Year 6 - Arguing and algebra

It has been a busy start to the half-term for Year 6. After a last polish of their Take One Picture work, they have changed their focus to encompass topics from geometry and algebra, to written argument and mountain building!

The children are particularly enjoying ‘arguing’ in English, appreciating that it is a more complex skill than who can shout the loudest. They have honed their formal language, and thought carefully about how to structure their points and provide evidence to support them. In a verbal ‘boxing ring’ style debate this week, they discovered the importance of counter-argument and thinking ahead to be able to parry opponent’s points. This is such an important skill in life: do please encourage a few debates at home.

In Maths, following work on finding the area of a range of geometric shapes, Year 6 will now focus on algebra, using expressions, formulae, equations and substitution to solve missing number problems.

As an adjunct to our class novel - War Horse - we have turned our attention in Humanities from World War One to the geography of France. We will be looking, in particular, at the mountainous regions, thinking about how mountains are formed, used, and how humans can impact on this environment both positively and negatively. This might even give us another topic to argue about! Using all our rhetorical skills, and appropriate formal language of course.

This term in LFL, Year 6 have been thinking about their dreams and goals. They spent time thinking of things they would like to achieve in the coming year and decided on two goals; one in school and one outside school. Once pupils had decided on their goals we decided on some steps to success to ensure the goal is achieved. Pupils set out a plan and some ways in which they can achieve their goals. We will look back on these goals at the end of the year and see how many we managed to achieve!

We have also been looking at problems faced around the world. Pupils researched charities and created presentations to raise awareness of the work they do. It was great to see the pupils present their work and we have been really pleased with the standard they have produced.