Look at what these lovely Y5s did in their spare time. Wonderfully created by India. Alexia is making one too and we will post that when she has finished it. Very well done Alexia C, Carla.B Lucia. F Sara. G Cristina. G and India . Fabulous!!

Thanks so much for all these posts. Remember – you can add anything you’d like to put on the blog to the Google Classroom folder (your teacher has the code). I love how some of you have used our ‘House’ creatures!

Many thanks

Can you guess who the scientist of the month is? If you know his name and can answer some questions correctly you can win a Purple Form!
Find out at the end of the month if you won the competition and who the secret scientist is.
Do you know where this scientist comes from? Why do you think there is a photo of him with the Queen? Can you tell us why he is so famous?

PS he is my absolute favourite TV presenter EVER!!!

A poem about Halloween by Leah T

For some, Halloween means gobbling up junk food, on and on,

For others it’s trick or treating with their friend John.

Some go pumpkin carving at dawn,

and enjoy hot soup with a view of their decorated lawn.

A few are scared ( me included!),

I think you’d be terrified if a stranger intruded.

Even the dead are not excluded,

In this magical festival everybody is included!

How do the year 6 children celebrate Halloween? Leah T headed to the playground to find out.

Cindy: I’m planning to go trick or treating at a friend’s house. In my opinion, Halloween means Candy ( treat or treating ), dressing up and scaring my friends.

Adella: For me Halloween means fun. My experience in the US during Halloween was dressing up and going to parties.

Claudia: I am planning on going pumpkin carving at one of my friend’s house.

Paula: In my opinion, Halloween is a very important festival.

Jerardo: I’m going to celebrate Halloween with my family. For me Halloween means gobbling food ( suuuugar ) up.

Tom: I’m going to a friend’s birthday. Halloween means scaring people if you ask me!

Belén: In my opinion Halloween is a scary festival.

Carmen: I am arranging a pumpkin carving activity!

A spooky story by Claudia T

On Halloween night, a group of friends were trick or treating when they found a haunted house! Obviously they didn’t know it was a haunted house so they went up to the door and said “trick or treat!”

Suddenly the door creaked open and they went inside. It was as dark as the
night and they couldn’t see anything when suddenly something sucked them into a different town…

“It looks abandoned!” said one of the kids but suddenly they saw lots of ghosts trick or treating! To start with, they were scared but a few moments later they were trick or treating with the ghosts. They all agreed that this was the best Halloween of their life.

A special report about how Halloween is celebrated around the world by Anna B and Martina A

On the 31st of October, there’s a famous celebration of all that started in 1840 in America, called Halloween. The first Halloween parade was held in Minnesota in 1921 and the celebration is now huge! But Halloween isn’t only celebrated in America.

In this special report, you are going to see how different countries celebrate Halloween and their traditions.

India

In India, Halloween is not celebrated in the same way as we do, as Indian culture is completely different from the American or European one. However, they celebrate this day in their own way. In India there is the Mahalaya rite on November 1st, this Hindu festival is a conciliation with the ancestors, which consists of prayers to invoke the spirits of their ancestors. It is of great importance for the spiritual life of Hindus.

China

In China, in the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar, the festival known as Teng Chieh is celebrated on the fourteenth night.

During this day, families gather to prepare typical meals that they use as an offering to their dead. Large bonfires are lit and, in small boats, lanterns or lights are thrown into the sky. These lights are to help the souls of the dead to guide them on their journey to the afterlife, especially for those who have not had a peaceful death or proper burial.

Ireland

In Ireland, they used to celebrate Samhain, a holiday of Pagan origin. The holiday celebrated the end of the harvest season in Ireland and the start of a new Celtic year.

For years it was thought that the spirits of the dead walked among the living, making parties and scary celebrations including communication with the dead.

Australia

Halloween in Australia is not the same as we see in America and Europe of a typical cold and mysterious autumn night in which pumpkins and dry leaves decorate the garden of each house, since it is spring there!

Also, being spring, the night loses its most terrifying side and is not so scary. but in recent years, the popularity of the party has grown. More and more Australians are decorating their homes with pumpkins, cobwebs and all manner of spooky decorations.

More and more boys and girls go out in costume through the streets, with their baskets of jelly beans – or fruit if you are in a place like Byron Bay – to ask for the famous trick or treat. And more and more stores and supermarkets are beginning to sell all these things.

The United States of America

Many Americans celebrate Halloween by dressing up in scary or funny costumes and they go out at night and go to different houses and say, “trick or treat!” Then, the owner of the house has candy and gives it out to the kids who go to the houses. They also get pumpkins and carve them making scary faces.

England

Some Brits make parties and invite friends and guests to come to their Halloween parties. They also come in wearing a Halloween costume like the Americans. Others prefer to stay at home and watch scary or horror movies with family and friends.

Spain

In Spain, Halloween is not called “Halloween,’’ it is simply called “Día de los muertos” which is translated as Day of the dead. Their clubs, hotels and restaurants are organised into glamorous events and big, colourful costume parties. This “Día de los muertos” event is not just a single night event, it is actually a three-day event.

Belgium

In Belgium, people celebrate Halloween by having massive festivals, parades with spooky decor, costume parties and trick-or-treating. Halloween in Brussels (the capital of Belgium) is very fun a lot of times. This type of Halloween tradition is really really fun!  

Canada

In Canada, people do decorations like in Spain but with Halloween and dress up in costumes. And of course….. they do trick-or-treating. People also go out and attend different parties and watch scary movies at home with family. This is very similar to the U.S and how they celebrate Halloween.

Japan

Now, on the other side of the world, Japanese people celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costume of course, and have fun in street parades. There are also costume contests that Japanese people prefer. Also, a fun fact is that Japanese people say “ Obon ”  for Halloween. So now, you learned a new Japanese word!

Portugal

In Portugal, kids often go out trick-or-treating for candy but in some parts of Portugal, kids go out asking for bread! This is very different but it’s their tradition. I’ve never heard for going out asking for bread instead of candy!

This is the end of report and these are some of the main countries that celebrate Halloween! All around the world people celebrate but the celebrations can look different wherever you are.

The theme for anti-bullying week is ‘Reach Out’. We feel the best way to be ‘anti-bullying’ is to be ‘pro-kind’. Please tell us ways that we can have the happiest school in the whole wide world and do small things that spread kindness and positivity. Let’s come together, be positive and reach out to stop bullying.

Remember, if you or someone you know, needs to talk about worries they have – think of the 5 trusted adults that you can talk to. We are here to help.

Also, don’t forget we mark the end of the week with ‘Odd Socks Day’ so start looking for your most colourful socks!

Here are some fantastic examples.