Our Year 6 Class

A very warm welcome to our Year 6 class page.  Year 6 is a hard year, but a memorable one. The children are our oldest pupils and they are therefore expected to be role models to the rest of the school. It is our intention that the children's experiences will stay with them and they will be able to look back at their time at Christ Church with fond, happy and special memories. 

Our Year 6 Class 2023-2024

Class Information

Who's Who?

Mr Hudson- Year 6 teacher

Mrs Kirkman- Part-time Teacher

Mrs Waqar -Teaching Assistant

Miss Blei- 1:1 Teaching Assistant

Homework

Homework will be set on a Friday and should be handed in on a Wednesday. There will generally be Literacy, Numeracy, Handwriting and, on occasions, topic work. In addition, they will also have spelling homework from their spelling work in class and written work. Children are encouraged to ensure that their homework is completed to a high standard and we ask parents to support us with this.

Reading

Whilst most children now are independent readers, reading at home is still crucial. Children should read for 15 minutes each night - this could be their home reader, Reading Plus or a book of their own choice. This will be more productive if it is carried out in a calm, quiet environment.  Parents/ carers are encouraged to comment in Seesaw under the picture of the reading books to acknowledge this please. There are plenty of incentives to encourage regular reading including gaining prizes from our Reading Shop. 

P.E.

P.E. lessons take place on a Monday (indoor) and Friday (outdoor). All children are expected to take part in a full P.E. kit and trainers. Earrings can be worn at school but, for health and safety reasons, they are not allowed during P.E.

This half term.... Autumn 2 October - December 2023)

Well another half term has fast approached, and we have lots planned for our lovely lot! 

Over the next half term our geography topic will be 'South America'

We are looking forward to starting our new topic, with the children using a number of their skills in geography to discover more about this fascinating continent. Skills that will be developed over the course of this unit will be:

·       To locate the Amazon on a map and consider the significance of its location.

·       To describe the importance of the Amazon Basin and Rainforest.

·       To understand some of the threats to the Amazon and why they matter.

·       To understand some of the main human and physical features of Manaus.

·       To compare the Amazon Basin with South-East Brazil and the children's home area.

·       I can share my knowledge and understanding of the Amazon Basin.

In Literacy we will begin the term by continuing our work on the short narrative 'Paper Man'. The plan is to write our own version of the story and then create an independent piece of writing following the lenses we have focused on from our Writing Rainbow'. The purpose of this writing is to entertain and I'm really looking forward to seeing new writing skills in action! 

Following on from this unit of work, we will then be turning our attentions to a different genre of writing, with the stimulus being a short clip called 'Day of the Dead'. The unit fits in nicely with our topic work and will result in the children creating a non-chronological report and hopefully a nice persuasive piece of writing.

There will also be a number of different genres covered with links being made with the wider curriculum as we will write a letter to the headteacher to request absence from school for a pilgrimage. We will continue to explore and embed different sentence types, focusing on selecting the right sentence type for the particular genre of writing. Children will be encouraged to edit their writing by re-reading and re-drafting, fine tuning their language choice and punctuation. Grammar work will continue and will be taught through writing and also in a standalone weekly grammar lesson. Spelling continues; this half term we will continue look at the statutory spellings for Year 6. Don't forget also to log in to Reading Plus - our personalised reading intervention!

In Mathematics we will be really concentrating on developing our reasoning skills to explain our mathematical thinking. We shall complete the final written method of calculation, division, which is always the trickiest, trying to master the 'bus shelter' method. BIDMAS will also be covered before moving on to work on fractions. In the unit of work on fractions the children will learn a number of different skills: finding equivalent fractions, comparing and ordering fractions, adding and subtracting fractions and then working on mixed multi-step problems. Fractions, decimals and percentages are a major part of the Year 6 curriculum and they are tested in both the arithmetic and the reasoning papers. Times table facts are crucial for this work, so it is vital that the children continue to work on TTRockstars at home, if necessary.

In Science our topic is Electricity. We will work scientifically and use enquiry skills with the children learning to:

• Explain how our understanding of electricity has changed over time.
• Draw circuit diagrams using the correct symbols and label the voltage correctly.
• Decide which variables to control while planning an investigation.
• Decide how to report their findings.
• Make new predictions based on the previous results.
• Select an appropriate scientific enquiry. 

RE - We will continue to look as Life as a Journey and explore pilgrimage for Christians considering:

• Why do people go on a pilgrimage?
• Does a pilgrimage have to be to a place of worship?

We will also carry out in depth study on pilgrimage for Muslims and in particular the Hajj.

In the run up to Christmas, we will look at Advent and we will be considering:

• What is Advent?
• When is Advent?
• Why is Advent a time of preparation?
• What is being prepared for during Advent?

In PE moving on to a fan favourite - Basketball!

Throughout this fun unit of work the children will be learning a range of skills such as:

• To dribble with a basketball.
• To use a range of techniques to pass a basketball successfully.
• To know how to pivot.
• To move effectively around the court
• To use strategies to keep possession of the ball
• To know how to mark a player effectively.
• To get free from a defender.
• To apply our basketball skills when playing as part of a team in a game.
• To evaluate my performance.

In our indoor PE lessons, the children will be learning about invasion games. The main objectives that will be covered are:

To apply skills and knowledge to be able to move with the ball.

