Term 2

We have had a fantastic term in Year 6! The pupils have worked incredibly hard and continue to set an excellent example for the rest of the school. Their enthusiasm, determination, and teamwork have been evident in everything they have done, making this a very successful term.

In our English lessons, we explored the question, “Should children have been evacuated during World War 2?” by writing balanced arguments. The pupils carried out detailed research into the reasons for and against evacuation and presented their findings clearly and thoughtfully. They worked on writing strong introductions, structured arguments, and well-rounded conclusions. Additionally, they focused on linking their ideas within and across paragraphs by using cohesive devices, helping their writing to flow smoothly and effectively.

In maths, we concentrated on fractions this term. The pupils worked hard to simplify, compare, and order fractions, as well as to add and subtract them, including mixed numbers, by finding common denominators. They also learned how to multiply and divide fractions. Using these skills, they tackled word problems and reasoning tasks, applying their knowledge to real-life situations and showing great problem-solving abilities.

Our Topic lessons have focused on Britain at War, linking the end of World War 1 to the start of World War 2. The pupils investigated the main causes of the Second World War and created priority diagrams to debate which causes were the most significant. They also worked in groups to research key events from the early stages of the war, such as the invasion of Poland and the evacuation at Dunkirk. Together, they created an interactive human timeline, which made history come alive in a fun and memorable way.

In Science, we continued our work on light theory. The pupils conducted hands-on experiments to explore how shadows are formed, making predictions and testing their ideas. They recorded data, created graphs, and analysed their results to find patterns, such as how shadow size changes with distance. We have since started learning about Evolution and Inheritance, where the pupils have explored the five kingdoms of living organisms and discussed how traits are passed down through generations.

In D&T, we studied the Make Do and Mend campaign from World War 2. The pupils learned how people repurposed materials during wartime and practised sewing techniques such as running stitch, blanket stitch, and whip stitch. They showed great creativity and perseverance in completing their projects.

Term 1

It's been a great term of learning in Australian Kangaroos, and we've all settled well into the responsibility of being the oldest year group in the school. We've been working hard in many areas and can’t wait to share everything we've been up to with you!

English

In English, we've been writing evacuee diary entries inspired by our class reading book, Goodnight Mr Tom. We explored some of the key settings from the novel and used these to bring our diary entries to life, imagining what it would have been like to experience wartime England as a young evacuee. We focused on writing in an informal tone, making good use of contractions to reflect this style. In addition, we worked on improving our use of punctuation, including colons, semi-colons, and ellipses.

Maths

This term in Maths, we focused on place value, working with numbers up to 10 million. We practised partitioning numbers and recognising the value of each digit. We also rounded numbers to the nearest 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, and 100,000, which improved our ability to handle large figures.

In addition, we tackled problem-solving with addition and subtraction through multi-step word problems. We learned a new division method called 'chunking', which involves repeatedly subtracting manageable groups (or chunks) of the divisor from the dividend.

We also reinforced our understanding of factors, multiples, and prime numbers, which connected with our multiplication and division work. Overall, we've made great progress and increased our confidence in these mathematical areas.

Science

In Science, we’ve been learning about light. We explored and tested scientific facts about light, such as how it travels in straight lines and how white light can be separated into a spectrum of colours when passed through a prism. We investigated refraction by creating periscopes, which helped us understand how light bends. Additionally, we examined the structure of the eye, learning about how we see, and created some amazing drawings of the different parts of the eye.

Topic

This term, our topic has been ‘Britain at War’, where we’ve learnt about the causes and events of World War I. We discussed the main causes of the war using the acronym MAIN (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism) to understand the key factors that led to the conflict. The class also researched and wrote reports about life in the trenches, focusing on the harsh conditions that soldiers endured.

PE

In PE, we’ve been learning about tag rugby, focusing on how to attack and defend as a team while finding space and making passing moves. We also had lots of fun choreographing dance routines as we explored samba dancing.

Art

In Art, we explored distortion and abstraction, focusing on how line, colour, and shape can be used to create abstract pieces. Here are some examples of the artwork we created.

Music

In Music, we’ve started learning to play the ukulele. We’ve focused on how to properly hold and tune our instruments, as well as learning the names of the strings. We also learned to play a rag using the open strings, practising how to keep in time and play together as an ensemble.

Term 6 - 2023/24

English

In English this term, we’ve finished off our Greek myths and moved on to writing some balanced arguments.  To stay within our Greek topic, we have explored the much-debated question of ‘Should the Elgin Marbles be returned to Greece?’ The children have researched the subject online and then compiled their findings in a way that clearly displays ‘both side of the argument’.  After writing their conclusions, it appears that the majority of the class thinks that the British Museum should relinquish control of the marbles and return them to their rightful home.

Maths

We’ve used our previous experience of place value and equivalent fractions this term, and delved into decimals and percentages.  The prior learning that we’d done in previous terms became immediately useful and, after only a short while, we were able to identify and record numbers in decimal form whilst also showing the same number as a fraction and a percentage.

Science

This term, our science lessons have seen us looking at mixtures of substances.  We first explored heterogeneous and homogeneous mixtures and worked out how the two types differed from one another. 

After that, we conducted experiments by sieving substances to see if we could separate mixtures.  The task saw us creating our own sieves (using paper plates) and then shaking a mixture of dirt, stones, grass and twigs through the devices until we separated the fine soil from everything else.

Art

This term, the class looked at Expressionism and how colour, form and text can be used to capture feelings and emotions in art.  The children started out by sketching their own facial expressions as they grinned, grimaced and growled.  After that, they use colour pastels and a variety of words and fonts to enhance photographic self-portrait in a way that helped convey their feelings at that time.

Theatre Trip

The Indian Tigers were lucky enough to enjoy a fantastic trip to the theatre and to witness a performance of Frozen on the West End stage.  Everyone agreed that the show was amazing and that some of the on-set special effects were incredible. Fuelled by snacks and interval ice-creams, we headed home knowing that we’d had a great day.

The whole class has done well this term and is now looking forward to moving on to their final year at Jubilee!