Year 6 2023 - 2024

We hope you all had a lovely summer break. We look forward to a very exciting year.

The children have returned to school ready to learn and it is a joy to see their enthusiasm in all subjects.

Things to remember:

• We aim to go outside every day for break times plus our PE lessons and other activities. Please make sure your child brings a waterproof coat every day.
• Please send a fresh bottle of water (not juice or squash) in each day.
• School is not currently selling any snacks at break time. Please consider sending your child in with a healthy snack (preferably fruit).
• We aim to teach outdoor PE every Monday and Wednesday. Please send your child to school in full PE kit on these days. They will then continue to wear their kit for the remainder of the day. Please make sure your child has their outdoor sweatshirt on both days as we will sometimes teach both of these lessons outdoors.
• All stationery will be supplied so children should not bring a pencil case to school.
• Children should not bring a bag or back pack to school, only their lunchbox and water bottle. We do not have the space to store them

Please see below everything the children will be learning this autumn term.

Come and See

Domestic Church – Family: Loving

In our first topic children will be able to make links between their beliefs about love, their behaviour and how it affects others. They will be able to compare their own and other people’s ideas about questions of unconditional love and will be able to show understanding of how beliefs and values affect our love and care of each other.

The children will be able to make links between the story of the prodigal son and the Christian’s belief in God’s forgiveness and be able to give reasons for a Christian’s love and care. They will be able to describe and show understanding of the scripture, beliefs, feelings and experience of God’s unconditional love and make links between them and show understanding of how religious belief in God’s unconditional love shapes life.

Baptism/Confirmation – Belonging: Vocation and Commitment

In our second topic children will be able to make links to show how feelings and beliefs affect behaviour in relation to commitment and will be able to compare their own and other people’s ideas concerning the questions raised about what it means to be committed. They will be able to compare their own and other people’s ideas concerning why some people are very committed to service of others and to realise that these questions are often difficult to answer.

The children will be able, using a developing religious vocabulary, to give reasons for the signs and symbols used in the Sacrament of Holy Orders. They will be able to give reasons why Christians fulfil their baptismal promises by answering God’s call through their chosen vocation in various ways, including the religious life. The children will be able to use religious terms to show an understanding of prayers of consecration and vows made at ordination and profession and show an understanding of how religious belief shapes the lives of Christians in a variety of ways through their chosen vocation.

English

In English this half term, we will be using the texts 'The Unforgotten Coat' by Frank Cottrell Boyce and ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan as a stimulus for our writing. The children will be working on letter writing and speech through these texts. They will be learning the use of the semi-colon, colon and dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses. Using relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun. Using commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity. Understanding how words are related by meaning as synonyms and antonyms (for example, big, large, little) and how hyphens can be used to avoid ambiguity (for example, man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover).

Your child will also have access to Oxford Reading Buddy where they can access a range of e-books and answer questions about what they have read. Individual logins can be found at the front of the children’s reading records.

Oxford Reading Buddy Website:

https://www.oxfordreadingbuddy.com/uk

Maths

This half term the children will be working through the topics Place Value of Whole Numbers and Decimals, Properties of Number, Multiplication and Division, Area and Volume, Addition and Subtraction and Order of Operations.

The children will read, write, order and compare numbers up to 10 000 000 and determine the value of each digit. Round any whole number to a required degree of accuracy and use negative numbers in context and calculate intervals across zero.

The children will identify the value of each digit in numbers given to three decimal places and identify common factors, common multiples and prime numbers.

They will multiply and divide numbers by 10, 100 and 1000 giving answers up to three decimal places. Multiply multi-digit numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit whole number using the formal written method of long multiplication. Divide numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit whole number using the formal written method of long division, and interpret remainders as whole number remainders, fractions, or by rounding, as appropriate for the context. Divide numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit number using the formal written method of short division where appropriate, interpreting remainders according to the context.

The children will recognise when it is possible to use formulae for area and volume of shapes and that shapes with the same areas can have different perimeters and vice versa. They will be able to calculate the area of parallelograms and triangles and calculate, estimate and compare volume of cubes and cuboids using standard units.

They will perform mental calculations, including with mixed operations and large numbers. Solve addition and subtraction multi-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why and use estimation to check answers to calculations and determine, in the context of a problem, an appropriate degree of accuracy.

