27/04/17

SATs will start on Monday 8th May. A special Year 6 SATs Toast Club will be set up in the hall every morning that week, which is free for all Year 6 children to attend. An early start at 8:30, with time given to set any nerves at ease before school starts, means that our Lions will be relaxed and ready for the tests.

Here’s a quick reminder of the dates of the tests:

23/03/17

Frankie and Benny’s Class Visit

How lovely it was to take a break from all the SAT revision and head for Frankie and Benny’s, Giltbrook Retail Park. We were warmly welcomed by Alex Moscaroci, Maestro Pizzaiolo, who lead the visit to make sure that our morning ran smoothly. Everyone was provided with a chef’s hat and apron before creating delicious dough sticks. Then, we were able to decorate pizzas with a realm of fresh ingredients before tucking into them at the end. Yum! Thank you so much to the Frankie and Benny’s team.

22/03/17

Terrific Scientific Super-Taster Investigation

Today we investigated how many Lions are Non-Tasters, Tasters or Super-Tasters. We did so by coating our tongues with blue dye in order to make our fungiform papillae (big pink bumps) stand out. These weird spots contain our taste buds, enabling us to taste sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami foods. By counting the fungiform papillae, appearing within the set area of a hole-punched circle, we were able to determine whether our taste ability.

7/03/17

World War II Day

How wonderful it was to spend the day with Partake Theatre Company and investigate what it was like to live in England during World War II. After investigating a suitcase of objects belonging to an A.R.P. Warden and his girlfriend, we went into the hall to learn some popular dances of the 1940s. Poor old Archie had to partner-up with Mrs Fleming as we did the Lambeth Walk and then shook our hips to the Jitterbug. Later, we discovered more about rationing and how little there was to eat during that time. A short film enabled us to find out what it was like to be evacuated and how parents felt compelled to send their children away to safety after watching such propaganda. We even experienced what it must have been like to shelter during an air raid. We had a super, informative and thought provoking day. Thank you Mr Ashby!

3/03/17

World Book Day

We celebrated Hollywell World Book Day by getting dressed as favourite book characters. Over the previous two weeks, the whole of Hollywell were invited to take part in a sponsored read designed to raise money for the school library and for books to read at home. Lions had earlier encouraged pupils to participate in this Usborne Reading challenge during an assembly – with great results. A great big thank you to: Archie, Olivia, Jake, Callum, Ella, Emily, Abbigail, Isobel D, Sophie, Isobel M, Seb and Erin for taking part. Together, with others at Hollywell, you managed to raise over £2000 towards new school books. We are all very grateful to you. Thank you!

24/02/17

Lions Fashion Show

Below are photographs of our in-house catwalk showcasing our diverse writing talents and our wacky sense of style. Come into the classroom and read our fashion reports – they are so creative, using a variety of entertaining and informative vocabulary designed to capture our readers’ attention.

10/02/17

Half Term Homework

Prepare a talk/PowerPoint to explain various types of grammar. The challenge is to make your talk fun and interesting! See if there is information about your subject on the internet. Perhaps you could find an explanation or a song about it on YouTube or even a game we could play. Maybe you could prepare a quiz or a handout. You will be helping the class to learn something important for the SPAG test so it’s quite important - you will be teacher in this instance! Remember, you will only be able to do this well if you understand what you are talking about!

03/02/17

Lyons Cafe

Kimberley Pensioners Club were invited by Lions Class to an afternoon tea on the afternoon of the 1st February. Hollywell School's hall was transformed into a vintage tearoom with tables decorated with tablecloths, lamps and flowers. Home-made ('school-made') scones and biscuits were freshly prepared by Patrick, Jodie, Matilda, Thomas, Amelia and Jake that morning. With Mrs Samuel's direction, they were truly baked to perfection. Mary Berry would have been proud!

