Dear Parents,
Welcome to what I hope will be a very successful final year for your child at St. Mary’s. I hope you have had a lovely, relaxing summer holidays and are feeling refreshed for the new school year ahead. Being in Year Six will offer many new challenges and experiences to the children. I hope that, with your support, we can ensure these are enjoyable, achievable and the children are confident and well prepared to move up to secondary school.
This newsletter will give you some information about the day to day organisation of Violet class alongside some information about what the children will be studying this half term.
In Literacy we will continue to build on the reading and writing skills already learned, developing extended writing, extending use of grammar and perfecting our joined handwriting skills. We will be studying fiction genres followed by a unit of work on writing arguments then two weeks of work on Shakespeare. Each Monday they will receive a list of spellings. The children need to practise these spellings and complete the activities in the front of their spelling book. Spelling books will be collected on a Friday when a test will be given.
In Numeracy children will build on their knowledge of calculations. They will learn how to order and calculate with decimal numbers, multiply and divide by 10 and 100 and investigate prime and square numbers. Children will develop their understanding of bar charts and learn how to convert units of measurement. Now that they are in Year 6 it is very important the children are confident with their times tables. Each week the children have a times table to learn which will be tested on a Thursday. The list of times tables can be found in the homework book.
This half term our topics are:
Science / What would a journey around our body be like?Geography / I’m a Year 6 can you get me out of here!
ICT / Blogging
P.E. / Dance – the Haka
Art / Sketches of local area
P.S.H.E. / Relationships
DT / Breakfast muffins
Music / Songwriter
French / Packed lunch
As part of our Science topic about the body we will be working alongside a PHd researcher from the University. Part of our work will involve dissecting a heart and lungs. If you have any concerns regarding this activity please contact me by Monday 8th September.
The children will continue to bring home reading books each day. It does make a real difference if the children have the opportunity to enjoy and share their books with their parents.
Homework will be set at the beginning of the half term in children’s homework books. The children are set a half termly challenge alongside a variety of activities which are linked to our topic work and listed at the front alongside a points score. Children need to complete the main challenge as well as activities of their choice over the course of the half term, ensuring that they earn 50 points. Homework will be collected and marked on a Monday. I hope that you will support and encourage your child with their homework as much as you think is necessary. If your child has difficulty in completing the work or is unable to complete please let me know.
Extra games and link with work we have been doing are available on the VLE at http://vle.st-marys-reddish.stockport.sch.uk. Ask your child for their password.
We will also be posting work up on our blog at http://blog.st-marys-reddish.stockport.sch.uk . There is the option for visitors to leave comments and we would love to hear what you think about our work! Please leave your name as ‘Billy’s mum/ Chris’s dad’ so we can see who is who.
Children are encouraged to bring plastic sports type water bottles into school as part of our healthy school. Please ensure that this bottle is clearly labelled with your child’s name. Water bottles should be taken home on a Friday afternoon. Any bottles left will be put in the bin at the end of the week.
P.E. is on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Please ensure that your child’s kit (indoor and outdoor) is available on both occasions. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to loan kit to children for hygiene reasons. In order to minimise the confusion caused when children lose or mix up their kit, I would appreciate it if you could write or sew your child name onto all items of clothing they bring into school.
Each week, Violet class visit the school library on a Monday afternoon. Please ensure that your child has their library book with them to be changed on this day.
If you have any queries at all please do not hesitate to come to speak to me so that problems can be addressed quickly and easily.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter; I hope you found it helpful. I look forward to working together with you to make the most of your child’s time in Year 6. I’m sure it will be a fun and productive year!
Mrs Grant