Ash Class

Welcome back!

A very warm welcome to Autumn 2 in Year 6. This half term, we have a lots to look forward to as we build up to our Christmas celebrations. Of course, added to all this excitement we have lots of fun learning activities to help us build upon our learning in Year 6. Attached below is a summary of the subject focuses we will be looking this half term.

English

In English, this half term, we will be basing our outcomes around the concept of 'Survival' To help us immerse ourselves in this exciting topic we will be reading the excellent 'Running Wild' by Michael Morpurgo and 'Bear Grylls Mission Survival: Gold of the Gods.' as class novels.

Synopsis - For Will and his mother, going to Indonesia on holiday is a chance to put things behind them and have some fun. But then the elephant Will is riding on the beach begins acting strangely. That's when the tsunami comes crashing in, and the elephant begins to run. Except that when the tsunami is gone Will's elephant just keeps on running...

"The elephant lifted her trunk and began trumpeting at the sea. She swung around, and I held on for dear life as she stampeded into the shadows of the jungle..."

Throughout the unit the children will have some wonderful opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of survival at all costs. We will use the class texts to help us write survival/adventure narratives by using plot patterns and shared writing techniques incorporating all our new and old grammar skills as we develop our ideas.

Following this, we will turn our attention to Biography. In this unit we will read and view a selection of biographies in different forms to analyse the conventions of biographical writing including techniques to engage the reader and how specific information is organised within a biography. This will enable us to carry out our own research and write a biography based on a scientist/naturalist of our own choosing before presenting them to an audience.

In Maths we will be start the half term by focussing on our fraction skills. To succeed in this area the children will need to become skilled at:

Use common factors to simplify fractions; use common multiples to express fractions in the same denomination.
Compare and order fractions, including fractions > 1
Generate and describe linear number sequences (with fractions)
Add and subtract fractions with different denominations and mixed numbers, using the concept of equivalent fractions. Multiply simple pairs of proper fractions, writing the answer in its simplest form
Divide proper fractions by whole numbers
Recall and use equivalences between simple fractions, decimals and percentages, including in different contexts.
Associate a fraction with division and calculate decimal fraction equivalents for a simple fraction.

Following this, we will turn our attention to Geometry - Position and direction where we will be developing and consolidating our knowledge to be able to:

Describe positions on the full coordinate grid (all four quadrants).
Draw and translate simple shapes on the coordinate plane, and reflect them in the axes.

You can help your child at home by helping them to practice their times tables and division facts. Just ten minutes a day will make all the difference to their rapid recall.

“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.” (Colossians 3: 12-15)

At Sacred Heart, Religious Education is at the core of the core curriculum, it is embedded in everything we do and say. As we begin to count down to Christmas we will begin to focus on the concept of domestic church and family. For Christians the pattern and ideal of family life is found in the Scriptures. God is the loving parent of the human family and Jesus was born and lived in a human family. To develop our ideas about the wider family of God's creation we will ask ourselves some important questions such as in our daily lives, how can we be ‘clothed with compassion’ or ‘with love’? In practical terms, how can these be expressed?

Our Geography based topic this half term is focusses on locational knowledge and Human and Physical Geography. We will make links to our 'Survival' unit by firstly identifying the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere and Souther Hemisphere. We will use such locational knowledge to describe and understand human and physical geography focussing specifically on mountains. We will explore some of the highest and most famous mountains in the world. We will fully immerse ourselves to find out about mountain animals, mountain climates and a mountainous range of other aspects of the highest peaks in the world. We will complete the unit by using our mapping skills developed last half term to relate different maps to each other and to aerial photographs and use latitude and longitude on atlases and globes.

General Class information

Reading

By Year 6, children are confident with reading, the task now is to ensure that children understand what they are reading. It is important that they read a wide variety of genres and text types. Fiction, non-fiction, leaflets, websites, newsletters etc. The more children read and discuss the deeper their understanding becomes. Encourage the children to explain what they have read, ask them questions and describe how they know the answers. On occasion allow them just to read for pleasure, because they want to and they are enjoying it. Read with them and continue to read to them. Love books together!

PE sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons. Please ensure children's PE kits are in school on this day and clearly labelled.

Snack & Water

Toast is available to children for snack. Children must pay £1 at the beginning of the week for a slice of toast each day. Children are able to bring in their own snack for playtime. This can be a cereal/breakfast bar, fruit or veg. Water will be available to the children throughout the day. If you would like your child to bring in their own bottle, please ensure the bottle is clearly labelled with the child's name.

If you have any queries or just want to chat about your child's progress, feel free to catch me in the playground at the end of the school day, or alternatively make an appointment with Mrs Thompson in the school office.

Mrs Livesey.