Year 6

Curriculum Booklet

Mrs Lindgren

Miss Harrison

Miss Atwood

Welcome to Year 6.

This booklet outlines the National Curriculum expectations for Year 6.

This is what we will be planning to teach your child over the year. This has been set down by the Government as thenational expectations for a 10-11 year old.

We will assess and get feedback from the children regularly so they know what they have learnt and what their next steps in learning will be. Some children will need to go beyond Year 6 expectations and we will look to extend them. Other children won’t be quite ready to tackle some or all of the year group expectations. We will plan children’s learning from their starting points and ensure whatever their starting point they are all making progress. Additionally, we are used to planning for different levels and using the additional adult support in school to make sure all children are encouraged and supported to keep making good progress.

This booklet is for you to know what the expectations are, what we will be teaching and hopefully you can find ways to support your child’s learning at home – as we are learning all the time and learning happens at home as well as in school.

SATs

All Year 6 children are required to take externally-set assessments in English and maths. Children sit the following tests:

Year 6 English SATs

•English grammar, punctuation and spelling.

•English reading.

The English grammar, punctuation and spelling test covers sentence grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, handwriting and spelling and was introduced in 2013. This replaced the old writing paper, with writing now being tested purely through teacher assessment.

Year 6 maths SATs

•Arithmetic

•Reasoning paper 1

•Reasoning paper 2

KS2 SATs will provisionallybe held in the week beginning 8th May 2017.

Our Attitude to Learning

This is really important as our attitudes influence how much we learn and how quickly we learn as well. At Withernsea Primarywe promote a way of thinking and praise good learning habits. Research has shown there are two different ways of looking at learning – Fixed mindset and Growth minset – we heavily promote the growth mindset approach.

Fixed mindset / Growth mindset
Belief / You believe intelligence is fixed you only have so much of it and you can’t do anything about it. / Intelligence grows though learning – your brain is a learning machine
Priority / Look smart, don’t admit to errors as it would show you are not clever / You become smarter through learning- errors are okay because you can learn from them
When you feel smart / Ability gets you there- it should be easy, you shouldn’t have to try too hard. / Working hard will get you there- good effort is the key- rise to the challenge and enjoy the challenge.
You will try to avoid / Effort, difficulties, others that perform high and will hide your own deficiencies / Easily mastered tasks. You don’t worry about mistakes as it all about learning
Type of praise that will reinforce this mindset / Praising the person
‘good girl’
‘you did that quick’
‘you are clever’ / Praise the
Effort
Challenge
Persistence
Reward risk and progress.

It is being demonstrated that children with a growth mindset achieve higher and get better results. You can help by praising effort and strategies children have used. Also their focus and their persistence rather than praise the person. For example – they get all their spellings correct in a test. A fixed mindset praise would be ‘well done you are a good boy/girl’ (however if they were to get the same or less next week – it doesn’t make them a bad boy/girl). A growth mindset would be praising their effort or persistence that they put into learning their spelling- so they are motivated to be persistent and put the effort in again.

We give pupils reward certificates for being

  • Resilient learners
  • Resourceful learners
  • Responsible learners
  • Reflective learners
  • Reasoning learners

Autumn- WW2

Essential Question

Would there have been a World War Two if Adolf Hitler had not existed?

Outcomes for the term

What is Germany like now?

Why did the Great War not end all wars?

How did the Nazis come into power?

What was it like for children during the war?

Will there be a World War Three?

Spring- Italy

Essential Question

In what ways are Italy and the UK similar?

Outcomes for the term

Where in the world are Italy and the UK?

What is tourism like in the UK?

What is tourism like in Italy?

What happened in Pompeii?

What are the similarities between Italian and English cuisine?

Summer- Invictus Games

Essential Question

Are we fit for life in the twenty first century?

Outcomes for the term

What does it mean to be ‘fit’? (mentally and physically)

Why is it important to exercise?

