Digital Leaders visit XP!

28th February 2022Charlie Cicero

As part of their training, NJS’ newly appointed Digital Leaders visited XP today to learn more about their role and how they can help not only their peers but the staff as well.

The children were divided into groups and asked to find answer to the ‘fantastic problem’: school staff lacking the confidence or knowledge to use new technology or apps in the classroom. After collating ideas and a rationale for why we need DLs, the children presented their ideas to their peers from other schools, an audience of at least 100! Well done to all involved! 👍🏼

Final product reveal! 🚂

25th February 2022Charlie Cicero

6CC held their own Celebration of Learning event on Wednesday 23rd February where they spoke to parents and carers about their Autumn expedition, ‘The Magic of Motion’. Following a highlight reel of the expedition (as seen below), the children talked their audience through the stages of their learning journey and explained important parts of their learning, particularly how steam was harnessed to power locomotives of old.


Welcome to the percentage shop!

21st February 2022Charlie Cicero

The first morning back and the year 6 crews have been busy at work calculating Mr Hewitt’s new prices for his bargain basement. Using their knowledge of finding percentages of amounts, the children overcame a range of (discounts) obstacles. Well done to the crews as well for their peer support and mentoring that preceded the discount finding fun!

Crazy cartwheels!

9th February 2022Charlie Cicero

This week in PE, cartwheels have been the focus of our gymnastics program. Starting from scratch in many cases, the children examined how experts completed the cartwheel, step-by-step, before attempting the movement by themselves. Those who felt comfortable were challenged even further my including a hurdle step prior to their cartwheel, increasing the speed and power of their movement. Top effort by all!

Order it, compare it, simplify it, add & subtract it!

3rd February 2022Charlie Cicero

In Maths, fractions have been our focus for the majority of Spring term so far. This week, the children have been deepening their understanding of finding a common multiple to help them compare, order, add and subtract fractions.

Intent on mastering fractions, half of the class mentored their peers in finding the common multiple so they could order fractions. Excited by the thought of using their own ‘teacher equipment’, they embraced the opportunity to support and challenge their classmates. Top notch, 6CC! 👍🏼😁

Why did the leopard hate playing hide and seek? Because he was always spotted!

27th January 2022Charlie Cicero

6CC thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Yorkshire Wildlife Park today will all the children captivated by the wide variety of animals prowling about the grounds. Old classics such as the roaring lion prides, majestic Amur tigers and towering polar bears were a spectacle to behold; new inhabitants of the park such as the Harar hyenas and Californian sea lions were also on show, adding to the diversity.


However, the workshop with a wildlife expert introduced several of Earth’s most well known species and how they faired in terms of their Red list level – the rating of endangerment. An eye opening experience educating the children about why the population of certain animals is declining and what is being done to help save the species.

Overall, a fantastic day out for our expedition. Well done, Crew!

A busy week in 6CC!

25th January 2022Charlie Cicero

Balance! Now hold it…

Last Wednesday, both year 6 enjoyed their first gymnastics lesson where they explored the two different types of balances: point and patch.

Through communication, cooperation and a great deal of effort, each pair classified a range of solo and paired balances into the two categories, making sure to hold their balances for at least five seconds.

To conclude the session, each group were asked to create their own sequence complete with two patch and two point balances. The audience then critiqued the performers based on their synchronisation, variety of balances and showing a clear beginning and ending to their sequence. Awesome effort from all groups!

More teachers, more learning! Fractions Edition

A challenging week focusing on fractions didn’t frighten 6CC as they in their student-teacher pairs. Complete collaboration on show as the pupils and mentors threw themselves into the task, the aim being to consolidate our learning: simplifying fractions, finding equivalent fractions and comparing fractions.

¡Hola Sudamérica!

20th January 2022Charlie Cicero

From the snowy peaks of the Andes to the green grasslands of the Pampas fields in Argentina; through the dense canopies of the Amazon Rainforest to the vast, aridvexpanses of the Atacama Desert in Chile, 6CC have put their knowledge of human and physical features to the test by exploring the various biomes in America’s southern continent.

Year 6 will now look to uncover the mysteries of each biome in South America and how the climate of each unique biome affects the life of flora and fauna within their region. Until next time, adios! 🇧🇷🇦🇷🇨🇷🇪🇨🇦🇲

… And on the second day, 6CC designed their own landforms! 🌎

18th January 2022Charlie Cicero

Last week, year 6 explored human and physical features of the geographical landscape and identified features in their local environment around Norton and Askern that could be classified into each category. They then explored how the physical features of the landscape influence the human features, such as roads running alongside rivers rather than creating bridges and tunnels that may incur increased costs.

Building on their knowledge of geographical features, 6CC began studying settlements and investigating how physical features (rivers, woods, mountains etc) affect human settlements. In mini crews, each crew designed their own unique landform using classroom equipment and a sheet – most opted to include a mountain or hill region in their design.

With each successive stage of the challenge, groups added a forest, a river, human settlements, livestock/crops and a road, whilst thinking carefully about where to position each individual aspect and what they may need.

At the end of the challenge, a spokesperson/ spokespeople were nominated to present their design to their peers where they explained why they positioned features in specific places before receiving praise for their ideas and wonders to provoke further thinking regarding some of their design choices. Great effort, Crew! 👍