Year 6 Summer 1 Curriculum Information

In the first half of the summer term, year 6 will be reading the well renowned Year Six World War Two story ‘When The Sky Falls’. As the Second World War escalates and bombs start to fall, Joseph is charged with protecting Adonis the gorilla in this nerve-shreddingly tense thriller based on a true story. Inspired by a true story. It's 1940, and Joseph has been packed off to stay with Mrs F, a gruff woman with no great fondness for children. To Joseph's amazement, she owns the rundown city zoo where Joseph meets Adonis, a huge silverback gorilla. Adonis is ferociously strong and dangerous, but Joseph finds he has an affinity with the lonely beast. But when the bombs begin to fall, it is up to Joseph to guard Adonis's cage should it be damaged by a blast. Will Joseph be ready to pull the trigger if it comes to it? This book will weave beautifully into extending our World War Two knowledge. Our writing focus will keep in theme with World War Two as we look at writing elements from, ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ a great prompt for writing descriptions and creating dialogue between characters.

The children will spend the first couple of weeks of the summer term preparing for the year six Sat’s – where they will continue to develop their arithmetic and reasoning skills in maths, their retrieval and inference skills in reading and develop their knowledge and understanding of different grammatical terms and spelling patterns in preparation for the grammar and punctuation test. 

For the rest of the half-term, the children will continue to develop their knowledge and skills in a variety of subjects.  In science, they will learn about the reproduction in animals and plants and explore the different growth stages.  From their learning, the children will then try and answer our science Big Question: How do flowers and animals reproduce?  In history, the children will build on their knowledge of ‘The Rise of Hitler’ and ‘World War II’ and learn about topics such as ‘The Battle of Britain’ and the ‘Blitz’.  From our in -depth study the children will then answer our Big Question: What were the consequences of WW11 and have they had impact on British Values today?

In geography, the children will learn about South America and study the physical aspects of this continent including learning about the Andes Mountains, the Antacama desert and the Amazon rainforest.  From their learning, the children will then try and answer our geography Big Question: What would you see in South America?

We have many other exciting opportunities to look forward to with an abundance of Year 6 sporting events. In Year Six we look forward to looking around Loughborough University to open our eyes to what university life is like. We have worked so hard throughout the year and we are well prepped for the upcoming SATs. Mr Dalby is extremely proud of everyone in the class.

Year 6 Spring 2 Curriculum Information

In the second part of the Spring Term, Year Six will be reading ‘Black Powder’. The year is 1605 and if you are a Catholic in England it is a very dangerous time to be alive, so Tom and his family try their best to avoid being noticed. When his father helps a Catholic priest to escape the authorities their lives are turned upside down. Suddenly Tom finds himself on an adventure that takes him through the mansions of rich relatives to the dark back streets of London. He must do all he can to save his father from the gallows - even if it means allying himself with the mysterious Falcon and his gunpowder plot. This historical tale is steeped in intrigue, mystery and danger. Tom is driven by guilt, faith and determination, making him an interesting and believable protagonist.  Sherrick refuses to let her characters be purely good or evil, instead she lets the complexity of the time explain why good people might be forced to consider violent acts.

Throughout this half term the children will develop their knowledge of WW2. The children last term looked in depth at the build up to WW2 and what happened in Nazi Germany during the 1930s. This term we delve deep into the history of WW2. Our first lesson looks at the key events of the war where we will create a timeline of WW2. Our learning will then look at the horrors of the Blitz and the Holocaust. Supporting our learning will be the picture book ‘Rose Blanche’. This book is set during WW2 in Germany. We will discuss themes such as war, death, prejudice and persecution.

In science, the children who are not attending the PGL trip will complete a DT/science project where they will create an electrical circuit which lights up a design. Once all the children are back together our science topic will look at light. Particularly looking at the colours of light and how we see.

During our PSHE lessons, the children will learn about how to keep themselves healthy and in particular will learn how to manage stress, which is particularly important in the run up to the Sats.  With the festival of Easter fast approaching, the children will learn what Christians mean when they say that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice and will then try and answer our big question ‘What do Christians believe Jesus did to ‘save’ people?

We have many more wonderful things planned this term including celebrating World Book Day – which will involve reciting and performing a poem off by heart and going on a school trip to a university. Here the children will be able to learn about what wonderful job opportunities are available to them when they are older.

Please keep up with your revision for SATs 😊

Year 6 Spring 1 Curriculum Information

In the Spring Term, Year Six will have the wonderful opportunity to read and explore the story ‘Macbeth,’ which was written by the well renowned English poet, playwright and actor William Shakespeare.  This well -known play was the sixteenth century equivalent of a modern horror movie with its three witches, a ghost and a phantom dagger. The children will absolutely love learning about the characters within this book - especially the power- hungry couple Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth who will kill their friends and family to fulfil their ambition of becoming royalty.

As with many Shakespeare plays - anger and conflict are two themes which also run throughout Macbeth. This will provide a wonderful opportunity to discuss with the children, during our Social and Emotional lessons, what strategies that they have to manage their feelings and manage their anger.  What types of things make them angry?  Why do they think they get angry?  Is it a good emotion ever?

Throughout this half-term, the children will continue to develop their knowledge and skills in a variety of subjects.  In history, we will be learning about ‘The Rise and Fall of Hitler’. A fantastic opportunity to bridge our previous learning ‘WW1’ to our new learning about ‘WW2’ and the gap in between. I have already learnt so much when planning the lessons for this topic. The Treaty of Versailles being a key ignitor to Hitler’s plans and the beginning of World War Two. One of if not the most fascinating parts of History you can learn about. In my opinion.