What are the Invictus games?

Why is it important to have inclusion games?

What do I need to prepare for WithernseaInvictus Games 2017?

Subjects

English and Mathematics are explained in the separate Milestones Booklet.

Design Technology

In year 6 we will teach your child the processes of designing and making a variety of products in a creative and practical way. We will also teach your child to evaluate their final products.

This year we will teach your child to design and make a symbol for the Invictus Games out of clay.

As part of our Textiles topic, children will be learning about the need to ‘make do and mend’ during the war. They will be mending their own piece of clothing.

To link in with our work about Italy, the children will design and construct ‘Mod-roc’ volcanoes and then imitate an eruption using a mixture of vinegar and bi-carbonate of soda.

Games and PE

We will plan and teach your child a high-quality physical education curriculum that inspires all pupils to succeed and excel in competitive sport and other physically-demanding activities. It will provide opportunities for your child to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness. We believe that opportunities to compete in sport and other activities build character and help to embed values such as fairness and respect.

Games

We will teach your child how to apply and develop skills throughout our games lessons. Our Games lessons will take part outside and we will include:

  • Tri-Golf;
  • Rugby;
  • Basketball;
  • Rounders;
  • Athletics

PE

Throughout the year, we will teach your child to enjoy, succeed and achieve in PE by putting in hard work and effort and also through applying their skills.

We will teach three units on a 5 weekly cycle:

  • Circuit Training
  • Dance
  • Gymnastics
  • Yoga

PE is part of the National Curriculum and the children must remember their PE kits so that they can fully part-take in the lessons.

Music

We will teach a high-quality music education that will engage and inspire your child to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. As pupils progress, they will develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.Throughout the year, your child will be learning about singing and music appreciation.

Autumn - Performing improving articulation, playing instrumental accompaniments and building a performance.

Spring - Composition researching how sounds can be changed, looking at silent movies and composing music to compliment a cartoon.

Summer – Music Appreciation Comparing and contrasting a variety of pieces of music including classical, rock and opera.

Science

Living things and their habitats

Pupils will build on their learning about grouping living things in year 4 by looking at the classification system in more detail. They will be introduced to the idea that broad groupings, such as micro-organisms, plants and animals can be subdivided. Through direct observations where possible, they will classify animals into commonly found invertebrates (such as insects, spiders, snails, worms) and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). Your childwill discuss reasons why living things are placed in one group and not another. Pupils might find out about the significance of the work of scientists.

Animals including humans

Pupilswill build on their learning from years 3 and 4 about the main body parts and internal organs (skeletal, muscular and digestive system) to explore and answer questions that help them to understand how the circulatory system enables the body to function.
Your childwill also learn how to keep their bodies healthy and how their bodies might be damaged – including how some drugs and other substances can be harmful to the human body.
Pupils will explore the work of scientists and scientific research about the relationship between diet, exercise, drugs, lifestyle and health.

Evolution and inheritance

Building on what they learned about fossils in the topic on rocks in year 3, pupils will find out more about how living things on earth have changed over time. They will be introduced to the idea that characteristics are passed from parents to their offspring, by considering different breeds of dogs, and what happens when, for example, Labradors are crossed with poodles. They will also begin to appreciate that variation in offspring over time can make animals more or less able to survive in particular environments, for example, by looking at the Peppered moth survival both before and after the industrial revolution. Pupils will find out about the work of paleontologists such as Mary Anning and about how Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace developed their ideas on evolution.

Light

Pupils will be taught to:

  • recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines
  • use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye
  • explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes
  • use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

They will make shadow puppets and periscopes during the unit. The children will also spend some time looking at a variety of optical illusions.

Electricity

Pupils will be taught to:

  • associate the brightness of a lamp or the volume of a buzzer with the number and voltage of cells used in the circuit
  • compare and give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches
  • userecognised symbols when representing a simple circuit in a diagram.

