only just started the project, one group mangaged to complete their design and program their alligator to snap its jaws and talk! Watch this space as we build and program more devices using this brilliant software!

Meet our fantastic new Year 6 class! So far everybody has made a super start to the academic year: working hard, listening carefully and having fun along the way. Keep checking for updates on what we're up to!

Welcome back everybody! It's great to see you refreshed and eager to start this important year. Our Year 6 learning theme this term is 'Ministry of Magic' where we are exploring a world of fantasy and mystery. Read our newsletter below for further details.

Remember it is our class assembly, the first of this new term, this Friday (16th September) at the new time of 2:15pm in our school hall. Please come along to support us!

September newsletter.doc

Well...what a fantastic year! We made sure our brilliant Year 6 class left Brighton Avenue in style on the last day of term. After our special awards ceremony and yearbook presentations, little did the class know what surprises were in store!  Mrs Hives and all the lunchtime staff for decorated a very special 'top table' so our leavers could dine in style for their final time. The biggest surprise came after lunch, when a stretch limousine pulled up outside the Y6 classroom door, party music blaring, the gang headed to the Quayside to see the sights. Thanks to Mrs Hunt for organising this super treat!

Finally...a note to our Year 6 class of 2011. You have been an amazing class - working hard, trying your best and having fun along the way. We wish you lots of luck in your new schools. Keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on!

Last week Year 6 pupils were lucky enough to take part in a very special school trip...a visit to LONDON!! We were all so excited for the visit and had completed lots of research in class in the lead up so we could tackle the capital in style!

We stayed overnight in a hotel (which we all loved) and had lots of fantastic experiences during the day too. We saw the sights by both bus and boat, walked around Buckingham Palace and Clarence House, and were lucky enough to go on the London Eye...it was amazing!!

The highlight of the visit for many of us was going to the London Palladium to watch the West-End performance of 'The Wizard of Oz.' It was extra special as we had performed our own version of the show the week before our trip.

It truly was a magical adventure. A huge thank you to Mr Crombie for securing grants to enable the visit to go ahead, and to Mrs Henderson for months of planning and organisation. 

Last week Year 6 pupils visited the Shipley Art Gallery to take part in some transition work to help with moving to secondary school. We discussed ideas surrounding identity, sketched exhibited pieces in the gallery and took part in a jewellery making workshop. Take a look at our artistic snaps from the day!

On Thursday 23rd June, Year 6 pupils visited Saltwell Park to take part in a murder mystery investigation organised by Heworth Grange CLC. Here, we used GPS tracking devices to orienteer around the park, picking up clues to help us solve the mystery along the way. The rainy weather did nothing to dampen our spirits - a great day was had by all!

As part of their visit to London, Year 6 are lucky enough to be going to see the West-End show 'The Wizard of Oz'. We are all so excited and can't wait to see, what is sure to be a fantastic show!

We saw this as the perfect opportunity to treat all parents, pupils and staff to our own production of the show. We are currently learning lines, making props and organising costumes to make sure we do it in style!

Please come along and support us. The show will take place on Friday 1st July at 1:30pm in our school hall. All parents across the school are welcome, the more the merrier!

Wizard of Oz invitation.doc

On Wednesday 8th June, Year 6 were invited to Gateshead Stadium to take part in the 'Big Skip' event organised by St Oswald's Hospice. It was a brilliant day; we had lots of fun and experimented with new skipping skills, all to help raise money for a very worthy cause. Could all Y6 pupils please now start to bring their sponsor forms and any money raised back into school. If you are able to make a donation to St Oswald's Hopsice, please see Miss Heathfield over the next few days, all members of Year 6 will be able to tell you about the important work carried out by the charity and how your money can help.

Earlier this week Mrs Sweeney arranged for Expo-Chef to visit Years 5 and 6 to help us whip up some tasty and nutritious recipes. Together we selected ingredients and discussed nutritional values to help us create some delicious dishes. We made a chicken and vegetable curry, a pasta dish and a vegetable soup. We also discussed the importance of protecting our environment by using up as much of our left over food as possible to avoid unnecessary waste.

During the afternoon sessions we worked in teams to put together presentations based on what we had found out during the sessions. We all left school that day with great ideas and full tummies!

Last week Year 6 worked very hard to complete their end of KS2 assessments. We are so proud of you all! Now we can relax a little and enjoy our new learning theme, 'London Calling' in preparation for our forthcoming visit to London in July.

We hope you have all relaxed this weekend, you deserve it!

To our brilliant Year 6 class,

We are so proud of how hard you have all worked in preparation for the SATS this forthcoming week. You all deserve to do very well indeed. This is the time to show just what you can do - go for it!

