Welcome to Spring 1!

A very warm welcome to Spring 1 term in Year 6. I hope that you all had restful break and a wonderful Christmas. This half term, we have  lots to look forward to as we continue on our learning journey, working and worshipping together.  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 crime and detective fiction. To help us immerse ourselves in this exciting genre we will be joining Ted and his older sister Kat as they arrange to take their cousin, Salim, on the London Eye but although they watch him go up in a pod, he never comes down again. Salim is missing. Using Siobhan Dowd's excellent crime fiction story as a class novel, we will become super sleuths as we solve the mystery behind Salim's disappearance.

Throughout the unit, the children will have some wonderful opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of crime and detective fiction. We will use the class texts to help us to create our own crime fiction stories based on a model text with an innovated plot structure, using plot patterns and shared writing techniques incorporating all our new and old grammar skills as we develop our ideas. Over the half term, we will be creating our very own novels on a theme which we will then present and share with some of our younger children in school. Who will become our finest super sleuth?

We will bring the half term to a close by researching and writing and presenting explanation texts based on experiences in another subject, for example: History:  How did William triumph at the Battle of Hastings? How were motte and bailey castles constructed? How did the feudal system work? Within this area of key learning, we will be working to understand underlying themes, causes and consequences within whole texts.
Understand the structures writers use to achieve coherence; headings; links within and between paragraphs; connectives and explore, investigate and use the active and passive to achieve the intended effect. These skills will enable us to create some wonderful explanation texts based on research of range of non-fiction sources.

In Mathematics, we will be starting the half term by focussing on Number: decimals and percentages. In this area of study we will be concentrating on:

• Identifying the value of each digit in numbers given to 3 decimal places and multiply numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000 giving answers up to 3 decimal places.
• Solving problems which require answers to be rounded to specified degrees of accuracy.
• Multiplying one-digit numbers with up to 2 decimal places by whole numbers.Using written division methods in cases where the answer has up to 2 decimal places.
• Solving problems involving the calculation of percentages [for example, of measures and such as 15% of 360] and the use of percentages for comparison.

• Recalling and using equivalences between simple fractions, decimals and percentages including in different contexts.

Towards the end of half term we will shift our focus to Number: Algebra when the children will be using and developing their skills to:

• Use simple formulae.
• Generate and describe linear number sequences.
• Express missing number problems algebraically.
• Find pairs of numbers that satisfy an equation with two unknowns.
• Enumerate possibilities of combinations of two variables.

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.

‘In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.’  

(John 14:2)

At Sacred Heart, Religious Education is at the core of the core curriculum, it is embedded in everything we do and say. This half term in Year 6 we will be busy exploring the Mass . We will continue our journey together as disciples of Christ by considering how we have physical and human needs and why it is important to nourish both our bodies and our souls. We will spend lots of time discussing how friendship with Jesus, the bread of life, nourishes our souls and how we can respond to Jesus' invitation to be a disciple of Christ and respond to God's call.

This half term in History, we will enjoy conducting an in-depth study in to Victorian Britain. We will journey back to the Victorian era and discover what life would have been like if we'd been born in the 19th Century. As the term progresses, we will compare our modern lifestyles to the lifestyles of both poor and rich Victorian children. As we analyse the life of some Victorians, we will take time to explain that the reasons for the poor working conditions of children during the Victorian era was largely due to the fact that there were no laws to protect children like there are today. This, on top of the changes that took place due to the Industrial Revolution, meant that children were often ill-treated. Here we will meet Dr Barnardo and Lord Shaftesbury who worked for better conditions for children and their that legacy lives on to this day.

Our Science topic this half term will focus on physics as we explore the amazing world of Light. In this unit we will be exploring the concept that light appears to travel in straight lines. Using the idea that light travels in straight lines we will move on to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye. We see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes. Continuing with the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them. We will work scientifically by predicting and explaining with diagrams and models, how the path of light rays can be directed by reflection to be seen before predicting and explaining with diagrams and models, how the shape and size of shadows can be varied.

In French this half term, we shall be looking at habitats by exploring the unit The Woodlands. In this unit, the children will be focussing on:

• Saying and write in French the key elements animals and plants need to survive in their habitat
• Giving examples of in French of the most common habitats for plants and animals
• Telling somebody in French what types of animals live in different habitats and what their adaptations are
• Telling somebody in French what types of plants grow in different habitats
• Learning to use the verbs ‘to grow’ and ‘to live’ to help me talk about plants and animals in their habitats.

Art this half term will see Year 6 we will be using the life and work of M.C Escher as an inspiration fro our very own mathematically inspired tessellations and impossible art through illusion. The children will be challenged to:

• Select and record from first hand observation, experience and imagination, and exploring ideas for different purposes with increasing control
• Question and make thoughtful observations about starting points and select ideas to use in their work
  Explore the roles and purposes of artists, craftspeople, architects and designers working in different times and cultures
• Compare ideas, methods and approaches in their own and others’ work and say what they think and feel about them with greater insight. 
• Adapting their work according to their views and describe how they might develop it further. 
• Experiment using the ideas and styles of different artists.

ICT this year is a project that will take us through the whole academic year as we become App. Planners. Our outcome for this half term is a clear piece of market research around the planned app. The children will become market researchers as they think about the types of input and output available on a smartphone e.g. microphone, camera, GPS and the screen, speaker, vibration motor and how smartphones connect to other computers and how they connect to the internet. They will be relying heavily on effective team work this half term as they work together to identify the app market.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education this half term is dedicated to 'Money Matters' In this unit, the class will be encouraged to think about a range of strategies that people use to make financial and spending decisions which effect them, their families and the environment. They will identify the ways that money can impact on people’s feelings and emotions.

In Music this half term all our learning will focus around a New Year's Carol. By the end of this unit the children will be able to:

• Compare two songs in the same style, talking about what stands out musically in each of them, their similarities and differences. 
• Listen carefully and respectfully to other people’s thoughts about the music. 
• Use musical words when talking about the songs. 
• To talk about the musical dimensions working together in the Unit songs. 
• Talk about the music and how it makes you feel, using musical language to describe the music.
• How pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, texture and structure work together to create a song or music  
• How to keep the internal pulse
• Play a musical instrument with the correct technique within the context of the Unit song. 
• Select and learn an instrumental part that matches their musical challenge, using one of the differentiated parts – a one-note, simple or medium part or the melody of the song from memory or using notation.

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

PE sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons. This half term our focus will be on Dance as we explore dance through the ages. Remember to arrive in school each Wednesday in full PE kit and trainers or pumps. You will remain in your PE kit for the entire day.

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. 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.