Year 6 Curriculum outline Summer 2021
Year 6 Curriculum Outline Summer 2021 Would I lie to you? ~ Bionic Bodies
Humanities - Social Understanding In humanities our work will be based around our theme ‘Would I lie to you?’ which links to WW2, in this pupils will compile a research portfolio about WW2. Pupils will address and devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity, difference and significance. When gathering knowledge from several sources, pupils will consider these carefully to draw conclusions, and the need to create a bibliography to record the sources they use. Pupils will also study propaganda to understand that there is often more than one answer to a question. Bionic Bodies’ will focus on sport through research into the Ancient Olympics and its importance in Ancient Greek culture, moving onto how the Modern Olympics, as we know it, evolved. Our focus on medicine will be looking at the famous people who had a key role in shaping modern day medicine and pupils will have the opportunity to use Ordnance Survey Maps, learning specifically about features, scales and grid references. In RS pupils will recognise that all religions have guidelines that people of that faith follow. They will find out more about some of these guidelines and then write their own guidelines for living. Moving on from this they will use a range of thinking skills to learn about the key aspects of humanism. They will consider humanist views on atheism and agnosticism, celebrations, values, ethics and the importance of happiness.
Language and Communication In English Year 6 will start the term by reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar, which will provide the opportunity to write predictions, analyse characters and examine plot. There will be a range of comprehension activities based around the book. Spelling will continue to be taught and tested weekly. There will also be a short unit on poetry where children will study different poetic types and techniques to ensure their poetry is both creative and imaginative. After half term, and linking with the theme of ‘Bionic Bodies’, children will explore the genres of science fiction, fantasy and the dystopian world. In Modern Languages, pupils will consolidate and extend their learning of basic vocabulary and grammar. There will be plenty of opportunity to explore digital resources and pupils are encouraged to make good use of the many apps and websites explored in lessons. In Spanish, there will be a particular focus on nouns and verbs; pupils will also familiarise themselves with some poetry by the famous poet Antonio Machado. The focus will be on speaking and listening and on applying phonics rules when reading. In French, the pupils will continue to consolidate their understanding of pronouns, adjectival agreements and conjugating the irregular verb AVOIR. Pupils will revise animals, expanding their vocabulary and applying adjectival agreements in descriptions. They will continue to extend their use of questions and expressing opinions.
Mathematical Understanding For Maths, Year 6 will start the term focusing on geometry. This will include looking at properties of shapes, drawing 2-D shapes using given dimensions and angles, comparing and classifying geometric shapes based on their properties and sizes and finding unknown angles in any triangles, quadrilaterals and regular polygons. Pupils will learn how to recognise angles where they meet at a point, are on a straight line, or are vertically opposite, and find missing angles. Particularly in the latter part of the summer term, pupils will also be given the opportunity to solve a variety of maths challenges, extended investigations and word problems. This will allow them to develop their reasoning skills by explaining their mathematical thinking and methods and making links between different areas of maths.
Physical Education and Well-being In PE and games this term cricket, athletics and tennis will be the focus. There will be an emphasis on developing and improving tactical awareness and furthering knowledge of rules and laws in these sports. In tennis, pupils will develop tactics for singles and doubles. Athletics lessons will provide the opportunity for pupils to learn and refine technique in a variety of track and field disciplines. The use of digital technology in lessons will provide pupils with the opportunity for self and peer assessment. Do encourage your child to get involved with any of these sports outside of school by joining local clubs, and discuss the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. In PSHEE the pupils will cover the Personal Safety Unit where they will review their trusted adults on their network of support and will be able to define what risk and peer group pressure scenarios with safety planning. They will discuss touches which break personal boundaries and understand that no-one should touch the intimate parts of their bodies. In the Managing Change Unit pupils will consider a range of situations which involve loss and change. They will learn to recognise emotions associated with loss and change, and understand how these feelings can change. They will know how they can access support and how they can support other people and develop strategies for coping with future changes, including transition to secondary school In the Relationships and Sex (RSE) Unit, we will focus on the scientific vocabulary and pupils will be able to describe some emotions associated with the onset of puberty and consider strategies to deal with these positively. Pupils will understand that puberty affects people in different ways both physically and emotionally and understand that the way they behave affects others. They will consider the characteristics of a loving trusting relationship and understand some basic reasons why a couple might choose to have children. They will also be able to show awareness of some family arrangements which are different from their own.
