Year 6 Curriculum

Year 6 Curriculum

Our Year 6 Class (ages 10-11 years), forms the final part of the Key Stage 2 phase of Primary school. In Year 6 learning takes place through a structured approach, which focuses on formal academic learning and social and emotional learning, which continues to build on the skills developed through the previous years of schooling.

Learning is based on the English National Curriculum for the foundation subjects. This provides a framework for learning which is enriched by an awareness of the context of our host country and the international background of our students.

Year 6 builds on the learning from Year 5 with an understanding that all children are unique and are at different stages of their learning journeys. For that reason we continue to incorporate a range of activities within the program that are inclusive and personalised for each child. We reserve the right to modify our programme based on the needs of our students.

Our goal is to prepare each child by the end of Year 6 to be ready for the transition to Year 7 and the growing demands of the Key Stage 3 Programme of study.

The following information provides an overview of expected topics to be covered during Year 6.

English

Our outcomes are achieved through teaching and learning focused on the following key areas:

Our Year 6 Class (ages 10-11 years), forms the final part of the Key Stage 2 phase of Primary school. In Year 6 learning takes place through a structured approach, which focuses on formal academic learning and social and emotional learning, which continues to build on the skills developed through the previous years of schooling.

Learning is based on the English National Curriculum for the foundation subjects. This provides a framework for learning which is enriched by an awareness of the context of our host country and the international background of our students.

Year 6 builds on the learning from Year 5 with an understanding that all children are unique and are at different stages of their learning journeys. For that reason we continue to incorporate a range of activities within the program that are inclusive and personalised for each child. We reserve the right to modify our programme based on the needs of our students.

Our goal is to prepare each child by the end of Year 6 to be ready for the transition to Year 7 and the growing demands of the Key Stage 3 Programme of study.

Reading 

Reading skills sessions

We believe the most effective approach to develop comprehension skills is through pupils’ experience of high-quality discussion with the teacher, as well as from reading and discussing a range of stories, poems and non-fiction. With the new National Curriculum split into three key areas: Reading for Pleasure, Vocabulary Development and Oral Comprehension, a whole class approach to reading will enable children to develop their skills within each of these.

All pupils will be given the opportunity to read aloud, listen to a text read by a teacher, a peer or an audiobook and develop their ability to be able to discuss what they have heard in a constructive way. Unfamiliar vocabulary is explored and explained within a familiar context (class text), ensuring a breadth and depth to their reading as well as enhancing their enjoyment.

All students join the Accelerated Reader programme (AR). This is an online reading scheme which manages and monitors independent reading practice, and encourages reading for pleasure for students of all abilities.

Writing

At Hillview, we believe that all groups of pupils should be able to communicate their knowledge, ideas and understanding through their writing. Therefore, our writing curriculum is fully inclusive and designed to meet the needs of all of our groups of learners. We want all pupils to acquire a wide vocabulary, a solid understanding of grammar and be able to spell new words by effectively applying the spelling patterns and rules they learn throughout their time in primary school. We want them to write clearly, accurately and coherently, developing conscious control, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences. We believe that all pupils should be encouraged to take pride in the presentation of their writing, in part by developing a good, joined, cursive handwriting style by the time they move to High School.  We believe that all good writers refine and edit their writing over time, so we want children to develop independence in being able to identify their own areas for improvement in all pieces of writing, editing their work effectively during and after the writing process. We do not put ceilings on what pupils can achieve in writing and we do not hold pre-conceptions about any pupils’ ability to make progress. We understand the importance of parents and carers in supporting their children to develop both grammar, spelling and composition skills, and so we want to encourage a home-school partnership which enables parents and carers to understand how to enhance the skills being taught in school.

Written Composition

  • Draft and write by organising ideas around themes into paragraphs, subheadings and headings.
  • Draft and write narratives using characters, settings and plots
  • Progressively use a varied and rich vocabulary and increasing range of sentence structures

Grammar and Punctuation

Grammar and punctuation knowledge and skills are taught through English lessons as much as possible. Teachers teach the required skills through the genres of writing that they are teaching, linking it to the genre to make it contextual with the intended writing outcome. This allows all groups of children to have the opportunity to embed and develop their understanding or to consolidate their skills.

Spelling

We use the spelling assessment the Single Word Spelling Test (SWST) to establish a baseline for each student to explore known and unknown spelling rules. We can then individualise the spelling programme for each child. The focus of our spelling development program encourages children to nurture a curiosity about words, discover their history and, in so doing, understand the logic behind the way they are spelled rather than a focus on rote learning lists of spellings each week.

Mathematics

All of the learning in Mathematics is through the Maths — No Problem! (MNP). This is a series of textbooks and workbooks written to meet the requirements of the 2014 English National Curriculum using the teaching strategies developed in Singapore that lead to them becoming world-leaders in Primary maths performance.

Topics to be explored in Year 6 include:

  • Number and place value
  • Calculations: Four Operations on a Whole Number
  • Fractions, Decimals and Percentages
  • Ratios and Proportion
  • Measurement
  • Negative Numbers
  • Geometry
  • Statistics

Science 

  • Unit 1 – Human and Animals
  • Unit 2 – Food Chains
  • Unit 3 – Caring for the Environment
  • Unit 4 – Material Changes
  • Unit 5 – Forces and Motion
  • Unit 6 – Electricity

Humanities

  • Unit 1: Rivers
  • Unit 2: Mountains
  • Unit 3: Malawi

Art and Design

Pupils will be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.

Pupils will be taught:

  • to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
  • to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
  • about great artists, architects and designers in history.

Computing and ICT

  • Unit 1: Coding in Scratch:
  • Unit 2: Webpage creation
  • Unit 3: 3D Modelling
  • Unit 4: Spreadsheets

Music

  • Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.
  • Use and understand staff/stave and other musical notations.
  • Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music.
  • Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds.
  • Appreciate and understand a range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
  • Develop an understanding of the history of music.

Drama

  • Improvise and invent both real and fictional scenarios
  • Learn how voice and body language convey character
  • Learn how theatre conventions can enhance understanding
  • Learn to work collaboratively and assess both their own and others’ performances

PE

Class lessons focus on:

  • Movement and dance lessons
  • Coordination with bat and ball lessons
  • Outdoor games
  • Adventure climbing and balancing lessons
  • Outdoor sport specific lessons
  • Athletics and cross-country lessons
  • Indoor gymnastics lessons
  • Swimming

Competitive sport specific squads include:

  • FootballHockey
  • Swimming
  • Tag Rugby
  • Netball
  • Athletics and
  • Cross country running

Personal Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education

  • Friendships
  • Citizenship
  • Healthy Living
  • Hillview Values

The outcomes of the Year 6 programme are children who are happy, are able to communicate well, have the ability to think critically, who can share their thoughts and ideas with confidence and understand how they learn best. Year 6 students demonstrate their understanding of leadership and are looking forward to the challenges of High School. We aim to support the development of children who are ready to face the social, emotional and academic challenges of the transition to the Year 7 programme at Hillview.