Year 6 Summer Term 1

In English, our main text during this term will be Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick.  This narrative fiction book is set in an all too believable near future when many parts of England are submerged in water and people drift into gangs, divided due to the scarcity of resources.  As part of this study, the dilemmas and challenges experienced by the protagonists will allow our children to explore character development by writing in role;  they will develop creative responses to the text through drama and they will write with confidence for real purposes and audiences.

In Maths, students will continue to consolidate and extend their understanding of key mathematical concepts through a variety of problem-solving activities. They will engage with topics across arithmetic, measurements, shape, bar and line graphs as geometry, statistics, and algebra, developing their skills and confidence. Pupils will have the opportunity to develop fluency in these essential areas of mathematics developing real-world application.

In Science, we will be studying the body. Children will work towards answering the question ‘How can we stay healthy?’ Children will learn that there are many different but related aspects to keeping healthy. They will investigate the functions of the heart and circulatory system and will describe how nutrients and water are transported in human and animal bodies. 

Working Scientifically, children will investigate how exercise and heart rate are related.  They will also find out how scientific ideas about health have developed over time. They will plan an investigation and will take measurements with accuracy and precision. Children will present their findings in a number of ways, and will explain causal relationships emerging from their own data. 

This unit builds upon children’s existing knowledge, covered in Year 4 Human Nutrition, about their body parts and internal body systems such as the digestive system. They will develop their existing knowledge about the importance of diet and exercise to promote good health.

In Geography, Year 6 will be looking at the country of Mexico, one of the World’s most vibrant. The children will begin by using world maps, atlases and digital mapping to locate Mexico in relation to the equator and surrounding countries. They will then learn how to identify and describe aspects of human and physical geography. Our pupils will use the eight points of a compass, grid references and keys to build their knowledge of the wider world and they will develop their understanding of the geographical similarities and differences between Mexico and their own location. 

In Art this term, we will be studying a unit called, ‘Bees, Beetles and Butterflies’. The children will learn about observational drawing techniques and how to create a mixed media collage. We will look at examples of work by contemporary artist, Lucy Arnold, we will and investigate why insects make such a rich and interesting subject matter for artists.

In Music this term, we will be studying a unit of work entitled 'Theme and Variations: Pop Art'.  Pupils will have the opportunities to perform rhythms confidently either on their own or in a group; identify the sounds of different instruments and discuss what they sound like; make reasonable suggestions for which instruments can be matched to which pieces of art; name and draw rhythms accurately and show a difference between each of the variations that they create.

In PSHE, pupils will study the unit 'Relationships'. Lessons include looking at mental health, and discussing strategies on how to take care of this.  Pupils will also look at how to keep safe online and how to take responsibility for their own safety and wellbeing.

In RE, Year 6 will start a new topic ‘Prejudice and Tolerance’. This will link to our work in history on the Second World War and our trip to Beth Shalom. Children will explore what prejudice means and how this has affected people during history, including children during the war, with particular focus on the story of Anne Frank.  

In French, the children will start a new unit, ‘Planning a French Holiday’, where they will be developing their recall of the countries in the world in French; the present and future tense of ‘aller’ in French; the present and future tenses in reading and listening. They will begin to understand the general meaning of a text to be able to answer some questions, speak in sentences and write a paragraph.

In PE this term the children will be learning about the sport of Handball. They will develop their passing, improve their shooting and learn about movement in the game when they take part in a variety of activities. The children will also learn how to implement basic attacking and defending tactics.

In their second PE lesson, the children will be learning about the sport of cricket. They will be developing their throwing and catching abilities through a range of activities to enable them to play the game. The children will learn a variety of batting strokes, how to bowl and will learn the basics of fielding over the term. The children will also learn about the rules and scoring used in the game.