Swarcliffe Primary School

Our Staff

Summer Term - Endangered, Existing, Extinct

This summer term we will focus our learning around animals. We will explore different habitats, conservations projects and try to understand why so many species are disappearing from our planet.

English

In English we will begin the term looking at discussion texts. The children will explore how to write a balanced argument, giving equal weight to both sides before forming their own conclusions. They will then research the pros and cons of hunting before building their own discussions around the topic.

Children will then move on to a humorous diary entry based on the famous iguana vs snake clip from David Attenborough's Planet Earth 2. They will try and put themselves in to the shoes of the iguana, racing for its life and use subtle humour to make it a more enjoyable for the reader.

Obviously with SATS around the corner, there will be a lot of focus on revision making sure we are confident with as many of the key grammatical concepts as possible.

The children will also write an exciting mystery narrative based on the class novel: The White Giraffe. Martine, the protagonist of the story, has to decide who she can trust: Alex, the nasty, cruel gamekeeper, or Tendai, the seemingly innocent Game reserve warden. They will plan and write a story full of twists and turns, subtle clues and red herring and cliff hangers until the mystery is finally solved.

The children will finish the year by writing reflections. The Year 6s will reflect on their time at Swarcliffe as well as planning for their journey through high school. The 5s will write a similar piece but theirs will focus on the highs and lows of Year 5 as well as what they want to achieve in their final year in primary school.

Maths

In Maths there will be a lot of focus around geometry. The children will explore the properties of 2D and 3D shapes and use their understanding to explore more obscure animals. The children will also spend a lot of time first measuring angles using a protractor and then calculating angles based on their understanding of triangles, quadrilaterals and more complex shapes. 

The children will also look at translation and movement across a grid. First they will use simple instructions such as moving 4 squares left and two squares up before using co-ordinates to be more precise. This will then lead in to exploring reflection.

Similarly to our English learning, a lot of the focus will be on preparing the children for their SATS. We will go over those basic concepts that we know will play a large role in the test such as the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages and reasoning tasks.

In the summer terms the children will also be tasked with opening their own business as part of our Enterprise topic. Working in groups, the children will design and run a bakery including inventing, baking and selling a sweet treat. As part of this topic the children will explore profit and lost by tracking costs, revenue and profit margins. We are really excited to see what the children will come up with and which team will make the most money!

Science

The first focus of science will be properties of materials. The children will explore a range of mixtures and solutions (salt and water, sand and paperclips, sand and water, sugar and stone) and experiment in how to separate these mixtures back to their original elements. They will explore processes such as magnetism, filtration and evaporation before documenting what they observed and drawing scientific, logical conclusions.

PE

 In PE the children will first learn about Tennis, they will develop their forehand and backhand technique and practice how to serve. All the time they will be trying to apply these skills in to rallies and then into competitive games.

The children will then explore basketball. First they will need to become confident with the correct rules of sport that is less familiar to them before working on improving their dribbling, passing and shooting. Finally the children will have to apply their tactical knowledge as part of a team to win competitive matches.

Art

Art will look at collage. As the oldest children in school, 5/6 will be expected to be more considered in their collage work aiming for accuracy through an appreciation of shadow and shade. Children will be learn to blend different media and different shapes to create realistic effects. They will apply this learning to try create their own wonderful animal collage pieces.

RSE

In Relationship and Sex Education the children will spend a week learning about the Science behind growing up and the changes both the female and male body goes through as it reaches puberty. They will learn about reproduction and conception as well as the importance of practicing safe sex. All of these lessons are taught in a supportive environment, where children are encouraged to ask sensible questions to improve their understanding and address common misconceptions.

Spring 1 Why do people travel?

Welcome back to Spring 1 in KS2. We hope you all had a lovely break and are looking forward to your learning this half term.

This half term we are going to be looking at the topic of why do people travel. For our learning this half term, our important person will be James Cook: a famous British explorer and naval officer who became famous for his three voyages in the Pacific and to New Zealand and Australia (he was the first European to reach the Eastern coast of Australia).

English 

In English and guided reading during Spring 1 we will be reading the story of Kensuke’s Kingdom. This book tells the story of a young boy who sets of an around the world trip with his parents aboard their trusty ship- the Peggy Sue. However, disaster soon strikes and the young boy (Michael) finds himself marooned on an uncharted desert island. Whilst trapped here, Michael discovers he is not alone and soon comes into contact with Kensuke (an elderly Japanese man who has been trapped on the island for many years). The story tells of their growing friendship and Michael’s attempts to get home.

