On this page you can find the curriculum notes for Year 6, for the Autumn , Spring and Summer Terms.

English

Within the English curriculum there is constant graded development of the following which underpin all the English courses:

• Grammatical knowledge
• Handwriting
• Vocabulary development
• Phonic awareness
• Sentence building
• Punctuation skills
• Essay planning, editing, presenting
• Reading skills
• Skills of listening and speaking
• Writing book reviews

Autumn Term

English

To supply a framework for writing:

• Responding to a picture stimulus
• Descriptive writing
• Recount
• Play scripts
• Poetry

and reading

• Register
• Development of comprehension skills using evidence

Maths

• Place Value
• Four Rules
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Percentages
• Graphs & Charts
• Co-ordinates
• Symmetry
• Reflections, rotations & translations

Science

Light
How we see luminous and non-luminous objects, shadows – how they are formed, how they change during the day

Sound
How sounds are made, changing the pitch and volume of sounds, measuring sound, how we hear, how sounds travel

Habitats
Fungi, the role of decomposers in the woodland

Reversible & Irreversible changes
Properties of materials, changes during manufacturing processes, rusting, combustion, tests for water and carbon dioxide, use of Bunsen burner, environmental consequences of use of fossil fuels

French

Topics

• Pets
• How to describe them
• New classroom objects
• New classroom instructions
• Numbers up to 60

Grammar and Syntax

• Reinforcement of gender and number
• The negative
• Adjectives and adjectival agreement
• The plural form in French with articles, nouns, verbs and adjectives
• Possessive adjectives with the 2nd person singular
• New prepositions and new adverbs
• The Imperative

History

Medieval Realms 1066-1500

• One crown, three claimants – a background to the causes of the Norman invasion
• Conquest 1 – winning the battle
• Conquest 2 – winning the country – the harrying of the North and the birth of the castle
• Conquest 3 – controlling the country – the Feudal System
• Domesday!
• The feudal village – evidence from the air, evidence from the written record.  What still exists today?  The three field system.
• A villain’s lot is not a happy one – a year in a feudal village
• Death in the New Forest – the “Murder” of William Rufus
• The importance of religion in medieval society 1 – the local church
• The importance of religion in medieval society 2 - monastic life
• The Hue and Cry! – keeping order in medieval settlements
• Medieval justice

Geography

• Topic: The Water Cycle
  Aim: The idea that water moves between the sea, the atmosphere and the land.  Pupils will gain a working knowledge of the related terminology.
• Topic: Rivers
  Aim: For pupils to have a better understanding of how rivers operate and the impact that they have on the landscape and man.
• Topic: A study of a less economically developed country.  Bangladesh in Asia. Aim: To give pupils an insight into the physical and human geography and a poorer country.

R.S.

• Study of Islam

Classics

• Main focus - to broaden pupils’ experience of Latin and to develop their translation skills.
• Course Books:  Minimus; Minimus SecundusBackground topics to include life in Roman Britain and selected stories from Greek mythology.
• Consolidation of the Present tense
• Reinforcement of noun and adjective agreementPlural of common nouns
• Imperatives

Art

• Exercises aimed at revising colour work, leading to the introduction of complimentary colours.
• Painting flowers using complimentary colours and wet into wet water colour techniques.Tree study leading to a eries of Intaglio prints.Painting winter landscapes to include a tree.
• Designing Christmas cards.

Music

• Staff notation – clapping rhythms at sight
• Keys, scales, performance directions and time signatures Singing at sight
• Preparation of material for the Choral Workshop held in the Spring Term

Design Technology

Design Process
Design and make a mirror.

Drama

• Relationships & Conflict
• Building a play around charactersThe Drama of Images

P.E.

• Swimming – 4 weeks. Life-saving. Safety entries. Breast stroke and life-saving back stroke. Side stroke. Tired swimmer’s tow. Chin tow. Treatment of conscious and unconscious patient.
• Tennis – 2 weeks. Full court. Normal ball. Recap on technique and tactics. Overarm serve. Singles match play.
• Gymnastics – 6 weeks. Flight. Use of trampette. Basic short and long box vaulting. Introduction to trampolining skills and small sequence building. Evaluation of performance.
• Bleep Test – 1 week. Recorded endurance test.

