PE IS BACK!!

PE IS BACK!! We had a lovely PE lesson in the sunshine today. We aimed at a target from different distances #smithdownpe @misshath2 @SmithdownPr @SmithdownPrimY6

We had our first ukulele session last week

We had our first ukulele session last week. Chords and frets ???#smithdownmusic

A couple of our Mini Mavericks proudly showing their well deserved certificates ?

A couple of our Mini Mavericks proudly showing their well deserved certificates ??????? #smithdownpe Team work and supporting others.

Learning about endangered animals in geography

Learning about endangered animals in #smithdowngeog what threats each are facing and what needs to be done to help.

So informative and so incredibly well presented

How AMAZING is this piece of work informing us about the consequences of palm oil! ? So informative and so incredibly well presented. #smithdowngeog #smithdownwriters

Calculating the mean average and presenting data in a bar chart

#attendanceweek Calculating the mean average and presenting data in a bar chart. Points to improve: scale adjustment. #smithdownmaths

Replication process of ‘Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge’ by Claude Monet

Stage 1 in our replication process of ‘Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge’ by Claude Monet – colour mixing. Impressionism for #smithdownart

It’s that time again! ????

We love our ukulele lessons ??

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We discussed actions of people in The Good Samaritan story.

We really had interesting ideas about the responses of each of the characters in the story of The Good Samaritan and related situations to everyday life.

We created our own word art

We created our own word art pieces after discussing the rights of the child in PSHE. We chose words which we thought were very important.

Remembrance Day

For Remembrance Day, we read the poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and after discussing the content, we embellished the poem with images of poppies.

Diwali Lanterns

As part of our Diwali celebrations, Year 6 made lanterns displaying the symbols of, not only Hinduism, but other religions of the world too.

Impressionism

We were so blown away by this painting that we simply had to frame it! What a wonderful interpretation of Claude Monet’s ‘The Poppy Field’ by a very talented Year 6 artist ?‍?

Year 6 Computing

Year 6 this afternoon continued to look at Python coding. Children used If statements and variables to create a program that drew a shape in a particular colour by asking questions.

Using historical sources

We read some accounts of evacuation during WW2, comparing content and explaining what information and evidence each source provided.

Year 6 Python Coding

This afternoon Year 6 have continued to look at Python coding using Edublocks. Today children used lists, logic, loops, variables, and math to get a “turtle” to create a pattern with whilst changing colours after a number of turns.

Hansel and Gretel: Dual Narratives

We have thoroughly enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman’s version of Hansel and Gretel, so much so, it led us to writing our own dual narratives. We are so proud of the writing we have produced.

Santa Dash 2023 ??????‍????‍

This Friday, 8th December 2023, we will be having our very own Santa Dash! A chance to squeeze in an extra fitness session whilst having some festive fun ??‍????‍?????

Watch this space! ?

Our ‘Hands’ jacket winner

Huge well done to the winner of the ‘Hands’ jacket in our celebration assembly today. We have thoroughly loved learning to communicate using sign language.
Thank you ‘HANDS’

????????

Year 6 Python Coding

Year 6 focused on using python coding to make a Christmas tree. As a class we created code for a triangle to be drawn, focusing on the importance of our use of brackets and spacing between words. Children then used the base code to create a Christmas tree image, each section had to be a different colour.

Circuit Class in PE

We increased our fitness in many ways this week: stamina, strength, speed, flexibility and co-ordination.

The Wizard of Oz ? Christmas Performance 2023

A selection of our FABULOUS actors who performed in our Christmas 2023 performance of The Wizard of Oz. We hope you loved watching as much as we loved performing for you all!?

WWII Liverpool Skyline ‘The Blitz’ Scenes

We created our own versions of the Liverpool skyline one night during The Blitz in World War Two.

The Wizard of Oz – our ticket designs.

We thought some of our ticket designs were just far too lovely not to share!

Mosques Around The World

As part of our RE unit, we are finding out about mosques around the world and presenting our findings in Google Slides.

Super Circuits Session 2

Our fitness levels are increasing week by week. We are LOVING the energy levels we feel in these sessions, it is the BEST way to finish the week!

