Welcome to Year 6.
Our Teachers are Mrs Collins and Mrs Aitbenmoussa and our Teaching Assistants are Mrs Rimstad and Mrs Cheruvarthur.
Feb 272026
Invading, Investigating and Inspiring
It’s been a week of investigations in Year 6. Following some revision on both multiplication and division (to 2 decimal places), children set about using their own examples to prove whether a statement was always, sometimes or never true.
In English, we have started our new class book, Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen It is dystopian novel about Ade, a boy trapped in his London tower block by fast-growing, invasive plants called “Bluchers”. We wrote a newspaper article about the events so far and we are keen to continue next week.
In our history lessons, we got to know Winston Churchill a bit better, considering the type of leader that he was and some of the key decisions he made during World War 2. We heard an extract of his inspirational speech ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ and then thought about questions we might like to ask him and how he could have responded.
Next week, we will celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 5th March and keep an eye open for the arrival of the Book Fair.
Homework:
Reading x 3
Spellings x 10 sentences and learn
Maths – Multiplication quiz
Have a lovely weekend,
The Year 6 Team
Feb 132026
Algebra, Arctic and Amazing Assembly
We finished our class book, Leila and the Blue Fox this week and the children have really enjoyed writing an extended blog post based on her adventures in the Arctic and what the main character has learned. We have started our new class book which is ‘Once’ by Morris Gleitzman and it links in nicely with our World War 2 topic.
Algebra – a much feared topic in maths – was on the agenda this week. I think the children were surprised to see how quickly they grasped some of the basic concepts and by the end of the week were getting stuck in and solving some more challenging problems.
In topic, we continue to be impressed with the pupils’ enthusiasm when learning about World War 2. This week, our focus was the changing role of women during this period. Lots of brilliant discussion and hot potato topics that were sensibly spoken and written about.
Science has been the highlight of the week in Year 6. We delved further into our topic of Light and focused on the ‘spectrum of light’ where we discussed what white light is, what produces white light and the spectrum of colours that appear. When white light (light with no colour filters) is refracted using a glass prism or water, the colours bend and separate into the colours of the rainbow. Red is at the top as it bends the least and violet is at the bottom as it bends the most. We used the idea of Newton’s disc to create a spinning wheel that has the colours of the rainbow on it. When you spin it quick enough, the colours merge to a white representing white light. Everyone LOVED it!
Everyone loved the Lion Dance assembly, held on Tuesday to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
For homework, we have suggested that the children look through their past SATs papers to revise and go over questions.
Homework:
Read x 6
TTRS x 5 mins per day (minimum of 35 minutes in total)
Oracy – Debate with family
Art – Collect resources
(Details on Google Classroom)
We wish everyone a restful and relaxing half term break.
The Year 6 Team
-
Feb 062026
Periscopes, Propaganda and the Passive Voice
We finished our class book, Leila and the Blue Fox, today and thought it was right to wave her off, whilst enjoying the main character’s favourite sweet – a Werther’s Original. We have dabbled in different styles of writing this week, using descriptive techniques such as personification, similes and metaphors and everyone enjoyed writing a ‘tweet’ using the passive voice to help Leila spread the word about her mum’s unjustified detention by the Canadian authorities.
In topic lessons, we have been learning Propaganda and how it was used in World War 2 to spread important messages about safety, food shortages and staying positive. The children created their own versions of war propaganda, which we hope to display in the coming weeks.
Continuing with our topic of light, this week, the children investigated and made their own periscopes, using card and mirrors. They then set about investigating what they could (and couldn’t) see with them. See pictures below.
Homework:
RE – Leader (Due 11.02.26)
Spellings x 10 sentences
Reading x 3
Maths – Arithmetic quiz
Grammar quiz
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
-
Jan 302026
SATs, St Paul’s Survives and Spanish
This week, Year 6 have worked really hard and completed another set of past SATs papers. All the children approached the tests with positivity and resilience and we couldn’t ask for more. Back to normal next week!
In other news, in continuation of our World War 2 studies, we learnt about the devastating events of the Blitz. We looked at the photograph ‘St Paul’s Survives’, taken in London during the night air raid of 29–30 December 1940, the 114th night of the Blitz of World War II. It shows St Paul’s Cathedral, illuminated by fires and surrounded by the smoke of burning buildings. It was taken by photographer Herbert Mason. To recreate this iconic image, we firstly made stencils of the London skyline – with St Paul’s Cathedral being front and centre – and then used chalk around the edges. Using our fingers, we smudged the chalk to create the impression of smoke and flames and finished it off by adding damaged buildings to the foreground.
We have been making strides through our Spanish topic over the last few weeks and lots of the children are now able to say what they study in school, at what time, whether they like it (or not!) and why. ¡Buen trabajo!
In RE, we used all of our research about the Dalai Lama to write an information page all about his incredible life and the type of leader that he is.
