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Year 6

Welcome to Year 6

Ms Deacon - Delhi Class: sdeacon@gordon.greenwich.sch.uk 

Miss White - Winnipeg Class: swhite@gordon.greenwich.sch.uk

Learning at Gordon Primary School is broad with a wide range of engaging experiences that reinforce key concepts in every subject. It is balanced so that children receive a full and rich curriculum containing all subjects, and implemented well so that children remember in the long term the information and skills they have been taught. We place priority on the children’s personal, social and emotional development because we know this is key to a successful school career and life in general. Our curriculum is designed to engage and meet the needs of all children and enables them to achieve success in all subjects. 

Summer Term Learning

English         

Our focus text this term is Landlady by Roald Dahl. We will also be looking at the Blue Planet documentary. We will be writing diaries, letters, newspaper articles, character and setting descriptions, poetry, split narratives, alternative endings and playscripts. We will be developing our writing in various ways by editing, peer assessing and improving using the Year 6 criteria. We will also continue to revisit and incorporate new grammar into our English lessons. 

Maths           

Following SATs and the completion of our Maths No Problem learning, the children will complete a number of projects which will provide an opportunity to revisit many of the skills and curriculum content covered both in Year 6 and also the rest of Key Stage 2. The projects have been designed to explore maths in real-life contexts, allowing the children to see how important maths is in all aspects of life.,

Science       

We will be studying two science topics this term; Light and Electricity. In Light, we will recognise that light travels in straight lines, how light travels to the eye and allows us to see and understand how shadows are formed. We will be investigating relationships between light sources.

In Electricity, we will be making associations between components used and their effect in a circuit. We will be recognising and using simple electrical symbols in circuit diagrams and designing and making useful products using electrical circuits.

History

This term we will be studying a theme in British history that extends pupils’ chronological knowledge beyond 1066. In the unit of work called Beyond Face Value, the children will look at the way powerful people have manipulated evidence for their own ends and have tried to persuade others of their version of the past. We will be focusing on the role of historians in ascertaining the truth.

Geography

This term we will be planning and carrying out our own fieldwork enquiry. We will be using the knowledge from prior topics to determine our own enquiry question looking at the environmental impact of growth in the local area.   

Art & Design

This term we will be exploring art with a message. The children will look at the famous ‘Guernica’ by Picasso and the confronting works of Käthe Kollwitz. Through the mediums of graffiti, drawing, painting and sculpture, pupils will create their own artworks that speak to the viewer.

Music            

In music, this half term Year 6 will learn to use Garage Band on iPads to create ‘pop’ style compositions. They will create drumbeats and bass riffs, learning to loop and add chords. They will also be learning songs for their leavers' production. After half-term, Year 6 will be focusing on their end-of-year performance. Students will work on singing as part of a chorus and, if they choose, as soloists. They will learn choreography, stage blocking, and voice projection while getting ready to perform their leavers' production.

Computing

This term we will be focusing on Programming. The children will explore the concept of variables in programming. Using Scratch, the children will find out what variables are and relate them to real-world examples of values that can be set and changed. They will experiment with variables in an existing project, then modify them, before they create their own project.

Design Technology (DT)                 

The children will be designing and making a waistcoat in accordance with a specification and design criteria to fit a specific theme.

Physical Education (PE)   

The children will be developing their skills in Athletics, Cricket, Tag Rugby and Tennis.

French

We will be learning key vocabulary and phrases through the topic: Visiting a town in France. We will be describing routes to school using pictures and word cards, following simple directions accurately, describing the relationship between places using a preposition, putting modes of transport into a simple sentence.

Religious Education (RE)

We will be combining our knowledge of world religions and debating their place within modern society.

Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) / Relationships & Sex Education (RSE)

In Physical Health and Mental Wellbeing, we will be learning what can affect our mental health and positive strategies to take care of it; managing change, loss and bereavement and how these can cause conflicting emotions; and how to balance time online with other activities to help maintain their health and wellbeing.

In Growing and Changing, we will be focusing on human reproduction and birth; increasing independence and managing transitions. We will be helping the children to understand the transition to secondary school and how this may affect their feelings and the way relationships may change as they grow up.

In Keeping Safe, we will be discussing ways of protecting personal information; the importance of age restrictions; legal and illegal drug use and the law and the ways the media can influence opinions and decisions.

 

General Information

  • Your child should read for at least 20 minutes every day. Across the week, this should be a combination of independent reading and reading to an adult. Please talk to your child about the book and check their understanding by asking questions about events and the characters’ actions. Please also explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary. Their bookbag should come to school every day.
  • Your child will have PE on Monday and Wednesday. Their PE kit should stay in school in a named draw-string bag.
  • Your child needs to bring a water bottle every day.
  • The weather is often cold and wet at this time of year. It is important that your child brings a coat every day.
  • We are a Healthy School. Please do not put sweets or chocolate bars in your child’s packed lunch. Please do not send in sweets or other treats when it is your child’s birthday. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates, you could buy the class a book, send in a healthy snack such as boxes of raisins or buy stationery such as a pencil, but due to the impact on the environment, we ask you not to send in plastic toys.
  • If your child is absent from school, please contact the school office: 020 8850 5486 and leave a message detailing why your child is absent. If your child has had an upset stomach, they should remain at home until they have been clear of symptoms for 48 hours. Please try to book medical appointments outside the school day and note that family holidays will not be authorised.
  • If you have any questions or wish to raise a concern, please contact the class teacher in the first instance. Please use the email addresses above.

Diary Dates

Please note the following events and add them to your diary:

  • Friday 26th April - Cake Sale and Pre-Loved Uniform Sale
  • Monday 29th April - Class photographs
  • Thursday 2nd May - Local elections (Sports Hall) – school open as usual
  • Monday 6th May - Bank Holiday – school closed
  • Tuesday 7th May - Royal Greenwich Singing Spectacular concert (evening)
  • 13th to 16th May - Year 6 SATS tests
  • 20th to 24th May - Walk to School Week
  • 27th to 31st May - Half-term break
  • Monday 3rd June - Inset Day – school closed
  • Tuesday 4th June - Children return to school
  • Wednesday 5th June - Secondary transition workshops for Year 6
  • Monday 10th June -  Year 6 trip to the Royal Observatory
  • Friday 14th June - Sports Day for Years 3 to 6 (morning)
  • 17th to 21st June - Dance workshops for all year groups
  • Tuesday 18th June - Year 6 trip to Minnis Bay
  • Thursday 20th - Empathy workshops for Year 6
  • Wednesday 26th June - Secondary transition workshops for Year 6
  • 9th to 11th July - Gordon Exhibition 
  • Wednesday 17th July - Year 6 Leavers' performance - 6pm 
  • Thursday 18th July - Year 6 Leavers' performance - 9:30am 
  • Friday 19th July - 120th Anniversary Party 
  • Tuesday 23rd July - Year 6 Leavers' disco 
  • Wednesday 24th July - Year 6 Leavers' assembly - 11am to 11:30am. Year 6 have a final goodbye at 11:30am and then leave.