During the Spring Term – the children will continue to develop their scientific skills.  They will build on their prior learning and remind themselves about different types of electrical circuits including simple and parallel circuits.  They will learn about switches and carry out an investigation which will involve designing and building a circuit for a purpose.  In science, we will be asking ourselves: How can you light up a light bulb?

In our wider curriculum subjects, such as P.E., we can look forward to developing our skills in basketball. Very luckily, we have an expert coach Mr Atkins coming in to deliver these sessions. Some of our Year Six children last term won the Melton Schools Basketball event. A real show of how our skills are developing. In R.E., we move on to our next module which looks at ‘Is anything ever eternal?’ A module that deepens our understanding of what some people around the world believe in. In music, we continue our studies looking at music technology. For art, we look at ‘Art in the 20^th Century’. These lessons will consist of looking at famous artists including: Picasso, Boyce and Hockney. We certainly do love our art in Year Six.

We have many more things planned this term including celebrating William Shakespeare’s birthday and participating in an interactive Shakespeare assembly from the Library services. Please keep an eye out on Dojo 😊

Year 6 Autumn 2 Curriculum Information

In the second half of the Autumn Term, year 6 will have the fantastic opportunity to read and listen to the story ‘Tin’. The story begins near Aylesbury where the spivvy disgraced engineer Dr Absolom is trying to sell ‘mechanicals’. These are child robots which were initially created to perform tasks that society no longer wanted humans to do. We learn some vague details about how the experiment got out of hand when some rogue scientists tried to instil their creations with a soul. This was considered a step too far and laws were put in place to limit the capabilities of these creations, and, in particular, to forbid the building of adult-sized mechanicals. The environment we are observing, however, appears somewhat lawless, and it is clear that Absolom is operating on the margins and that there is a black market in mechanicals. This fantastic book has great links to another story the children have had read to them ‘Iron Man’. We will also spend time reading the wonderful picture book ‘Where the poppies grow’ by Hilary Robinson. This beautifully illustrated picture book is written in rhyme and explores the theme of friendship which is tested but survives the tragedy of war.

Throughout the half-term, the children will continue to develop their knowledge and skills in a variety of subjects.  In history, we will be learning about World War 1.  We will learn about what life was like on land, sea and in the air, the Home Front and the consequences of War.  Alongside learning about this period of history, the children will read the picture book ‘The Best Christmas in the World’ From our in – depth study the children will then answer our Big Question : Why was World War 1 different to any previous war?

During the Autumn Term – the children will continue to develop their scientific skills.  They will build on their prior learning and remind themselves about what classification is and who Carl Linnaeus was.    They will learn about classifying organisms including vertebrates and invertebrates and also develop their knowledge about plant and animal cells. In science, we will be asking ourselves: How are plants and animals the same and how are they different?

We have many more things planned this term with lots of events around Christmas. We have: Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas Bizarre, Christmas dinner day, Design and Technology days and many other fantastic events. Please keep an eye out on dojo 😊

Year 6 Autumn 1 Curriculum Information

Well welcome back to your final year at primary school! I can’t wait to be your teacher again and create even more amazing memories. This year we have so many great experiences planned.

Our first class read will be Treasure Island.  An  adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, telling a story of "buccaneers and buried gold". It is considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action. The book tells the story of an impulsive and adventurous young boy named Jim Hawkins who comes across a treasure map. He goes on a journey to try and recover the treasure, which once belonged to the famous Captain Flint. On his journey, he meets Long John Silver, a one-legged cook who ends up leading a pirate mutiny. Will Jim find the treasure or be cursed with the pirate’s black dot?

For Maths we will be continuing to develop our Times-Tables knowledge. However, our main strand of Maths is an important part to learn which is ‘Place Value’ that’s why we are beginning our maths looking at numbers up to ten million.

In history, we will be exploring the suffragette movement and women’s rights alongside the picture book ‘Suffragettes: The Battle for Equality; by David Roberts, linked to our school value: respect. From our in depth-study the children will then answer our Big Question – How would British culture be different without the work of the suffragette movement? This fascinating change in women’s rights will expand and develop our knowledge of what it sometimes takes to change policy even in democratic society’s like Great Britain. A very relevant topic even in today's world.

In geography, the children will develop their map reading skills and learn about longitude and latitude, time zones around the world and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.  From their learning, the children will then try and answer our geography Big Question: What can we learn from studying maps?

During the Autumn term - the children will continue to develop their scientific skills.  They will learn about the heart, the circulation of blood, the function of blood vessels and blood pressure.  The children will also develop their investigative skills and have the opportunity to carry out an investigation linked to what happens to your heart when resting and after exercise.  In science, we will be asking ourselves: ‘Why is our circulatory system important?

The children will also have the wonderful opportunity to develop their creative skills and will study and re-create pieces of art in the style of artists: such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.  They will also be learning about pop and Motown music in their music lessons and thinking about what makes them happy. Our computing lessons will have a focus on E-safety a very important part of our curriculum. We will delve deeply into how to stay safe online. Something we believe at school is an important part of our curriculum.

The children have great opportunities to be sports leaders and lead school ambassadors. I am really excited about this! Please keep a look out on Class Dojo for photos of our learning, information, and updates. We have lots more exciting experiences planned for this half-term such as Ronald Dahl day.