Year 6 Curriculum Page

Welcome to the Year Six Curriculum Page where you can discover more about creative curriculum we cover throughout the year!

English

The children will explore a range of different genres and texts. Through these different texts, the pupils will exercise a variety of skills including: word reading, comprehension, grammar, spelling, drama/performance, text mapping, planning, editing, re-drafting and character building. Each half-term, we will focus on specific genres to ensure that a wide breadth is covered throughout the year, exposing the pupils to different text styles, purposes & audiences, text features,  grammatical structures and genre-appropriate vocabulary.

These genres will include:

Poetry - Creating Images

Stories with flashbacks

Balanced and Unbalanced arguments

Biographies and Autobiographies

Action Stories

Letter Writing - Informal & Formal writing

*In addition to the ones stated above, the children will also practise and revise other genres that were covered in earlier school years. This will enable the children to apply, extend and improve their reading and writing skills.

This year, the children will also explore a number of whole-class quality texts which will provide pupils with the opportunity to focus on the different genres named above as well as the advanced grammar, spelling and punctuation in given contexts. The whole-class quality texts  will cover a variety of themes that will be linked to areas across the wider curriculum, including: History, Geography, Maths, Science and PSHE.

A simple guide to the grammar terminology used in Year 6  can be found at the top of this page.

The selected quality texts include:

Autumn 1 - Tom's Midnight Garden (Philippa Pearce)

Autumn 2- Diver's Daughter: A Tudor Story (Patrice Lawrence)

Spring 1 - Beowulf (Michael Morpurgo)

Spring 2 - The Tales of Beedle the Bard (JK Rowling)

Summer 1  - Oranges in No Man's Land (Elizabeth Laird)

Summer 2 - Teacup (Rebecca Young)

Spelling

As the curriculum focuses heavily on spelling, we are encouraging the children to practise their spelling rules at every opportunity. The pupils are actively encouraged to read whenever possible, to expose themselves to new and more adventurous examples of vocabulary that they will the be able to use in their own writing. The children have also been given copies of the statutory spelling list for both Year 3-4 and  year 5 and 6. They should revise the year 3-4 list and will be continuing to learn spellings from the Year 5-6 list this year. The children will participate in weekly spelling tests based on the list they have been provided with. Any opportunity to practise the list at home with your child would be extremely beneficial to their progress. Each week, work on spelling shed will be set to support your child with this.

The  Y5-6 spelling list can be found below. Word mat copies of both lists can be found at the top of this page.

 Make spelling practise more creative with your child by writing the spelling out in dotted formation, in different colours and patterns. This interactive approach helps children retain and retrieve  the information more readily.  The children have access to The Spelling Shed, an excellent programme that enables them to practise spelling in a range of different ways. 

Reading

As a class and whole school, we LOVE reading.  To nurture this love for reading, the school have kindly allowed the children to choose a library book and they have time to read these each day.

The children also  have a  daily guided reading session that lasts for thirty minutes.  During the sessions, we focus on a text/extract and facilitate discussions by asking questions surrounding inference, vocabulary and grammar.  

Mathematics

This year, the children will revisit a number of the mathematical domains, whilst being introduced to some new and exciting areas of maths. The different domains will be spread across the school year, ensuring that the children have the opportunity to learn, practice, and apply their mathematical skills to support and challenge their ability level.

The  curriculum focuses upon three key skills: fluency, problem solving and reasoning. Once children have secured their understanding of a skill ( fluency), they then address this skill within the context of a written problem and when asked, prove their answer through reasoning. This is where the children use their mathematical knowledge to make predictions, test and prove theories, and to reason/explain mathematical patterns and rules.

The mathematical domains that will be covered over the school year include:

Number & place value

Addition & subtraction

Multiplication & division

Fractions, decimals & percentages

Measure

Geometry

Statistics

I have included a useful website address below. Copy and paste the address to access a more in-depth break down of the maths curriculum for each specific year group:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study#year-6-programme-of-study

The children will continuously practise their mental maths skills in mental maths lessons and the ‘Mathletics' app.  

The children will also participate in weekly arithmetic and reasoning tests. This will familiarise them with test papers and will provide ample opportunity for them to practise their arithmetic  and reasoning skills throughout the year. The results of these practice papers will be recorded and monitored and the tests will be taken home for the children to revise from. Please do look at these with your child.

http://uk.mathletics.com/ 

https://ttrockstars.com/login 

Religious Education

RE lessons follow the 'Come and See' curriculum which is specifically tailored to cover significant events in the Catholic calendar. We also set aside several weeks to gain a deeper insight into other world religions including Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. This provides children with opportunities to develop their spiritual and moral awareness not just within RE, but throughout the wider curriculum. It also supports the teaching of our British Values by nurtured a tolerant and respectful attitude for others who practise different faiths and carry out different traditions.

Collective Worship- The children will participate in Collective Worship which will be planned and delivered by both myself and the children; they will all be given this opportunity over the year.

