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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

Year 6 science: what your child learns

Signpost with scientific questions on it
Your guide to what your child’s Year 6 teacher will cover in science lessons.

This is the final year of the Key Stage 2 science curriculum and the main areas are still:

Science in Year 6 – what your child will learn:

Living things and their habitats

  • describe how living things are classified into groups including micro-organisms, plants and animals
  • give reasons for classifying plants and animals

Animals, including humans

  • identify and name parts and functions of the human circulatory system
  • recognise the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way the body functions
  • describe how nutrients and water are transported within animals

Evolution and inheritance

  • learn how fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth in the past
  • recognise that living things produce offspring that are not identical to their parents
  • identify how plants and animals are adapted to suit their environment and that adaptation may lead to evolution

Light

  • understand that light appears to travel in straight lines and is necessary for us to see objects
  • understand how shadows are formed

Electricity

  • investigate how the brightness of a lamp and the volume of a buzzer changes with the number and voltage of cells used in a circuit
  • give reasons for variations in how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on / off positions of switches
  • use recognised symbols when representing a circuit in a diagram

Year 6 will be studying topics from the list below, possibly for the first time. However, they may also be returning to a topic to study it in greater detail, or as revision in preparation for testing.

Science is a practical subject so the children will learn about health and safety risks as they conduct experiments, and there is also a focus on developing their skills of ‘scientific enquiry’. Your child will be encouraged to ask questions about scientific concepts and then carry out experiments to find out the answers. In doing this they will:

  • understand what variables are and how to control them
  • take measurements from a range of equipment, understanding the need for repeated measures to increase accuracy
  • gather and record data using labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs
  • use test results to make further predictions to set up further comparative and fair tests
  • make conclusions on the test carried out, orally and in writing

Try this at home

  • Go for a walk in the park and write down the names of every animal you see. Have a good look for the little ones like spiders, worms and slugs which may be hiding under rocks! When you get home write all the names on separate cards. Can you put them into groups and then explain to someone why you have grouped them like this?
  • Keep a food and exercise diary. Write down everything you eat during the day and the exercise you do. How healthy do you think you are? Think about how you feel according to what you have eaten and the exercise you have done.
  • Turn on a lamp and hold an object in the light. Have a look at the shadow it forms. What happens to the shadow as you move the object around? Why do you think this is happening?
  • Find out about fossils, adaptation, evolution and Charles Darwin. Read up as much as you can and become an expert before you are taught this topic at school!

Make Year 6 science revision fun with some hands-on experiments – look through our Year 6 science worksheets for ideas and projects. KS2 SATs science papers can offer useful revision activities too.