Violet - Year 6
Autumn 2 Newsletter
English and Maths
In English, we will be studying biography and autobiography. We will focus on courageous and significant figures, including Malala Yousafzai, and consider how to write a biography on this person. Children will have the opportunity to write their own autobiographies too. Following this, we plan to study the book Oranges in No Man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird and will write our own stories from a different perspective.
In Maths, children will build on their knowledge of calculations, learning how to add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions. They will develop confidence in placing fractions on a number line and in finding fractions of an amount. The children will also develop their understanding of coordinates. This half-term we will have a weekly arithmetic test. Any practise the children have at home in learning their times tables will be very beneficial.
Crucial Crew
You will have had the letter regarding the trip to Crucial Crew on Friday 29th November. The cost of the trip for parents is £10 and school will be subsidising the remainder of the fee to attend.
Please can reply slips and payment of £10 be in school by 22nd November.
Residential- May 2025
The Year 6 residential is an overnight stay at Gulliver's Valley theme park in Yorkshire and this will be taking place from 22-23 May 2025. Letters regarding overall cost and when a deposit is required will be going out shortly.
Homework
The children will continue to bring home reading books each day as part of the daily homework. These are checked each day and this is recorded as you may have seen in their reading record.
It does make a real difference if the children have the opportunity to enjoy and share their books with their parents, although by Year 6 it is expected that children are able to independently read and record asking for an adult signature afterwards.
Spellings will continue to be given on a Tuesday and tested the following Tuesday.
P.E
P.E days will continue to be Monday and Wednesday - as the cold weather draws in, children are welcome to wear black tracksuits (no logo) for when they are outside.
Animals including Humans - Dissecting a Pluck
As part of our Science topic, Y6 have had the opportunity to learn more about the heart with a hands-on workshop where we got to dissect a heart. It was a lamb heart (a pluck) and like a human heart we saw chambers, vessels that would lead to and from it and thought about how oxygenated and deoxygenated blood travelled to and away from the heart. We felt the weight of it, discussed the colour and size. We learnt about what it was made up of and thought about its texture and what contributed to making a heart fatty as well as what lifestyle choices can help a human to have a less fatty heart and be healthier. It was incredible to hold an actual heart! This was an unforgettable science lesson!
Campfire Stories!
After 4 great weeks of studying campfire stories, Year 6 had the opportunity to read their own creations round our campfire, whilst enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows and biscuits!
We are so proud of their final products and some of them certainly had us looking over our shoulders!
Autumn Newsletter 1
Maths and English
In English we will continue to build on the reading and writing skills already learnt, developing extended writing, extending the use of grammar and perfecting our joined handwriting skills. Our unit focusses on learning how to show emotions in our writing, so we will be studying scary stories, love stories and poetry. This will involve studying campfire ghost stories, followed by three weeks of work on Shakespeare.
In Maths, Violet class will build on their knowledge of place value. They will learn how to order and calculate with decimal numbers to three decimal places, multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1000 and investigate prime and square numbers. Your child will develop their understanding of multiplication and division and learn the correct written method for these calculations.
Science: As part of our Science topic about the body, part of our work will involve dissecting a 'sheep pluck', which is the heart and lungs. If you have any concerns regarding this activity, please contact school by Monday 23rd September, but please be reassured that no child will be made to touch the plucks if they prefer not to.
The experience of seeing the organs is the key objective of the lesson.
P.E. is on a Monday and Wednesday.
Please ensure that your child comes to school wearing their PE kit on both occasions and this must be in line with the school uniform policy of no branded clothing- a simple white t-shirt and black shorts/tracksuit bottoms and trainers.
Homework will remain focused on the three areas: reading, multiplication and spelling.
Each Tuesday, your child will receive the new spellings for the week and also be tested on the previous week.
The expectation is that each day, spellings and timetables are independently practised and children read at home with their reading booking being signed by an adult.
Reading records will be checked daily by an adult in school, and it is important that your child brings this in alongside their reading book every day.
In Year 6, children should read for a sustained amount of time in preparation for the end of Year 6 SATs, which would be around 20 minutes. We ask that children read each evening for a minimum of 10 minutes.