Science

Throughout the year, the children will be learning about a range of different scientific topics including: Living Things and their habitats; animals including humans; Evolution and Inheritance; Light and Electricity. Within each topic, the children will have the opportunity to explore, predict, reason, investigate, record data and evaluate their findings through scientific enquiries and experiments. Each class will have two Science Ambassadors who will be in charge of assisting with the set-up of practical activities; taking class photographs during experiments; promoting science across the school and organising science events and competitions. Our class ambassadors will be voted by their classmates, having performed an investigation or demonstration to the class to win votes. 

History

 History and Geography as separate subjects. This gives children the opportunity to develop skills which are specific to each subject. In History, we adopt an enquiry-based approach to learning about significant historical events and focus upon the development of children’s chronological understanding. The children will have opportunities to engage in immersive learning experiences from outside organisations and class trips.

Their work will be used to create vibrant and informative displays for the classroom to showcase their research, writing and artwork, and will also support their learning in future lessons.

Our History topics are:

Autumn 1: Crime & Punishment

Spring 1:  Vikings (Raids)

Summer 1: Mayans (Non-European Society)

Geography

This subject gives children a deeper insight into the world around us in a local, national and global context. Pupils will learn about both the human and physical aspects of Geography. We will be focusing on progressing in areas specific to Geography such as map-reading, fieldwork and the appropriate use of Geography equipment. The children will also continue to practise cross-curricular skills including observation and data recording.

Our Geography topics are:

Autumn 2: Land use Pattern

Spring 2: Timezones

Summer 2:T Natural Resources & Energy

Physical Education

PE takes place on  Monday  and Wednesdays this half term ( Autumn 2). Lessons will be taught by Mrs Griffiths  or outside specialised coaches to develop children’s understanding and significance of physical exercise and nutrition. PE also seeks to strengthen children’s communication, collaborative and competitive skills through dance, gymnastics and competitive sports. It is important  that the children come to school in their PE kits every Monday and Wednesday to ensure they are ready and prepared for the physical activity that week. During the winter, they may wear jogging trousers for warmth.

Art and Design

The pupils will be enhancing their artistic techniques through the experimentation of painting, drawing and sculpting with a range of materials. We will be learning about significant artists, architects and designers who have influenced the world we live in, and use our interpretive skills to create our own pieces of art. Each child will have their own sketchbook to record their findings and evidence their artistic creations. Their beautiful artwork will be displayed around the classroom and the school to showcase their observations, imagination and artistic flair! 

Our Art topics are:

Autumn 1: Printing and textiles ( Batik); introducing  perspective -. Artist: Patrick Hughes

Spring 1: Drawing / sketching ; 2 point perspective and illusions Artist: Escher; Islamic art

Summer 1: Painting and collage; Artist: Patrick Caulfield /Pablo Picasso

Design and Technology

The DT curriculum consists of four main areas: Design, Make, Evaluate and Technical Knowledge. Over the course of the half-term, we will cover these four areas as the children will participate in creative and practical projects where design and make and object for a specific purpose. Using their evaluative and technical knowledge, the pupils will assess its strengths and decide upon the areas that require further improvement.

Our DT topics are:

Autumn 2:  Food and nutrition Can street food save us?

Spring 2:  Structures.  Design, make and evaluate a treehouse

Summer 2:  Electronics. More complex switches Design, make and evaluate an alarm

ICT & Computing

For computing lessons, the children will engage in a variety of unplugged activities including the exploration and creation of algorithms. In addition to this, pupils will also participate in designing, making, evaluating and debugging computer games using the ‘Scratch’ program. We will also set aside time to focus on E-Safety as it is a hugely importance issue to tackle today. It is important that we understand enough about the Internet to keep our children safe from harm but is equally important that we equip our children with the skills they need to keep themselves safe, so that they can experience the Internet positively and responsibly.

PSHE- Personal, Social, Health Education

The purpose of PSHE is to nurture children social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness, and to enable them to flourish to the best of their ability in adult life.

PSHE will be taught using a text-base approach to address sensitive issues surrounding age, race, gender, religion and bullying. Through active discussion and practical activities, the children will grow in their understanding of wider issues; develop their confidence and empathetic skills and refine their personal values of love, kindness, respect, tolerance and forgiveness. This subject supports our British Values of democracy, liberty, rule of law and respect & tolerance. Throughout the year, there will be a series of lessons focusing on relationships and sex education and we do encourage your child to attend. It is approached using the Catholic teaching of marriage and reproduction, giving the children age-appropriate information on the correct vocabulary of different body parts and life stage in which they may address in later life.

BRITISH VALUES

Throughout the school year the children will be taught about 'British Values', which they will practise in all subjects across the curriculum. It is an important aspect of their learning, and will focus upon democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

The children will take part in the election of numerous school and class representatives, exposing them to democratic practice; the children who wish to be elected will perform demonstrations and write speeches which the class will listen to. The class will then vote for the person/s they wish to elect.