Autumn 1
Our Learning in Autumn 1 - Year 6
Guided Reading – In Guided Reading, we will be studying the book ‘Varjak Paw’. Children will look at the themes and characters of the book and answer questions based on these. We will be using our ‘VIPERS’ scheme and look at questions based on retrieval, inference, prediction and vocabulary. Children will build up their comprehension, retrieval and inference skills in these lessons.
Writing –In English this term, we are studying 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare. We will be focusing on a character description of Macbeth, a newspaper report of the battle and descriptive poetry based on the 'Witches Potion' in Act 4. Children will also watch media linked to Macbeth and even complete a drama workshop linked to the book.
Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar – This term, we will be looking at different sentence levels. We will begin by looking at simple and compound sentences, complex sentences, relative clauses, fronted adverbials and non-finite subordinate clauses.
We will have a spelling test on a Friday:
The spellings for each week will be glued in your child’s planner at the start of each term.
These are the different focuses for the spellings each week:
Week 1 – ambitious synonyms (adjectives)
Week 2 – homophones and near homophones
Week 3-adjectives ending in –ant
Week 4- adjectives ending in -ent
Week 5- hyphens (to join a prefix)
Week 6- hyphens (to join compound adjectives)
Maths – In Maths, we are focusing on reading and writing numbers to ten million, comparing numbers to 10 million and rounding these numbers to the nearest place value. We will also be focusing on using mixed operations (BODMAS), multiplying by two-digit numbers and dividing by two-digit numbers.
Mental Maths -
This half term, we will focus on:
Column addition and subtraction
Short division
Short multiplication
BODMAS
Times Tables
Religious Education (R.E.) – We will start the year by learning about our school patron saint – St. Joseph and go on to learn about our class saint– St. Philomena. Our first RE unit focusses on ‘The story of the people of God.’ We will look at the Old Testament Character such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Moses and Queen Esther. Our second RE unit focuses on ‘Followers of Christ’ and we will look at different vocations and the lives of the disciples who followed Jesus.
Science – In Science, we are looking at ‘Particles in physical and chemical changes’. We will be focusing on particles in solids, liquids and gases, particles in pure substances and mixtures, how mixtures can be separated, how we know a chemical reaction has taken place and what happens to particles during burning.
Geography - In Geography this term, we are learning about population and where people are in the world. We will be looking at population pyramids, how and why population changes, consider the challenges a growing population brings, looking at food distributions and examining the population density of the UK.
French – This term in French, we will learn how to describe a house, the different rooms and who lives there. We will also learn about prepositions to explain where items are arranged in bedrooms and consolidate the grammar and vocabulary we have learned by writing a letter to describe our family, home and bedroom.
Physical Education (P.E.) - In PE this term, the children will be working on invasion games focusing on Tag Rugby/Netball We will be recapping basic skills of the game such as passing and shooting, combined with a tactical approach to small sided games with an emphasis on how to outwit opponents
Music – In Music this half term, we are looking at different traditions in music and classical composers (Pachelbel’s Canon)
Art / DT – In Art this term, children are studying 2D Drawing to 3D Making.
Computing – In Computing this term, we will remind ourselves about the importance of keeping safe online. We will also be looking at Computing systems and networks - Communication and collaboration. In this unit learners explore how data is transferred over the internet. Learners initially focus on addressing, before they move on to the makeup and structure of data packets. Learners then look at how the internet facilitates online communication and collaboration; they complete shared projects online and evaluate different methods of communication. Finally, they learn how to communicate responsibly by considering what should and should not be shared on the internet.
Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) – Our focus in PSHE this term is looking at class rules and responsibilities and rights. We will also be exploring: our school mission statement, looking at British values, democracy and elections, being safe online and how to have a growth mind-set and wellbeing.