As part of our Changing Materials topic in science, Sycamores experimented by adding vinegar to milk. A chemical reaction occurred and produced a new material called resin. We shaped it and after a few days it went hard like plastic.
A few weeks ago, Sycamores visited Jarrow School to allow us to have a taster day in preparation for Year 7 when we transition to secondary school.
We had a great day experiencing typical lessons including: maths, music, English and science. In science, we dressed up as scientists and carried out an experiment to make rainbows in a test tube.
In DT, Sycamores tasted chocolates already available on the market to buy; then we designed our own; before having great fun with lots of ingredients to make them. Afterwards, we ate them. They were delicious!
During March, we celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book characters. We also listened to stories and read to each other. We had a fantastic day!
During the first half of Autumn term, Sycamores read ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. We studied the characters, settings and plot of the story. We even wrote our own stories based on the original text.
In art, we sketched the characters – developing our pencil and shading skills.
Our first topic in Sycamores this year is ‘Rivers’. In geography, we studied the course of a river, looking at the key features when it travels from the mountains to the sea. We even created posters to give people advice if they live in flood prone areas. We worked in groups to research the different uses of rivers. In history, we compared pictures of the River Tyne now and in the past. We discovered that life on the river has changed lots over the years!
During the Autumn term, Sycamores have been on two class trips. As part of our ‘Rivers’ topic, we travelled to Newcastle where we walked along the Quayside of the River Tyne completing different geography fieldwork activities. We studied the land use and how it has changed over recent years. We then walked up to the Discovery Museum where we explored the River Tyne exhibitions. We had great fun!
To end our topic, we went to Sunderland where we visited the Winter Gardens and Museum. We took part in a workshop all about the River Wear. The workshop leader was so interesting and showed us lots of artefacts connected to the history of the river. Her family had lived in Sunderland for many generations so she told many fantastic stories. 
During the second half of the Autumn term, Sycamores have read ‘The Witches’ by Roald Dahl. We created fantastic WANTED posters about the Grand High Witch, which featured carefully written character descriptions.
This term, Sycamores have been learning about Africa.
A few weeks ago, we cooked South African milk tart and yellow rice. Both of these were delicious and we wanted to eat more! After making them, we wrote instructions so we could remember how to make them again.
We looked at lots of different maps of Africa. We named all the countries in Africa – can you believe there are over 50? Then, we looked at the geography of Africa by naming rivers, mountains, deserts and seas (amongst many other physical features). We created our own detailed maps.
We have compared African life to the way we live in the UK. We watched video clips of children living in different parts of Africa to compare their lives to our own. We were shocked to find out that despite some children in Africa living similar lives to us, many are less unfortunate and struggle to have enough food.
In art, we produced some amazing animal print work. We created our own printing pads using sponge and cardboard. This was very difficult to cut and shape the parts to look like animal skin. Eventually, we produced some amazing art work.
In English, we have read the book “Journey to Jo’burg”. The story really made us think carefully about apartheid in South Africa. We couldn’t believe the terrible ways black people were treated in the past. These thoughts allowed us to have some excellent class discussions and produce some fantastic descriptive writing. We also learned about Nelson Mandela and the positive effect he had on modern day South Africa; helping to end apartheid.
Finally, we received a visit from “Show racism the red card”. Patrick told us about modern day racism and how it is still a problem today. We learned lots from this practical session. The children asked (and answered) many sensible questions, showing real maturity and understanding.
Please encourage your child to access Mathletics and Spelling Shed. All children should have login details. If they don’t, then please message Mr Mills on Dojo and he will help.
During December, we completed our Autumn topic all about natural disasters. In English, we wrote fantastic stories about being stuck in an earthquake.
We researched how to stay safe in parts of the world which suffer from a wide range of natural disasters including: flooding, volcanoes, wild fires and hurricanes.
We also explored how buildings could be built securely to withstand the dangerous conditions.
We celebrated Christmas by making lovely cards and calendars. We had an exciting party where we played games all afternoon, before eating lots of delicious food.
