Year 6

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

Martin Luther King

Introduction

Welcome to Year 6: the year of responsibility, maturity and preparation for the future.

In Year 6, our Mission Statement 'Let Your Light Shine' becomes a responsibility. The children are given the opportunity to help others let their light shine, by taking on more duties and tasks that help the other children in the school as well as themselves.

The year begins with the children accepting prefect roles throughout the school as well as the appointment of our Head Boy and Head Girl. The year is encapsulated with challenge, fun, adventure and opportunity. It is with these opportunities that we hope to send well-rounded and well-educated children to their new schools.

Some good examples of important events in the year are:

• performing, alongside the Year 2 children, in the school Christmas service in one of the parish churches
• performing a talent show for the entire school, raising money as part of our Lenten Fundraising

The year ends with an end-of-year production, where every child in Year 6 is given the opportunity to perform to their fellow pupils as well as performing one afternoon and two evening performances for parents.

Curriculum Coverage

We begin our year with a curriculum evening for parents, where we look at what the year will bring for the children in Year 6 and the expectations that are set.

In English we will continue and build on on a range of strategies to help the children write varied and interesting sentences, you might have heard the children refer to these as "Alan Peat" sentences. These structures have nicknames to help the children to remember them e.g.

"3Ed sentences" - Shocked, horrified and disappointed, Mum wondered how there could be such a huge mess in such a small kitchen after the children had been cooking! 

We also look at other ways of improving our writing including the DADWAVERS! struture.

Science comes alive through investigations, interactive resources and taking part in the 'Science Challenge Week'. A lot of our Year 6 Science is builds on previous learning, giving pupils the opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of a wide range of scientific ideas. They do this through exploring and talking about their ideas; asking their own questions about scientific phenomena; and analysing functions, relationships and interactions more systematically. 

Our ICT curriculum is diverse and cross-curricular, incorporating the new programming element of the curriculum. The children first develop knowledge of how to use the internet safely and efficiently. A part of this learning is to communicate advice to lower year-groups as part of an “E-safety committee”. Then we move on to use Microsoft Excel for database and statistics work, incorporating Science and Maths topics. We also work with web-based programs such as “Google sketch-up” (for design work) and “Scratch” (for coding).

In Humanities, we begin the year travelling through the 20th Century, looking at how technology has devevloped and learning dance routines from different eras! We say, “I’m a Year 6 pupil, get me out of here!”, which is a topic that looks at map skills and field work in our local area. We will also continue our history work by exploring the history of our local area Altrincham, including learning about 'The Bravest Street in England.' 

Our Art program is influenced by the work of artists such as Degas, Gaudi and Warhol. Children work in partnership to create 3D sculptures, mosaic designs and pastel work.

Our musical experience is put to the test in the Y6 Talent Show as part of our charity fundraising and the Year 6 Leavers Disco. The year is brought to a dramatic close with the Year 6 production and ends with our final goodbye to the children at the leavers’ mass.

We hope the children leave St Vincent’s having achieved their best and being well prepared for the future.

Mrs Bullock, Miss Hobday and Mr Fowler