Good luck to you all!

Miss Heathfield and Mrs Treloar

As part of our schools 'Royal Wedding' celebration day, Year 6 designed and made some special wedding hats. We were asked to use our imagination to create something completely individual and unique to us, there was only one specification - they needed to be patriotic, and they certainly were! We wore them on our brilliant celebration day just before we broke up for Easter. Calling all Royals...if you need a last minute hat for the big day, you know where we are!

This half term Year 6 have been investigating forces as part of the science curriculum. We recently decided to plan and carry out a fair test to help us investigate air resistance. We worked in groups to design parachutes, changing only one variable (such as the size, surface area or shape of the parachute) to observe the impact this had upon the speed of air resistance. Our investigations required lots of scientific skill as careful time keeping was needed. We also carried out repeat measurements to increase the accuracy of our results, meaning we calculated a 'mean' time taken for each parachute to fall.

What a busy afternoon!

Recently in PE we have been developing fitness and agility. Each week we complete an obstacle course around our school hall and aim to improve upon our times from previous sessions.

We all aim to stay fit and healthy by exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet.

This afternoon Year 6, and many other classes across the school, had the opportunity to learn some gumboot dancing! It turns out Year 6 are pretty nifty movers!

Thank you to Thomas for being photographer for the afternoon!

Earlier this week, Years 5 and 6 took part in a brilliant basketball-filled afternoon! We were visited by players from Newcastle Eagles and took part in a range of workshops to encourage us to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Those of us who answered lots of questions received spot prizes, including tickets for upcoming games and T shirts. Those people who demonstrated great skills with a basketball, were invited to take part in some training sessions too! Lots of fun was had by all!

Over the past few weeks, the Year 6 roving reporters have been working hard to write and edit school news stories. Thankfully, all the hard work has been completed and we are looking forward to seeing our writing in print. Look out for our page in the Evening Chronicle on Thursday 31st March. All members of Year 6 will bring a copy of the paper home with them that evening.

At present in Year 6 we are revising the features of non-fiction writing. This week we looked at persuasion in different forms, including letter writing. In this assessed piece Callum has shown great improvements in sentence structure and organisation. Keep up the hard work Callum!

Ahoy there!

To celebrate Comic Relief, Brighton Avenue became a pirate academy for the day! Year 6 loved getting into the spirit of things, revisiting their old pirate characters. Our day to day names were no more, as we made way for the likes of Bare-faced Balog, Cutlass-carrying Callum and Eyepatch Erkasap. Take a look at some of our snaps from the day! 

This week in Year 6 we have been writing reports. This week's star writer is Rahma for her super report about Orang-Utans. She worked very hard on the structure and organisation of her writing, and has written in carefully structured sentences too. Well done Rahma!

It was lovely to see so many members of Year 6 having fun at the party! School Council members Emma and Farhana, even helped to cater the event!

Some even spent time with their younger brothers and sisters!

In PE lessons we have been playing badminton. It took some time to become confident with the skills, but we got there in the end!

This week in Year 6, we have been writing Titanic-themed biographies. This week's star writer is Danielle for her fabulous biography of Captain Smith. Danielle's work was so fantastic, she was asked to show Mrs Pallent, who was just as impressed as Miss Heathfield. Take a look at her writing below and see why we were all so impressed. Well done Danielle - you really should be proud!

On Wednesday 9th February, Year 6 visited the Safety Works centre in Newcastle, to take part in some very important workshops linked to staying safe. Here we found out what to do in the event of a fire at home, how to carry out some important first aid techniques and how to stay safe when using the Metro. We also found out about the important job the police do. We feel we learnt some very important lessons on this visit, things that we will remember for a long time.

On Friday 4th February, Year 6 visited the newly refurbished children's library within Gateshead Library. We were asked to visit for a special reason, we were given the opportunity to meet a local author, Simon Bartram, best known for his series of 'Bob, Man on the Moon' books. Here, he read us his latest book 'Bob's Best Ever Friend' and spent a lot of time discussing how he writes and illustrates his books.

We thought that he was brilliant! We were laughing all morning and really enjoyed our time with him. He even gave us a special memento, a one-of-a-kind alien illustration, designed just for us. We will make sure this is proudly displayed in our classroom. We would like to say a big thank you to Simon, and the staff at Gateshead Library, we had a lovely morning. We have some brilliant writers in Year 6, perhaps one day it will be one of us presenting our latest book at the library!

Year 6 are now using the Learning Platform to help support learning in class. We have used it to chat to one another, send personal messages and even to discuss important issues linked to our learning theme. Look out for letters soon detailing how to use it appropriately at home! 

