Autumn 2 – Should Shakespeare still be taught in schools today?
Welcome back! We are very excited to be back in school with you all and are looking forward to a fabulous half-term ahead.
The Year 6 Team
We have a fabulous team here in Year 6. Mrs Remington Davidson and Mrs Moss teach in Violet Class whilst Miss Wykes teaches in Lilac Class. We also have Mrs Dennis, Ms Faboud and Mr Geen, our wonderful TAs who work across both classes.
Autumn 1: Shakespeare
This half-term, we will be asking ourselves “Should Shakespeare still be taught in schools today?” as part of our topic: Shakespeare! This topic is heavily linked to our English units whilst also focusing on elements of both History and geography. Throughout the topic, we will be learning about the life and works of William Shakespeare as well as having a special focus on Macbeth where we will build on our experiences of acting out plays in Year 5 to explore the complex language, dynamic action and universal themes such as fate vs responsibility of your actions. This will also influence our Geography focus as we research the setting of Macbeth, Inverness, to explore how land use in the area has changed over time and why this may be. In History, we will begin with a brief recap of the Tudor period before exploring how Richard III was portrayed by Shakespeare and whether this was an accurate depiction.
English
In our English lessons, we will be inspired by Shakespeare’s spooky play to create some atmospheric writing of our own. We will think about describing characters, setting and atmosphere evocatively as well as how to use dialogue to advance action (move the story along) and convey character. We will then build on our excellent work on authoritative tone from out Autumn 1 work on biographies to more independently create the content for an informative webpage about Shakespeare’s life.
We will continue to read widely across the curriculum throughout the half-term and encourage the children to be reading daily and regularly updating their personal reading records. In addition to this, our Guided Reading sessions will focus on maintaining attention and participating actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic to initiate and respond to others’ comments.
Maths
To begin with, we will be focusing on ‘Decomposing Shape’ in Maths. As part of this unit, we will build on our previous learning surrounding the properties of 2D and 3D shapes before learning how to calculate the area and perimeter of quadrilaterals (including parallelograms), triangles and more compound shapes. We will then move on to explore Multiplication and Division, gaining an understanding of how to use a range of formal written methods as well as when one may be more appropriate than the other.
PE
This half-term, our PE sessions will be on Tuesdays (Indoor) and Thursdays (Outdoor). On a Tuesday, children will need to bring in a PE kit to change in to and on Thursdays, they will need to come in wearing their PE kit and bring a change of clothes to change in to afterwards.
During our PE lessons, we will be completing a Gymnastics unit in Indoor PE, focusing on developing skills of tension and control to perform a range of symmetrical and asymmetrical body movements. In Outdoor PE, we will be learning about the skills and tactics involved in Hockey. We will have the opportunity to build on our knowledge of ball games from previous years to apply skills and techniques such as passing and shooting, as well as exploring effective tackling and defending as part of game situations.
Homework
Homework will be set on a Friday afternoon in Year 6. Instructions will be posted on Google Classroom and tasks will often include a Maths and English task on SATs Companion as well as Spelling, Handwriting or Maths Fluency. In addition, we encourage children to be reading daily, sharing these experiences with those at home wherever possible.
Important Dates
Wednesday 13th & Wednesday 27th November – Flu Vaccinations.
Friday 15th November – Children in Need (look out for further information in the newsletter)
Monday 2nd December – Y6 Cross Country Competition (more details to follow)
Wednesday 11th December – Y6 Dodgeball Competition (more details to follow)
Useful Links
Year 6 New to Year Group Presentation 24-25
Y6 Curriculum Descriptors Aut 2 24-25
Year 6 Maths – End of Year Expectations