Hansel and Gretel Mural

A group of our artists are currently working on a mural displaying scenes from Hansel and Gretel, a story we read and worked with last term. Everything has been lightly sketched on and now the girls are applying the colour. We can’t wait to see the finished piece!

Mural update

A little bit more to see …..

Composing music to fit a character.

We have been thinking of actions and qualities to fit a character. We’re now choosing and using percussion instruments to play to represent our character, their qualities and actions with music. ? ? ? ?

RE: Grace, Ummah and Ahimsa

As part of our unit (Grace, Ummah and Ahimsa), we learnt a little about Ghandi, and how he protested peacefully against wrongs and injustices. We then used some key words to present in his name.

RE: Geometric Patterns

After learning about Mosques, we followed step by step instructions to create our own geometric Islamic patterns. Now they are designed, we are going to colour. How symmetrical can we make them? ?

The Year of the Dragon

We LOVED our dragon dancing today celebrating Chinese New Year.

Matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs …

We have been sketching figures in the style of L.S. Lowry.

Lowry perspective paintings

Following on from our characters, we had a go at one point perspective street scenes in the style of L.S. Lowry.

Action shots from an action packed PE lesson

We played our own game of ‘Hoop Ball’ today……. it’s a little like Benchball , but with hoops and outside.  High energy and lots of fun.

Hansel and Gretel mural display completed.

How fabulous is this wall? !

Safer Internet Day

Year 6 are finding out about AI as part of their Safer Internet Day work.

How will AI change our lives?

Y6 Lowry Museum Trip

Since we have been studying L.S. Lowry, we took a trip to The Lowry Museum in Salford and took part in a portrait workshop after viewing some of Lowry’s famous paintings. We had such a fabulous day!

Court Visit

We took a trip to the Family and Civil Court to take part in a mock trial and meet some real life judges!

Our Lowry Gallery

We are so proud of the work our Year 6 have produced within our Lowry unit. Displays everywhere! 

Y6 Netball: Small steps

Netball in small steps. We played 3v3 today, with a focus on not moving our feet, only pivoting when we had the ball. We also worked on our marking of opponents.

Playing Indonesian Gamalan music today ? ?

We’ve learnt about ‘Gamalan’ music, traditional music in Indonesia, and now we’re playing in groups our own versions.

Year 6- Google Sites

In the last two computing sessions Year 6 have been getting themselves familiar with Google Sites. Children have explored how to add content blocks, edit text and embedding videos. Children have then created a website about a topic of their own choice.

Geography: 6 Figure grid references today for Year 6.

After locating places using 4 digit grid references, we progressed to 6 digit references today.

Heart rate investigations in Y6 Science.

As part of our ‘Circulatory Unit’ in Science, we devised our own investigations (in small groups) to find out about the effect of exercise on our heart rate. Some groups changed the exercise carried out, some changed the number of repetitions and some changed the time set. All results were recorded and are to be discussed in order to draw our conclusions.

Designing our own maps to add OS symbols.

In Geography, we have been designing our very own islands. When completed, they will show OS symbols and we will locate places using 6 figure grid references.

Athletics season has begun.

We began with sprint relay races, over the flat and over hurdles. Paris Olympics here we come ??‍??‍?

Sprinting Session Number 2

Another superb athletics session this afternoon. So much energy and stamina. Great job Year 6 ????‍??‍??‍???

Javelins incoming …. take cover!! ??

The rain held off today and weather conditions proved perfect for our first javelin session. When we improved our holding position and our aim, we saw how much further we could throw!  A great time had by all.

Javelin session 2 in the SUN

How lucky were we today! Zero wind ? and lots of sunshine so we could enjoy our second javelin session in the best possible way ?

Watercolour Skylines

We have started our watercolour skylines to link with our Walking Tour of Liverpool which we wrote in Geography.
not finished yet, but they’re looking good already.

‘Happy After SATs Day’

We have had such a lovely day: playing games, extra break time in the and now it’s a movie and treats to finish off the day ????

Celebrating one of our Y6 artists

Look at the incredible sketch one extremely talented member of Year 6 has drawn!

Cricket in the Sun

What a lovely day some of our Year 6 children had today! A great day playing cricket at Sefton Cricket Club and the sun shone just for us.

