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.)

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_

 

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.

 

 

 

Friday 17th April

We had an interesting visitor this week, who came to talk to us about AI; its history and its current applications. We had time to think about how it is important to prioritise the ‘human in the loop’. Altogether it was an interesting session; the pupils had a lot of very sensible contributions to make.

Earlier in the week, some of our pupils had a go at writing articles for a newsletter that they are hoping to develop over the summer term. This is the very first edition. We are thinking about regular features we could add, such as articles about other pupils’ interesting hobbies or ‘a day in the life of…’. What do you think?

April edition newsletter Darwin

Details about this week’s homework can be found in the homework section below. Details about SATs week (as the newsletter points out, it’s not long now!), can be found below this post. If you have any questions in the lead-up to the SATs, feel free to pop-in, call or drop me an email.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. E.

Writing competition.

Here are our writing winners from last term. Well done, both!

This month’s writing prompt is ‘Space’. You can write a poem, a fact file, a story – whatever takes your fancy as long as it is linked to the theme of space!

Deadline for entries: Thursday 30th April.

 

Crime Scene Investigation (Darwin)

As part of British Science Week, children spent their science lesson investigating a crime scene to work out (from gathered evidence) who had stolen the after-school club biscuits!

       

Children visited the crime scene and were introduced to the crime and what they needed to do to solve it. There were 4 suspects and children analysed ink from a ransom note (using chromatography), examined a footprint and fibres found at the crime scene and analysed biscuit crumbs left at the scene to help them decide which of our suspects was guilty.

  

   

Children were very excited to be part of the investigation and came up with some incredible (and extremely imaginative) explanations of who had committed the crime. Well done for your participation!

Dr. Roberts

Class Update Friday13th March

Afternoon all,

Apologies for the lack of an update last week. Unfortunately, I was unwell – all better now though. 🙂

We have been very busy in Darwin class this week. We kicked-off the week with a strategy game session to reward ourselves for our excellent overall attendance recently. Then we got down to the serious business of  completing assessments and reviewing our progress – all of which has been very impressive. The children have also taken part in a forensic crime scene as part of Science Week and there was, of course, the Mother’s Day afternoon tea to round off the week – a varied week indeed!

Our certificate winners this week are:

Heath was awarded the reading certificate for his effort in his reading assessment – and his excellent result, of course! The red certificate was awarded to Lucas who has had a very positive week, both in the classroom and in the playground. Mrs.. Brotherhood has been particularly impressed with his effort in maths lessons.

Well done, both!

For details about homework, please see the homework section below.

Don’t forget that it is Darwin Maths Club on Monday after school. During the first sessions, we explored 2D and 3D shapes. The next session will focus on drawing and measuring angles. There is no charge for Maths Club and I would encourage all Year 6 pupils to attend.

 

Secondary National Offer Day

Dear Parents

 It is Secondary National Offer Day on Monday 2nd March 2026, in preparation please can you check you can access your account to view the outcome of your application.

 If you can’t remember your password , click the forgotten password option on the parent portal.

 If your account is locked, please email school-admissions@shropshire.gov.uk  or call 01743 254331 or 01743 01743 255216  for your account to be unlocked.

On Monday, these useful links will help you with accessing your child’s offer:

 How to view your offer letter offer-day-parents-guide-on-viewing-letter.pdf

 How to log into your account offer-day-parents-guide-to-accessing-account.pdf

 Many thanks

 The School Admissions Team

 

End of half-term.

It’s hard to believe we’ve already reached the halfway point of the spring term. The weeks have flown by and what a busy, purposeful half‑term it has been. ‘Darwin’ has been full of energy, curiosity and plenty of hard work; it’s been wonderful to see just how much progress all of the children have made.

Recently, the weather hasn’t always been on our side and there have certainly been plenty of rainy days. As ever, the children have made the very best of indoor wet‑play — creativity, collaboration and a lot of laughter have brightened even the greyest afternoons. Their resilience and good humour have been a real highlight.

As usual at the end of a half-term, we have the privilege to select a recipient for Star Pupil. This is always a challenge and I wish we could award twenty‑five! After much deliberation, we have chosen Isabella. Isabella has not only worked incredibly hard in all of her lessons but has also put in a lot of extra effort at home. As a result, she has made phenomenal progress and should feel incredibly proud of all of her achievements.

As we look ahead, I think we are all very much looking forward to lighter evenings, drier days and the sense of renewal that spring always brings. For now, we hope everyone enjoys a well‑earned rest over half‑term. (Don’t forget that maths club begins after half-term – see dates listed on this class page. Maths Club runs from 3:15 – 4:15 after school on a Monday and is free of charge. I would encourage all Year 6 pupils to attend as many sessions as they possibly can!)

Details about homework for the break can be found in the homework section below.

All the best, Mrs. E.

Darwin class members making the most of rainy-day indoor breaks.

 

What is the significance of the books on the reading chair?

Friday 30th January Update

Look at our fabulous new reading chair, complete with screen adaptation of David Almond’s Skellig and a pomegranate. You will have to see if your child can tell you the significance of those items!

Certificate winners:

Last week, Oli H was awarded the writing certificate for his outstanding recount work. He worked really hard during the editing process to ensure that his spelling and punctuation were accurate. The red certificate was awarded to Lake for his excellent, productive week and his kindness in helping others around the school.

This week, the red certificate has been awarded to Oliver D for his amazing effort in our English lessons. We were all really impressed with his writing! The maths certificate was awarded to Annabelle B for her determination (and success) in mastering percentages this week.

We won the attendance award too, so we need to think of a way to celebrate that next week (not karaoke though – never again!!).

This week’s homework is to complete the task/tasks in individual maths target books and bring them in on Monday so they can be updated.

Apologies for the late page update this week!

Mrs. E.