Latest posts from Didcot Primary Academy

A new role created this year is the House Captain. This is a member of Year 6 that is a positive role model and ambassador for the school, embodying the values and ethos of Didcot Primary Academy. All Year 6 members were given the opportunity to put themselves forward for the role and from the written applications, four children were chosen. Here is a little about them (in their own words).

Precious - Blue House 

I am in Year Six and ten years old. I wanted to be House captain because I want to help and encourage people to engage and help them enjoy their P.E lesson, because every one deserves to be in their P.E lesson.

I like to hang out with my friends and cook. I have done many sports events and I also enjoy running and athletics. I have been to past athletic competitions with Mr Hyde. You will see me around school a lot since I am also a Prefect. I hope I can encourage children to do more sports with the rest of the time I have at DPA. 

Tyler - Red House

I wanted to be a house captain because I am a big fan of sports and I like people to believe in themselves. I also want to encourage people to keep trying their hardest and get better and better. Most importantly I want people to have fun and enjoy sports just as much as I do.

In my personal time I play football for Harwell & Hendred under 11s and I’m also a member of the Radley athletics club. I like to watch a lot of football and Formula One, my favourite drivers are Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris and my favourite football team is Liverpool.

Last season at Harwell we won league A, which is the top league in Oxfordshire and we also won the cup final during which I scored in extra time to beat Oxford City with only 30 seconds to go! I’m also proud of being awarded the most improved player at Harwell. 

Maici - Yellow House
I'm 10 years old and I'm the new yellow house captain. I applied for House captain because I want to help the people who don't like sports enjoy it. I want to teach the school sportsmanship. I am very pleased I got this role and I hope I can reach my goal in helping the school.  

Rotem - Green House 

I wanted to be house captain to help encourage children to join in the lesson and to show them P.E can be fun if you try, because sport helps you be fit and healthy.  It is also good to be competitive to try and beat your score in a type of sport, but not too competitive because you're going against your friends.

Something interesting about me is that:

1.  I'm a tennis player.
2. I have twin siblings ( year 3 )
3. I have been in two athletic competitions to represent our school.
4. My favourite subject is English 
5. I love gymnastics

At the end of Year 5, we spent time looking forward towards Year 6, but also reflected on how far we'd come since the beginning of Year 5. These are three reflections from the class below. 

Reflection One

When I think about year 5 I could think about a lot of things such as English, maths, topics and lots of other things, but my favourite topic probably has to be the Greeks since we did lots of fun things such as art, English and topic. My favourite thing that we learnt about in the Ancient Greeks is the mythical creatures. They were really interesting and all of them had lots of different qualities and none of them had the same similarities which for me was pretty impressive. 

I think looking back at this year and the things I could improve about something would be to always be proud of my work if it would be good or if it would be bad because at least I did something and I tried my hardest. 

The class did lots of good stuff also. If I had to pick the best thing that we did as a class is all the teamwork from residential and how we all helped each other out when one of us was in trouble. 

Next year I am aiming to set the best example that I possibly can and follow the rules which are to be kind and be brilliant. Hopefully that won't be a challenge and the younger years can look up to us. 

If I had to give some advice to the next year fives it would be to try your hardest and never give up.

Reflection Two 

My favourite topic from year 5 was off with her head because I liked learning about the Tudor punishments, Henry the 8th and his six wives and the monarch timeline from Henry the 7th to Elizabeth the 1st. I’m proud of my English and how it has improved since Year 4 (face poem) and fractions. The best thing we did together as a class was PGL Liddington. It was really fun and I would recommend trying all of the activities; especially the giant swing. It was really fun! If I were to start Year 5 again I would take some more time on my art pieces because some of them were rushed because I didn't give myself enough time. Next year I want to aim to get better at my grammar.

My words of advice for the new Year 5s is to give your all on everything that you do in every subject even if you don't like it much and you will succeed and be kind, brilliant and sensible. Also go in to everything with a fresh mindset and work on your times tables; they will help you in maths a lot.

Reflection Three

In Year 5 it is a big step but you’ll get used to it quite quickly. We have done lots of topics but overall my favourite was the Ancient Greeks, we got to create our own gods and mythical creatures. There are also some very interesting facts like how Zeus pulled a fully grown woman out of his head, or how Cronus (God of time) ate his 6 kids apart from son Zeus!

I think I’ve improved on my math because when we did our times table topic in math I was very confused when i saw stuff like 24x37 or 265x12. I got some wrong but I learnt from my mistakes and now I can solve any two by two or three by two which for me is a big achievement.

I’m mostly proud of my ability to read this year, before I barely read books but now there is a larger collection of books and they are more interesting. My favourite book on the bookshelf is ‘An eagle in the snow’ because it is unpredictable and a good book in general.

I think the whole class would agree that the best thing was the residential, it was a blast. There were great activities nice food and kind staff that were nice to us and without these it wouldn’t have been a great experience. 

Overall I loved the Year 5 and I hope you enjoy it. My word of advice is don’t give up, keep believing and do those things and you’ll have a great time.

During our transition days, we talked about next year, thinking about what qualities and values are needed for a successful Year 6.

Here are two people's thoughts. 

When I think about going into Year 6, I feel good about learning new things, making new friends and expanding my knowledge. I’m also looking forward to being top of the school and role modelling to the younger pupils.

Also in Year 6 I will bring good behaviour, responsibility and I will set a good role model to the younger pupils. I hope I can bring a spark at being KIND and BRILLIANT for the rest of my time here. 

Finally, the values I think are important in year 6 are giving 100% in every piece of work, having a good attitude to learning and working diligently at every little opportunity. The most important ones are being sensible, KIND and BRILLIANT at every possible opportunity.

When I think about the coming school year, I feel good about the things I didn't grasp last year, this year I get another chance too. I will get to prove myself to the other years and show that I can follow on to the expectations given. My independence will get a lot stronger.  

I’m a bit apprehensive about the exams/ SATS. This is the top of the school and your last chance to learn things before high school. Filling the shoes of the past year six is a little worry because they set the expectation bar really high.

What values do you think are important for Year 6? For me the most important values are: 

Determination / Honesty / Responsibility / Sensible / Manners / Kind / Positive attitude / Independently / And YOU, be the best version of yourself. Pushing yourself to your limits is key  

We also looked at this picture linked to our new Topic. We then responded to it in narrative form or in poetry.

Here we stand, a team, a herd

Waiting for the nightmare word

“Charge!” they shouted into battle

To HS boom and war tank rattle.

“Fire!” shouted enemy ranks

Fear rippled through our flanks

From sword clank to gun bang

Through the battlefield death rang.

Sadness fell with gloom and grief

Here on this lifeless heath

Here they lie the brave fighters

Take it from me, the writer.