This term the children are reading the book 'Letters from the Lighthouse' by Emma Caroll. This is a story about a group of children who have been evacuated from London to Devon during the Blitz. A story of mystery and intrigue including secret codes and captured German pilots. The children will have the opportunity to step into the role of the main characters as they were being evacuated from the cinema during an air raid. Through hot seating and freeze framing, the children will be able to empathise with children from this era.

They will write a diary entry through the perspective of one of the characters using emotive and descriptive language and will apply the appropriate grammar and punctuation.

In spellings we will be following the Spelling Shed Stage 6 scheme. In Year 6, we encourage all children to read daily and children are expected to complete a quiz on accelerated reader to assess their comprehension and understanding of the book that they have read. 

Maths

This term, the children will secure their knowledge of place value and the four operations. The children will be using visual and practical manipulatives before moving onto concrete methods to embed fluency. Within each lesson, we continue to stretch the children's understanding through applying and reasoning questions, as well as investigations and discussion. 

 Each week, the children will also be completing times tables practice, starting with the 2's, 4's, 5's 8's and 10's.

History

In history, Year 6 are exploring WW2. We will begin the topic by investigating primary and secondary sources of historical information and asking questions about how the artefact could help understand what life was like in the war and its reliability. The children will have the opportunity to take part in an evacuation drill where they will be asked to sit underneath the table to take cover during an air raid. We will analyse Hitler's rise to power, Chamberlain's appeasement strategy and debate as a class as to whether it was the right policy to follow.

They will investigate the government's evacuation policy and will discover first-hand experiences of evacuees. The children will investigate whether the Battle of Britain was a turning point in the war. They have been encouraged to look into their own family's experiences of the war and have found out so many stories!

Geography 

In Geography the children study different types of energy sources. They learn the difference between renewable and non renewable including the benefits and drawbacks. They compare energy sources in Midland, Texas to Port of Blyth in England. They advise an urban planner on which source of energy to use to supply a new village that is being built and finish the topic with a field study of where the best location for solar panels would be at Brushwood, justifying their choice.

Science

This term, the children in Year 6 begin the year by learning about electricity and light. They will participate in a practical lesson where they will need to demonstrate collaboration and resilience to produce a circuit. They will use a range of equipment, such as, batteries, buzzers, lightbulbs, motors, wires and switches. All children participated and were success in creating a working circuit. They will work collaboratively to investigate the changing volume of buzzers and brightness of lightbulbs. 

Art

From the Ancient Maya to modern-day street art, children look at how artists convey a message. Exploring imagery, symbols, expressive mark making and ‘chiaroscuro’, children consider audience and impact to create powerful drawings to make their voices heard.

DT

The topic this autumn will be 'Come dine with me'. In small groups, the children will have to design, prepare and taste a three course meal focusing on recipes that compliment, balance and enhance each other.

PSHE

Children will be exploring how to create a successful learning environment for our lessons. They will also be understanding how to resolve conflict, through negotiation and compromise, about respect, understanding that everyone deserves to be respected and about grief.

RE

To extend their learning in PSHE the children will be looking at diversity across religions and within religions, exploring why and how Britain is so diverse. They will be looking in particular at the different forms of Christianity and the different forms of Islam. 

Music

Year 6 have been very fortunate and have been given the opportunity to learn how to play the 'djembe drums'. Each week Year 6 take part in a whole class music lesson, taught by Bucks Music Trust. The children will learn how to play various tones on the drums as well as rhythms and songs too. 

Whilst learning how to play the drums, the children will also develop sight reading skills through reading pieces of music. They will identify: crotchets, quavers, minims, semibreve and a semi quaver.

French

The children will explore World War 2 in French which links to their topic in History. They will learn some key vocabulary and will write some short sentences about facts they have learnt relating to World War 2. The children will be focussing on all four areas of learning a language: reading, writing, speaking and listening.

P.E.

The children will be playing netball this term. They will be practising each different pass whilst building up the stamina to take part in matches. They will also be learning hockey skills and will be taking part in inter-year group matches. This will develop teamwork and sportsmanship whilst developing skills in hockey. There will also be matches organised with the Chiltern league for Netball, football and Cross Country running.

Computing

Children will be discovering the history of Bletchley Park, historical figures and computer science. Children learn about code-breaking and password hacking as well as decoding messages. They will present information about historical figures and look back in time at how computers have evolved, finally designing a computer of the future and creating an audio advert for their designs.