Autumn 1 – It’s a Mystery

Why? What? How? Surely you have questioned things in the past? During this topic we will investigate strange phenomena including: Stonehenge, the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness, crop circles and UFOs. We will explore the unexplained, looking for evidence and for reasons as to why they have happened. As part of this, you will become a detective to solve the mysterious murder at Marwell Manor. We will encourage independent thinking for many of the world’s unanswered questions.

Within Art, Banksy will be our focus, looking at meanings behind his pictures and having group discussions about whether graffiti is art or vandalism. You shall also create your own graffiti name tag in the style of Banksy. As well as this, in RE, we will explore creation stories based on different cultures’ beliefs; explaining the mystery of how the Earth and its people were formed. Computing skills will be utilised to design a wanted poster for escaped convicts from Alcatraz prison – did they survive? We will be describing, in Science, how living things are classified into groups based on similarities and differences including micro-organisms, plants and animals. Feeling fit and supple? Get ready to create gymnastic sequences and get physical with team games in tag rugby.

Writing Genres

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

 

  • Poetry
  • Character and setting descriptions
  • Balanced arguments
  • Informal and formal letter writing
  • Journalistic writing
  • Persuasive writing
  • Information texts
 

  • Recapping basic forms of punctuation
  • Main, subordinate and relative clauses
  • Inverted commas
  • Using commas to create clauses
  • Apostrophes for contraction
  • Spelling rules: common prefixes

Mathematics Skills

Reading, writing and ordering numbers, rounding numbers, negative numbers, addition and subtraction of larger numbers, long multiplication, short division with remainders, long division, worded problems, square numbers, square roots, order of operations, factors and multiples, prime numbers and prime factors, equivalent fractions, ordering fractions, finding common denominators, proper and improper fractions and adding and subtracting fractions.

Throughout the half term all topics will be reinforced with reasoning questions and arithmetic based on the skills covered.

Autumn 2 – Amazing Authors

Journey back in time to the days of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Study play-scripts, texts and produce drama based on the play Macbeth and the novel Oliver. Film your very own version of Macbeth and key scenes from Oliver, then perform your modern retelling of Shakespeare’s prose using rap! Have you ever taken for granted running water, footpaths, or the indoor toilet? We will look back in time to Victorian Birmingham and compare it to how we live today. A trip to the Black Country Museum will help to bring a bygone era to life for you. Art and Design will entail a reproduction of a Victorian scene using pencil, designing and building a bridge from straws based on the work of Brunel and creating and sewing a cross stitch calendar. Ever wondered how the human body works? The heart, blood vessels and blood will be studied, the impact of diet and exercise and lifestyle on our bodies will be explored and we will learn why nutrients and water are so important to our survival. Living in the twenty first century, you need to be technologically aware; therefore you will use Microsoft Word and Publisher to display research carried out using the internet.

Writing Genres

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

 

  • Chronological recounts
  • Letter writing
  • Play scripts
  • Diary entries
  • Police reports
  • Adventure story writing
  • Biographies
  • Poetry/rap writing
 

  • Apostrophes for possession
  • Active and passive sentences
  • Word classes
  • Subject/verb agreement
  • Use of dashes
  • Spelling: common suffixes and common exception words

Mathematics Skills

Multiplying and dividing fractions by whole numbers, proper fractions and mixed numbers, use fractions as an operator to find fractions of whole numbers, plot and read co-ordinates on a four quadrant lattice, translate shapes in all four quadrants, reflect shapes in horizontal, vertical and diagonal mirror lines, identify the value of digits in numbers up to three decimal places, round numbers to the nearest tenth and hundredth, multiply and divide numbers including decimals by 10, 100 and 1000, multiply integers by decimals, divide numbers up to 2 decimal places by a single digit, solve worded problems involving decimals, compare fractions, decimals and percentages, find 10%, 5% and 1% of values and various multiples of them.

Throughout the half term all topics will be reinforced with reasoning questions and arithmetic based on the skills covered.

Spring One- The Caribbean

Let’s escape to a tropical paradise to study the islands of the Caribbean! Firstly, locate and name the many beautiful islands within the Caribbean Sea. Compare the weather to ours back home, study famous Caribbean figures and the effect that we, as tourists, are having, both positively and negatively, on the islands. Learn about the diverse and rich heritage of the Caribbean through the use of refined internet searches. As well as this, plan your own family holiday to a 5*, all inclusive Caribbean resort. Feel the beat of music through the ages by studying different artists and genres of music, for example Bob Marley, reggae, calypso and rock steady.

Move that body whilst choreographing your own rhythmic dance routine. Enjoy listening to traditional stories of the little trickster and Anansi, who despite his size, is fearless and prepared to take on anyone! Put yourself in Usain Bolt’s golden shoes and experience the feelings and emotions of winning the Olympic gold medal. Bring the colours of the Caribbean to life by weaving a fish to create an underwater scene and design a flag for your own Caribbean hideaway. As part of RE, you will discuss who is responsible for providing justice and how this impacts upon modern society. During Science, you will recognise that living things have changed over time and how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment in different ways. Finally, to celebrate the end of a fantastic topic, the year group will share together in a Caribbean Inspiration Day. Wonderful foods and drinks will be tasted, carnival masks and drums will be designed and decorated, and limbo skills will be put to the test!

