Year 6 - Miss McLoughlin

Dates For Your Diary

• Children return to school on Monday 6th January 2025.
• After School SATs Revision Club begins on Tuesday 14th January and will take place every Tuesday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm until Tuesday 20th May 2025.  A letter will be sent home regarding the club on Monday 6th January.
• Y6 Weights and Heights Measurements will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th January.  A letter will be sent home about this.
• The children will also have a special WW2 Day in the last week of this half term.  A letter, about when the day will be and what it will involve, will be sent home about this nearer the time.  

Spring 1

This half term the children will be learning about the Second World War in History.  They will learn about the outbreak of the war, The Blitz, life as an evacuee, rationing and the role of women during the war.  Linked to the history unit, the children will be researching, designing and making a model Anderson Shelter.  In science, the children will be learning about how light travels and bends.  Following on from the netball session the children had in the autumn term, they will be having a sequence of lessons from the same coach.  In RE, the children will be focusing on Hinduism and the beliefs associated with the religion. In English, the children will be reading 'When the Sky Falls' by Phil Earle as their class novel.  The book is set in WW2 and will inspire the children in their own writing, when they write a narrative with tension.  The children will also be reading 'Rose Blanche' by Roberto Innocenti and Ian McEwan.  The children will use this to write diary entries from the viewpoint of Rose.  In Maths, the children will be subtracting, multiplying and dividing with fractions.  They will also begin to find percentages of different numbers and amounts.  The children will continue with their weekly arithmetic paper and will be practising SAT questions.  

autumn 2

This term the children will be learning all about the countries of Europe in their geography lessons.  They will be using the atlases to locate the countries of Europe and their capital cities.  They will be identifying their physical and human features.  In English, the children will be reading the novel Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo and will be using it to inspire their own narrative which uses tension and suspense.  In maths, the children will continue to complete long division calculations and will then add and subtract using fractions.  They will also simplify fractions and order and compare fractions. In RE, the children will consider the beliefs that people have about God and learn the terms theist, agnostic and atheist.  In science, the children will learn about the circulatory system and the affects of diet and exercise on our health.  In art, the children will study the work of Koren Shadmi and Pez and will produce their own version of their work.  In computing, the children will be exploring virtual reality. 

Art

The children in their art lessons studied the work of Koren Shadmi and his painting The Silent Polluters.  They explored how the picture was produced and considered the meaning behind the painting.  The children used pencil, paint and card to produce their own versions.

Netball Session

The children enjoyed a PE session with a netball coach.  The session began with the children learning about what the game of netball actually is and how the playing court is marked out.  The children played some warm-up games to develop their speed and to learn how to be aware of other players.  The children learned how to move correctly when passing and catching the ball.  The children practised how to land correctly too.  The children practised making chest passes, both when moving and stationary.  The children were taught how to shoot correctly and how to use a backspin shot.  To end the session, the children played a game to see which team could get most balls into the net.  The children had a great session and learned lots of new skills and techniques. 

Computing

In Computing, the children have been learning about virtual reality and have used a website called CoSpaces to create their own virtual underwater world.  The children had to first create a background and then add objects like fish and plants to make a underwater scene.    They then made the objects move by using their coding skills.  The children enjoyed making their underwater scenes and learned a lot of new techniques.  

autumn 1

This term the children will be learning all about the Victorians in their History lessons.  They will learn about Queen Victoria, the lifestyles of people in Victorian Britain and the social changes that occurred during this time.  Our visit to Beamish will allow the children to take part in a Victorian school lesson.  Our English is linked to our History lessons.  The children will be reading a child's version of Oliver Twist and will write their own version of this story.  They will also write a newspaper article about Oliver Twist.  In Science, the children will be creating electrical circuits and using the correct symbols to draw them.  In DT, they will use their electricity knowledge to create a buzzer toy game.  In RE, the children will consider the Story of Creation In Christianity and consider where it fits with scientific explanations of creation. In Computing, the children will consider technology in the past, the present and the future.  

Visit to Beamish Museum 

The children visited Beamish Museum to learn more about the Victorians.  The children took part in a special Victorian lesson in the school.  The lesson was taken by Mr Hall, the headmaster of the school, and the children learned about what school was life in Victorian times.  The children had to refer to the teacher as 'Sir' every time they spoke to him and they were not allowed to slouch at their desks or have their elbows on the desks.  The children had to use a fountain pen and ink, which did prove a little bit tricky and messy.  They learned about pounds, shillings and pence and solved calculations using them.  They also practised using cursive handwriting.  As well as the lesson, the children explored the miners' cottages and went on an old-fashioned bus.  They visited the shops like the Co-Op and the grocers.  The children also visited the farm and Pockley Manor.  The children enjoyed their visit and it was a great way to bring the Victorians to life. 

Art/DT Workshop

The children visited Seventeen Nineteen at the Holy Trinity Church to take part in an art/DT workshop.  The theme of the workshop was 'Sunderland and the Sea'.  The session began with the children thinking about what boats and sailing vessels we might find on the river and at sea.  The children considered why boats and ships were the ship they were.  The children then designed a boat or sailing vessel of their own and it could be based around a theme of their choice.  After that, the children used a wide range of craft and art materials to make their model.  The children were very creative and enjoyed the session.

Swimming at Southmoor

TheGchildren's first outing as Year 6 was to go to Southmoor for their swimming lessons.  The children were all excited and enjoyed being back in the pool.  The lessons allow the children who are already confident swimmers to develop their skills.  For the children who are less confident in the water, the lessons allow them to become happier in the water and with the aim to swim the width of the poo
Gardening

The children enjoyed working on our raised bed in the courtyard.  Some of the children volunteered to help plant winter pansies and daffodil and tulip bulbs ready for the Spring.  The children helped to clear any weeds and we arranged the plants and bulbs carefully.  The children are going to water the plants regularly and keep our plot weed free.  We are looking forward to seeing the sheets of our bulbs appearing in the Spring.