Year 6 Amber Class

Mrs Perkins	Mrs Blanchard	Ms V Bowman
Class Teacher	Teaching Assistant (AM)	Teaching Assistant (PM)

Spring Term One

As ever, it has been a busy few weeks in Year 6. The children returned from the Christmas break ready to embark on a new term with enthusiasm and vitality.

We started our writing in 2026 with a whole school unit based on a book by Julia Donalson called “The Oak Tree”. This inspired the children to write passionate letters about the importance of preserving trees in our environment and how they have a positive impact of the wellbeing of everyone in the local community. The letters were professionally written and adopted many persuasive techniques that we had learnt during our writing lessons. We have since moved on to writing exciting news reports and poetry linked to our history topic of World War II.

Our work in History always inspires enthusiasm amongst the children and this year has been no different. They have embraced the learning with sensitivity, maturity and enthusiasm and have learnt a great deal about the actions that lead to World War II and the significant people of the time. We have studied the Dunkirk Evacuation, The Battle of Britain and The Blitz and we will continue in Spring 2 to learn about the Home Front and what the war meant for some children. This ties nicely with our guided reading book, “Letters from the Lighthouse” by Emma Carroll. If your child has particularly enjoyed this inspiring author, she has many other titles available such as “Frost Hollow Hall” and “The Girl who Walked on Air.”

In Science, we have been working on our topic of light. The children have learnt how light enables us to see and have investigated shadow formation. We have also investigated how light can change direction when travelling through different media. The children in Year 6 enjoy Science and are active participants in the lessons. We will continue to work on light in Spring 2 before moving on to the circulatory system.

In Maths we have covered the topics of ratio, algebra, and decimals. These topics are vital skills for our budding mathematicians as they move into secondary education, and our learning has given them solid foundations to build on. In Spring 2 we revise fractions and look more closely at the relationship between fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Thank you once again for your ongoing support of the children and the Year 6 team. We truly value all the help and encouragement you give to the children (and to us) in terms of ensuring the children continue to read regularly at home and bring homework in on time. It really is very much appreciated.

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Autumn Term Two

Well, the second half of the Autumn Term flew by as quickly as we expected. We seem to have crammed so much into the past seven weeks, it’s hard to know where to start.

We returned after half term to Future Ready Week where the children completed a series of projects designing a new product which would save energy in school. We were absolutely blown away by their creativity and the thoughtful way they approached the task. Amongst other grate ideas, they invented solar blinds to capture the rays of the sun, a watch that could save energy from exercise completed during the day and solar panels which could be used on garage doors. We picked one group to present their idea to a panel of ‘Dragons’ who were local entrepreneurs and who were equally impressed by the children’s skills.

In English and Writing, we have worked with Holes by Louis Sacchar. The children have really enjoyed engaging with this text and comparing it to the book we shared during our first half term. They have written diary entries, character descriptions and setting descriptions which have captured the harsh environment of what was one the ‘largest lake in Texas’. They particularly enjoyed finally watching the film at the end of year and looking out for all the similarities and differences between that and the text itself.

In Science, we have been exploring electricity, and the children have been experts at creating simple series circuits, exploring how voltage can influence components. They also investigated how independent variables changed the dependent variables in a circuit during which they noticed and tried to explain any anomalous results.

Mathematics has focused on fractions for most of this half term and the children have explored equivalence, fractions on a number line and how to solve problems involving a number of different steps and operations. We also celebrated Mathematics and Geometry across the entire school during Maths Week. The children were inspired by a book called The Tangram Cat and after reading it, they created their own stop-motion animations using characters made from tangram pieces.

Thank you to everyone who came to our assembly earlier in the term. It is clear to see that we will have some fantastic actors when it comes to our end of year production. Thank you too for all the lovely gifts and kind words we received at the end of term – they really are very much appreciated.

Finally, as you will be aware we said goodbye to Mrs Ayres at the end of term. I have worked with Mrs Ayres since I came over to Pyrcroft Grange in early 2014. She has been an amazing support to me and to all the children who have passed through our classroom. She will be greatly missed but I know she will enjoy spending quality time with her family.

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Autumn Term One

The children have quickly settled into the routine of Year 6 and are already making great progress.

In English Writing, we have already written non-chronological reports, setting descriptions and an exciting adventure story about climbers crossing the dreaded Khumbu Icefalls of Mount Everest. The children have investigated and learnt how to develop character through carefully written dialogue and through the accurate use of ‘show don’t tell’ to intrigue and interest their readers.

In Mathematics, we have revised place value in numbers up to 10,000,000 and are coming to the end of a unit on the four operations. Some of the children have really stretched themselves to understand the concept of long division and are justly proud of their achievements.

In Science, we have looked again at Living Things and Their Environments building on work done previously in Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2. They have learnt how to create classification keys and how living things are divided into different groups.

In RE we have looked at how different religions and world views have a range of practices and why religion looks different in different parts of the world and in PSHE we have considered how to keep ourselves safe in our local environment – a very important part of the curriculum especially as the children begin the preparation for secondary education and the greater independence that requires.

This half term seems to have flown by and now we look forward to preparing for a second half term together.