Liverpool Skyline

Here is a FABULOUS finished skyline picture to accompany our Geography work on our ‘Walking Tours Around Liverpool.’ Amazing work from this young artist.

University Trip

We had a fantastic day at the University of Liverpool on Friday. We took part in workshops related to Maths and Science…. including sitting in mini Planetarium!

Y5&6 Girls Rugby

How great was our rugby taster session yesterday at Calderstones !!!!!

Ancient Greek School Posters

After learning about life in Ancient Sparta and Athens, we researched Greek schools and what would be taught in each. Following this, we presented our information in a poster ./ information page format. Hope you like them!

Year 6 Computing- Social Media

Year 6 has spent the last few weeks investigating social media. Children have spent sessions investigating the different types of social media and how you can access features of them in a range of ways. Children picked some different examples and created a pros and cons list about each one.

Y5 Y6 Boys Rugby

Here are some of our boys out for their session of rugby today, this time at St Margaret’s.

Fantastic Family Picnic

A fantastic community picnic. The sun shone.

An amazing community food table with so many lovely dishes to share.

Spanish Menus

After learning about Spanish food & drink, we spent some time designing our own menus, including the prices in Euros.

Finding out about the PEGI age rating system

What are age ratings? How do they apply to us? What do they mean? Where are they used?

Y6 Residential …. We’re Off!

On our way to Condover Hall ……

Year 6 PEGI ratings.

Year 6 this looked at PEGI ratings. We discussed as a class what PEGI ratings are and why they are used. We looked at different types of PEGI ratings and how the company decide different games the ratings. Children then used Canva to create an informative poster on PEGI ratings.

Greek Pottery

We are starting to learn about all the different styles, colours, shapes and uses of Ancient Greek pottery here in Y6.

Cheque Presentation

A massive thank you to all parents and children who donated money to Alder Hey. The children on the school council were very lucky to be invited down to Alder Hey for a cheque presentation.
The money raised is going to help brighten the lives of children and their families, all over the country, who require the help of Alder Hey.

Black History Month ‘24

Some AMAZING entries for the Merseyside Police competition! Children have worked hard creating lovely pieces of work with great messages as well. Well done to everyone who has submitted already. Last day tomorrow (Friday 13th September).

Basketball in the sun

Year 6 have been enjoying the start of their basketball sessions and how lucky have we been that the sun has been shining on both occasions!
We have been learning how to control the ball, dribbling and how to ‘keep the ball alive.’

Science Investigation in Y6

As part of our Evolution and Inheritance unit, we designed and carried out an investigation into the different beak sizes and shapes of birds. After learning about Charles Darwin and his study of finches, we carried out our own investigation: How does the size and shape of beak affect their diet? How can they thrive in the habitat in which they live?

Ukulele lesson this morning in Y6

We are really enjoying our ukulele lessons and learning so much.

Competition Time! Y5/6 Dodgeball

Some of our Y5/6 went out for a Dodgeball competition this week – we didn’t win but we enjoyed ourselves!

Impression: researching a painting

We have started our journey into Impressionism and after noting our observations, we are now researching one particular painting.

Music time

We are really trying hard to get the notes on the ukulele. The finger positioning is so difficult!

Using a combination of skills today…

In Year 6 today, we combined our learning from Geography and English by using our computer skills to present the information we have discovered into Google Sites to create our own web pages.

Explanation Texts

After researching mountain gorillas and adaptions of animals, we have just begun to write our own explanation texts. Keep an eye out for the finished pieces.

Palm Oil – Positives and Negatives

We simply had to share a few more pieces of work as we think they are truly fantastic! Detailed information which is extremely well presented. Great work Year 6!

Impressionist Sunrises Part 2

We are painting the next painting in our series of impressionist sunrises / sunsets. Using Claude Monet’s work as our inspiration, we will soon have our own two set collection of sunrise themed paintings.

An afternoon of ‘Quidditch’

Wow…. what a way to end the week !!! Some children in Years 5 & 6 got to try their hands at ‘Quidditch’ today and they absolutely loved it !!!!

