Zebra (Year 6)

Autumn Term 1

I hope that you all had a relaxing and safe six weeks holiday and are ready for the new school term! This year, the children will have Miss Walker, Mrs Jacobs (Monday-Thursday) and Mrs Jones (Tuesday and Wednesday morning). We have so much to get through this year and will be starting as we mean to go on! This term, we also have the Kent Test(!), Bikeability, voting for Head Boy/ Girl and prefects and a Magistrate's visit!

 

English:

In English this term, Zebra class will be reading 'Running on Empty' by S.E Durrant: AJ's grandfather has always been the one to keep his unusual family together, so when he dies things start to unravel at the edges. AJ is worried about his parents but they don't really seem to notice. In order to deal with his grief and anxiety at bay, AJ does what he and his grandfather did best: running. Running round and round the Olympic Park, aiming for the cross country, running to escape. He discusses false starts and emotional journeys, with hope as the ultimate finishing line. 

 We will be focusing on: newspaper reports relating to Usain Bolt; writing in role as a wide range of characters within the book; letter writing; a manifesto for equality and a personal narrative. Grammar topics will be taught once a week as a discrete lesson and as starters five times a week. This term, we will be recapping concepts from year 3 - 5, including: nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, commas in lists, fronted adverbials, synonyms and antonyms and formality/ informality.

Finally, spellings will be taught three times a week after lunch, with all practising and testing completed within school. However, attached are the spelling rules for this term which you can look over with your child if necessary. This includes: year 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 word lists (found online if searched for), -able and -ible words, suffixes, proof-reading, strategies and homophones (-ce/ -se). 

 

Maths:

In maths this term, Zebra class will be recapping on a number of concepts and learning new topics. This includes: reading, writing, ordering and comparing numbers up to 10,000,000; determining the value of digits up to 10,000,000; rounding whole numbers and decimals; negative numbers; algebra (generating linear sequences, finding all possibilities of combinations); multiplication and division; common factors, prime numbers and estimation. In lessons, children will have the choice to practise the 'fluency' of each concept before moving onto reasoning and problem solving. 

Each week, the class will get a chance to use Times Tables Rock Stars at school, as mental calculations are so important in all aspects of maths! Children can also use this website at home to develop their efficiency and accuracy in times tables. 

 

Topic: Mayans (civilisation, number and writing system, art, religion, atlas work);

Science: Animals, including Humans (heart, lungs, digestive system, diet and exercise, working scientifically);

Computing: Coding;

Art: creating Mayan masks using ModRoc;

RE: Is it better to express your religion in arts and architecture or in charity and generosity?

Music: exploring rounds;

PSHE: different types of relationships; bullying and rules/ legal system;

French: pocket money.