Every member of Lions Class worked hard to ensure that each customer was well looked after and had an enjoyable time. The waiters were most polite and attentive. Well done Olivia, Willow, Thomas A, Sam, Cian, Abbigail and Sophie! Furthermore, other members of the class took time to chat to our visitors about their childhoods - comparing the differences between childhoods of the past and ones experienced nowadays. It was fun to look at the photographs that some of the pensioners brought in to share with us.

The afternoon was a great success. Lions did us proud again with their thoughtfulness, kindness and attention to detail.

Thank you to Mrs Collins, Mrs Samuels, Mrs Dabell, Mrs Martin, Mrs Broker and Mrs Walker who all helped us on the day. We are very grateful to Dimensions for providing us with our wonderful aprons which made us look the part and feel professional. Thanks also goes to our local Co-Op on Mawes Lane, which provided much of the ingredients needed for our baking.

" Our hard work paid off. Our customers rated us 10/10 for service!" stated Isobel.

"Chatting to the elderly was a delight for all of us because we found out that our childhoods were not that different really," added Matilda.

Hopefully, Lyons Cafe will occur again later in the school year.

The photographs below were expertly taken by our class photographer, Mia.

18/01/17

Please check out the attached PDF file to see what Lions will be learning this Spring Term.

17/01/17

Flt Lt Gerry Mitchell

Lions are extremely fortunate to have Mrs Samuels visit our classroom and  help us twice a week to prepare us for the SATs. When she realised that our current topic is WW2, she mentioned, in passing, that her father flew Lancaster Bomber planes during the war! Well, of course we wanted to know more about this brave gentleman so Mrs Samuels gave us a talk on the subject - after which, we wrote very interesting chronological reports. Here are some photographs of Lions holding the 'Bomber Command' clasp that Flt Lt Mitchell was awarded posthumously.

11/01/17

Designing a festive light decoration that uses: 5 bulbs, 1 buzzer, 2 motors, 1 switch, 2 materials that conduct electricity and a resistor proved to be quite a challenge. Each team was wholly committed to completing the mission. Please see the photographs.

2/12/16

Year 6 Financial Education Day

Lions were exceedingly fortunate to have a visit from members of the TDX Group today. The aim of the session was to introduce our older children to the concepts of budgeting and different financial options. New vocabulary such as: debt, mortgage, pay day loans, budgeting etc was discussed at length. The children thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of managing a budget and working out how best to save. Thank you TDX for a very enjoyable and informative morning.

1/12/16

Homework for the Weekend

Check out the following websites just to consolidate your knowledge of all that has been going on in class:

Weblinks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zxksb9q (from 2mins-end) - Bitesize intro to electricity; http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/changing_circuits.shtml - Changing circuits;

http://www.hyperstaffs.info/work/physics/bailey/electro.html - Electro-Bot.

18/11/16

Children in Need Day

A rare, precious moment. Well worth donating £5!

Science Homework

Research ideas for your festive light design. Bring a selection in for your group to look at.

Remember:

This half term Lions will design and make a festive light decoration that uses electrical circuits.

Key Design Features:

1. Your design must be developed with a specific celebration in mind.
2. You must use a minimum of five bulbs, one buzzer, two motors and one switch, although you can use as many of each as you wish.
3. The design must include some kind of decorative moving part.
4. The volume of the buzzer/s and the brightness of the bulbs is entirely up to you.
5. You must include at least two additional materials in your circuit to conduct electricity.
6. The final product needs to look aesthetically pleasing.

Get Scientific BBC Live Lesson 17/11/16

Lions Class love Science and here is the proof! We were mentioned during a live BBC Science Programme on electricity!

Viking Day

On Friday, 11^th November Lions discovered many aspects of Viking Life during a fabulous Viking Day with Partake Theatre Company. They planned a Viking settlement, learnt Viking occupations with hands on activities and plunged into life on the battle-field with a look at armour and weapons. The day culminated with a dramatic re-enactment of a Viking raid and burial.

