Year 6 Summer Term 1

In English this term, we will continue our learning based on the novel ‘Street Child,’ by Berlie Doherty. Our writing outcomes will reinforce our history unit of work about the Victorian Era.

We will then begin our of study the book, ‘Rose Blanche’.  This is a moving story of a girl’s life at the outbreak of the Second World War, written by Robert Innocenti and illustrated by Ian McEwan. Using the book as a stimulus, the children will develop creative responses to the text through drama, storytelling and descriptive writing; they will write in role in order to explore and develop empathy for characters and they will learn how to write with confidence for real purposes and audiences.

In Maths, pupils will continue to develop their understanding of statistics. This will involve solving problems involving the calculation of percentages, interpreting and construction pie charts as well as calculating the mean. They will then learn about Geometry.  This unit looks at the properties of shapes, position and direction. Finally, the pupils will apply their learning from this year to solve a range of problems. 

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, our new topic is called Our Changing World. This unit develops essential skills and knowledge, revising the features of Earth, time zones and lines of latitude and longitude to pinpoint places on a map. The pupils will find out more about map scales, grid references, contour lines and map symbols. They will learn about climate change and the importance of global trade. They will study patterns of human settlements and carry out an enquiry to describe local settlement patterns.

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 called ‘The Songs of World War II’, which links to our history topic for the term. We will learn a variety of songs from that period. Children will follow the scores with a good sense of timing, showing that they understand which section of pitch they are singing as well as singing the correct words at the correct time.

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 Computing, the children will be learning about a programme called ‘Python’. They will be using this programme to write code, using nested loops in their designs and explain why they need two repeats. They will also recognise that computers can choose random numbers; decompose the program into an algorithm and modify a program to personalise it.

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 in May. 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, our pupils will continue to study the topic ‘In My French House’. They will learn to label things in the bedroom and use related vocabulary in simple sentences; they will learn to use prepositions accurately, both verbally and in written sentences and write a letter to describe all the rooms in their house, where they live.

In PE, the children will start the term by continuing to learn about the sports of Basketball and Lacrosse. They will then begin to learn about Athletics by developing their running, jumping and throwing techniques across a variety of track and field events over the term. In their second PE lesson, the children will take part in learning about Tennis. They will learn a variety of shots; how to score correctly and they will develop their ability to adjust their technique after a shot to improve.