Badger Class (Year 6) 2026 - 2027

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the class page for Badger Class.

Class Staff

Teacher: Mr Baxendale

Teaching Assistant: Miss Stening

Here you will find all of the exciting and wonderful things that your child will be learning during their time in Year 6. If you have any questions, please use Class Dojo or speak to a member of our team at drop off/ pick up.

Thank you 

Autumn 2- Hansel & Gretel by Neil Gaiman

In English this half term, we will be reading A Story Like the Wind by Gill Lewis.

Curriculum overview: A Story Like the Wind

Rami is a young refugee crossing the sea in a small, crowded boat with other people who have had to leave their homes. All he has brought with him is his violin. As the night goes on and fear sets in, Rami begins to tell a story about a boy and a wild horse, and how a cruel ruler tried to take away the thing he loved most. The tale is based on an old legend, and as Rami tells it, the people on the boat start to find hope and courage in it.

The book is short but powerful. It deals with freedom, belonging and the strength people find in stories and music, and it gives the children plenty to think and talk about. It also shows them how a writer can tell two stories at once, moving between the present and the past.

What will the children write?

Using the book as inspiration, the children will write:

• a flashback narrative, where the story moves between the present and a memory from the past
• a newspaper report, written in a formal style to inform the reader about an event

Grammar focus

Alongside their writing, the children will learn to:

• recognise the difference between informal language (how we speak to friends) and formal language (used in reports and formal writing)
• use synonyms and antonyms to choose the most precise words
• turn nouns and adjectives into verbs using suffixes such as -ate, -en, -ify and -ise (for example, simple becomes simplify and short becomes shorten)
• use expanded noun phrases to give lots of information in a few words
• link ideas within and across paragraphs using adverbials, such as later that night or as a result
• use semi-colons to separate two independent clauses
• use hyphens to avoid confusion (for example, man-eating shark rather than man eating shark)

In Reading, the children will explore multiple texts as we explore a new text and genre each week. 

We will be using our different VIPERS skills: Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise to improve our understanding of what we read.'

'Reading for Pleasure' has great amounts of benefits for your child. In Year 6, we ensure your child has time to read for pleasure and each day, we set time aside to read our class book for pleasure. 

Benefits of 'reading for pleasure':

Inspires imagination and creativity.

Enrinches cultural awareness and understanding. 

Increases empathy and improves relationships with others.

Lifts well-being levels and improves mood.

Improves progress in vocabulary, spelllings and even maths.

Encourages children to take a screen break.

Read with your child every day even if it is just 2 minutes- this can make all the difference. 
Record in their reading diaries to ensure that your child is receiving their stamp for their book from the vending machine, or reading buddy. 

You could ask your child about what they think might happen next in the story, how do they think the character is feeling, who is the author and what do they do. 

Now that SATs have finished, our Year 6 pupils will be taking part in a range of exciting mathematical projects designed to apply their learning in real-life contexts. These activities will encourage problem-solving, teamwork, creativity and reasoning, while continuing to develop key mathematical skills in an engaging and enjoyable way.

Theme Park Maths

In this project, pupils will become theme park designers and managers. They will use mathematics to plan attractions, create scaled maps, calculate costs and budgets, analyse visitor data, and make decisions about pricing and profitability. This project provides opportunities to apply skills in measurement, geometry, statistics and financial mathematics.

White Rose Bakery

The White Rose Bakery project allows pupils to explore mathematics through the world of baking and business. Children will work with recipes, scale ingredients, calculate costs and profits, and investigate measures and ratios. They will use their mathematical knowledge to solve practical problems while developing an understanding of how maths is used in everyday life.

White Rose Tours

Through the White Rose Tours project, pupils will become travel planners, using mathematics to organise and cost holidays and excursions. They will calculate distances, travel times, budgets and currency conversions, as well as compare different travel options. This project helps children see how mathematics plays a vital role in planning and decision-making in the real world.