Mia explains:

"Mr Adby visited Hollywell and spoke to us about the Vicious Vikings. The scene that captured my thoughts the most was that of Viking armour – particularly the weapons that they used such as: swords, axes and arrows (so many gruesome arrowheads!) Even though they were replicas, they felt and looked exactly like the real thing.

Mr Adby needed to dress two volunteers in Viking battle clothing. Firstly, it was necessary to place a special hat on the volunteers’ heads. This was to protect the hair from the chain mail armour. This item of clothing was really heavy and made me think that it must have been hard for the Vikings when they had to run and fight.

We were shown a variety of weapons. My favourite were the variety of arrowheads like: an arrow with extremely sharp spikes travelling outwards. This was for when they shot this arrow into a body, the enemy wouldn’t be able to pull it back out without making the wound bigger. Another arrow had a cage just below the actual arrow. This was invented for placing straw or sticks within to be set on fire. This arrow could be shot into a village to set fire to the thatched roofs within."

Matilda was interested in how the Vikings planned their settlements.

"First Mr Adby gave us a very basic map whereby we figured out where to place our Viking long house, animal farm, bridge etc. We were later told that the Vikings would build their homes on top of the hill because the owner then could look about and over his property. We were also told an interesting fact that the Vikings used to keep animals at the ground level of the house so that when they went to bed at night the animals would spread heat up through the ceiling and keep the Vikings nice and warm."

Olivia particularly enjoyed learning about everyday village life:

"Our day also consisted of discovering more about the various industries undertaken by the ‘not so violent’ Norse residents. … We were given the task of making wool out of sheep’s wool. Mr Adby had shown us how to do it (he made it look easy) but it was actually quite difficult to get the hang of. What we had to do was tie the wool onto a spindle (a stick with a circle on it about a third of the way down0 and wrap it round and through a hook. Then we had to gently let it slip through our fingers and spin it to create yarn. Together, Matilda and I made about 1 metre of yarn."

Ella explains how silver bracelets were created:

"Hacked silver bracelets were a great way to trade. The Vikings would make them out of any silver they had stolen so that they could use these items to exchange with.  We placed a layer of tin foil down the dip of special bracelet moulds. After that, we loosely rolled some tin foil into small sausage shapes all along the mould. Then another layer of tin foil was placed in the mould, hammered down and taken out. There you have it. All you have to do is wrap it around your wrist."

Aston states:

"My favourite part was when we did the drama. First we had to get into Viking clothing before being placed into our groups."

Amelia adds:
"The year is 827 AD, which is almost 1,189 years ago. An army of pillagers are planning an attack, led by their leader Erik the Red. The warriors have been travelling for days now. Tired, wet, cold – could they have felt any stronger? Despite the bitter coldness of the choppy seas, the oars-men were ready and not even a Celt could worry about these mighty crusaders! Alas, little did they know their witty plan had a fault; the Celts knew, they were prepared."

Aston picks up the story:

"Later, we were caught in a trap so we fought, After a while we called a truce. However, one of our dear friends was skewered to death. Tears cascaded from our eyes as we presented him with gifts before engulfing his long-ship with flames."

Sophie enjoyed the mime immensely:

"We placed the sword on his chest and his mighty axe just below. The boat was set on fire and we pushed it into the water for our friend to travel to the Viking after world."

Mia adds:

"My mind has been changed about the Vikings since the Partake visit. I still feel that they are: vicious, mean piratical, scary fighters but also have strong feelings that they were: brave, intelligent and determined clever craftsmen and problem-solvers too."

17/10/16

Light Presentations

Explaining that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects then to our eyes is  a tricky business. However, Amelia, Isobel and Mia rose to the challenge and were able to demonstrate this concept with a myriad of resources from carrots to eat, Power Point displays to speech bubbles  and a quiz! Their target audience were enthralled and have certainly learnt enough to highlight some of the statements in their target tracker booklets! Thank you for setting the bar at such a high standard!

