Year 6

Mr Winchester (Class Teacher)

Mrs Chan and Mrs Read (Support Staff)

Year 6 Homework Grid – Summer 2026
Year 6 Intent
Year 6 Reading Spine – 2025-26
Year 6 Reading Intent
Year 6 Meet the Teacher

Year 6 have continued to make fantastic progress this term and should be really proud of how far they’ve come. In reading, we’ve been exploring Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian. The story has taken us on quite a journey, from the sadness of Willie’s early life in London to the warmth and happiness he begins to experience in the countryside. The children have particularly enjoyed seeing Willie grow in confidence, as well as watching Mr Tom rediscover joy and purpose.

In Maths, our focus has been on statistics and geometry as we build towards SATs. The children have been creating and interpreting dual bar charts and pie charts (including those involving percentages), as well as learning how to calculate the mean. In geometry, we’ve revisited angles and developed our understanding further by calculating vertically opposite angles and angles within triangles, alongside exploring the properties of circles. We also looked at nets of 3D shapes. In our position and direction unit, pupils have worked with coordinates in all four quadrants, solved problems involving coordinates, and refreshed their knowledge of reflection and translation.

As expected for this time of year, much of the term has centred around KS2 SATs preparation. The children have shown great determination and a positive attitude, which is exactly what we hope to see. During SATs week, we will begin each day at 8:10am with a breakfast of fruit and pastries to help everyone feel settled and ready. Afternoons will provide a welcome balance, with PE and our Art project on chair design. And, of course, we’ll celebrate all the hard work with a well-earned treat—pizza! The busy schedule continues with our residential trip to Condover Hall in Shropshire, followed closely by rehearsals for the end-of-year production after the half term break.

In English, pupils have been developing their newspaper writing skills, focusing on how to shift levels of formality depending on purpose and audience. They have been applying a wide range of techniques, including fronted adverbials, varied sentence structures, effective word choices, dialogue, and cohesive devices such as pronouns and conjunctions to ensure their writing flows smoothly.

In Science, our topic on evolution has encouraged children to think about inherited characteristics and how living things adapt over time to suit their environments. Meanwhile, in History, our study of World War Two has covered key countries and leaders, significant events, the impact of rationing, changes in the roles of women, and how the war has shaped the world we live in today.

Year 6 have continued their amazing start and have been extremely busy!

The children have been reading Kiran Milwood Hargrave’s ‘The Island at the End of Everything’ in their Reading lessons.  This is a thought-provoking and heart-rending tale describing friendship, equality and how we treat those who are different.  This has complemented our English writing unit: discussion texts.  As Year 6 become more skilled writers, they will learn to compose a balanced argument – using synonymous phrases, purposeful repetition and pronouns to aid cohesion, so that they can deftly present both sides of an argument.

At the very start of the term our Maths topic focussed on Fractions.  Children learned to work systematically to figure out how to approach questions to come to the correct answers.

In our Science topic ‘Light’, children have been understanding how light travels in straight lines from a source, reflects off objects and enters our eyes so we can see. Children will study how some objects make their own light, while others only reflect it as well as how shadows are formed and their size changes with distance. They will finish by analysing how light can bend when it passes through different materials, refracting to help create rainbows.

Our RE topic is based on the Islamic belief in life after death.  Children will explore themes of ‘forever’, ‘eternity’ and ‘motivation’, whilst relating these ideas to their own worldview.

Year 6 are ‘Exploring Identity’ in Art. It is inspired by African artists who use the theme of ‘identity’ in their work.  Children will explore their own sense of self and identity to create their own butterflies – relating to out book ‘The Island at the End of Everything’.

We will be exploring the Kingdom of Benin for History this term.   Year 6 will be finding out about this empire, its Golden Age and links to the British Empire.

In our Computing lessons, children will become publishers!  They will work in teams to compile their very own class magazine detailing their experiences at Manland to date.  Sections will include: most likely to …, highlights, favourite memories, teachers of past and present and an interview with the Headteacher! Our budding journalists will collate and compile their own content, decide on layout and pictures for their pages.

We are really pleased to say that Year 6 have settled in brilliantly and made a fantastic start to the year! Our classroom has been full of energy and enthusiasm as everyone gets stuck into their learning.

In Reading, we have been enjoying David Almond’s Skellig. The story has lots of interesting twists and events that happen in a non-chronological order, which keeps us wanting to read more. We have been working on inference – using clues in the text to understand what the author is suggesting. We have also been practising reading out loud with expression so that we show the meaning and feelings behind the words.

In English, we have been exploring how writers build suspense. We have looked closely at different texts to spot the techniques authors use to create tension and keep the reader hooked. Now, our Year 6 writers are beginning to use these ideas in their own non-chronological reports on an invented planet that will keep their readers on the edge of their seats!

In Maths, we began with place value and have now moved on to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We have explored common factors and multiples, rules of divisibility, square and cube numbers, and both long and short division. We have especially enjoyed discussing which methods are the most efficient and explaining our reasoning.

In Science, we have been learning all about the Habitats and Living Things as well as Electricity. This has led to lots of great questions and interesting discussions, improving our knowledge throughout.

In RE, we have been thinking about the question: “What is the best way for a Muslim to show commitment to God?” We have talked about what commitment means, why it can sometimes be difficult, and how the Five Pillars of Islam guide the lives of Muslims. The children have shared thoughtful ideas and made links to their own experiences.

This term in History, we are learning about the British Empire. We have been exploring how it grew, the role of the East India Company, and how the Empire eventually declined. The children have shown maturity when discussing important and sometimes sensitive events from the past.

In Art, we have been studying Pablo Picasso and the Cubist movement. The children have created their own Cubist self-portraits, showing amazing creativity and imagination.

In Computing, we have used Code.org to focus on algorithms and code that makes games come alive. We have also been able to create our own Dance Party which has given us inspiration for our own PE Dance production!

We are incredibly proud of the effort shown during the Pupil Parliament and House Captain elections. Year 6 have four parliament members: a Prime Minister, a Deputy Prime Minister and two MPs. Voting days were full of persuasive speeches and even some creative campaigning! Everyone supported each other brilliantly, and we know our elected leaders will do a great job representing our school.

As we look ahead to our class assembly, Christingle and finishing our Open Mornings, it’s clear we have not only had a busy start to the year, but an even busier finish in the lead up to Christmas. We are confident that Year 6 will rise to every challenge and continue to shine.