Year 6 NewsletterAutumn 2

Welcome back to school - it is hard to believe we have had a half term already! It was on the whole a successful one and it is great to see we have settled into life in Year 6 and are familiar with the expectations both in class and around school. We are halfway through our World War Two topic and will be continuing it this half term. The children have been really engaged with their learning about World War Two and it has lead to some fantastic pieces of writing. We hope to be able to invite parents in at the end of the half term to share in our wonderful learning this term.

Year 6 routinesMondays - bring homework back to be marked, spelling test, achievement assemblyWednesdays - practice tests, PE - dance (PE kit needed)Fridays - PE - outdoor adventure

EnglishIn preparation for our Remembrance service on Friday 10th November, we will be studying and learning the World War 1 poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae. We will study the language he used and discuss how to recite the poem with appropriate tone and volume. After learning it by heart, we will perform it at the Remembrance service. We will then be moving on to study another short story about World War Two and write some wartime-style propaganda. Before Christmas we will study a last seasonal text from which we will write a persuasive piece of writing. Assessment of writing is ongoing and after each piece of extended writing we do a formal assessment, gathering evidence towards the final end of year assessment. Weekly SPaG and reading mini-tests help us practise test-style questions.

MathsThe half term begins with a three week unit on fractions, where we will revise what we learned last year and build on it to learn how to divide fractions by each other and whole numbers by fractions. This knowledge will be applied to word problems and help to gain a secure understanding of the concept. After that, we will move on to percentages and make links with our knowledge of fractions, as well as decimals. Before Christmas, we will study volume of liquids and solids, number (factors, multiples, square numbers etc) and co-ordinates. Each day we do daily arithmetic before assembly (as soon as the children get into class) which helps build our confidence and understanding of methods and straight number work: it is vital that we are in school on time so we can use this learning time to good effect. Although this is talked through and modelled as a class later, lateness means children can miss out on important learning. Weekly mini tests on a Wednesday help us to practise our knowledge and skills.

CurriculumWe will again block our Science topic - Light - into a week so that learning is accelerated and children are fully absorbed in the topic. The rest of our learning will continue to be majorly based around World War 2, our topic for the term.

We look forward to an engaging and productive half term!

Year 6 TeamMr Hayslop, Mrs Allan, Mr Alston