Year 6

Welcome to Year 6

What are Year 6 learning about this half term?

Spring 1

Our History learning this half term will be a continuation of our World War 2 Topic where we will be answering the enquiry question: What role did Britain play in World War 2 and how did this impact the outcome of the war? We will also be holding our class assembly this half term and inviting parents in to our classroom to complete some topic related work.

Our English will also be linked to our History learning and we will be reading the text 'Letters from the Lighthouse' by Emma Carroll and completing writing about this including: diary entry, survival guide, instructions, and using speech to convey character.

In Science we will be focusing on Light, investigating how light travels, what a good reflector is, how the eye works and finally answering the question can you change the colour of a shadow?

In PE we will be learning how to dance and piecing together collaborative routines, we will also be trying out hockey, learning how to accurately pass, how to receive and how to stick to our roles in a team to achieve success. Our outdoor learning will see us taking part in Forest School - these sessions will be on a Wednesday so remember to dress for the weather!

In art we will be working using colour this half term looking at art that is used to spread a positive message. We will look at examples when this has happened and then finally design our own t-shirt which is inspired by protecting our planet.

In RE we will key enquiry question will be 'What is the significance of Easter, Ascension and Pentecost?' focusing on Christianity and their beliefs around this time of year. In PSHE our key question is 'How can we show more responsibility as we get older?' Exploring why they are special and how they care for and keep one another safe. Thining about our increasing responsibilities towards ourselves and others as we get older, including the role we can play and the difference we can make within our communitie.

Our Previous Learning this year

Autumn 1

This half term our English lessons focused on the basics and learning all about the place value of punctuation and grammar. This included nouns, verbs, subjects, single clause sentences and constructing more detailed sentences. Our class text was Survivors by David Long and Dream Snatcher by Abi Elphinstone.

In Maths we followed Power Maths learning, our first topics were place value and four operations.

Our Science learning this half term was based around Electricity, we created circuits, problem solved when circuits were not working, before planning and carrying out our own investigations. In computing we looked at computer programming, creating nested loops using logo and python before moving on to code mondrian.

In PE we focused on basic skills and perfecting these, as well as preparing for the cross country inter-schools event-which was unfortunately cancelled. We are awaiting the new dates for this event. We also took on orienteering getting outside and completing a range of activities to support this, to further enhance our outdoor and adventurous learning Year 6 were also working in the school grounds developing their gardening skills.

Our Geography topic this half term focused on imports and exports when looking at the economy of the UK, learned about sustainability in many different areas such as water supply, energy production and agriculture. We looked at a range of data, listened to case studies and thought about the relevance of the issues we found in our own locality.

In art we worked monochromatically and learned how to use a range of pencils to shade and applied this when learning about the proportions of facial features when drawing a portrait.

In RE we thought about our own values and looked at similarities between Sikhism and the values in other faiths. PSHE we learned about healthy friendships and relationships and discussed how these might change as we transition to secondary school.

Autumn 2

This half term our topic learning focus was History, we started our learning all about World War Two and what events led to this significant event starting. We were using a range of secondary sources to find out about the key people and the impact of their actions.

In English we looked at constructing longer pieces of writing, using the text Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman. We used this text to help inspire us when writing recount letters and setting descriptions. We also wrote poetry in honour of Remembrance Day.

In Maths we will followed Power Maths, our focus this half term was on fractions - simplifying, ordering, placing on a number line, adding, subtracting and multiplying them.

In Science we investigated the Theory of Evolution, during this work we looked at the adaptation of plants and animals and how we inherit traits from our parents. We also used the text Moth by Isabel Thomas to look at natural selection and how during the industrial revolution this was seen happening.

Computing was centred around the codebreakers of Bletchley Park, we tried to crack codes both on paper and using coding. We also set codes for each other to try and crack.

In PE we were learning the rules of handball and how to work as an effective member of a team. We will also focused on balance, sequencing and movement during our gymnastic lessons. In DT this half term we designed and made CAMS to make our automated toys move, we followed health and safety rules as we were using tools during the woodwork element of these lessons.

In RE we completed our learning of the Sikh religion and their beliefs. We then moved on to learning about Nativity and the people present at this event, hearing about the significance of each of them. PSHE this half term saw us focus on similarities and differences, where we reminded ourselves about being respectful and kind even when online, we learnt how to keep ourselves safe and how to support others when people are using negative stereotypes against them.