Year 6 Information

Welcome to the second half of Spring Term.

I have attached our curriculum map below for Spring 2 and a new timetable.

P.E. is still Monday and Friday - please make sure kits are back in school.

We have mock SAT's week W/B Monday 27th February. 

World Book Day is Thursday 2nd March so dress up as your favourite character!

Homework will be set on Friday's and due back in on the following Friday. Don't forget daily times tables practice (TTRS) and reading aloud.

I am excited to see what this half-term brings; keep working hard Year 6 and have an enjoyable 6 weeks.

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Welcome to the Spring term! I am excited to start the new term (and get to Harry Potter Studios!) The children had a great autumn term, and I am looking forward to seeing them continue to progress this half-term.

Just a reminder that we have one P.E. slot that is outside and P.E. tracksuits can be worn.

Homework will be set on Sat's Boot Camp weekly due in on Friday's. Please keep reading and daily TTRS is vital, also keep learning the statutory word list as we use these in class and across all curriculum areas.

Our topic is geography based with a focus on human and physical geography. We will look back at our previous 'local study' learning and build upon this by discovering the trade-links between Harlow and Stanstead GlaxoSmithKline and compare this both locally and globally. We will have the opportunity to find out and discover the different types of settlement and the impact these have on land-use and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water – Japan Gold, Copper, Steal, Iron.

English - A Term at Hogwarts!

Our unit focus will be on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We will read extracts and watch the film to inspire our writing.  The children will write from different perspectives, create their own chapters and use figurative language techniques to describe places and people. The children will also have the opportunity to write instructions and newspaper reports.

Maths

We start the term with circle work and then move onto 'mean' as an average. We will revise the four operations, looking at place value of digits up to ten million. The children will work on their rounding, order and comparing skills leading into fractions, decimals and percentages. We then move onto ratio and proportion. Alongside maths each day, the children will have daily maths sessions concentrating on fluency, times tables, shape and time. We will also build onto this as we move through the year.

Science - Living Things and their Habitats

During this topic, the children will describe how living things are classified, and will classify some plants and animals. They will study the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals and know that living things have changed over time. The children will also look at fossils and the exciting information they provide.  Next, we move onto genetics and adaptations discovering how certain animals have maintained their existence. 

P.E.

We have two slots: Monday Tag Rugy (outside) with a P.E. Specialist and Friday (inside) Equipment Gymnastics. The children will develop their floor gymnastic skills to incorporate apparatus and create and perform sequences both in pairs and small groups.

Art

Our skill this half-term is painting and exploring colour and mixed media. The children will develop their brush holding and painting technique to include sketching and colour mixing leading to a final piece that includes more than 1 media. This will be linked to our English topic.

Computing

This half-term the children will be working to develop their coding and programming skills and using a learning platform - Swift Playground - to create programs that use variables, repetition and sequence. They will use logical reasoning to explain how. They will look at increasingly complex algorithms work and to detect and correct errors in algorithms and programs efficiently.

Music

The children will have weekly Ukulele lessons by a specialist teacher. They will work on their playing, listening and composing skills.

R.E. 

Our key question this term is: How do Buddhists explain suffering in the world? The children will discuss how beliefs shape the way Buddhists view the world in which they live and how they view others. They will begin to analyse and evaluate a range of different answers to ethical and moral questions/issues, showing an understanding of the connections between beliefs, practices and behaviour. Next, we will have study and evaluate a range of philosophical answers to questions about the world around them, including questions relating to meaning and existence and analyse how beliefs impact on, influence and change individual lives, communities and society, and how individuals, communities and society can also shape beliefs.

Spanish - Healthy Lifestyle

Our learning in Spanish will look at hygiene, being well, visiting the doctor, going to the dentist and having accidents. Our key learning will see the children learn basic skills to share about themselves as well as beginning to communicate to others using a different language picking up skills including speaking Spanish, writing Spanish and listening in Spanish translating basic skills.

Well-being - Living in the Wider World

Our 'Wider World' topic sees the children discuss and differentiate between prejudice and discrimination and how stereotypes relate to acts of prejudice and discrimination. The children will also learn how to challenge typical stereotypes effectively. We then look at money and the emotional impact the lack of money and debt can have on one, and the associated risks of scams and gambling.

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Welcome to Year 6 and the new academic year.