During the unit, the children will make a burglar alarm.

Geography

A high-quality geography education inspirespupil’s curiosity and fascination about the world and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Teaching will equip pupils with knowledge about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes. As pupils progress, their growing knowledge about the world will help them to deepen their understanding of the interaction between physical and human processes, and of the formation and use of landscapes and environments.

Autumn– World War Two and the effects on the countries involved.This will run alongside our history topic on World War Two and the children will look very at the geography of the conflict and where some of the key battles and events took place.

Spring –Italy.During the Spring Term will focus on the country of Italy and look at The Alps, Lake Garda, Mt. Etna and the Vatican. We will compare Italy with the UK with a focus on tourism.

Summer – Healthy bodies and healthy minds. We will be focusing on the major sporting events which are taking place this year. One of the events we will be focusing on is the Invictus Games which takes place in Canada in 2017.

History

In Year 6, your child will studythree historical topics in some detail World War Two, Italy and Healthy bodies and the Invictus Games. They will also understand when these events in history took place in comparison with many other key events from the past. In addition to learning the facts of each topic, we will try to bring the past to life so that the pupils can experience the past and empathise with the people who lived in those times.

World War TwoWorld war Two is one of the most significant events of modern history and we will therefore spend a good deal of time investigating as many aspects of it as possible. The children will find out about life in Britain during the war and the hardships people faced on a daily basis. They will study the reasons the war began and the key figures involved from the rise of Hitler in Germany to the historic speech given by Neville Chamberlin and then later to Winston Churchill. Part of the topic will look at the tragedy of the Holocaust and what it meant to so many Jewish people - including Anne Frank. We will hopefully hold a VE day party when the children will sample some of the foods those living in this time would have eaten.

Italy During this topic, we will be looking into the history of Italy, including Pompeii. As part of this work, we will investigate volcanoes, their structure and historical eruptions. This will link in with our work on Mount Vesuvius and the effect the eruption had on Pompeii. We will also look at the Ancient Rome. For our final ‘showcase’ we will be hosting aInformation day for parents and pupils.

Healthy bodies and healthy mindsWe will be looking at how body image has changed throughout the years, linking this with our PSHCE work. We will consider how life has changed throughout the years and the effect this has had on our well-being. We will also focus on how we have adapted to ensure that all people have the opportunity to take part in sporting activities.

Religious Education

In year 6, the principle purpose of our RE teaching will be to help your child to understand themselves and the world around them, including people who may have very different cultures and beliefs from their own. It helps them to learn respect for themselves, for others and for the place in which they live, as well as awareness that, for many of those around them, this may also include respect for God.

Religion and belief have an impact on people’s values, attitudes, words and actions in their personal, work and social life in local, national and international contexts. RE teaching promotes the wellbeing of each child and also supports community cohesion.

This year your child will learn about how people live with their faith and why in the unit ‘Living a Faith.’ As they face the prospect of moving to secondary school, we focus on codes of conduct and the rites of passage.

We will also teach your child about ‘Pilgrimage’ and learn about the ‘journeys’ people take for their faith.

‘Hopes and Visions’is also a unit that we will teach your child. They will reflect upon their time at school and create new hopes and visions for their future.

In addition to the RE curriculum, we will also be learning about and studying Christmas and Easter.

Information Technology IT.

We have invested highly in a huge amount of technology including Ipads and laptops in recent year which allows us to give your child a varied and deep understand of many areas of IT and prepare them for an ever changing and developing world. We believe that when they leave us and continue their education at the High School they are very well prepared in comparison with children joining them from other schools. The children will enjoy completing a variety of tasks focusing on the following:

Animation

This is something the children enjoy greatly in Year 6. Firstly we will look at the work of famous animators such as Nick Park who created Wallace and Gromit as well as some of the older animated characters including Tony Hart’s Morph. The children will then learn some of the techniques of animation before producing their own short production using Ipads to film.