Congratulations to this week's star writer Georgia for her fabulous description of the Titanic. As ever, Georgia has carefully selected words for effect and has created some very vivid images through her writing.

Well done Georgia!

This term we are looking at reversible and irreversible materials. Last week we mixed different materials together and made observations as to whether these changes could then be reversed. We were then asked to form conclusions about the changes that took place.

Year 6 are currently exploring short stories with flashbacks. To tie in with our current learning theme we are looking at the film 'Titanic' and exploring the key characters.

This week we wrote diary extracts as if we were one of these characters. We had to carefully decsribe the events of boarding the Titanic and express our thoughts and feelings at the same time.

Congratulations Cameron - you are this weeks star writer for your excellent diary account. Well done!

Our Spring term learning theme is 'Atlantic Adventure' where we will be looking at the journey across the famous ocean. We begin this learning term by looking at Titanic; perhaps the most memorable and ill-fated journey across the Atlantic of all time.

We are all very excited about our new theme and keen to share some of our thoughts and findings. Our class assembly takes place on Friday 21^st January at 9am. It would be great to see you there!

After working hard all term we let our hair down and celebrated in style at the KS2 Christmas party. We danced the afternoon away, played games, ate lots and most importantly looked very trendy!

Have a lovely Christmas everybody!

This half term Mrs Sweeney arranged for Alison, a netball coach in Gateshead, to visit us for some training sessions. Not only did we develop our netball skills, we aimed to work well as a team during matches, one of the key skills we aim to develop here at Brighton Avenue.

'Scrooge at School' - Thursday 9th and Friday 10th December

Calling all pupils in KS2!

We do hope you are all still learning any lines you have and are singing the production songs at home despite the snowy weather!

Sing along to parents and carers and tell them all about our super production!

Each week we will be picking a star writer in class and posting the winning piece here on the website. Last week Year 6 completed a fiction-based unit and each produced their own fantastic adventure stories. Linking to our current learning theme, we aimed to base our stories around the environment in some way, with many people choosing to write about extreme weather (how ironic considering our current snowy predicament!)

Congratulations Leyla! You are our very first star writer for your nail-biting story about a tornado. As we spent time word processing our final drafts, look out for Leyla's published work on the website soon.

This upcoming week Year 6 will be writing balanced arguments; be sure to look out for the next star writer!

It is anti-bullying week this week and we are recognising this with discussions and work within our PSHE lessons. We have discussed what is meant by bullying, the different forms it can take and what to do if it happening to you or somebody you know.

Year 6 decided to make a podcast detailing all key information and giving guidance on what to do if bullying is affecting your life. Please take the time to listen. We hope you find it useful!

Year 6

Beat the bullies.MP3

Last week all Key Stage 2 classes took part in a rather magical workshop. We were told a story by the visiting artists and were asked to remember the magic moments from within the tale. We found out that Thomas, one of our visitors, was a story keeper and keeps special parts of stories within glass jars. We were asked to do that very thing with the story we had just heard. We thought about what we would put into our jar to capture the 'magic moments' and set to work using a range of materials to create our magical story jars. We will continue to work on them this week and look forward to visiting Saltwell Park on 8th December to see our work displayed as part of the 'Enchanted Parks' exhibition.

Take a look at some of the photographs below showing Year 6 creating their jars.

Year 6 have been working hard on developing gymnastic skills in PE lessons. We have been concentrating on working with others to create and hold effective balances. We found out that this was not as easy as it first looked! It required a lot of communication with our partners as we needed to ensure that we all felt safe at all times. We will now work on putting our balances into routines and putting together polished performances.

Have a look at the photographs below - we had great fun and lots of laughs along the way!

Year 6 have recorded audio news reports using our new easi-speak microphones. We wrote reports based on both school and world news stories. We then developed our speaking skills to ensure we delivered the news effectively. Listen to the news bulletin we have uploaded about our School Council. We hope you like it! 

Y6 news!.MP3

Last week Year 6 were visited by the Gibber drama group. Here we took part in a workshop which helped us explore issues linked to stereotyping, discrimination and racism. It was brilliant; we played games, worked as a team and found out lots about these important issues.

We thought that Grant, Fiona and Sonny from Gibber were fantastic. A big thank you to you all!

During October half term I was lucky enough to fly to the USA and explore Baltimore! Here I visited many different schools, including elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. I was welcomed into each and every school I visited and found out so much. It was a fantastic experience; American schools really are very exciting!

