Year 6
In Year 6, children enjoy a greater level of responsibility across the school. We look to our oldest children to be good examples to the rest of the school, and we are so proud of the way they take this responsibility seriously. They are expected to support other children by carrying out daily duties in school and in the playground, developing a sense of teamwork and independence.
Year 6 is an important year for the children as it is their last year with us at St. George’s, before they move on to their secondary schools. In a challenging yet exciting year, children are provided with many opportunities for personal growth in preparation for their next steps in their educational journey. They are given support and guidance on developing the necessary life skills for their transition to their next school.
Maths
Following the White Rose Maths Curriculum, children initially develop a deeper understanding of Number, using increasingly larger numbers and more complex calculations. They are given opportunities to practise their methods and secure their understanding of new learning, before moving on to applying their reasoning and problem-solving skills through a range of activities. Underpinning place value knowledge and understanding is a significant part of the curriculum as this is used throughout the whole year. Children move on to calculating with fractions, solving challenging fraction problems and applying their place value and calculation knowledge to converting between measurements.
In the Spring term, children experience new mathematical topics including ratio and algebra. They enjoy both the new experiences and challenge of the topics. Further work on decimals, fractions and percentages take place and they finish the term with statistics, something that they are able to use and apply across other subjects in the curriculum.
Geometry is one of the main focuses of the Summer Term, in the run up to SATs. Children explore and investigate shapes, including calculating missing angles in quadrilaterals and polygons and finding the radius and diameters of circles. They will also take part in revision exercises and once SATs have finished, they will return to any learning that they need more practice on or will enjoy projects that support with the consolidation of learning or problem-solving activities.
English
Reading
We use a whole-class approach when teaching reading, using activities from Reading Explorers. Children are explicitly taught reading skills including skimming, scanning, text retrieval, inferring, deducing, analysing and evaluating. As part of their learning, children are provided with opportunities to respond to the texts that they read through a range of question types. They are encouraged to text-mark and identify evidence from the text to justify their ideas and answers. Children are consistently encouraged to apply these skills when reading independently and reading across the curriculum.
We also enjoy a class text together. This is a well-loved and enjoyable part of our day as the children cannot wait for the next instalment of the book. We try to select texts that appeal to all of the members of the class so that they can all experience that wonderful feeling of reading together.
Writing
In order to be sure that children are provided with every opportunity to use and apply the Year 6 writing expectations, we ensure that we plan to write across many different genres. We use a text as a stimulus for our writing, and from that, we are able to respond to and reflect on the text to develop our ideas and writing. For example, in the Autumn Term, our text is Letters from the Lighthouse, which is a book based on evacuation in World War Two. Children use the text to help them to write WWII based poetry, writing in the role from a different perspective and to learn the difference between formal and informal letter writing, something that they build on from their learning in Year 5. We follow this strategy throughout the year and by the end of the year, we hope that the children will have written in many different genres including: diary writing, newspaper articles, historical narrative, letter writing, argument and discussion, explanation texts, persuasive writing and short stories. Children in Year 6 are encouraged to develop their stamina for writing and to increase their independence. They are expected to draft their writing, edit and make improvements before producing a final draft, most of which is completed independently.
Grammar
We use the Active English strategies when teaching grammar. We want the children to be familiar with the terminology and to be able to apply their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum. We encourage and remind them to use the Active English ideas in their writing, ensuring that we consistently provide opportunities for meeting the year 6 grammar expectations.
Spelling
We follow the Active English Spelling approach. Children enjoy the activities and the repetitive and consistent nature of the learning. They enjoy exploring the morphology and etymology of the new words that they are being taught. They are encouraged to apply these skills and words in their writing and other areas of the curriculum.
Science
We follow the White Rose Science curriculum which aims to ensure that children are developing a solid understanding of scientific processes and concepts. Within each unit of work, children are provided with opportunities to work scientifically and follow a plan, investigate and evaluate model. Year 6 topics include Living Things and Their Habitats, Electricity, Light, The Circulatory System, Drugs, Diet and Lifestyle, Variation and Adaptation. Our science lessons include a ‘hands on and heads on’ approach whereby practical activities are engaging and relevant.
Religious Education
In year 6, children learn about topics that require them to think deeply about and discuss challenging and conflicting ideas such as the argument between evolution and creation. They study both ideas and share their opinions respectfully and confidently. They question whether you have to believe in God to be a good person and think about what God is like. Children also learn about other faiths including Hinduism and Islam and find out what it means to belong to these religions. Our work on global development helps the children to understand the issues facing people living in other places around the world and helps them to think of ways for our world to work together to make it a happier place to live in. This also links to our work on the values that we promote each term. Children develop a greater understanding of the value and are able to explain its importance in our local community and in the wider global community. They demonstrate the values throughout school and understand their importance in creating a happy environment in school.
History
Our history topics include:
- What was the impact of WW2 on the people of Britain?
- How did the Maya civilisation compare to the AngloSaxons?
- Who should feature on the £10 banknote?
Children are provided with historical enquiry opportunities where they are encouraged to ask and answer questions about the past. They make use of primary and secondary sources to support their learning and are encouraged to ask questions about the reliability and bias of any sources that they use. They link their learning to previous historical periods that they have studied in order to help them build an understanding of chronology.
Geography
Our Geography topics include:
- Why does population change?
- Where does our energy come from?
- Can I carry out an independent fieldwork enquiry?
Children enjoy active lessons where they are encouraged to ask questions and suggest ways in which they can find the answers. We ensure that they take part in fieldwork activities, both in the local area and further afield. We want them to develop their understanding of the world around them and to take on responsibility in taking care of our world in the future. Mapwork is a key part of our learning, with children making regular use of Digimaps, where they are able to access a map of any part of the world and investigate the area further.
We ensure that children are taught a balanced curriculum and provide them with opportunities to express themselves and discover talents in other curriculum areas including music, art, design technology, computing, PE and PSHE. Children might develop a particular interest and talent and be asked to represent our school in a team, a choir or during the end of year play. Children are encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities and always do so in a responsible and trustworthy manner.
In Year Six we have the SATs (statutory assessment tests) in May, and we work really hard to ensure that all the children have the best opportunity possible to achieve their full potential. These tests represent the children’s understanding of the primary curriculum. We also try to ensure that we have fun along the way and provide the children with some lovely lasting memories.