Writing Genres

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

 

  • Poetry
  • Play script
  • Autobiography
  • Atmospheric recount
  • Information text
  • Adventure story writing
 

  • Adverbs of time, manner, place and frequency
  • Prepositions
  • Determiners
  • Use of brackets
  • Synonyms and antonyms
  • Spelling rules: common suffixes

Mathematics Skills

Use simple formulae replacing numbers in sums with letters, generate and describe linear number sequences, solve pictorial algebraic equations, convert between standard units of metric measurements, read from scales and calculate missing values on scales, solve worded problems involving conversions of measurements, calculate the perimeter of rectangles and rectilinear shapes, including those that have missing information and parallel sides, calculate the area of rectangles and rectilinear shapes, solve worded problems involving area and perimeter, calculate the area and perimeter of triangles and parallelograms, volume of cubes and cuboids, worded problems involving measurement, ratio, proportion and scaling.

Throughout the half term all topics will be reinforced with reasoning questions and arithmetic based on the skills covered.

Spring Two and Summer One – World War Two

Put that light out! Let’s journey back to life in Birmingham during World War 2. We will explore the impact the Blitz had on the home-front in Birmingham, the effect of rationing on people and how to survive a terrifying air raid. Become an international code-breaker to save the British Isles from ‘Operation Sea-Lion.’ In addition to this, you will understand the importance of the Battle of Britain as a significant turning point in British history. Utilising your art skills, you will create a silhouette image of the Luftwaffe attacking Birmingham.

Experience life as an evacuee, through the media of film and role play, whilst studying the different characters in Goodnight Mister Tom. Can you imagine years of hiding in storerooms above a warehouse from people who simply do not like your religion? Well put yourself into Anne Frank’s shoes, whose story lives on through her moving, daily diary entries. World War 2 favourite songs, such as ‘run, rabbit, run’ and ‘it’s a long way to Tipperary’ will be performed in groups. As well as this, we will be exercising our computing skills by creating a fact file all about Winston Churchill and learning how to input date onto MS Excel. PE is a fun mixture of invasion games, such as hockey and football. In Science you will be studying the topic of light, understanding that light travels in straight lines and being able to explain how shadows are formed. To consolidate your learning, we will enjoy a year group trip to the World War 2 Cannock Chase museum.

Please note this topic covers two half terms as you will also have the opportunity to demonstrate all of your English and Maths knowledge in the Year 6 SATS.

Writing Genres

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

  • Character descriptions
  • Letter writing
  • Atmospheric writing
  • Diary entries
  • Journalistic writing
  • Informal letter writing
  • Poetry
  • Recounts of a historic event creating suspense
  • Prefixes and suffixes
  • Tenses
  • Homophones
  • Active and passive sentences
  • Rules of speech
  • Prepositions
  • Clauses within sentences
  • Use of colons, semi-colons and dashes
  • Noun phrases
  • Spelling: common exception words

Mathematics Skills

Properties of 2d quadrilateral shapes, properties of 3d shapes and recognise their nets, recognise types of angles, estimate angles visually, draw angles using a protractor, calculate missing angles in triangles, quadrilaterals, on a straight line and around a point, construct triangles, illustrate and name parts of a circle, calculate the mean/average of a set of data, interpret line graphs and pie charts, convert between Roman and Arabic numbers, read data from timetables, display data in Venn and Carroll diagrams and solve worded problems involving money.

During Summer One the children in Year 6 will also have revision lessons where they will have the opportunity to look at past test papers to improve their exam techniques in preparation for SATs. All children will have extra Maths tuition in small focus groups which will cover all aspects of the Maths curriculum.

Throughout the term, all topics will be reinforced with reasoning questions and arithmetic based on the skills covered.

Summer Two – Lost at Sea and The Mayans

Imagine life on a desert island, separated from your parents, all alone……or are you? Delve into the adventurous world of Michael who finds himself falling overboard on a round the world yacht trip. Washed up ashore, he needs to learn to survive, quickly! We will also set sail to New York upon the world’s greatest ship, the Titanic and experience life as both rich and poor travellers. Use your computing skills to produce a fact file detailing the various species of that incredible creature……the shark. Put your atlas skills to the test and identify the names of all the world’s continents and oceans.

Transport yourself back to 2600BC and experience life in Mayan Society. Use your historian skills to research key aspects of Mayan life such as: their beliefs and gods, food and daily routines. Cricket, rounders and athletics will be our focus in PE lessons. In computing lessons, you will learn basic programming using the software Scratch. Within Science, you will build circuits using: batteries, bulbs, switches, motors and solar panels and will produce scientific diagrams to show our final efforts. Don’t forget your last ever week in your Calshot career, during which you will enjoy putting on the amazing Leavers’ Performance (which will be full of song and dance) an evening at the Year 6 prom, a day out on the mystery trip and the final Leavers’ Assembly.

Writing Genres

Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

  • Character descriptions
  • Balanced arguments
  • Persuasive writing
  • Adventure story writing
  • Noun phrases
  • Modal verbs
  • Adverbs and adjectives
  • Hyphenated words
  • All punctuation covered from throughout the year

Mathematics Skills

In preparation for Year 7, the children will recap main areas of the number focus in the curriculum. Areas covered are: carrying out effectively short multiplication and division of numbers involving decimals, long multiplication of 3 and 4 digits by a 2 digit integer, use all 4 operations to solve worded problems involving quantities explaining methods and reasoning, understand negative numbers in context, order, add and subtract positive and negative numbers, extend long multiplication and division to include decimals, recognise and extend number sequences, introduce using a calculator accurately, worded problems involving money and percentages, all 4 operations involving fractions, calculating and drawing angles, worded metric measurement problems and retrieving information from charts and graphs.

Throughout the half term, all topics will be reinforced with reasoning questions and arithmetic based on the skills covered.