"Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education."
Martin Luther King Junior
Year Six is an exciting and challenging year for our pupils as they take their place at the head of the school. For over thirty years, Year Six have acted as monitors for the younger children and are often rewarded with hugs from the Infants as they travel about the school. Each week, each member of Year Six takes on an Infant and a Junior duty. They become very well-known to the younger ones and we are always proud of the fine role models they are, the relationships they forge and the example they set to others.
In Year Six we also nominate a Headboy and a Headgirl to lead the school; and House Captains who run our House Meetings and inspire the children in their House to achieve great things and win the House Cup!
It is always a difficult decision for parents and children alike but we aim to support you in your decision-making and help you to find and achieve the best fit for your child. Much of the focus in the first term is on preparation for Entrance Exams to Independent and Grammar Schools; this includes studying interview technique in their HPSED lessons.
In Year 6, the children’s English skills move up to a new level as they prepare for external entrance exams and their upcoming future as Year 7 pupils at high school. Our Year 6 children also complete the National Curriculum Tests in May for which we revise the many grammatical and punctuation skills needed and also learn and reinforce those higher-skill ones in preparation for these tests. We aim to develop a confidence in writing, for a variety of purposes and a range of audiences and encourage the children to make use of the grammatical and punctuation skills they have learnt throughout their time in the Junior School. We also work together to create a Year 6 Gazette during the Spring Term where the children become reporters and write about recent events or interests of their own.
Comprehension lessons include preparation for the National Curriculum Tests, Entrance Exams and Secondary School. The children are introduced to a wide variety of pre and post-twentieth century texts and they work to extend their vocabulary to include archaic words and phrases as well as more modern ones. They are taken out of their literary comfort zone and are presented with extracts from classic novels such as Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist as well as extracts from Shakespeare. By introducing the children to more challenging texts that have exciting plots and memorable characters, we open the doors to a wide-ranging love of literature that they will take with them into Secondary School and beyond.
A great deal of time and attention is placed on reading at Highfield. In Year 6, the children are encouraged to choose books they would like to read as they continue with our Highfield Reading Stars challenge. Regular reading is vital to the academic success of any child and we ask parents to support their child’s reading at home as well as the time and attention we devote to reading in school. All Year 6 children are also encouraged to read five set books in preparation for our Year 6 Junior Mastermind competition on World Book Day. An initial two rounds take place during February before the five children with the best knowledge of those books go through to the final.
Our teaching of Maths at Highfield is not only about taking children forward in their mathematical ability but also instilling in them a sense of enjoyment in their maths work through a variety of challenging activities and stimulating lessons. By Secondary School, our pupils should be confident in their ability and fully engaged with the subject.
We have 9 lessons a week which are divided into these key areas:
More able children will be invited to test their mental agility at Puzzle Club and will be helped to prepare for sitting the level 6 NCT paper.
Our teaching in these four areas aims to improve our children’s General Knowledge of the world and the people around them. We aim to challenge the children to ask questions and to demand to know more. We want our pupils to understand Great Britain in the context of Europe and the World; we want them to understand how our country is governed and how this differs from other countries; we look at different faiths, sacred texts and the many ways that people worship within our community; and we study the Seven Wonders of the World. The children’s study of the Ancient Egyptians is supported by an Egyptian Workshop at the World Museum in Liverpool. Their study of the Victorian era is supported by a trip to Leighton Hall.
Science lessons primarily take place in our Science laboratory and our outdoor classroom: Highfield Haven.
Our three key areas for focus in Year Six are:
Our pupils are encouraged to observe and challenge their environment, looking at how and why things operate in the way that they do. We also aim to give the children the tools they require to tackle the Science Curriculum with confidence in Year Seven.
Year 6 are taught French by a native speaker which really helps with their pronunciation and the development of their grammar skills. A huge focus in KS2 French at Highfield, alongside the oral skills, is the build up the pupils’ understanding of grammar – this helps to prepare them for many languages in secondary school, giving them a head start. The Year 6 bring a lot of their previous learning together with a description of a monster, which involves their knowledge of colours, numbers and body parts and a big dose of grammar! The pupils love writing the description and creating their monster digitally. They then move onto the theme In Town where they learn about restaurant situations: food, drinks, ice-creams, euros and how to place an order, as well as places in town and directions. Safe to say that when they leave Highfield, the pupils should be ready to travel!
Time is set aside each week to focus on this important aspect of a child’s development. We look at how they all operate as individuals, as members of the school community and as members of Society. We help children with the confusing and worrying questions that crop up in the course of a week and we create an environment of trust so that questions can be asked and answered without embarrassment. It is also a time when we focus on any difficulties that might be occurring in the playground or in the way the children interact with each other. We continually reinforce how children can help themselves and each other to stay safe. The children have a circle time session and a dedicated lesson each week.
