Year 5/6 Autumn 2024

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• In English, the text and accompanying film, ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ is taught, which explores the evacuation of a young boy, William, to an estranged town which he comes to call home. This supports our Creative Curriculum topic on the Second World War, but also encourages social and emotional opportunities for discussion. Pupils will compose diary entries as well as a non-chronological, informative report about the war. We also link our reading lessons to the text, where we use our DERRIC model to decode, explain word meaning, retrieve information to answer questions, interpret characters feelings and thoughts, review sections of the text and discuss why authors have used certain techniques in our choice lessons. A video-based story called ‘Francis’ is then studied through the Literacy Shed, enabling pupils to see a different, suspenseful genre and write a setting description and police report. Handwriting develops on from previous years, focusing on legible, cursive writing at speed. Finally, SPaG is a key focus with the revision and introduction of all verb forms (including perfect, progressive and passive) as well as the full programme of punctuation, including semi-colons and colons to demarcate clauses being introduced.
   

• For Numeracy lessons, we split into year groups. In Year 6 Maths, pupils work with numbers to and beyond 10,000,000, including powers of 10, use of number lines, comparing, ordering, rounding and reasoning from known facts. Negative numbers are also introduced. All four operations are then developed in Year 6 with factors, multiples, primes, squares and cubes being a focus as well as both mental and formal written methods, all building on prior knowledge, including the introduction of the long method for division by 2-digit numbers. Finally, understanding of fractions is developed through equivalences, comparisons but also all four operations with fractions, including improper fractions and mixed numbers. In Year 5 Maths, Roman numerals to 1,000 are developed with place value focusing on numbers to 1,000,000. Powers of 10 are explored, encouraging pupils’ deeper understanding and manipulation of number as well as further comparisons, ordering and rounding of numbers. Addition and subtraction of numbers with more than four digits is developed with both mental and written strategies as well as multiple methods for checking accuracy. Multiples, factors, prime numbers, squares and cubes are introduced as well as multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 to develop deeper understanding of the connections between digits. Finally, fractions are explored, focusing on equivalences, converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers and adding and subtracting fractions.
   

• In Science, the topics of living things and their habitats are taught plus a unit based around electricity. There is also a mini sustainability project where renewable energy sources are considered. Furthermore, pupils explore through practical investigations, making predictions, selecting materials, recording results and drawing conclusions for themselves based on these enquiries.
   

• In History, the Second World War is the focus through our topic of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Not only are the key dates, events and facts researched but also the government’s use of propaganda and biased posters.
   

• In PE this term, some pupils will be swimming and others will be exploring basketball and football in teacher-led sessions and hockey and yoga with the support of our Soccer 2000 coaches.
   

• In Art, Year 5 and 6 look at an array of different paints, including inks and watercolours. They use the techniques studied to create a sunset painting, and link to history by creating soldier silhouettes. They also study a digital artistry unit using the work of Hannah Hock to create layered portraits.
   

• Computing focuses on communication through computer systems and networks and creating media, which includes video editing.
   

• In Jigsaw, we are covering the topic “Being Me in My World” where pupils have the opportunity to reflect on their journey so far and in their final year ahead in primary school before comparing this to children globally. We then move on to “Celebrating Differences” where pupils consider normality in a diverse world and power struggles. We use the Project Evolve program to deliver lessons on online safety, focusing this term on units entitled, ‘self-image and identity’, ‘managing online information’ and ‘online bullying’.
   

• DT this term has a focus on first designing and making a working bridge structure. DT includes the process of researching, designing, planning, making and evaluating.
   

• In Music, learning focuses around ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences as well as comparing similar songs with a focus on the music, instruments and lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing the songs and play instruments including the glockenspiels. The second unit is a classroom jazz unit, following the same structure but within an alternative genre.
   

• We will be transferring over to Spanish as a foreign language this year and will therefore spend the term getting to grips with the basics, such as phonics, greetings, numbers, presenting myself and my family.
   

• In RE, we will be exploring what will make Wolverhampton a more respectful community from the perspectives of the Sikh, Muslim and Christian communities.
   

• Our new oracy curriculum is based around speaking and listening and we are filtering discussion opportunities and talk tactics into all other curricular areas, as well as into homework. Reading at home is vital and all pupils have access to a Times Tables Rock Stars account to help them learn and recall their times tables.​