It takes more than being a brilliant sports man or woman to become an Olympian or Paralympian. Top class athletes try to live according to a set of beliefs and ideas that help them to be the best they can be, and to respect other competitors. These are called the Olympic and Paralympic Values:

Olympic Values

• friendship
• respect
• excellence

Paralympic Values

• determination
• courage
• equality
• inspiration

These Values can help all of us live as best we can, achieving our personal ambitions and dreams without deliberately hurting other people. Looking at the Values again, how would you say they might help you in your own life? You don’t need to write about each one but you can if you want. Write at least 100 words. Think about the work we did in Skills for Life this week. How could the Olympic and Paralympic values help you develop over the next 10 years?

Your glow task this week is to find out about an athlete that will be representing team GB at the London Olympics. Write about their sport, a bit of information bout the person and what you think their chances are to get a medal. If you can, post a photo of the person too.

Use the website on the right of my blog to help you.

Good luck!

Today in class while we were doing our general knowledge quiz, we talked briefly about termites. As nobody seemed to know much about this interesting creature, I thought it would be a good idea to make it the focus of this week’s homework task. Use the link at the right to research termites (you can also find your own information) and write a short report. Make sure that you include information on:-

1. species – What is a termite?
2. habitat – Where do they live?
3. food – What do they eat?
4. Lifecycle – How long do they live?
5. Any other interesting information.
6. You may also add pictures.

Good luck!

Each morning in class, you are asked general knowledge questions to help you learn more about your world. This week’s task is all about current news items. How aware are you of the news? Do you ever watch the news and ask questions about your world? Here are 10 general knowledge questions based on current events.

Answer the following questions in your blog or in writing, giving as much detail as you wish. You will need to ask your family for help!

Good luck!

1. In what country did 2 office buildings collapse last week due to suspected poor construction?

2. The government has announced plans to make changes and reform the NHS. What does NHS stand for?

3. What interesting discovery did engineers working on Big Ben recently make?

4. Britain has joined the other European countries to ban oil trading with which country in the Middle East?

5. What US contest will Romney and Gringrich be facing off in?

6. 100 years ago, Roald Amundsen beat Robert Scott to the South Pole by just 4 weeks. What country was Amundsen from?

7. “Do you agree that Scotland should become an independent country?” will be the question Scots answer in the 2014 what?

8. Papua New Guinea currently has two men claiming to have won the recent election and declaring themselves prime minister. What part of the world is Papua New Guinea in?

9. What was found to be the source of infection that claimed the lives of three newborns at a Belfast hospital?

10. Which bank was highly criticised for the £1 million bonus it planned to give to its chief executive?

Every morning we have a general knowledge quiz in class. Sometimes we discover that there are facts, historical events or people that we do not know about. Nobody in class knew about Florence Nightingale! This week, your homework task is to click on the link at the side that will take you to a website all about Florence Nightingale. Read this, make a mindmap or take notes of the important facts, take the quiz and then in your blog, write at least 100 words about Florence Nightingale and the Crimean War. You can write as much as you like of course and add some pictures to help illustrate what you have learned.

I look forward to reading your reports.

In maths this term we have been organising data and making bar and line graphs. Last week you learned how to calculate the MEAN which means AVERAGE. I’ve got an excellent website for you to use this week to practise MEAN but also to learn about MODE which means MOST OFTEN and MEDIAN which means the MIDDLE. Hope you enjoy this and learn the difference between these 3 important maths words!

Check out the link on the right hand side of my blog called ORGANISE DATA.

Good luck!

This term you are going to be learning about electrical circuits. To get you thinking about how electricity works, take up this design challenge! Good luck. The link to the website is called Electricity. When you have finished the challenges, write 5 facts you have learned about electrical circuits on your own blog.

For homework this week, I would like you to check out the Hinduism page that I have made on this blog and have a look at some of the Hinduism links at the side. On your own blog write 5 facts that you have already learned about Hinduism.

Hi everybody!

As you know, we have just started our new maths topic in class called ‘coordinates’. It’s one of my favourite topics because it’s a lot of fun. Your homework challenge this week is to play some coordinate games – how good is that? You will find the links to the games on the right of my blog. Play the games and become a coordinate expert!

This is a very special challenge! In 2014 the Commonwealth Games are going to be held in Glasgow. This is going to be a huge event for Scotland and who knows..maybe you may even represent Scotland in your chosen sport!

I am going to give you this week and next week to complete the following task because I want you to try really hard to come up with your very best work.

Here’s the task:

Design the official mascot for the 2014 Commonwealth Games!

There’s a link that you need to click on to find out more. That’s your first step!

Read all of the hints and tips and have a look at previous mascots by checking the links on the competition website.

When you have finished, bring your drawing into school and I’ll send them all off together!

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY!!

Good luck!