PHSE takes on increasing importance as the children are nearing puberty and a new start in a new environment: High School. They have many questions, doubts and anxieties and our curriculum is focused on helping them through this confusing time. Sex and Relationship Education forms part of the Year 6 curriculum and parents are informed of the content of the lessons prior to them being taught. These lessons are taught in single sex groups.
There are 3 core themes to the curriculum which cover a variety of topics within them. These are:
Health and Wellbeing - Health, Nutrition & Food, Aspirations, Emotions and Safety
Relationships - Communication, Collaboration, Similarities & Differences, Healthy Relationships
Living in the Wider World - Rights & Responsibilities, Diversity and Economic awareness & Enterprise
These core themes are supplemented with work on the Fundamental British Values (FBV)
We have a specialist teacher and Art and Design studio for the teaching of this subject and the standard attained by our Year Six pupils is often quite staggering. In Year Six, they focus on painting by responding to the work of great artist, Vincent Van Gogh. They also learn how to create a lino cut print based on the Ancient Egyptians, complementing history studied in the classroom. In Design and Technology lessons children learn how to build a powered car.
We start the Year 6 ICT curriculum with internet safety. An in depth discussion around everything from social media to online gaming and beyond is held. We look at how to use the internet safely, but with a firm focus on how it can be a positive experience when used correctly. HTML web design is covered with the children exploring hyperlinks and connecting webpages together with through simple coding. Year 6 children also have the opportunity to explore movie making and editing both photos/videos. Using iPads, the children produce several short movies focused on topics and audiences.
They are able to start at Secondary School as confident workers within IT, accessing the Year 7 curriculum at the highest level.
In Music, our Year Sixes explore rounds, lyrics, rhythm, pulse and melodies. They have music technology lessons and they work together to create their end of year performance. In addition, they are invited to audition for the school choir and to attend regular practices on a Friday lunchtime.
In Year Six, the pupils take their Grade Four HPSED Exams and continuous assessment in Drama. In the Autumn Term, we focus on improving Interview technique. The children are made aware of any annoying habits that might be creeping into their speech or body language. They are reminded of the importance of presenting themselves well at all times: in the manner of their dress, tidiness of their hair and general cleanliness; as well as smiling, making clear eye contact, holding their bodies with control and confidence and speaking clearly. They are asked to respond to art and literature, current affairs and something unexpected occurring, as well as talking about their likes and dislikes, past, present and future and their reason for attending the interview.
Once they have mastered this, they are deemed ready for “The Dragons’ Den”! The children come up with an idea for a new invention which they have to pitch to the dragons. They have to be sure of their facts and figures, the USP of their product and they must have conducted research to show that there is a market for their product. In the Spring Term, the children become speech writers, emulating the style of Martin Luther King and coming up with their own vision of a perfect world. They then move on to creating persuasive speeches for the purpose of debate. The Summer Term is dedicated to drama and the creation of their Leavers’ Assembly and their end of year/school production.
By Year 6, the children are ready to take on the world!
Our Year Sixes enjoy a highly competitive year on the Sports Field as they have a busy fixture list which includes many tournaments and inter-school competitions in: Swimming, Athletics, Cross-Country, Football, Netball, Hockey, Rugby, Rounders and Cricket. In PE lessons, they advance their skills in Gymnastics, Basketball, Badminton, Athletics, Tennis and Kwik Cricket. We aim to keep our children fit and to teach them to respect their bodies and their health. We strive to give our children self-belief and to take the words, “I can’t” or “I’m no good at…” out of their vocabularies. As a result, our pupils are excited and energised by sport and are keen to participate in sporting fixtures.
A residential activity weekend is offered to children in Years 5 and 6. This helps the children to grow in confidence and independence as well as developing their ability to work with, and support each other, as part of a team. Their challenges include high wire ropes, an underground maze, abseiling and kayaking. It is an extremely popular weekend!
Our expectations of our Year 6 are high and we expect and encourage them to aim high in all that they do, creating stimulation and challenge for them at every opportunity.
A big "thank you" to class 6HM, who entertained us last Friday with a very colourful BBC Children in Need Assembly!
Highlighting why this is such an important event nationwide, the pupils explained how the charity helps children in our area. They also took a look at some of the difficulties we can face in our daily lives and how lucky we are that we have our families, friends and teachers to help us overcome these obstacles.
It was wonderful to see everyone dressed up in their imaginative outfits and the school was filled with colour and fun all day!
Thank you to Mrs Haythornthwaite and Ms. Macklam for organising such an important assembly and well done to all our children, parents and staff for supporting Children in Need! 🙂 🙂
Highfield Priory - Children in Need Assembly 2024
Highfield Priory - Children in Need Assembly 2024
15 hours ago
We had a fun pj day in Pre-School last week as we celebrated @BBC Children in Need!
As well as dressing up, we also enjoyed painting some colourful Pudseys as we learnt about this important charity and the work it does supporting less-fortunate young people.Photos from Highfield Priory School and Nursery's post
18 hours ago
