Year Six (Mrs Livesey)

Welcome back Year 6!

Welcome back to Year 6. I hope that you all had a restful break and are ready for our new and final half term together in Year 6. 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 become immersing ourselves in the challenging world of August Pullman and his family and will be basing our outcomes around the much loved book Wonder. To help us immerse ourselves in this thought provoking theme we will engaging in a brutally powerful story of a 10-year-old boy named August Pullman, who has a facial anomaly. He is an ordinary boy who plays Xbox, is obsessed with Star Wars, but despite the 27 operations done for his face he will never look normal. In his story we are delivered a powerful message about the importance of kindness, tolerance, and acceptance.

Throughout the unit, the children will have some wonderful opportunities to immerse themselves in the world of fiction based on a harsh reality and we will have some wonderful opportunities to generate a range of independent writing outcomes to secure their End of Key Stage Teacher Assessment judgements in writing. These include: biography, poetry, diary entries and narratives from different characters’ perspectives.

In Mathematics, we will be starting to get ready for the subject in Secondary education by doing lots of investigative work which requires the children to draw upon all the learning and skills which they have acquired not only in Year 6 but in the entirety of Key Stage 2.

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.

They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1John 4:5-8)

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 looking at other world faiths with our focus being on Judaism. The children will be working towards showing how our own and others’ decisions are informed by beliefs and values and to be able to explain what beliefs and values inspire and influence them and others.

This term in History, we will be focussing on the causes of, events within and repercussions of World War II. By the end of the unit the children will be able to:

explore and explain the events leading to the outbreak of World War II.
explore propaganda used by the allied and enemy forces in WWII
construct responses that involve thoughtful selection of historical information.
explore rationing during World War II and how people adapted to deal with reduced product availability.
explain the importance and significance of the role of women during World War II.

Our Science topic this half term will focus on Biology as we look closely at the puberty and sex education. In this unit we will be working by learning about:

the physical and emotional changes that happen when approaching and during puberty
how hygiene routines change during the time of puberty, the  importance of keeping clean and how to maintain personal hygiene
the processes of reproduction and birth as part of the human life.

In French this term, we shall be looking at Le Week-end (the weekend) In this unit, the children will be focussing on being able to:

use vocabulary for the activities they may do at the weekend
consolidate the new language with a variety of activities
use connectives in French
use positive and negative opinion phrases.

Art this half term will see Year 6 working to hone and use skills in 3D media and textiles by looking at the work of Claes Oldenburg and Frank Bowling: In this unit the children will produce a final piece which shows skills within:

Using recycled, natural and man-made materials to create sculptures
Planning a sculpture through drawing and other preparatory work
Developing skills in using clay including slabs, coils, slips etc
Using different grades of threads and needles
Experimenting with a range of media to overlap and layer creating interesting colours and textures and effects.

ICT this year is a project that will take us through the whole academic year as we become App. Planners. This half term we will be working towards the outcome of producing a presentation to pitch a smartphone or tablet app. By the end of the half term, the children will be confident in:

Independently selecting, using and combining a wide range of software on a variety of devices.
Designing and creating a range of digital assets such as programs, systems and multimedia content for a defined purpose and audience.
Using advanced searches including the use of operators.
Developing their computational thinking can demonstrate that they can decompose and evaluate their tasks and correct errors in their algorithms and programs.

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:

the diﬀerent ways to pay for things and the choices people have about this
people have diﬀerent attitudes towards saving and  spending money; what inﬂuences people’s decisions; what makes something ‘good value for money’ 
that people’s spending decisions can aﬀect others and the environment (e.g. Fair trade, buying single-use plastics, or giving to charity) 
that people make spending decisions based on priorities, needs and wants diﬀerent ways to keep track of money 
risks associated with money (e.g. money can be won, lost or stolen) and ways of keeping money safe
the risks involved in gambling; diﬀerent ways money can be won or lost through gambling-related activities and their impact on health, wellbeing and future aspirations 
identifying the ways that money can impact on people’s feelings and  emotions.

In Music this half term all our learning will focus around 'Music and Me' In this unit children will be working to:

listen to and appraise a range of songs.
explain what is meant by identity and culture.
create, perform and evaluate music which reflects their identity.

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. 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. PE kit must consist of black leggings or tracksuit bottoms and a red school PE top or plain red t-shirt

Snack & Water

Toast is available to children for snack. Children must pay £1 at the beginning of the week via the ParentPay app 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.