Welcome to Year 6

Autumn Term 1 2024

Areas of study for Year 6

Topic Title: Victorious Victorians

Key Question: How did the Industrial Revolution shape Victorian society and did it help children?

English (Reading and Writing)

Reading
Street Child
The Victorian period (1837-1901) was a vital one for the world as well as Britain. An age of great advancement in the field of automation and invention, but also one of great social inequality. Year 6 will read Street Child as a class; a book that follows the life of young Jim Jarvis, born into a lowly family and charts their struggle to keep a roof over their heads, avoiding the workhouse. This book will give the children the chance to see what life was like in the 19th century for children not fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy setting. We will study the language used, the composition of the text but also, most importantly, the way it describes life at that time.

Writing

Suspenseful Writing
Biography of Charles Darwin
Diary of a Victorian Child

The first half-term of writing in the year will look at a range of skills, but all use our Victorian Topic as inspiration. Year 6 will be given the chance to express what they have learned about young Jim and his life by composing a diary of the events that he faces (there will also be an opportunity to write from the viewpoint of a wealthy child to challenge those who want to look at a life different to being in poverty). This will help the children show what they have taken from the text above.

We will also look at the art of suspenseful writing where the reader should be left unsure of what will happen next as tension is built using taught techniques. Rather than just describing what is happening, children will be challenged to keep something back from the reader to add to the suspense.

Our other topic will be a non-fiction unit looking at the life and work of Charles Darwin; a pivotal person in Victorian life most famous for his theories of evolution. This will give children the opportunity to study a person in depth and then precis their life and achievements in writing. 

Maths

Place value
Rounding
Calculation

Mathematics will be taught discretely throughout this topic, following the White Rose scheme of work. We start by looking at depth at the building blocks of how numbers are “built up” and relate to each other so that this will underpin all that follows with calculations etc. Once this is soundly understood, we will move on to Year 6 calculation skills and strategies so that all of the children will grow in confidence when working with numbers.

 

Science

Evolution and Inheritance

Throughout this unit, the children will investigate how animals and humans have changed and evolved over time. What traits do they display from the past? How have they altered their physical form over time? Why?
This will lead into a detailed look at the work of Charles Darwin, who was an important and often controversial voice on this topic in Victorian times. His discoveries are still of great importance today.

History

Victorians

The Victorian period (1837-1901) was a vital one for the world as well as Britain. An age of great advancement in the field of automation and invention, but also one of great social inequality. During this topic we will be looking at both of these aspects along with key dates and events of Queen Victoria’s reign. A large amount of the focus will be on what life was like for children throughout this era and how it improved through things like the Education Act or new laws restricting child labour.

Geography

Understand the growth of the British Empire

Throughout this unit, the children will be looking at the way the growth of the British Empire under Queen Victoria affected the world map. They will have the chance to study just how far and wide it went and to compare that to the number of countries that remain within the Commonwealth now (and when others left it or declared independence).

Art

Investigating Monochrome (Silhouettes)

The children will be given the opportunity to work within a medium of just two main colours. Whilst this may seem stifling for creativity it is anything but as they will be challenged to produce increasingly complex images in black and white and particularly using silhouettes.
The children will use a range of techniques and equipment to produce their images and compositions.

Stop Animation (see Computing)

Linking with our computing topic for this half-term, we will also be developing our skills with stop animation using Nick Park as our inspiration.

Design Technology (DT)

Cushion with Victorian cross-stitch design

A real hands-on unit of work to produce a cushion that incorporates as cross-stitch design. The class will see a large range of Victorian samplers to help them decide upon which cross-stitch design that they wish to include. They will also have to design, cut and stitch a cushion cover for it to go on and then add the stuffing and complete the cushion.

Music

Musical Notation

Throughout this unit the children will be taught the correct vocabulary and techniques involved in musical composition. This starts at learning terminology then moving on to recognising notes, pulses and rhythms and moves on to simple compositions of their own and choosing the right instruments to perform them on.

Religious Education (RE)

Music and Arts within religions
Key Question: How can music and arts help express and communicate religious beliefs?

Music is a key part of all religions from the Psalms of the Jewish tradition to the Ragas of the Hindu tradition. For most children there will be songs in their own tradition, religious or secular, which are of importance in their lives and so the use of both listening to and composing songs can be a very powerful way of engaging learners.

Within this unit, children will explore different festivals within a variety of religions. What do we mean by a festival in terms of a religion? Pupils will study to see if they are similar in their timings or background as well as looking at how different religions celebrate different events. How central are these festivals to the belief and behaviour of the followers of a particular religion?

Physical Education (PE)

Real PE – Indoor/Outdoor
Hockey – Outdoor

Throughout this unit, children will work on ball skills indoors. How to make and receive passes accurately, to find space within an invasion game and how to be a positive team member in a range of sports such as seated volleyball, scorpion handball and shuffle bottom rugby.
As well as this, our specialist PE coach will be teaching them hockey outdoors.

Computing

Excel

Using the data from Victorian Census of 1851 and comparing it with that of 1901, can we see how the population changed and other key differences that occurred in this period.
Children will be taught how to read, understand and then present this data in a range of ways to provide a statistical background to their Victorian topic.
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)

Values

During this PSHE unit of work, children will get to fully understand what the school values are and how they relate to them. We will look at each individual value, discuss what it means to us and how it benefits all of those within Owlsmoor Primary. The children will also talk about how to “live” these values as role models for the younger years.

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

Chez moi

During this unit, children will study French terms for the things that they see around themselves in the home as well as being able to describe who their family is.

 

*If you require additional information relating to our school curriculum, please ask at the school office or the class teacher.