RE: Villains and Rules

Within our RE unit of ‘What Matters Most To Christians and Humanists’ we talked about villains – What villains do we know? What makes a villain a villain? We then looked at positive and negative behaviour and consequences in school, at home and in society. We followed this up by designing our own ‘Good Guy Codes for Living’ which we are still working on.

‘Good Guy Code For Living’

We have completed our ‘Good Guy Codes for Living / How to be a Good Guy’ in RE. We made suggestions on actions and behaviour we can display to make the world a better place.

Amazing Work on Renewable Energy Sources

In Geography, we have been finding out about renewable energy sources: why they are needed alongwith the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Danny Butler!

Today we had a wonderful visit from Danny Butler. We joined in the activities and even got to see some of his amazing skills.

Incredible writing from Year 6

We are simply blown away by the writing we have recently produced. Our Year 6 classes are so invested in world issues – saving habitats and animals in particular. Have a read of some of the letters we wrote to the Rwandan Government, asking them to help protect the magnificent mountain gorillas

Lots of exercise today!

Year 6 had fun and fitness today as part of their fundraising activity with an ex member of Team GB, Danny Butler. Thank you to everyone for your very generous donations.

Shooting Stars

Aiming to improve our shooting skills in basketball today, we chose a spot to shoot from in order to win points for our team.

Sunrise Sunset

We are loving how are paintings are starting to look and how each piece has its own artist’s interpretation.Thank you Claude Monet for the inspiration through our ‘Impressionism’ unit.

An author has come to Smithdown!

Author of ‘The late crew’ Rob Ferguson came to visit our school today. Some of us were so excited to even get our books signed by a real life author! We even designed our own alien that we could use in our stories.  

Spanish lesson about to begin …

The topic for today includes asking and stating how old people are along with jobs and professions.

Heal the World

The next lesson in our PSHE led to us to discussing problems which exist in the world today and how we could help to heal the world – we had some really good suggestions which linked to the work we’ve been doing in English and Geography too.

Music Time !

We’re using a range of percussion instruments to tap out beats and rhythms in music today.

We braved the weather for PE today

The clouds did not prevent us from enjoying our PE this afternoon. We worked in small groups to pass to each other and then took turns shooting at the hoop.

Solar Panel Persuasive Leaflets

After learning about renewable energy sources, we have just begun to produce our own persuasive / information leaflets about solar power.

Diwali Celebrations

Year 6 had some special visitors today who helped us to learn about the Hindu festival of Diwali. We looked at traditional food, special dress and other forms of celebration which take place. Most of all, we loved the dressing up and the dancing!

PSHE: The Rights of Children

We began discussing wants and needs which then led us into finding out about children’s rights.We then identified key words and illustrated them.

Charles Darwin

In Science, Year 6 have been learning about Charles Darwin as part of their ‘Evolution and Inheritance’ unit. Look at this incredible writing they have produced!

Girls Football Tournament

Some of our Year 5 & 6 girls have been out to a ‘Girls Only’ football tournament today organised by Everton in the Community. Go girls !!!!!!

Carbon footprints today in Geography

We are finding so much to learn about during this unit in Geography. After finding out about climate change and the causes and effects, we are now making footprints explaining what can be done to reduce our carbon footprints.

Design and broadcasting messages Scratch

Year 6 have been starting a new project on Scratch. Children have begun to create their own space invaders game. Yesterday we focused on laying the ‘foundations’ ready to start coding during the next lesson, children designed a different series of backgrounds in order for a program to broadcast a message.

Ukulele Time

Once again, we are trying so hard at becoming great ukulele players …

Shooting Session today in basketball

Remembrance Day Poppy Art

After learning about Remembrance Day and importance of the symbol of the poppy, we had time to sketch our own poppies using pencil and oil crayons.

Some completed pencil poppy sketches

Some of this work is stunning!

PSHE: Anti-Bullying Week Activities with Everton in the Community

We took part in a workshop this morning discussing values which are important in life such as respect, patience, tolerance and understanding.

RE: The importance of the mosque in Islam.

We’re now in the Islam section of our RE unit and we are learning all about the sense of community and how the mosque plays an important part in bringing the community together. We took the opportunity to utilise our artistic skills too.

Computing

Year 6 recapped over what we had been creating last week. Children ensured their code worked for moving their spaceship and ensuring their laser would move when space key was pressed. Children then inserted ‘power-ups’ to add extra time and lives and then used conditional statements to get them to work in their game.

