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Anderson Shelters, Air-Raid Sirens & A Library Bus!

What a week we have had in Willow Class! We have been building, writing, experimenting, learning languages and even attempting to persuade a very famous author to come and visit us. There’s certainly never a dull moment in Year 6!

One of the most exciting projects we have started is designing and making scale models of Anderson shelters. We researched their purpose, design and dimensions before getting stuck into the practical work. We have been learning how to use saws and clamps safely to make the bases of our shelters, carefully remembering to keep our fingers well out of the way! We are pleased to report that all fingers are still present and correct!

We also listened to the sounds of a WW2 air-raid siren and the all-clear. At unexpected moments during the week, Mrs T sounded the siren and we had to take cover under our tables. We rather enjoyed these surprise interruptions to our lessons, but they also helped us to understand just how frightening it must have been for children during the war. Having to rush to a shelter because bombs were falling must have been terrifying. Our classroom activity certainly made us think!

In English, we stepped into the shoes of WW2 evacuees and began writing letters in role. We imagined leaving our homes and travelling to the safety of the countryside. We used an informal tone and expanded noun phrases to add detail and help our readers picture what we were experiencing.

Our Science lessons have also been sparking plenty of curiosity! We learnt about ammeters and voltmeters and made predictions about what might happen to a lamp when we added more components to an electrical circuit. We really did prove what bright sparks we are!

We also celebrated European Day of Languages by designing colourful posters featuring greetings from different languages, including bonjour, bienvenue, hola and welcome. It was wonderful to see just how many different ways there are to say hello!

It was particularly fitting that, during the week when the United Nations General Assembly was meeting in New York to discuss important issues such as peace, climate goals and international cooperation, our own school captains and school council members were meeting to discuss an important issue for our school – the grand opening of our library bus! Our meeting might have been a little smaller than the UN General Assembly, but it was certainly just as important to us!

And, of course, our excitement about our new library bus is growing by the day! We are passionate about books and reading, so we decided to write letters to Michael Rosen, hoping to persuade him to join us for the grand opening. We even promised him plenty of chocolate cake. Surely that is an offer no author could refuse!

What a busy week of learning, imagination and excitement. Anderson shelters, air-raid sirens, evacuee letters, electrical circuits, different languages and a library bus… we wonder what next week will bring!