Creative and Performing Arts Each week in Music the pupils will practise their own instruments/use the keyboard on Garageband to develop their instrumental technique and expand their repertoire. With this regular practice (which should support the students’ individual instrumental tuition), they will build their confidence and fluency with reading staff notation alongside learning how to convey expression and more detailed musical markings. As part of this process, students will be encouraged to add their own creative ideas and interpretations into their performances, and we will explore the various stylish options that are available. Students will regularly submit or perform finished performances for feedback, evaluate and reflect upon their own work, and will potentially have the opportunity to provide feedback for one another. This process of identifying aspects of their performance which could be improved/refined and then honing in to work on these aspects encourages active listening and increasingly mature musical awareness. During the course of this term, pupils will also continue to study aspects of musical evolution through the exploration of the Romantic and Contemporary periods. Through studying key works in the musical canon from these periods, the pupils will explore more complex musical aspects within composition, and will continue to develop an increasingly broad and mature bank of music terminology. We will focus on the impact of technology in music in particular, with a focus on how this opens up new and exciting contemporary opportunities for modern composers. Most of all, the pupils will enjoy practicing the songs and routines for their Year 6 Production, and further developing their performance skills and overall stage presence. Pupils will also put together instrumental and choral performances for our grand Summer Concert, a musical showcase of the children’s hard work. In Drama, students will be rehearsing for their end of year, summer production. Whist working on the production, students will learn to develop and maintain suitable voice and body language for the character being portrayed. Students will learn the importance of being able to work as an ensemble and support each other with the use of peer evaluation. In the performance, the cast will learn the importance of maintaining their role and reacting to others. Students will have the opportunity to develop acting, dance, physical theatre and singing skills throughout the rehearsal process. The cast will also have the opportunity to contribute ideas for costume, set design and the use of drama technique throughout the rehearsal process. In Create Design Engineering (CDE), we will be looking at the art of the impossible, in relation to the work of M. C. Escher and the mathematicians he was influenced by. We will learn about and consider the mathematical concepts behind his drawings as we have a go at creating our own studies by hand and digitally, before attempting to create our own impossible drawings. We will then look at how optical illusions in art can be used to create form and movement and develop the impression of 3D in our drawings.
Scientific Understanding This term, in Biology, pupils will learn about ‘Adaptation and Evolution’, covering how living organisms can be classified into groups based on their features, what fossils tell us about ancient life and the changes that have happened over millions of years, and what genetics tells us about how characteristics are passed on from one generation to the next. In Physics, they will learn about Electricity, deepening their understanding of how to construct electrical circuits and how they work, the use of circuit symbols to represent components in circuit diagrams, the variables which affect the amount of current flowing through a circuit and the differences between series and parallel circuits. In Chemistry, they will learn about elements, covering how chemical elements are arranged on the periodic table based on their properties and how our understanding of the structure of atoms underpins this cornerstone of modern Chemistry. How you can help: Visit local museums, such as the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, Saffron Walden Museum and Cambridge Science Centre. These institutions have extended their online resources during lockdown, as has BBC Bitesize Science. Look out also for science programmes on TV.
Digital
The Inner Wheel With the Google apps at the heart of digital curation our pupils use Google Classroom to complete work digitally and hand in work that is produced in a variety of ways. We have identified 7 main apps, our EverGreen apps, that help to showcase our pupils’ learning. An animation, movie or annotated piece of work provides richer feedback for the teacher and ultimately helps to make greater progress.
Explain Everything www.explaineverything.com Green Screen www.doink.com Stop Motion www.cateater.com Strip Design www.vividapps.com/Strip_Designer/ Notability www.gingerlabs.com Book Creator www.bookcreator.com Puppet Pals www.polishedplay.com
The Outer Wheel We have a number of apps that we use consistently throughout our curriculum that lend themselves to our creative approach. We avoid apps that are specific to a particular outcome, preferring content free apps that can help to enhance our pupils work and understanding. Some examples are: Minecraft, iMovie, KeyNote, Pages and Padlet.
Coding Another aspect of our digital curriculum is the coding/programming skills that are embedded in all subjects or taught discretely in Years 5 and 6. We have identified a progression of apps that help to develop our pupils ability to code. The apps provide variety and challenge and help to develop the computation skills that are crucial learning in our digital work. We combine the coding experiences with physical output. Using Spheros, BBC Micro:Bits and Ozobots provides visual outcomes that bring our code to life. As our pupils develop further they transition on to written code.
Thinking Toolkit Alongside and underpinning our curriculum we ensure that our pupils are developing as active learners and active thinkers. Throughout each subject area pupils are encouraged to use their range of thinking tools and reflect on when and how they are using them. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how their thinking tools underpin all aspects of their learning and not just in the more obvious ways. How are they creative in maths? How do they enquire in English? How are they critical in Music? How do they think computationally in PE?
Inclusion This curriculum map outlines the core curriculum for each year group each term but at the heart of our wheel is the individual learner. Each subject area has a progression of skills which enables staff to stretch or support individuals as and when they need a little help, a bit of a push or a just a different way in. Within our classrooms through planning, teacher knowledge and interactions work is differentiated to suit the needs of each individual.