Dual narrative openings.

We have just started work on writing our own dual narratives, based on the characters and events in Neil Gaiman’s Hansel and Gretel. Such powerful openings! We can’t wait to get writing more, they will be incredible to read.

NRG Workshop

Today, we had a special assembly followed by a workshop on renewable energy sources. Year 6 knew lots of information about this as we have covered aspects within our Geography topic.

Save Our Oceans

After learning about how important the oceans are, we produced our own presentations to show what we know.

Alien Invasion！

Today we created our own aliens to use within our games.

Mosque sketching

Some completed mosque sketches

We think some of these mosque pictures are incredible！We drew them as part of our RE unit which includes learning about ‘Ummah’ as part of the Islam religion.

Fast Feet: Action Shots

Two teams :  who could dribble the ball and balance it on the cone first to score a point for their team?

A visit from B-Tales!

B-tales shared the story of Jonah and the Christmas twist.

Hola! Spanish writing today

Hola! We worked on our Spanish vocabulary today …

Dual Narratives

We really enjoyed writing these dual narratives in Year 6, we used two characters from the book we read together in lessons. We hope you enjoy reading them.

The concept of ‘Ahimsa’

In R.E. today, we learnt about the Hindu belief in AHIMSA – non-harm. We learnt about Ghandi and discussed what some of his quotes meant.

Fair Trade in PSHE

As part of our unit on ‘Being a Global Citizen,’ we are learning about ‘Fair Trade’ and what it means to cocoa farmers around the world.

PSHE: Fair Trade

As part of our ‘Being A Global Citizen’ unit, we learnt about ‘Fair Trade’ and what this means for farmers and crop producers around the world.Here are some of our completed posters.

L.S. Lowry

Our first lesson in our new art unit of an artist study: L.S. Lowry. We are finding out about his instantly recognisable style and most famous paintings.

Suffragists and Suffragettes… what’s the difference?

This is the question we are investigating in History this week …

Circuit Training in PE today for Year 6

What is the best way to fight the January blues and warm up in this winter weather…?

Exercise! And lots of it!
We had some laughs while burning off some energy today in our cardio and strength fitness session.
Shuttle runs / planks / bench step ups / sit ups / speed bounce / toe taps and directional jumps in today’s session.

We finished out of breath with red faces so we knew we had worked hard!

Pre-writing task today

Before we begin writing our own diary extracts, we read and annotated a model text for language  and organisational features.

Where do you live… ( in Spanish)?

Accommodation and places today in Spanish ….

Lowry figures

Today we had a try at sketching some figures in the style of Lowry. We think they are great for a first attempt.

Lowry figures part 2

After trying Lowry figures in perspective, we had a go today at sketching a group of figures.

Circuit Training : Session 2

Another high energy PE lesson for Year 6.

Today’s fitness session included: Side step shuttle runs, tricep dips, plank shoulder taps, alternate front lunges, jumping jacks, sit ups and double foot hops….. phew

Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?

We have been finding out exactly this! Along with research and presentation, some of us sketched our own pictures of Emmeline too!

PSHE: Celebrating Differences

We have started our new unit which is all about celebrating differences between people. We are strengthening our awareness of how we all have different perceptions of normal, how we are all different, how some differences we can see and others we can’t and how people who have specific impairments in their lives, can live amazing lives and achieve varying successes.

Making snakes for Chinese New Year

Some of these snakes just keep growing and growing ….

Chinese Lion Dancing

We got up close to a Chinese lion today as part of our Chinese New Year celebrations.

Lowry inspired scenes

We tried our hand at creating street scenes in the style of L.S.Lowry today.

Zone Ball in PE for Y6 today

After having spent three weeks increasing our stamina and fitness through circuits, we tried our hand at zone ball today. In this fast paced team game, lots of action and energy was the name of the day.

Design and Technology today… textiles

We are having our first try at sewing using different stitches today. This is in preparation for designing and sewing our own bags.

Economic Education today with the help of Debt Aware

We spent the morning learning about the world of work, environments and salaries.

We Won! Well, the suffragettes did!

