Year 6
Spring Term 2023
Year 6 – Frozen Kingdoms
The Wolf Wilder
We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and that the New Year is a happy one for you and all your families. This term we are doing the topic ‘Frozen Kingdoms’ and will be reading the novel ‘Wolf Wilder’ by Katherine Rundell as part of our learning.
It all looks very exciting!
Maths
We will continue to use our maths curriculum called White Rose to support mathematical understanding. We will be spending roughly two weeks on each of the following units:
Ratio
Algebra
Decimals
Fractions, decimals and percentages
Area, perimeter and volume
Statistics
English
As mentioned above, we will be using our class novel, 'The Wolf Wilder' by Katherine Rundell as part of our curriculum. We will kick start January with more of ‘The Write Stuff’ genres including horror with ‘A Monster Calls’ and continuing our spooky theme with the ghost story, ‘Thornhill’, before moving onto a mystery in ‘The Graveyard Book’ and we will be finishing the term with some non-fiction writing using ‘Greta’ (Thunberg) for creating our own persuasive speeches.
Science
We will learn about how polar animals have adapted to life in the Arctic and Antarctic. We will be investigating thermal insulations and looking at the most efficient methods of keeping warm and retaining heat. Our main unit this term will be ‘Living things and their habitats’ with the investigations: How do animals stay warm? Can we slow cooling down?
PE
PE will feature Sports Hall Athletics/ Invasion games this first half term, followed by Gymnastics / Field Games running up to Easter.
Our sessions will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so it is important that you remember to come in your kit!
ICT
We will continue to use Purple Mash materials. This term will begin with lessons on spreadsheets (Unit 6.3) and then on blogging (Unit 6.4) and we will continue to impress upon the children the safe use of the internet and protocols for being online.
Art and Design
Our art project focuses on Trailblazers and will look at breaking barriers including undertaking some critical analysis and ‘Lessons In the style of …' various black artists. The companion project, Tints, Tones and Shades will look at the study of landscapes.
Spanish
The children will have the opportunity to practise, listen, comprehend, speak, read and write in Spanish. Our iLanguages scheme of work is interactive, fun and engaging. We will be able to learn names, age, numbers and will be including a traditional story. We will also be attempting some Spanish maths: addition and subtraction. We will be looking at the verb forms of Tengo (I have). Finally, we will be learning Spanish vocabulary associated with the Easter bunny and eggs
RE
We will be considering plenty of thought-provoking questions using our Understanding Christianity units. Our main theme for the first half term of 2022 is ‘Beliefs and Meaning’. The concept is Salvation. The Key Questions are: Is anything ever eternal? Should religious people be sad when someone dies? How well do funeral and mourning rituals tell you about what a religion believes and about what happens after death?
After half term, the new theme is ‘Easter’. Our main concept will be ‘Gospel’. Our Key Questions are: Is Christianity still a strong religion 2000 years after Jesus was on Earth? Do sacred texts have to be ‘true’ to help people understand their religion? Does participating in worship help people to feel closer to God or their faith community? Is religion the most important influence and inspiration in everyone’s life?
PSCHE
We will be looking initially at the responsibility involved with growing up, along with a new scheme called Jigsaw with some interesting characters and activities. Our first half term focuses on ‘Healthy Me’ and then during the second half term we move onto ‘Dreams and Goals’.
Geography
Our learning this term will include:
- Features of Earth
- Time Zones
- Using lines of longitude and latitude
- Using scale on a map
- Scale and distance
- Grid references, contours and symbols
- Climate Change
- Climate Change, extreme weather and people
- Trade around the world
- Natural resource management
History
We will create a Timeline of the Race to the Poles and will be looking at the significant individuals who risked their lives as Polar Explorers: Ranulph Fiennes, Scott of the Antarctic and Roald Amundsen. We will be looking at emigration and exploration in the early 1900s
Music
Using Charanga, our music scheme, we will start learning ‘A New Year Carol, and comparing this piece within several of the genres including classical and Urban Gospel! We will be looking at some of Benjamin Britten’s music.
●How pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, texture and structure work together to create a song or music
●How to keep the internal pulse
●Musical Leadership: creating musical ideas for the group to copy or respond to.
Ways to help your child:
- By talking about the topic and asking what they are learning about.
- By discussing maths tasks and encourage them to complete the maths homework (set weekly)
- By keeping a note of their passwords for the websites we use most often
- By supporting them with home learning – especially reading – there is an expectation that they read to an adult at home a minimum of 3 times a week – this needs to be recorded in their reading diary, please.
- By ensuring that they come to school ready to work hard and succeed.