13/10/16

Homework: Light Presentation for 20/10/16

Prepare a Scientific presentation on one of the following:

• Without light there would be no sight.
• How do we see colour?
• Why can't we see in the dark?
• What do we mean about the speed of light?
• Why do we see rainbows?

Your explanation must be clear - showing good understanding of what you are talking about. Extra resources can be made to help your fellow Lions to understand what you are trying to say. A prize will be awarded for the best presentation  as well as Science Swag Tags.

29/09/16

Homework for Thursday 06/10/16

Make a spinner to show how white light is made up of different colours. 

Use the websites below to help you:

http://www.primaryscience.ie/media/pdfs/col/rainbow_spinners_v2.pdf

http://www.lovemyscience.com/makingarainbowspinner.html

http://www.education.com/activity/article/disappearing_color_science_first/

26/09/16

Safety Zone

Lions eagerly participated in the Safety Zone event at Holme Pierrepont today - a multi agency event designed to teach school children, aged between 9 = 11 years, about safety and the prevention of accidental injuries in a realistic setting.

They had the opportunity to meet safety experts such as: fire fighters, road safety officers, police officers and St John Ambulance personnel whilst looking at fire safety, road safety, public transport, electrical safety, water safety and cyber bullying.

The experience was extremely beneficial to this older age group whereby they are beginning to take responsibility for their own safety.

19/09/16

Parent's Curriculum Meeting: Lions

Did you miss today's meeting?

If so, do not worry.

You can access the power point explaining key elements of the school curriculum and the topic overview for Autumn below:

15/09/16 Homework

Hand In Date: 22/09/16

Smash 16

How quickly can you work out these sums using mental addition strategies?

• Time yourself when you complete these sums.
• Write down the time it has taken you to complete these. 
• Using a calculator, check how many you got right. 
• Work on any corrections with the help of an adult.

14/09/16

The Life of The Lion

Four Lessons to be learnt from

Lions

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see a Lion or hear about one?  Is it its strength? Is it its fierceness and its boldness? Is it its magnificent appearance?

Whatever it is you know about the Lion, you will still have to agree that it is a special animal, in fact it is so special that it is referred to as the “King of the Jungle” The Lion as an animal is one that every leader should strive to learn from. For that reason, here are four facts about Lions and the lessons you can learn from them to be a true Lion of Hollywell!

FACT: A Lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away:

LESSON: Make yourself heard

What makes the Lion the most impressive animal to walk the earth is its voice. As member of the “Pride of Hollywell” you have a reputation to maintain. You can really make a difference to the school as a whole by thinking about what you say, the things that you do and your strength of character. Remember:  People like Albert Einstein and Mother Theresa of Calcutta are well known because they had something important to say and said it. They made a difference – you can too! 

FACT:  Lions Are Very Social Animals; They Form Groups Called Prides

LESSON:  Work Together So That You Can Get Better

A fascinating thing about a pride of lions is that other females are always ready to help a female babysit her cubs when she goes hunting. They work as a team to enable their lives to run smoothly. Working together whether it be within a class, within small groups, with a partner or with an adult can be a fun way to gain knowledge. We are all helping each other to learn!  Remember the  acronym TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More).

FACT: Lions rarely eat entire prey, they usually leave leftovers for other animals

LESSON: the ability to share is the hallmark of a leader

Being top of the school is not just about feeling important and special but about making others feel special andimportant too. If you want to be respected, you must learn to give freely of yourself to help others. It is hard to imagine that the Lion, in spite of its massive appetite, is still considerate enough to leave leftovers for others.

FACT:  A Lion can Spend up to 20 Hours a Day Sleeping: 

LESSON: Find Time to Relax

As a Year 6  there are always targets to meet, progress to be made and the SATs ahead to think about. But you also need lots of time to have fun .So, don’t worry, there are many enjoyable activities planned for the year ahead!