Reaching the end of our unit, we learnt how the voting situation changed for women. Those courageous ladies achieved their aim and helped shape society today.

More artwork in our Lowry unit

We are really getting to grips with sketching and painting in the style if L.S. Lowry. Please enjoy some more of our work.

Another high energy session in Y6 PE today

It was just too cold to go outside today for our next session in our zone games unit, so we made the most of space in the hall and held a benchball tournament. A fantastic way to burn off some energy at the end of the week.

Safer Internet Day: Spotting Scams

We spent some time learning to recognise fake profiles, keeping passwords safe and identifying and knowing how to react to scam emails, pop-ups and text messages.

Biography writing in Year 6

We have been intrigued learning about Miep Gies and the role she played in helping to hide eight Jewish people in an annexe in Amsterdam during World War II but perhaps more importantly, how she was the one who found and kept safe Anne Frank’s diary.

Writing in Ms Siddiqui’s Group

These children have worked so hard today on their independent writing. Well done!

Year 6- Edublocks Python Coding

Year 6 looked at what Edublocks is and how python coding works. Children were introduced to how we can code different elements of the program. Children created a program to allow a ‘turtle’ to draw different patterns and change colour.

International Mother Language Day

On February 21st, it was International Mother Language Day. To celebrate, we have been learning words and phrases in different languages. The children have been fantastic teachers.

The Man with the Red Eyes

We started our own versions today of one of Lowry’s most famous paintings.

Edublocks Lesson 2

Year 6 continued to look at using python coding with Edublocks, this lesson we focused on how we can use the repeat loop, colours and movement draw a shape. We discussed the importance of using the angles in the turn section to be able to draw different shapes.

Heart Art

To accompany our learning about the circulatory system and the heart, we have produced some of our own artwork and posters linked to the topic.

World Book Day

Year 6 have drawn their own versions of some books they have enjoyed reading for World Book Day.

The Dalmatians are safe once again!

Today we had a visit from Cruella De Vil who wanted to steal all of the Dalmatian puppies, luckily the classes were able to find all 101 of them and saved the school! What an amazing World Book Day 2025.

Edublocks Lesson 2

Children continued to look at using python coding with Edublocks, this lesson we focused on how we can use the repeat loop, colours and movement draw a shape and use that shape to create a pattern. We also looked at how we can use a variables to create different colours to allow a colour change everytime a sequence has been completed.

Lowry murals

Some extremely proud artists of their work today, and why not, as it is absolutely STUNNING!

A new scientist to learn about for Y6

As part of our Science Week work, Year 6 learnt about Ibn Al-Haytham, the man credited with inventing the pinhole camera. As our Lowry portraits were so good, we couldn’t resist applying our artistic skills to this wonderful scientist too.

Science Week: Biscuit Investigation

Year 6 investigated how long it took a range of biscuits to dissolve in warm liquid and presented findings using graph software.

Crazy Hair Day in Y6

Here are a few of our crazy hair people today – super styles indeed! Huge thanks for all the chocolate donations received today, be sure to buy your tickets for the bingo.

Coding for Year 6 this afternoon

We are getting better at coding : inputting instructions and steps to carry out a design task.

Musical afternoon for Y6

Reading music to play the glockenspiel.

Edublocks- Python Coding

Year 6 continued to look at using python coding with the focus today being on understanding what variables are and how to create and update variable. Children created code to be able to get a turtle to draw different sized shapes by asking a question ‘How many sides?’ Children inputted different numbers to get different shapes draw on their screen.

PSHEe: Rail Safety Online Assembly

We refreshed our awareness of rail safety today thanks to an online live assembly from ‘Switched On’

Lowry Digital Art

We are creating Lowry street scenes using digital imagery.

Science investigations planned and carried out

We planned and carried out our own investigations in groups today about the effects of exercise on our heart beats.

Science Investigation completed

Investigation: How do different types of exercise affect our heart rate?
Activity completed. Results recorded. Now it’s time to interpret and devise a conclusion.

Newspaper report writing

After completing a narrative, we have now written newspaper reports based on events within the short animation we based our narrative on: Francis.

Eid leaflets to celebrate the festival

We made our own information leaflets to explain all about the festival / celebration of Eid.