Year 6
Updated January 2022
Welcome to Year 6!
Year 6AH are taught by Mr Allan and Mrs Hare and 6G by Miss Gowers. They are supported by Chanpreet and Teresa. They can be contacted via year6@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk
Jackie Hare Andy Allan Rosie Gowers Chanpreet Dhillon Teresa Pratley
Hello and welcome back to school for the Spring term. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas break and are ready for some exciting new topics and books this term.
In English lessons, we are looking forward to reading two Power of Reading books which will also link to our topic on WW2. We will begin with ‘Rose Blanche’ by Roberto Innocenti-a tale about a young German girl who watches as the streets of her town fill with soldiers and tanks. Then, one day, she follows a truck into the woods and discovers a terrible secret. We will also read ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ by Emma Carroll. The blurb reads: We weren't supposed to be going to the pictures that night. We weren't even meant to be outside, not in a blackout, and definitely not when German bombs had been falling on London all month like pennies from a jar. Both books will complement our studies on WW2 and are excellent stimuli for writing.
In Maths we will begin this term learning about fractions and developing our skills with multiplying and dividing fractions and using these in a range of different reasoning contexts. Building on this, we will move onto how fractions link to decimals and percentages, converting between them and choosing the most efficient approach. In addition to this we continue to practise our fluency when completing our arithmetic questions.
In Topic, Year six will be learning about World War Two. As this is a broad topic, we will be working on it for the entire Spring term! We will start by discussing and investigating the causes of WW2 and who was involved. We will also spend some time researching the role of women and minority groups. Later in the term, we will be learning about how London was affected by the war and how the Home Front helped to defend Britain. To help us we have a visit to the Imperial War Museum and a workshop on the Home Front.
In Science we will be looking at ‘All Living Things and their Habitats’. We will be understanding how to classify plants and animals based on their specific characteristics. This will lead us into a study of Carl Linnaeus and how he developed the animal kingdom’s classification system. We will also be deepening our understanding of microorganisms.
In the second half of the Spring term we will be studying ‘Animals, Humans and Blood’. This involves work around the main systems such as the circulatory and digestive. We also pay close attention to the makeup of blood and what its purposes are.
A real highlight of the topic is the investigation of a lamb’s heart. Very exciting!
Year 6 can also look forward to continuing with their specialist subjects and are very lucky to have a number of fantastic specialist teachers as usual: AM Sports Coaches (PE), Gym, Madam Clarke (French) (Art) and Mr Osborn (Music).
Guided reading will start the week beginning Monday 10th January and we will share weekly home tasks in your child’s pupil handbook. Weekly spellings will also be shared in these handbooks every Monday. Please encourage your child to read and practise their spellings regularly.
Homework
As you may know, this is the term that we begin our SATS preparations. In order to give the children as much revision/practise as possible, homework will be dedicated to Maths and SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar). The children will bring home three books:
- Revision book that STAYS at home
- CGP Maths questions book
- CGP SPaG questions book
In the two CGP books, the children will be set questions to answer each week.
The children will be expected to self mark their work, using the answer section at the back.
Both books MUST come back each Tuesday for the work to be checked and new work set.
Guided reading homework will continue as normal.
Key Learning
You can find out about our approach to all our subjects through the curriculum page but the headlines for the year group are below.
Reading
Children can maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding by:
- I can read age appropriate books that are structured in different ways and read for a range of purposes
- I can increase my familiarity with a wide range of books including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions
- I can identify and discuss themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing
- I can learn a wide range of poetry by heart
Children can understand what they read by:
- I can identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning
- I can discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader
- I can participate in discussions about books building on my own and others' ideas and challenge views courteously and with clear reasoning
- I can summarise the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph
- I can provide reasoned justifications for my views
Writing
Writing
- I can write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting language that shows good awareness of the reader (eg. The use of the first person in a diary; direct address in instructions and persuasive writing)
- I can describe settings, characters and atmosphere in narratives
- I can integrate dialogue in narratives to convey character and advance the action
- I can select vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect what the writing requires eg. using contracted forms in dialogues in narratives, eg. using passive verbs to affect how information is presented, eg. using modal verbs to suggest degrees of possibility
- I can use a range of devices to build cohesion (eg. conjunctions, adverbials of time and place, pronouns, synonyms) within and across paragraphs
- I can use verb tenses consistently and correctly throughout my writing
- I can use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 mostly correctly
- I can use semi-colons, colons and dashes to mark the boundary between independent clauses [for example, It’s raining; I’m fed up]
- I can use a colon to introduce a list, semi-colons within lists and bullet points to list information
- I can use hyphens to avoid ambiguity [for example, man eating shark versus man-eating shark, or recover versus re-cover]
- I can use inverted commas to indicate speech
Spelling
- I can spell most words correctly from the year 5 and 6 list and use a dictionary to check the spelling of uncommon or more ambitious vocabulary
Handwriting
- I can maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed
Greater depth (working above the expected national standard)
- I can write effectively for a range of purposes and audiences, selecting the appropriate form and drawing independently on what I have read as models for my own writing (e.g. literary language, characterisation, structure)
- I can distinguish between the language of speech and writing and choose the appropriate register (I can recognise that certain features of spoken language - e.g. contracted verb forms, other grammatical informality, colloquial expressions, long coordinated sentences - are less likely in writing and be able to select alternative vocabulary and grammar)
- I can exercise an assured and conscious control over levels of formality, particularly through manipulating grammar and vocabulary to achieve this.
- I can use the range of punctuation taught at key stage 2 correctly and, when necessary, use such punctuation precisely to enhance meaning and avoid ambiguity:e.g. semi-colons, dashes, colons, hyphens
Statutory spellings
| Autumn 1 | Autumn 2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 |
|
interfere interrupt language leisure lightning marvellous mischievous muscle necessary Identity develop |
recommend relevant restaurant signature sincere soldier stomach sufficient suggest twelfth variety vegetable vehicle yacht |
neighbour nuisance appreciate accommodate opportunity parliament persuade physical prejudice privilege profession programme pronunciation queue recognise |
symbol system temperature thorough rhyme rhythm sacrifice secretary shoulder average community immediate |
Maths
In Maths we follow the White Rose Hub. You can find out more about White Rose through our dedicated maths page
Science
Living things and their habitats
Topics
What impact do humans have on our rivers and oceans?
What was the impact of World War 2 on London?
Homework
We set homework in Key Stage 2 in the following ways:
- Spellings - bring handbook to school as usual
- Guided Reading - bring handbook to school as usual
- Literacy and Topic - Google Classroom
- Talking Homework - Google Classroom
- Maths - TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) and Mathletics
Students without digital access will get paper copies (need to return book)
You can access our guide to google classrooms or if you have any technical or password issues please email techsupport@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk
Days to remember
| Day | Activity |
| Monday |
Spelling Test (set the week before)
|
| Tuesday |
Guided Reading homework in Hand in CPG homework PE - wear your PE kit to school
|
| Wednesday | Guided Reading day and Guided Reading homework set. |
| Thursday |
PE - wear your PE kit to school Homework sent home |
| Friday | |
| As frequently as possible but at least x times per week | Reading, Time Tables Rockstars and Doodle Maths and English |
Other things you need to know
| School Uniform | Packed Lunches & Snacks | Contact Us |