I hope you all had a great summer holiday and are ready for Year 6!

I am excited about the year ahead and all the fun things planned for you. I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful work that you will produce and enjoying the trips (Harry Potter World!!!) that we have booked and watching you grow into the roles that you are given. I know that you are going to be a fab Year 6 class!

Our topic is The Titanic.  It is a history-based topic which looks at the significant impact this has had on our history today and the changes made around the laws and sea travel.  This will link to the errors in judgement which resulted to the sinking of the ship and how this disaster could have been prevented.

Homework

Weekly Homework Expectations

Reading

It is expected that all children are either: reading independently, with an adult, or to a different member every day at home. They are presented with opportunities to read in school but, in order to develop their reading skills and enhance their love of learning, there should be opportunities to read at home too

TTRockstars

TTRockstars provides great revision for multiplication, so children can use this resource weekly in order to strengthen their multiplication knowledge. It would be expected that children would be interacting with TTRockstars for 10 minutes a day). We also want to win the TTRockstars trophy and each child participates in this. Even if you contribute a small amount the total for the whole class will increase dramatically.

Spelling

The Year 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 statutory words are linked on the website and you can practise a few weekly. However, although we will be using and learning these words in class, we are looking for the children to apply the words to their learning – so, we will not be testing them. In school, we will also be learning spelling rules and implementing these into our writing. 

Topic Grid and Weekly GPS, Reading and Maths

Children can pick an activity per week and have it uploaded on SeeSaw by Friday each week. Some of the activities that you choose may overlap with activities we do in school. This will only serve to extend and deepen your knowledge and I look forward to you sharing your ideas, and things you have learnt at home, in school. 

Additionally, the children will have weekly maths, GPS (grammar, punctuation, spelling) and reading tasks. These will be given out on Friday and due back in the following Friday (these are paper-based.)

Autumn 1

English

In English, our writing will be linked to our topic.  We will look at reliable information, sources and articles about the Titanic and key people such as (Captain Edward John Smith.).  The children will use their own research in writing to produce fiction and non-fiction genres linked to the Titanic and participate in drama and what it would have been like to be a passenger.

Maths

We start the term with place value. We will revise the four operations, looking at place value of digits up to ten million. The children will work on their rounding, order and comparing skills leading into fractions, decimals and percentages. We then move onto ratio and proportion. Alongside maths each day, the children will have daily maths sessions concentrating on fluency, times tables, shape and time. We will also build onto this as we move through the year.

Science

Our topic in science is light. The children will revisit prior learning and then build on this by looking at light rays, how they travel, are formed and can be reflected and bent. They will explore shadows, including how to change the shape. They will undertake investigations and participate in experiments to deepen their understanding of the world around them.

Art

In art, we start the year with developing our collage skills. Our work will be linked to our topic and ‘mood’ whereby the children explore colour and the effect on compositions. The children will build on last year’s learning and develop skills in layering, overlapping and arranging paper for effect.

Computing

For computing, we will be exploring ways that we use search engines more effectively and filtered results to make them more reliable. We will find out about networks both at home and school and recap online bullying and messaging and the laws around this. E-Safety will also be recapped throughout the topic.

Music

The children will have weekly Ukulele lessons by a specialist teacher. They will work on their playing, listening and composing skills.

P.E.

P.E. sessions will take place on Monday and Friday’s. Our Friday slot is outside so you may want to provide a tracksuit once the weather turns colder. Our lessons will centre on floor Gymnastics and Dodge-ball. The children will work on various throws, movement and attacking and defending. They will work on sequences, movement and performing in gymnastics both collaboratively and individually. 

RE

Our big question for this half-term concentrates on the human/social sciences:

How and why does religion bring peace and conflict? We explore both sides of the question and what this means for different religions. The children will undertake discussions and reflection including explanations about what at least two religions believe about peace and conflict.

Spanish

In Spanish, our topic is Day to Day. The children will build on their number work up to 100, greetings, more colours building up to being able to talk and discuss a topic. The children will take part in small group and independent work where they will practise their oracy in Spanish.

Well-being

We start the year with staying safe online and will concentrate on the pressures of and how to manage and asses the risk of online dares and challenges. We will discuss sharing information and images and the age restrictions around these, whilst looking at the rules and law that protect us.