It’s the Summer Term… and a very busy one for us all in Year 6.
Ford Castle – Residential Schools Activity Centre, Northumberland – We had the most wonderful time and the children were fantastic. Their behaviour, enthusiasm and effort was exceptional. What a brave, talented and funny group of pupils you are!
Our residential visit to Ford Castle was brilliant. The Medieval Castle itself is set in the rolling countryside of Northumberland. It is an adventurous outdoor centre with exciting activities hidden within the grounds. We took part in so many amazing activities… check out our photos below:
Mastering Maths in Y6
In Year 6, we have been working incredibly hard all year to cover all of the fantastic maths topics we need to know before we leave primary school. Recently, we have been learning about the topics of: Algebra, Ratio and Proportion, Features of Shapes, Degrees and Angles. We have almost covered everything we need to know! So, in Summer term, we will be going back over each topic and furthering our skills to mastery level, making sure that we are all secondary school ready!
Literacy… Reading, Writing and GPS
We have been working hard on our writing skills, linking all of our work to the grammar and language features that we need to show as good Year 6 writers. We have also been revising our knowledge of grammar and scrubbing up on those tricky spelling!
As Year 6 all know, I just love reading books! So far this year, everyone in Class 6 has shared my love of stories and novels and I really hope they go on to be ‘active readers’ when they continue on to secondary school. So far, we have read an amazing range of texts:
- ‘The Breadwinner’ by Deborah Ellis – imagining what it would be like to live in a place so different to ours.
- ‘Why The Whales Came’ by Michael Morpurgo – a heart-warming story set on the Isles of Scilly.
- ‘Skellig’ by David Almond – a magical and enchanting story of hope.
- ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar – a mystery-comedy that had us laughing out loud!
- ‘The Saga of Erik The Viking’ by Terry Jones – funny and highly entertaining short stories.
- ‘The Shakespeare Stories Collection’ by A. Matthews & T. Ross – delving into history with these famous plays.
There have also been many more texts we have read in our guided reading groups and we would like to recommend them to you:
- Bomber Dog by Megan Rix.
- The Boy at The Top of The Mountain by John Boyne.
- The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiKamillo.
- Oranges in No Man’s Land by Elizabeth Laird.
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The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
This half term, we will be starting a new text and we are looking forward to where that will lead us in our literacy lessons.
Super Science
We have been looking at Evolution and how animals can adapt over time. We studied Charles Darwin and learned more about his exploration to the Galapagos Islands and how he identified the changes in finches. We learned about the process of natural selection and how adaptations can even happen in our modern world! We even looked at the rate in which the trees in our own school grounds have been growing. We used tape measures, charts and maths calculations to work out the age of the trees in our school area.
In Summer Term, we will be studying ‘Animals including Humans’ and ‘Plants and Their Habitats’. We are looking forward to learning more about blood composition, the human heart, the circulatory system and how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Later in the term, we will discover Linnaeus’ system for classification of animals and identify a range of living things. We will design our own new creatures that fit within Linnaeus’ system.
PE and Sport
It’s summer term and that means outdoor PE and more sport! We have already entered for School Games events such as the BCCC Cricket and the Basketball at Bishop Barrington. We will also be competing in other local events and possibly hosting our own!
In the first half term, we will be playing Cricket and developing our bowling, fielding and batting skills. This will help us with our determination, co-operation and ability to work as pairs and teams. We will be able to put our skills to the test with our competition at the beginning of June. In the second part of the summer term, our PE lessons will be focused on athletics. We will be able to make the most our new school field and use the grass track to practice our running.
Remember to bring your Montalbo PE kit to school every week. Suitable sports trainers and a water bottle will also be needed. Class 6 usually have PE lessons on a Thursday but due to our ever changing timetable, PE kits should be in school all week!
Other Areas: Geography, History, Computing, Art, Design and Technology, French and more…
For the first half term, we will be focusing our topic work on the theme of Mighty Maps. We will extend our knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include Europe and North and South America. We will study a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features. For example, we will be locating major cities of the world as well as looking at world famous landmarks. We will develop our understanding of geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography. We will compare a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America.
In the second half term, we will be focusing our topic work on the history of World War II. We will be studying a huge timeline of historical events and using our new method of ‘genius hour’ to engage Class 6 in a self-lead historical investigation. Children will work in small groups and experience a different task over the 6 week period. They will use the skills of historians to find, locate and research their own information before presenting it to their peers on a weekly basis. We are really looking forward to starting this new topic.
In computing, we have been using ‘Scratch’. It is a block-based visual program used for designing, writing and debugging programs that accomplish specific goals. We have used sequence, selection, and repetition in programs as well as using reasoning to explain how some simple algorithms work. To further our knowledge of computing, we will be using a wider range of software including iMovie and App based maps. We will continue our E-Safety lessons and learn more about how to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly.