Boys' Games

• Rugby – Colts – 12 a side.
  5-man scrum developed.  5-man lineout developed.  Other basic skills developed. Tactics & strategies developed.  Rules/set plays progressed.  Position responsibilities.  ICT use videos/cameras
• Football / Hockey – pre-season training begins in December with skills and practice matches
• Cross Country - Increase distance and difficulty
  Intermediate course run every week.
• School fixtures/competitions

Girls' Games

• Hockey
  Hockey – Wednesday matches. Consolidate ball familiarisation. Sending and receiving skills. Block jab and reverse stick tackle. Closing down play. Set play for centre pass and short corners. Positional play. Marking and interception.
• Netball
  Once a week lessons in preparation for matches next term. Ball handling skills. Attacking set play. Marking. Set moves. Match practice.
• Cross-Country

  Cross Country – Once a week. Run or set course. Frequently timed

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Spring Term

English

• Complex and compound sentences
• Verb tenses
• Writing to discuss
• Presenting an argument
• Understanding narrative techniques
• Descriptive Writing

Maths

• Metric & imperial units
• Area, perimeter, volume
• Angles
• Equations
• Directed Numbers
• Substitution

Science

Micro-organisms
Helpful/harmful microbes, disease, decay & recycling

The Solar System & beyond
Movement of the Earth causes apparent movement of other bodies, the planets of the Solar System, moons as satellites, the Universe, galaxies, manned space travel, artificial satellites & their uses.

The Human cycle
The human life cycle, growing up and changes at puberty, male and female reproductive organs, the development of a human foetus in the womb

French

Topics

• How to tell the time
• The 24 hour clock
• How to discuss school subjects and time tables
• How to talk about others

Grammar and syntax

• Reinforcement of verb être
• And verb avoir
• Reinforcement of adjectives and their agreement
  Interrogative pronouns
• Reinforcement of the use of articles in French
• Use of il and elle

History

• Murder in the Cathedral – Henry II and Thomas Becket. A detailed study of the conflict between Henry II and the Church and its consequences. Who was to blame for Becket’s death? – support your view with evidence

• The Crusades – why did European states go to war against the Ottoman Empire? A timeline of events. We lost the Crusades but what did we gain? The impact of the Crusades on life in Europe.

• The development of castles. A depth study of the changes in castle design from 1066 to 1550.

Geography

Topics: Population Studies

• Aim: For pupils to understand that the world population of 6 billion is not evenly distributed.

Topic: Volcanoes

• Aim: For pupils to understand why and where volcanoes occur.

R.S.

• The life of Muhammed
• Places of worship in Christianity, Judaism and Islam
• Festivals in Christianity, Judaism and Islam

Classics

• Identifying parts of speech in Latin and English
• Identifying the subject and object of a sentence in Latin and English
• The Infinitive

Art

• Clay work shops with Georgina Beadman. Making three frames and some clay impressions for future use. Introduction of slipware.Textile project involving linear designs.

Music

• Composition within a given framework
• Typing and printing compositions using the appropriate software
• Conducting using 2, 3 and 4 beats to the bar
• Performance – 4th Year Choral Workshop (which also includes instrumental music)

Design Technology

Resistant Materials/ICT
Design and make a bird house. It can be for a real bird or purely decorative.

Drama

• ‘The Snow Goose
• ‘Beowulf’

P.E.

• Dance
  Scottish Country Dancing. Dashing White Sergeant. Strip the Willow. Eightsome Reel
  Street dance/ Capoeira DanceWorld of Sport Dance – Haka/ rugby moves..
• Badminton
  Warm up. Racket Control. Clears and Lobs. Serve. Singles Play

Boys' Games

• Football 11-a-side developed
  Positions looked at and formations. Defence/Attack tactics and strategies. Set plays. Skill development differentiated to suit pupil. Rules/laws of game including off side.
• Hockey: Game skills developed
  Beating and opponent, defending against an attack
  Positional responsibilities. Tactics and strategies. Set plays developed. Goalkeeping developed. Formations.