- By encouraging them to attend the Booster Classes (once they start later in the term- more info to follow)
Transition Information
Summer Term
Year 6 –Britain at War
We hope you all had a lovely, relaxing Easter with your families. This term we are doing the topic ‘Britain at War’. This project teaches children about the causes, events and consequences of the First and Second World Wars, the influence of new inventions on warfare, how life in Great Britain was affected and the legacy of the wars in the post-war period. We use the novel, Goodnight Mr Tom, by Michelle Magorian, to explore the life of an evacuee during this time.
It all looks very exciting!
Maths – we will be revising for the few weeks we have before the SATS tests, then we will be moving onto the exciting new Challenge Units published by White Rose in preparation for life in secondary school as they children prepare for Y7, which will incorporate themed problems, consolidation and problem-solving activities.
English: we shall continue to enjoy writing using the inspirational ‘The Write Stuff’ units. As mentioned above, we will be using our new class novel, Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian as part of our curriculum. We will be writing in a variety of genres to suit purpose and audience, making sure that our level of formality is appropriate.
As part of our transition to Y7 we shall be reminiscing and recounting our primary memories with Labelling and Journaling.
Science: in our lessons we will be looking at Evolution and Inheritance; how living things on Earth have changed over time and how fossils provide evidence for this. They learn how characteristics are passed from parents to their offspring and how variation in offspring can affect their survival, with changes (adaptations) possibly leading to the evolution of a species.
Light Theory This project teaches children about the way that light behaves, travelling in straight lines from a source or reflector, into the eye. They explore how we see light and colours, and phenomena associated with light, including shadows, reflections and refraction.
ICT: We will continue to use Purple Mash materials. This term will begin with lessons on Unit 6.5 Text adventures with (2Cas) and will then move onto Unit 6.6 Networks (2code)
PE will feature Tennis/Fitness for the first half term. Our sessions will be Tuesday and Friday afternoons – so it is even more important that you remember to come in your kit! After half term we move onto Athletics/cricket. There is every chance that we may also make the most of any sunshine and have an impromptu game of rounders!
Art and Design – our first art project focuses on the concepts of abstraction and distortion. They study the visual characteristics of abstraction and create a musically-inspired, abstract painting.
This secondary project of beetles and butterflies teaches children about sketchbooks, observational drawing, mixed media collage and Pop Art. They consolidate their learning to make a final piece of artwork inspired by bees, beetles or butterflies.
Spanish: we will continue to learn using our new iLanguages units, where this term we will learn to:
Extend sentences with pero
Use definite (el,la,los,las) and indefinite (un, una, unos, unas) articles
Use Quisiera (I would like)
Extend sentences with también
Use Numbers 1-30
Use Days of the week / months of the year
R, U, I, hard g phonemes Assessments
Attempt the Barcelona project
Geography: our learning this term will include: the areas worst hit by the Blitz and areas targeted by the enemy.
DT: Make Do and Mend: this project teaches children a range of simple sewing stitches, including ways of recycling and repurposing old clothes and materials.
History: The Britain at War project teaches children about the causes, events and consequences of the First and Second World Wars, the influence of new inventions on warfare, how life in Great Britain was affected and the legacy of the wars in the post-war period.
Music: Using Charanga, our music scheme, we will be looking at Music and Identity.
We will talk about the musical dimensions working together in the Unit songs. We shall talk about the music and how it makes you feel, using musical language to describe the music.
We will be listening carefully and respectfully to other people’s thoughts about the music.
We will know and talk about that fact that we each have a musical identity.
After half term, we will move onto the next unit: Reflect, Rewind and Replay, where we will be focusing on the history of music - look back and consolidate your learning, learn some of the language of music.
We will also be rehearsing many of the songs for our Summer Show: Matilda the Musical and continuing to learn how to play the recorder.
RE: We will be looking at the theme of Beliefs and moral values and considering plenty of thought-provoking questions to learn more about religions in the local community such as: Should religious people be sad when someone dies?
PSCHE; We will be looking initially at the relationships unit and the responsibility involved with growing up, along with a new scheme called Jigsaw with some interesting characters and activities. After half term we move onto the ‘Changing Me’ unit which tackles puberty and issues around reproduction.
Ways to help your child:
By talking about the topic and asking what they are learning about.
By discussing maths tasks and helping to understand what is being asked.
By keeping a note of their passwords for the websites we use most often
By supporting them with home learning – especially reading – there is an expectation that they read to an adult at home a minimum of 3 times a week – this needs to be recorded in their reading diary, please.
By ensuring that they come to school ready to work hard and succeed.
By encouraging them to attend the Booster Classes