• To apply a variety of attacking skills and techniques in a game.
• To apply a variety of defending skills and techniques in a game.
• To invent a new game that requires attacking and defending skills.
• To apply the skills and techniques I have learnt to play an invasion game and evaluate its success.

Music - Musical Theatre

 A new musical topic to Year 6, but a popular one no doubt! Throughout the lessons children will be learning a number of new skills. The children will be reminded of how to stand and sit with good posture when singing, the importance of breathing correctly and clear diction. The children will be introduced to a wide range of musical theatre songs. They will learn the story, setting and characters behind each song. They will learn each song by heart and to a high standard, focussing on performing to an audience.

Computing - Intro to Python

Another new topic to Year 6 and one that we are keen to get to grips with! There are a number of objectives to be met over the course of these lessons.   

• Iterate ideas, testing and changing throughout the lesson and explain what their program does.
• Use nested loops in their designs, explaining why they need two repeats.
• Alter the house drawing using Python commands; use comments to show a level of understanding around what their code does.
• Use loops in Python and explain what the parts of a loop do.
• Recognise that computers can choose random numbers; decompose the program into an algorithm and modify a program to personalise it. 

Heartsmart- Don't forget to let Love In

You’re important, you matter, you’re one in a million and above all you’re loved. These are messages that we all need to hear, believe and remember – because sometimes we forget. The healthier our internal dialogue, the greater our sense of worth which is the cornerstone of character and resilience. How kind are the thoughts we listen to? How patient are we with ourselves? How often do we find ourselves listening to the Scrapman? 

Don’t Forget to Let Love In  helps us grow in self compassion. You’ll notice we don’t shy away from using the word love. It’s a big deal. Without it we’re no one, but no one is without it. The ability to receive or reject it in our lives defines us. Our actions, beliefs and very essence is shaped by our experience of it. Our hearts are made strong because of it. So in partnering with love, we partner with a strength that’s stronger than any challenge life might throw at us. Although it can be a challenge to receive it, love never fails. Don’t Forget to Let Love In!

Visit the website www.heartsmartprimary.com for more information on what Heartsmart is all about.

Our Wellbeing theme will be: Wellbeing Flock 

Each week the children will continue to be visited by a different bird from around the world who will bring a special message for the children. The children will be encouraged to look after their own wellbeing and mental health by learning tips and techniques they can continue at home. This links with our Geography topic of Continents as each bird comes from a different country. 

Autumn Term 1 NEWS!

It's been an absolutely brilliant start to the new school year and the children have really stepped up to the mark and shown that they are ready for their final year at our school. Kicking off the year at Robinwood was a fabulous opportunity for the children to really show what they are capable of, with many of the class coming out of their comfort zones and taking part in a range of different activities designed to really test their character. They were an absolute credit to our school and it's fair to say that we all made memories to cherish. From a personal point of view, it was a lovely way to get to know the class and the wonderful characters we have.

We’ve been working hard on our Literacy and Numeracy skills, but there is still a way to go given the requirements and demands of the Year 6 curriculum. Written methods are coming along nicely and these will stand the children in good stead for the Arithmetic test and problem solving. Place value work and addition, subtraction and multiplication skills are pleasing and the children's resilience to problem solving is getting better. However, we have found that some children still aren't confident in their times table knowledge and this will be a huge focus in the next term. In Literacy, the children used David Guetta's video 'Titanium' as a writing stimulus to complete a number of different written activities: report writing, setting descriptions and diary entries. The resulting work that was produced was truly deserving of Year 6 status. We've really enjoyed reading 'Who let the Gods out', a story which has fitted in nicely with our topic work on Ancient Greece, and allowed us to further develop our VIPERS reading skills. We will continue to read this book after half term. 

Writing has shown promise, especially the diary entries, and the children all have targets to work on. As always, we're trying to master the non-negotiables, but we do still see missing full stops and capital letters, and there will be a real push with spelling: we are already planning a 'Spelling Bee' competition when we return to school! Reading Plus, our online reading program, is in full swing and it is pleasing to see children unlocking new levels. It is vital that this is constantly being accessed at home too - little and often is the key!

The children have loved the Light topic in Science, planning and carrying out investigations related to reflection and refraction. The children have been able to understand that light travels in straight lines from light sources to our eyes and been able to investigate what happens to the size and shape of a shadow when an object is moved from the light source.

As always, computing lessons have been enjoyed and lots of new learning has taken place. We kicked off the unit of work by discussing the importance of being safe using social media platforms and the importance of thinking about what we post, specifically pictures that are shared. We then learnt a number of new skills related to coding. We looked a range of different types of code, which then led on to work using 'Brute Force' hacking. We completed the unit by looking at key individuals that have proved to be pivotal in some way linked to computer science.

PE lessons have been a hit, as usual, with children enjoying their indoor unit on gymnastics and their outdoor unit on Tennis. We learnt lots of new skills along the way and particular highlights were the sessions covering cartwheels and round-offs and our unit finale in Tennis as we enjoyed taking part in an intra-class competition. 

HeartSmart sessions have been enjoyed and we’ve enjoyed Wellbeing sessions, which have shown just how empathetic and compassionate we can be with our responses. Towards the end of term, we learned all about what to expect as we approach puberty with a visit from HH Kids team. As ever, the children listened intently, with a few giggles and 'oohs' along the way!  

So, all in all, a very busy first half term - there's more hard work on the way, but we'll definitely rise to the challenge!