The Federation of Abbey Infant & Junior School Curriculum Map for Year 6 2020-21 - Spring term For specific class information see https://abbey-federation.secure- primarysite.net/topic/class-pages For dates see https://abbey-federation.secure-primarysite.net/diary Our topic is ‘The Age of Discovery’ Following on from previous learning about the Tudors, Year 6 will journey around the world with early explorers such as Sir Francis Drake, discovering the routes that he took, the places he visited and the impact that he had. We will discuss his involvement in The Transatlantic Slave Trade, investigate how the slave trade developed and look at the roles of enslaved Africans on plantations in the Americas. This will link with developing pupils’ knowledge of how the British Empire was formed and how widely it spread. Work on longitude, latitude and time-zones will show that ‘the sun never set on the British Empire’. Pupils will finally compare and contrast people being up rooted from their homes to become slaves with the plight of modern-day refugees. As we return to school following lockdown, we will be able to complete practical work in Design Technology which relates to the history of slavery and the fight for freedom and we will also have the opportunity to handle and discuss artefacts relating to the topic.
Music This term, the children will build on their listening and appraising skills as well as playing from memory with some accuracy, fluency, control and expression. The children will also explore and incorporate the musical elements of pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre and rhythm into their performances and will explore how these elements can be organised and used expressively within simple percussion, in improvising and composing. The children will also be exploring some African music with links to our topic. Geography Opportunities for the children to apply and develop their geographical knowledge and skills further will be provided through our topic work this term. They will focus on new knowledge of shipping routes and trade routes across the globe by plotting Francis Drake’s route around the world, investigating the time zones he travelled through as well as studying parts of the Americas, where slavery was prevalent. Further work will be completed on the position of the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, using longitude and latitude, reading 6 figure grid references including map work related to the colonisation of the British Empire. Mathematics Throughout the Spring term, there will be an increasing focus on problem solving, not only in our regular Monday ‘reasoning’ lessons, but also within work on geometry, fractions & percentages, algebra, area & perimeter and ratio & proportion. We will also continue to develop our times tables, arithmetic and place value knowledge. Using a ‘mastery’ approach, we will be focusing on developing our understanding and knowledge in the areas above by looking at the area of parallelograms and triangles, solving algebraic equations, exploring the properties of circles and learning to construct 2D shapes from given dimensions.
Computing There will continue to be a strong focus on online safety and cyber bullying. Children will also consider the reliability of information the issues of ‘fake news’ and advertising in social media. We will complete a unit of work on 3D modelling, using the online program, Tinkercad. Children will learn to create designs by selecting, combining and re-sizing 3D objects. They will design their own items and then create them in Tinkercad, before evaluating and improving them. Religious Education We will be asking the questions ‘Why do Hindus try to be good?’ and ‘What will make Sandwell a more respectful community?’ This work will links back to previous studies of how different faiths are very similar, in their core beliefs, in their use of religious buildings and how they work in charitable ways to help not only their community, but other communities and groups that may be in need. Science Building on from Year 4 work’s on recognising that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways, the children will be looking at “Living Things and Their Habitats” and be able to describe how living things are classified into broad groups including micro-organisms, plants and animals as well as classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics Another unit of work to be covered is “Evolution and Inheritance” in which the children will look at fossils, the work of Charles Darwin will be explored and how he developed his ideas based on Natural Selection and adaptation. will use the theme of ‘Dragons’ as a stimulus for a variety of short writing activities. We will look at the biography of James Cook. Consequently, the children will plan and write imaginary biographies of themselves. In Grammar, emphasis will be placed on using ‘cohesive devices’ and a wider range of punctuation. English The Units of Writing will be linked, as much as is possible, to the ‘Age of Discovery’ topic. Initially, we will look at persuasive brochure writing. We will then move on to Narrative and aspects of story writing e.g creating suspense; describing a setting. Two weeks will be spent on Poetry and poetic techniques. Also, particular forms of poetry e.g. extended metaphor. After half-term we
History This term, the children will include work on early explorers (Sir Francis Drake) that develops year 4s and year 5s old world and new world understanding. Pupils will be developing their knowledge of the British Empire emergence. However, our lessons will predominately focus on The Slave Trade and the Triangular Trade. Children will finally compare and contrast people being up rooted from their homes to become slaves and compare that to modern day refugees. Links to UNICEF’s “Rights Respecting” will be made by looking at human rights. Art & Design The children will build on skills taught in the Autumn term’s by focusing on the portraiture and figure painting of Jamaican artist, Donovan Nelson. They will also explore a variety of African masks, developing their skills in gridding and shading to create detailed observational drawings in a range of sizes. The children will also look at the sculpture work of Anthony Gormley, by creating 3D sculptures using a range of different materials and joining methods.
PE This term, we will be playing Badminton, further developing the racket skills learned during the tennis unit from Y5. Children will develop the skills to play a variety of shots and be encouraged to make conscious choices of shot to win games. We will continue to emphasise the Head (conscious choice), Heart (values and fitness), Hands (getting it right) approach to PE.
MFL – French This term the children will be exploring the Francophone world and the common values of identity, self, others and the greater world outside the classroom. The children will focus on repeating language chorally and individually as well as having the opportunity for individual spoken and written work. The children will be listening to a variety of French music.
Design Technology Pupils will be given the opportunity to design, assess and then create their own “Underground Railroad Freedom Cushion” based on the designs and quilting techniques used to create ‘Freedom Blankets’ which were used to help the enslaved Africans of the American south escape to freedom in the north. This term, the children will also be asked to research, develop an African mask design and build the protype from their design.
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