Homework this week is a 2 week project linking with our RE and leaders.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
Jan 232026
Athletics, Angles and Asking Questions…
On Thursday, 30 children proudly represented Alban City School at the Sports Hall Games athletic competition. They competed in a large variety of events including relay and obstacle races, speed bounce, soft javelin chest push and long jump to name a few. They did a great job of supporting each other and cheering them along.
In maths this week, we have revised angles, how to use a protractor and then completed questions by working out missing angles. This involved knowing what acute, obtuse and reflex angles are, as well as the rules for opposite angles.
We have had 3 Spanish sessions this week, with lots of children mastering the challenge of talking about school, when they study different subjects, asking if they like something and giving their opinions. An example sentence is:
En el colegio, los lunes, estudio español a las dos. Me encanta el matemáticas pero odio la informática.
Which translates as:
At school on Mondays, I study Spanish at 2 o’clock. I love maths but I hate computing.
Next week, we will be having another go at some past SATs papers to see how we are preparing and progressing towards the tests in May. Please remind the children that they are nothing to worry about and we just want them to try their best.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
Jan 162026
Arctic, Air Raids and Area
In English this week, we have been delving deeper into the Nordic landscape with our book Leila and the Arctic Fox. We practised writing formally, before writing a covering letter, applying for a grant in order to launch an expedition to track the migration of Miso the fox. Following this, we decided we needed to know more about this interesting creature. The children then worked in small groups to create Arctic fox fact pages for display.
In Topic this week we have continued with our unit on World War II, exploring what life was like as an evacuee. We looked at the reasons why children were evacuated, where and why they were sent to rural areas and imagined what it might have been like and what they would have taken with them.
Area and perimeter were the maths topics for the week. We started out reminding ourselves of the relevant formulae for regular shapes before moving on to the area and perimeter of compound shapes. Children carried out an investigation and worked together to solve some word problems, applying their skills to real life situations.
Next week, some children will be competing in the Sports Hall games athletics competition – please check your emails for communications if your child is participating.
Homework:
Reading x 3
Google Classroom Maths – Area and Perimeter
Spellings x 10 sentences
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
Jan 092026
Happy New Year!
Well we have hit the ground running in Year 6 this week. Despite the plummeting temperatures outside, in the classroom we have been busy getting started with lots of new topics.
In English, we made predictions and then started reading the book Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, with beautiful illustrations by Tom de Freston. The story is based on the true story of an Arctic fox who walked from Norway to Canada in seventy-six days, a distance of two thousand miles. We are all looking forward to continuing next week to find out what Leila and Miso are up to.
World War 2 is often the long-awaited and hotly anticipated topic of the year and it didn’t disappoint. The children were very interested in finding out about the events which happened after World War 1 that led to the Second World War.
In RE we discussed what qualities make a person a good leader. Following on from this, we read the story of Kisa Gotami and the Mustard Seed, which shows how the Buddha used skilful means to help someone who was in a very difficult situation.
Homework:
Reading x 3
Maths – Arithmetic Quiz
Spellings – learn and write 10 sentences.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
Dec 192025
Bottles, Biomes and the Christmas Break
And in the blink of an eye – it’s Christmas!
Everyone will need a rest at the end of this jam-packed term! This week, in science, we carried out an investigation to measure and compare our lung capacities. We look at some statements such as ‘girls have a larger lung capacity than boys’ and using plastic bottles, water and straws, we set about trying to prove the statements to be true or false.
In topic lessons, we explored the concept of trade and looked at the products exported by South America. We also managed to finish our Biomes in Bottles project, with stunning results. See some of the examples below.
A huge thank you for our generous Christmas gifts.
We hope you all have an enjoyable and restful break over the Christmas holidays.
The Year 6 Team
Link to AR to complete reading assessment quizzes:
https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6710709
-
Dec 192025
AR Login
Please use this link to be able to log in.
https://global-zone61.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/6710709
Dec 122025
Cacao, Characters and Christmas
Another busy week in Year 6!
In English, we have been wearing out our pens, writing the long-awaited Day of the Dead stories. The children have worked hard, focusing each day on a different part of the story. On Monday, we started with the opening, setting the scene and introducing a character; we followed this by writing the build up and moved on to the main action / problem.
We put our thinking caps on in RE to consider in the Christian faith, how Jesus became a refugee. In the lesser known part of the Christmas story, Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape persecution and the threat of death from King Herod. The children were tasked with writing a poem or song about this, with some surprising results.
The stand out lesson of the week had to be the topic lesson on chocolate. Mayans were the first people to discover the precious cacao beans and they believed they were a gift from the gods. They would dry, grind, and mix the beans with water and chilli to create a drink and even used them as currency to trade. The children had the opportunity to touch, smell and taste cocoa nibs, cocoa butter and then four different types of chocolate of varying from 90% dark chocolate to extra creamy and then a final chocolate where they had to identify the missing ingredient!
Google classroom is undergoing some updates this weekend and so we decided that there would be no online homework this week.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 6 Team
