Welcome to Year Six @West Wick

Class Teacher: Mrs Emma Kelly, Class LSA: Mrs Abby Fox

Mendip Residential Presentation 2023

Useful links:

Top Marks is another useful website with free maths games to support all areas and concepts. Click here.

Term 1 Spelling Word Lists

Term 2 Spelling Word Lists

Term Two

Why do we remember?

We will continue our current learning theme by exploring key events during WW2 such as the Battle of Britain and the attack on Pearl Harbour. After recognising Remembrance through art, we will look as historians at the changes brought about following the end of the second world war, with a focus on Caribbean culture and influence. As geographers we will learn about how the geography of our world was impacted by war and as designers, will analyse, plan and design air raid shelter models to be fit for purpose.

Science: Animals including Humans

As Scientists, we will continue to examine the effects of lifestyle (such as diet and exercise) on the heart. Our scientist focus this term will be Leonardo Da Vinci; we will look at his interests in the human body in particular and his artwork linked to the heart.

English 

We will use war-inspired photographs to inspire us to write narratives using rich description. In reading, we continue our journey into war-struck Devon as we try to uncover the mystery of the lighthouse.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar is taught alongside our writing and is linked fully, allowing children to put into practise what they have learned.

Maths  

This term will focus firstly on numbers up to 10 million where we will deepen understanding of place value in a variety of contexts. Other learning includes order of operations (known more commonly as BODMAS or BIDMAS) in order to calculate without ambiguity. Finally, we will explore geometry where we will learn to draw, compose and decompose shapes.

Weekly arithmetic and daily multiplication tables will ensure that children are not overloaded cognitively during lessons and are able to practice procedural fluency outside of the maths lesson.

RE

We will begin the term with continued learning about Gandhi’s life before moving on to learn about the Holocaust through the eyes of Rabbi Hugo Gryn. We will explore symbols of peace and peace -makers of the world before trying to answer ‘big’ questions such as ‘how should we live?’ and ‘who can inspire us?’

PSHE

Our term two Jigsaw unit is ‘Celebrating Differences’. These sessions will begin by exploring empathy and our attitudes towards ‘difference’. We will explore what it feels like to be excluded and (in line with Anti-Bullying Week) will explore solutions to bullying.

In addition to PSHE lessons, Year 6 children will also continue to develop their leadership skills in  Parliament training sessions as they become more independent in their planning.

PE

In PE this term, we will be preparing for January’s Indoor Athletics competition by deepening our understanding and application of running, throwing and jumping skills. Our FUNs skills this term are static balances and floor work.

French

In French, we continue to build our vocabulary through the verbs ‘etre’ and ‘avoir’ and a range of stories, songs and activities to promote language skills to describe where we live.

Computing

We will focus this term on creating media and researching the history of computers.

Art/DT

In art, we will look at Remembrance and War-inspired artwork, with a focus on poppies and a flash of colour at the forefront.

In DT, we will explore fabric techniques and will create a waistcoat that is decorated. We will focus on skills that allow us to fabricate and sew.

 

 

Term One

Welcome back to our Year 6 Crew and their families! We have a wonderful year of learning ahead and many exciting opportunities and adventures planned. Please remember to check twitter for our latest updates and read our ‘Welcome Letter’ for the all-important class details.

Why must we remember?

We will start our first learning theme by reflecting on our current world and remembering wars that have happened in our lifetime. We will then research and learn about the reasons for the start of World War I and begin to understand the impact of the war and its legacy.  As historians, we will explore why the war happened and could it have been prevented, and learn about the Treaty of Versailles. As geographers, we will locate the countries involved in World War II and identify the main trade routes.

Science: Animals including Humans

As Scientists, we will be learning to identify and name the main parts of circulatory system, describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood and describe the ways in which nutrients and water are transported within animals, including humans. Our weekly lessons will involve a wide range of activities from research and scientific diagrams to practical activities such as dissecting a pig’s heart and making a blood model! We will work scientifically to set up an enquiry to measure pulse rate before and after exercise, and learn to write an effective evaluation.

English 

We will start term one with an exploration of a beautiful poem from the book ‘The Lost Words’ where we will explore and perform poetry from nature before writing our own. Following our residential trip, we will be writing to persuade as we create promotional leaflets for Mendip Lodge. We will end the term by dipping into our next unit of visual literacy based on short film ‘Replay’.

As readers, we will explore key elements of understanding through our core text, ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ which is linked to our historical period of learning.

Spelling, punctuation and grammar is taught alongside our writing and is linked fully, allowing children to put into practise what they have learned.

Maths  

We will begin the term by focusing on multiples of 1,000 to build on existing place value knowledge. After this, we will explore calculating using known structures in order to secure understanding in addition and subtraction. In addition to our daily lessons, there will be weekly arithmetic practice and an expectation that all children are fluent in their times table and division facts.

RE

Our first unit – ‘How can we live and who can inspire us?’ asks us to think about positive examples which people have given that show us how to live, and to learn about values and commitments that have inspired or been taught by founders of faith or communities, leaders, believers and specific communities. In term one we will revisit the Creation Story and reflect on our own character traits, learn and understand about atonement and explore the qualities of Guru Nanak, Desmond Tutu and Mahatma Gandhi.

PSHE

Our term one Jigsaw unit is ‘Being Me in My World’. These sessions will allow the children to learn and reflect on their place in both our community and the wider world. We will start by setting our whole school and class expectations before thinking about goals for the year ahead. The crew will then explore their role as global citizens and learn how our individual behaviour can impact a larger group. In addition to PSHE lessons, Year 6 children will also develop their leadership skills as they take on the role of Parliament leaders across the school.

PE

In PE this term, we will focus on tag rugby and hockey, alternating each lesson between the two sport applications. Children will build skills, stamina and will learn tactics as well as rules.

Art/DT

Through our ‘Lost Words’ poetry, we will explore water-colour painting techniques to create images of feathers and birds. We will then move onto explore the work of war artist Henry Moore, unpicking his techniques of using contour lines, wax-melting and perspective to create such moving imagery of air-raid shelters in WW2. After learning these new skills, the children will design and create their own piece of Remembrance art.

Music

As musicians, we will explore pace, tone and new vocabularies as we learn a well-loved wartime song ‘The White Cliffs of Dover’ as a class. This will be performed to another crew later in the term.

Computing

Still immersed in wartime Britain, we will explore secret codes through a unit of work on Bletchley Park. We will learn about hacking and computing heroes of the past.