For our writing we will start by writing a letter as Michael which he will send out in a glass bottle in an attempt to convince someone to come to his rescue. During this writing, we will focus on our FANTASTICs and are sentence types and attempt to produce a letter which is informative as well as persuasive.

Once we have completed this writing our writing will turn to our science topic this half term: micro-organisms. We will first write a recount on the work of Edward Jenner, identifying how he developed the first vaccination. We will then create our own non-chronological report about the different types of micro-organisms.

Maths

At the start of the term, we will look back at long division and ensure that we are experts with this method before moving on. Once we have done this, we will once again look at fractions. However, this time we will concentrate on multiplying and dividing fractions and finding fractions of amounts. Finally, this half term, we will look at shape and measure. We will use new and old skills to find the perimeter and area of different shapes before looking at volume for the first time.

Geography

In geography we will improve our locational knowledge and also our understanding of human and physical features. We will first identify where Europe is on a map and then locate some countries within Europe. After this we will start to look at the Mediterranean; we will focus on the climate, physical and human features and also why people visit this location. Finally, we will look in detail at Greece as a country and discuss how it differs from the UK.

Science

As mentioned earlier our learning in science this half term will focus on micro-organisms. Our first step will be to identify the different types of micro-organisms and discuss how they differ. Next, we will complete our investigation in to the growth of mould. We will attempt to discover in which conditions it grows at the quickest rate. During Science, we will also look at the work of Edward Jenner and the creation of the first vaccination.

Computing

Our learning will focus around using PowerPoint. We will be creating our own presentation based on our learning in geography. To ensure the information we present is correct we will also work on how we can identify reliable sources of information.

PSHE

In PSHE we will be looking at human rights. We will identify the different rights children have and discuss the importance of these. We will also look at how human rights impact our daily lives.

This half term will also be friendship week and our topic for this is cyberbullying.  

Autumn Two: How does conflict impact lives?

Class Novel: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

During World War II, 8-year-old Bruno and his family leave Berlin to take up residence near the concentration camp where his father (David Thewlis) has just become commandant. Unhappy and lonely, he wanders out behind his house one day and finds Shmuel, a Jewish boy of his age. Though the barbed-wire fence of the camp separates them, the boys begin a forbidden friendship, oblivious to the real nature of their surroundings.

English

In English this half term, we will begin writing a diary entry from the perspective of Bruno in our book: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The children will have to think about the emotions involved in Bruno's move from his childhood home in Berlin to a new house for his Dad's job.

With our topic focusing on World War 2, there will be lots of cross-curricular links to History throughout the half-term. Our next writing focus will be writing a historical recount surrounding the events of the D-Day landing.

Finally, the children will write a narrative based around the Sainsburys Christmas Day War advert. They will use our fantastic lenses to create exciting sentences that grip and entertain the reader as well as promote a range of different emotions.

Maths

 The main focus of Maths this half-term will be fractions! Children will begin looking at equivalent fractions as well as how to simplify and convert developing our understanding of numerators and denominators. There will be a big focus on using their times tables and knowledge of factors and multiples to do this confidently. We will then move on to adding and subtracting fractions, again, relying heavily on our times tables and multiples. This will progress in to converting improper fractions into mixed numbers and back again. Next up, we will multiply and divide fractions thinking carefully about when we need to keep our fractions as they are (multiplying) and when we need to flip them (dividing).

History

 History will be a huge focus of this half-term. We will open our learning by exploring when and where World War 2 took place as well as who the important figures were. We will then start looking at the key events from World War 2 including the Battle of Dunkirk, the Blitz, D-Day and VE Day. Our learning will then move on to other aspects of the war including evacuations, rationing and the impact of women in the war. As we are incredibly lucky to be within walking distance of a local historical site (from WW1), we will visit the memorial to the Barnbow lasses and research their role in the war.

Science

Our Science focus over the next 6 weeks will be light. We will use a range of experiments to look at how we see and the ways in which light travels to our eyes. We will then look at reflections and refraction and how light changes through a mirror and a prism. We will also explore shadows and silhouettes before making shadow theatres.

Art

Art will be exploring the use of charcoal as well as different shading techniques. The children will then apply this learning to create London Blitz imagery using silhouettes of the London skyline in Charcoal and creating cloud smoke and ash in the skies.

RE

RE will focus on forgiveness and the theme that runs through all religions. We will compare different religious stories and find the advice each one gives towards forgiving, not holding grudges and caring for others.

PE

PE this half term will be dodgeball. We will develop our throwing and catching as well as work on our tactical understanding.

Autumn One: How do our bodies work?