White Rose Futures

White Rose Futures encourages pupils to think about their aspirations and the opportunities that lie ahead. Using mathematical skills, children will explore topics such as salaries, budgeting, savings and financial planning. They will investigate how maths is used in a wide range of careers and gain a greater understanding of the importance of financial literacy in everyday life.

These projects provide a valuable opportunity for pupils to consolidate the skills they have developed throughout primary school while enjoying collaborative, hands-on learning experiences. By applying their learning to meaningful and engaging contexts, pupils will continue to develop confidence, independence and a positive attitude towards mathematics as they prepare for the next stage of their education.

Children will have ongoing access to their TT Rockstars logins at home. I will set your child specific times tables for them to practice. Please ensure that your child is practising them at home as it is very beneficial for their learning.

If you have misplaced your child's login, please drop me a message on Dojo and I will resend for you.

This half term, Year 6 will be studying Electricity. The children learned about simple circuits in Year 4, and this unit builds on that by looking more closely at how circuits work and why components behave the way they do.

Children will learn to:

• explain how the number and voltage of cells in a circuit affects how bright a bulb is or how loud a buzzer sounds
• compare how different components work and give reasons for the differences, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and whether a switch is on or off
• use recognised symbols to draw a simple circuit diagram

The children will build their own series circuits and test what happens when they change one component at a time, such as adding another cell or swapping a bulb for a buzzer. They will plan fair tests, make predictions, record their results and use the evidence to explain what they found. They may also get the chance to design and build a useful circuit of their own, such as a set of traffic lights or a burglar alarm.

We will also talk about staying safe around electricity, including why we never experiment with mains electricity or plug sockets.

Key vocabulary
circuit, series circuit, cell, battery, voltage, current, component, bulb, buzzer, motor, switch, wire, conductor, insulator, circuit diagram, symbol

Our Geography unit links nicely with our Science work. The children will find out why energy matters, where it comes from and how we can make better choices about the energy we use.

Key questions

• Why is energy important?
• What is renewable energy?
• How does the United States generate energy?
• How does the United Kingdom generate energy?
• What is the best way to generate energy?
• Where is the best place for a solar panel on the school grounds?

Children will learn to:

• explain the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy
• discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different energy sources
• give examples of energy sources and the routes used to trade them
• describe the significance of the Prime Meridian
• locate UK cities on a map and identify human features on a digital map
• discuss how transport links have changed over time
• use six-figure grid references to find features on an OS map
• consider and justify where energy sources should be located

Towards the end of the unit, the children will carry out fieldwork around the school grounds. They will collect and present data to decide on the best place to put a solar panel, designing interview questions and plotting their findings on a sketch map.

Key vocabulary
biofuel, coal, consumption, contour line, crude oil, dam, emissions, energy source, hydropower, natural gas, non-renewable, nuclear power, Prime Meridian, producer, regenerate, renewable, replenish, sea level, solar power, time zone, urban planner, windpower, six-figure grid reference

Your child will have 2 PE lessons each week. Their days this half term are Tuesday and Wednesday.

Other useful links:

Please see below links to useful websites for your child to use when they are at home. I will be adding to the list throughout the course of the year so please make sure you check for updated links.

Oxford Owl - Linked to our phonics Read, Write Inc programme https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/free-ebooks/   

Story Nory - A range of stories by classic authors as well as poems musicals and fairytales. https://www.storynory.com/archives/classic-authors 

Story Berries- Read along with audio clips. https://www.storyberries.com

Monkey Pen-  Free downloadable children’s books in PDF format. https://monkeypen.com/pages/free-childrens-books

Free Children’s Stories-  https://www.freechildrenstories.com

Keeping Safe Online-  www.esafety.gov.au/kids 

Topmarks- A great way for children to practise many of their maths skills https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=3

Newsround is a very good outlet for your child to watch each day to gain a wider understanding of what is happening not only in our country, but the rest of the world. We will be watching newsround every afternoon in class.