Girls' Games

• Netball – Developing own drills and practices. Tactical play. Marking/ dodging. School matches.
• Tennis – Full court. Normal ball. Spin on service and ground strokes. Match play. Ladder matches.

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Summer Term

English

• Etymology
• Word games
• Comparison of poems on a theme
• Poetry writing
• Summary
• Explanatory texts
• Writing instructions

Maths

• Constructions
• Averages
• Probability

Science

Solutions and separation techniques

Conservation of mass in the formation of a solution, saturated solutions, solubility, separation techniques; filtration, evaporation, paper chromatography, simple distillation, Liebig condenser

Electrical circuits
Revision and development of previous work on circuits, motors and buzzers, short circuits, awareness of safety when using electrical appliances, introduction to parallel circuits

Variation & Classification
The variety of different organisms and the need for classification. The animal kingdom; vertebrate/invertebrate, characteristics of vertebrate groups, differences between insects & spiders. Classification of plants, why fungi are not plants. Viruses, fungi and single-cells animals as separate kingdoms

French

Topics

• Hobbies and sports
• Other leisure activities
• New adjectives
• How to ask permission
• How to give and justify opinions
• Birthdays and presents
• French festivities

Grammar and syntax

• Reinforcement of the present of regular er verbs
• Position of adverbs in French
• Revision of verbs êtreand avoir in the present
• Conjugation of verb pouvoirin the present
• New interrogative pronouns
• The use of the infinitive in a sentence
• The use of on
• The imperative

History

• King John- the worst king in History? An extended study of John, his life and times that focuses on the development of  skills in the writing of history and answering key questions
• Henry III and the development of Parliament
• The Hundred Years War – the causes
• The Hundred Years War – English successes – Crecy, Agincourt
• The Hundred Years War – Why did the English eventually loose the conflict?
• The Hundred Years War – Joan of Arc
• The Black Death – all the gory details and an analysis of the long term consequences for England and Europe
• Revolting Peasants – Richard II and the attempts to reassert the feudal system
• The Crown and the Nobility – struggles for power – The War of the Roses.

Geography

• Fieldwork Topic: Does land use change as you move away from St Hugh’s?
• Topic: Climatic Regions around the world
• Aims: To understand the factors that influence climatic regions around the world.

R.S.

Brief study of  Hinduism or Buddhism

Classics

• Cardinal numbers 1 - 20
• Consolidation and revision
• Developing translation and comprehension skills

Art

Drawing for a purpose.

• Designing a book cover.
• Mod roc and wire insects.

Music

• Digital recording using a live microphone directly onto CD-ROM
• Manipulation of recorded sound – to slow it down or to speed it up
• Using Sibelius software to write melodies within a given framework
• Introduction to “The Orchestra” educational softwareMusic Appreciation linked to the music of George Gershwin
• Singing songs composed by George Gershwin

Design Technology

Structures
Design and make a model of a building.

Drama

(Play Preparation)

• The First World War
•  ‘Journey’s End’
• War Poetry

P.E.

• Swimming
  Develop Racing Dive. Improve fitness. Fins to improve kicking. Develop all Strokes including Butterfly. Surface Dive / Treading Water.

Boys' Games

• Cricket 11-a-side
  Batting – building an innings Shot developments and decisions
  Bowling – preference practiced.  Learn all laws
  Batting – running between wickets developed. Shot development progressed.
  Wicket keeping and fielding – developed
  Slip catching               
  Rules and laws learnt.
• Athletics
  Full programme of events developed. Long distance and short distance. All throwing and jumping events (weights change through years).
• Tennis
  Ground strokes developed. Slice and topspin furthered. Match play continued and tournaments played and officiated. Tactics and Strategies

Girls' Games

• Rounders – Normal ball. Barrier practises. Spin bowling. Matches
• Tennis – Continue individual development. Tactics.
• Athletics – Importance of strength, stamina, suppleness. All track and field events.

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