Darwin Class

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9 hours ago
Posted on 12th Jun 2026 by

Friday 12th June

Where did the summer go!?

We have been very busy this week drafting and editing our balanced arguments. They are now nearly all finished and they make for very good reading, indeed.

In Maths, Year 6 have been learning about finances. We have looked at salaries, taxes and different ways to borrow money including loans and credit cards. Yesterday, we started thinking about mortgages: lending rates (interest), fixed and variable mortgages and deposits. Next week, we are going to look a little closer at budgeting and how we can create our own Excel finance tracking.

Homework this week is to start working on our exhibitions. We thought about our plans this week; how our exhibitions will look and what people will learn from them. Putting this exhibition together will be our homework for the next five weekends. (There will be some time available to work on these in school but the bulk of the work will need to be completed at home.) The exhibition is due to take place on the morning of Thursday 16th July (Doors will open at 9:15 and the exhibition will close at 10:30)- you will all be invited; invitations will be sent out in the near future!

Have a great weekend!

Pictures from past exhibitions.

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1 week ago
Posted on 05th Jun 2026 by

Homework for Monday 8th June

This week’s homework is a preparation task. More details can be found on the document below. If your child has lost this document (which was sent home today), they can use a piece of paper to complete the task.

Homework discussion text

Pupils also need to think of some good ideas for their end of year exhibition. We will be completing our plab=ns in school next week.

Mrs. E.

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1 week ago
Posted on 05th Jun 2026 by

Summer 2

That seemed like a very short half-term break – just enough time to recover from PGL! If you have not yet seen what the pupils got up to, you can click on the blue butterfly icon, in the apps section, and have a quick look.

This week, some of the Year 6 pupils have successfully completed their Bikeability training. We have also worked on our independent writing for our portfolios. Some of the pupils have had visits from their secondary school teachers and some are due a visit next week. The end of the academic year feels like it is already close!

There is a short but essential homework task to complete prior to Monday. This is a preparation task for our English lesson on Monday; details can be found in the homework section below. Pupils have discussed the task and are clear about what they have to do.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs. E.

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3 weeks ago
Posted on 21st May 2026 by

Residential-eve!

So, bags are packed (mostly) and there is a buzz of anticipation in the air. It can only mean one thing: residential time!

Children should bring their bags straight into the hall tomorrow morning. If they have any medicines that they need to take, please can they be clearly labelled and handed either to Mrs. Burrows, Miss. Farley or myself so that they can be stored safely ready for departure.

Over the course of the weekend, I will post updates on ‘Bluesky’, which works in a similar way to Twitter (x) but without the involvement of Elon Musk! If you do not wish your child’s face to be included in any images uploaded to Bluesky, please could you text the school to let me know prior to midday tomorrow. (I will post EITHER a first name or an image in updates but never both together).

The link to Bluesky can be found on the app section to the right of this post. It is a blue icon with a butterfly.

It looks like it’s going to be a warm weekend so I am off to find my sunhat. I still taking my Oodie though!

If you have any last minute questions, you can catch me, or Miss. Farley, in the morning or give me a quick call prior to midday.

If I don’t see you before, I will see you on Monday afternoon at 2pm.

Blue sky icon:

https://bsky.app/profile/darwin-class.bsky.social

@darwin-class.bsky.social

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4 weeks ago
Posted on 16th May 2026 by

Update Friday 15th May

SATs 2026 are now done and dusted. Our Year 6 pupils have worked incredibly hard and have shown the very best attitude throughout the assessments. We are now simply waiting for the results, which will be available to schools in early July.

In the meantime, we will continue to produce high‑quality pieces of writing for the end of Key Stage 2 writing assessment, which is submitted in June.

You will need no reminding, I am sure, that our residential is fast approaching. I’ve attached the kit list again below for ease. I will be available after school from Tuesday to Thursday if you would like to pop in with any questions.

PGL_Letter_and kit list information

PGL kit list

 

 

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1 month ago
Posted on 08th May 2026 by

Friday 8th May

We can’t believe that SATs week is almost upon us. After a week of looking at more weird and wonderful graphs, tables and charts from past papers, there are hardly any questions that we would struggle to answer. However, one thing that remains unknown is: will Chen make an appearance in the maths papers this year? Will he be catching a bus, releasing balloons or even measuring how many mushrooms are 10 meters from the centre of the field? Who knows? WE WILL NEXT WEEK!

This weekend’s homework is to get plenty of rest and to come into school on Monday ready to smash the SATs. Whatever the papers contain, we are more than ready to tackle them!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. E.

(The homework section below has some links to some quick revision tasks, should anyone want to use them.)

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1 month ago
Posted on 01st May 2026 by

Homework Friday May 1st

Homework was given out yesterday, along with marked homework from the previous week.

Maths Year 6:

There are only two reasoning questions for the pupils to answer this weekend. I have asked the children to show all of the steps in their working out. This should be handed in on Tuesday morning. Some pupils asked for some optional extra homework (well done!) – this can be handed in at any time.

English Year 5 & 6:

The pupils have been asked to think of two strong points that support the argument FOR school uniform and two that support an argument AGAINST it. Bullet points are fine, as we are going to use these points to write a ‘discussion’ text in class next week. This homework was set in the red writing target books and is due in on Tuesday.

Useful sites for revision (optional!)

Corbett Primary Maths

Grammar Revision BBC

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1 month ago
Posted on 01st May 2026 by

Getting Ready for PGL

We have spent part of this week looking at some of the weird and wonderful graphs and charts that have appeared in the maths SATs over the years – the writers seem to think that Year 6 children have more than a passing interest in bus timetables and the average time people get up on a Sunday!

We have a new class library system, which we have been trialling before setting up a whole school version. Isla has done a sterling job of cataloguing all the books in Darwin and fully testing the system before it is rolled out. (We like the scanner – although the bleeping can be a little bit annoying!)

As we are rapidly approaching PGL time, I have attached the letter sent out earlier this term along with a simplified kit list. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask them!

I hope everyone has a restful bank holiday weekend – let’s hope the sun keeps shining for us! (Homework details in the section below.)

PGL kit list

PGL_Letter_2026_

 

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2 months ago
Posted on 24th Apr 2026 by

Mock SATs Week

This week, we have completed last year’s SAT papers as ‘mocks’. We completed the papers in the order they will be administered during SATs week; under test conditions, so that we know what to expect. I think everyone was surprised about how normal the week felt!

“I felt nervous about it but I fell better now I realise how well I have done.” Annabelle N.

Pupils have been given their marked papers to review – I have encouraged them to bring them home. I have also written a short summary of how your child has performed in the tests this week and some notes on what they could brush-up on to increase their chances of doing as well – or even better – in the real papers in a few weeks. This summary is glued into their writing target book, which will have been brought home today. I have also glued in some links to useful resources should you want to do any revision work at home.

SATs results are given as a ‘scaled score’. A score of 100+ indicates that the pupil is working at the expected level for the end of Year 6. Sometimes several scores will give the same scaled score and a difference of 2 scaled scores can equate to more than a difference of two marks! The scaled scores are provided yearly by the DFE who work them out using their own mysterious methods. I have added a short explanation of the pupils’ scaled scores alongside their results.

If you have any questions, or anything you would like to discuss, please get in touch either by phone, through the admin email or just pop into school. I am more than happy to help.

Anyway, everyone did brilliantly and surpassed expectations so it’s full steam ahead now to the week itself!

Mrs. E.