The children will use their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the four operations.

Science

Living Things and Their Habitats

The children will be able to describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals. Give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.

Light

The children will be able to recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines. Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye. Explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes. Use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

Geography

Fieldwork - Local Area

The children will be able to understand the geography of the local area. They will be able to use 6 figure grid references, 8 figure compass points and be able to know and use OS symbols. The children will be able to understand the difference between human and physical features.

History

Rule

The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England.

This half term, we will be focusing on 'Rule'. The children will be learning about who the Vikings were and the important people from the Anglo Saxon and Viking Britain. They will explore the importance of the attack on the Lindisfarne. We will look at the struggle for the Kingdom of England, closely looking at the key events during this time period. They will learn about the Danelaw and what life was like there. Finally, the class will look at the three main rivals for the throne in 1066 and decide who they think should have been king.

You, Me, Everyone

The children will be looking at the books - My Princess Boy by Cheryl Lilodavis-To understand diversity and to accept other people’s differences. Dreams of Freedom by Amnesty International- To understand the rights of a child. King of the sky by Nicola Davis- To consider the responses to immigration.

Mental health and Wellbeing

The children will learn about how to support our own mental health and the importance of expressing how we’re feeling. They will understand the impact of others on others on our own wellbeing (Peer on peer abuse) and experiencing change and loss – managing grief and bereavement.

PE

Health Related Fitness and Basketball

Art

Architecture

In Art, the children will be learning who was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, understanding perspective and why is it important when drawing buildings. They will also observe and record the concept of perspective in architectural drawings and they will be able to compare and contrast the work of Giles and Gaudi. Finally the children will design a new Cathedral for the future in Liverpool using influences from one of the architects studied and reflect on their own and other's artwork.

DT

Cooking

In DT, the children will be using their knowledge to design, create and evaluate their own beef stew. The children will know that recipes can be adapted to change the appearance, taste, texture and aroma. They will work out ratios in recipes and follow a recipe independently. They are aware that there are date marks (‘use by’ and ‘best before’) on foods and can identify and use these. The children will find out about the ingredients used in different dishes, where ingredients come from and how they are produced/processed.

Computing

This term the children will be learning to connect through the topic: Computing systems and networks – Communication.

In this unit the children will explore how data is transferred over the internet. They will initially focus on addressing, before they move on to the makeup and structure of data packets. The children then look at how the internet facilitates online communication and collaboration; they complete shared projects online and evaluate different methods of communication. Finally, they learn how to communicate responsibly by considering what should and should not be shared on the internet.

Music

This term we will be learning dynamics, pitch and tempo through the theme Fingal's Cave.

Spanish

This term we will be learning the possessive adjective (my). The themes will be: Myself, my family, friends and pets.

The children will learn to say sentences about illness - sentences to say where the pain is.

They will be able to talk more on their feelings - I’m thirsty, hungry, hot, cold.

The children will be able to talk more about their family members: aunty, uncle, cousins.

They will be able to say more about their pets: At the vets/doctors - role play, writing using complex sentences to describe self and others using first and third person. Who is at the vets/doctors, what they are feeling?

Finally, the children will be learning the numbers 70 – 100.

Well Being Friday

The children will be taking part in a variety of activities during Friday afternoons. The activities vary from painting and musical theatre; to multi-sports and podcasting.

Homework

Reading books will be sent home on a Thursday and should be returned on Monday morning. Children should also use the online reading platform – Oxford Reading Buddy – to extend their reading experiences.

Spellings will also go home on a Thursday to be learnt for the following Tuesday.

Occasional projects linked to topic work will be set throughout the year. Maths activities to go home when relevant and to support learning. Reading comprehensions will be regularly sent home for the children to work on these skills.

Times Tables Rock Stars is a fabulous online resource for learning and consolidating times tables – a fundamental of all maths. Children should access this at least three times a week – how far up the leader board can they go?

If you need to speak with your child's teacher, please approach us on the playground and we can arrange a time. We would ask that you kindly wait until we have seen all of the children safely to their parent or carer before speaking to your teacher and we will be happy to chat. Alternatively, you may wish to ring the school office.

We are here to support you and your children and are looking forward to a great year ahead!

Mr Morrissey and Mr Daly