On the days I was not visiting schools, I was able to visit many other fantastic places. I went to Philadelphia and shot hoops on an outdoor basketball court (Mrs Sweeney would have been very proud) and I also visited Washington DC. Here I managed to sneak a peek at the White House and other political buildings. Unfortunately, Barak Obama wasn't available on the day, a shame as I'm sure he would have loved to find out all about Brighton Avenue!

I really had a super time and would love to tell you all about it. If you have any questions about schools in America or are interested in finding out more about my trip, post a comment and I'll get back to you! In the menatime, take a look at some of my photographs taken in Washington DC. Can you spot the White House?

Miss Heathfield

Last week we were lucky enough to host Comenius visitors from schools all over Europe. We welcomed visitors from: Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Sweden, and Turkey.

On Tuesday morning our partners visited our classrooms and told us a little more about their countries and school systems. We all found it very interesting and had lots of questions to ask!

On Friday each class in school presented a short assembly and retold a traditional story from each country. Year 6 investigated Latvia and retold the traditional European tale 'The King with Horses' Ears'. We all really enjoyed our week and found out so many interesting things. We are looking forward to the next meeting in Sweden!

On Monday 18th October, Year 6 visited the Dryden Centre to take part in the Eco Village Challenge. We worked in teams to design, build and cost an environmentally friendly village. We are working very hard at our 'Eco Warriors' learning theme, so this was the perfect opportunity to develop and extend our skills. We created super designs and really thought carefully about how we could ensure this was a sustainable development for the future. We incorporated things like wind turbines, solar roof panels and recycling points into our design. Perhaps we have some budding architects of the future in Year 6!

Thank you to all the staff at the Dryden Centre for a super event.

On Saturday 16th October, five pupils from Year 6 took part in something very special. We were invited to St James' Park for the Newcastle vs. Wigan match where we were asked to compete against another local school to shoot penalties at half time. We were competing for the prestigious 'Kick it Out' cup to celebrate equality and diversity within football. It was an amazing experience and we are delighted to say that we won the cup! Luckily, there were lots of our school friends in the stands cheering us along as we took to the pitch.

We had a fantastic day and would like to thank the coaches and staff from the Newcastle United Foundation who really made our dreams come true! Another big thank you to the pupils from Our Lady & St Anne's Primary in Newcastle, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

You can see the story in more detail on the Newcastle United website, or follow the link below:

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Foundation/News/0,,10278~2187821,00.

On Friday 24th September we performed our class assembly in front of parents, staff and pupils. We worked very hard to put it together and spent a lot of time rehearsing to make sure it was just right! We are always very proud of our assemblies and are keen to put on the best performance that we can. We hope everybody enjoyed it as much as we did!

It's the start of a brand new year for our new Year 6 class. Our learning theme this term is 'Eco Warriors' where we will be investigating environmental issues around the world. We have discussed areas we would like to investigate and have put together a list of questions that we would like to answer; they can be found on the learning wall in our class.

It is the start of an exciting term and a busy year for Year 6. We're a fantastic class so we will no doubt have lots of fun along the way!

Read our newsletter to find out what we are getting up to this term. A reminder that our class assembly is this upcoming Friday (24th September) at 9am. We hope to see you there!

September 2010 newsletter.doc

On Tuesday 2nd February Year 6 went to visit Safety Works in Newcastle.  The children attended several workshops with the theme of how to keep safe.  The children were shown around the virtual town which included a hospital, a police station and even its own metro station!

The children now know:

• how to put people in the recovery position;
• the dangers of playing on train tracks;
• how to treat burns;
• identify hazards in the home;
• what to do in an emergency;
• how to prevent fires in the home;
• what happens if you are arrested;

A fun packed morning enjoyed by everyone!

News just in! Brighton Avenue's singing sensations Lidia and Tina have wowed audiences from across the borough and managed to win the 'Stars In Their Eyes' grand final. The pair were granted a wildcard entry despite finishing runners up in the school final. Judges were rendered speechless when the dazzling pair hit the high notes of the chart topping single 'Hallelujah'. It was a tough competition and our other singing stars Jan, Lewis and Sam from Year 4 gave a polished, professional performance singing Akon's 'Beautiful'.

On Wednesay the year 6 went to Gateshead Stadium to raise money for St Oswald's Hospice.  We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves while raising money for a good cause.

During their Creative Time, the Year 6 planned and performed a play based on King Arthur. They were responsible for making their own props. They are also planning to build their own models of a castle and have to manage their own budget.

The Year 6 are going on a trip to Kingswood Activity Centre in Hexham. In order to raise funds for the trip, the young entrepreneurs organised and carried out a successful bag pack at Sainburys. The hard workers raised over £700!