(Year 6) Phoenix

Welcome to Phoenix

Year 6

September 2019

 

Ms Roxby - Class Teacher Tuesday to Friday

Mrs Meah - Class Teacher Monday all day and Wednesday afternoon

Mrs Hall - Learning Support Assistant

 

Welcome back to you all and a very warm welcome to Phoenix class.

We hope you had a great summer and feel rested, ready to work and enthusiastic about the new term. We certainly are!

It is an exciting and challenging year for your children as we have SATS and then the transition ready for high school. We have high expectations of the children – we expect them to work hard, have a good attitude to learning and do their best at all times. We will offer them all the support they need and we hope will have a lot of fun too!

 The class teachers for this year are Mrs Roxby, and Mrs Meah on a Monday all day and Wednesday afternoon. Mrs Hall is the learning support assistant all week.

Other adults in class.

• Mrs Meah will be working with small groups / individuals some of Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. These sessions will be to help boost skills of the children involved. Please note: the groups could vary each half term according to need.
• Mrs Joul (HLTA) will teach French, for 30 minutes each Wednesday afternoon.
• We also have a voluntary helpers, Miss Batty who will be in class some of the week to support with literacy and maths.

Some of the things we will be learning:

 

Literacy This is taught each day. Over the year there will be continued focus on grammar, writing skills, spelling and guided reading. The text types that we are focusing on this term are: poetry, non-chronological reports, recounts and mystery stories. We are expecting that most of the children reach age related expectations in literacy skills and we will be supporting and giving work to help with this. We will be sending out copies of the expectations for you to look at next week.

Although the children are older and have learnt to read it is still important to talk to them about their reading and share books and stories together. Sustained reading and skimming and scanning for information are important skills which can be practised at home by reading for at least 10 minutes each night. It does work! Ask last year’s Phoenix class!

 

Maths This is taught each day. This half-term we begin with number; specifically place value, addition/ subtraction, multiplication and division skills. We will also have an investigations which require the children to think, question and apply skills they have. We aim to make them all confident and logical in their approach to work.

We will also have a mental maths target this half term which will be- multiplying and dividing any number by 10, 100, 1000. (Some children will be multiplying by 10 only).

You can help by supporting your child to learn and remember addition/subtraction bonds, any times tables they do not know and sharing with them real-life applications of maths eg reading gas/electricity meters, looking at phone bills, weighing out ingredients for recipes.

The websites below will also give you further helpful information:

http://www.nnparenttoolkit.org.uk/information-for-parents/ (Maths)

http://www.theschoolrun.com/ (Maths, Literacy and other primary subjects)

It is REALLY IMPORTANT for children to learn any times tables they still aren’t confident about- we are still subscribing toTT rock stars and children should access this at least twice a week at home.  They to be able to tell the time accurately using digital and analogue clocks as this is a life skill.

Topics this term.
Science:  Human bodily systems. Living things and their habitats.
Geography: Brazil – would you rather live in Brazil or Britain?

History: What was South America like in the past- who were the Maya?
RE: Which stories are special? How do we celebrate special occasions?
PSHE: Friendships and new starts and thinking hats.
Art: Painting. Sculpture including a visit to the Sculpture Park – more details to follow.
Computing: Online safety. Data handling, emailing and presentations.
Music: following Charanga on-line music resource planning.

Brazilian music- create own rhythms.

PE:  Outdoor adventurous, which will include trust exercises and orienteering and Real PE which gives lots of opportunities to practise and enhance skills. PE will be on Tuesday pm and Wednesday pm. Please can you ensure that P.E. kit is brought to school on Monday morning every week. It can then be taken home on Friday.(We will sometimes have PE on Friday instead so kits need to be in school all week.)
Outdoor P.E kit: Trainers are essential, a tracksuit (blue or black) and a team polo shirt.
Indoor P.E kit: Pumps, blue or black shorts and a team polo shirt.

Please note:

• Earrings must be removed and long hair tied up for health and safety reasons.
• In line with school policy, a child who forgets their kit will, if we are outside, wear their outdoor shoes and coat and walk around the perimeter of the field so that they benefit from exercise. If indoor, they will make notes about the lesson they observe.

SATS

SATs this year are the week of the 11^th May so PLEASE do not book a holiday during this time as it is really important that your child is able to take the tests.

Booster maths groups are on Mondays from 3.15 to 4.30. We are targeting moving forward in maths and all children are being invited to attend a group appropriate to their level.  The booster group for maths will start on 9^th September.

In addition we are offering a reading session on a Thursday from 2:45pm to 3.15pm. This will be open for all parents to drop in and support their child with reading activities. Any children whose parents are not there will be supported by a member of staff. This will start on 12^th September.

 

Homework All children will have a homework folder, kept in school, in which task sheets will be stored in after marking. Usually we will have grammar and spelling tasks on a Monday, literacy on a Tuesday, maths on a Wednesday and science/topic on a Thursday. All home work is due in the following day unless specified. You can support your child by showing an interest and encouraging them to complete tasks punctually. Homework is set for your child and we expect them all to have a go; we will discuss tasks before they go home but if your child is uncertain, please feel free to explain it or re-direct them back to us for some help. Thank you.

Toast We will make toast on Wednesday mornings. If you would like your child to have toast, they will need to bring 20p on that morning, preferably in a named envelope (or taped to a named piece of paper). Money collected goes into school fund – later in the year the children can help decide what we will use this towards. This is not done through Parent Pay.

Water bottles – it is useful for children to have their own, named water bottle in school. Children can refill it at the tap or the dispenser in the corridor. There will be a special place to keep this in the classroom.

 

Reach-for-the –Stars –We will be using a traffic light system as part of our positive behaviour policy. We know that all children in Y6 will be striving to get to the gold standard of behaviour as they will be setting an example for the rest of the school. We want children to aim high by trying their hardest at everything. Practice makes progress!

 

Attendance

As part of our work both for SATS and high school it is important that all children have maximum learning time and absences are kept to a minimum. However if they are unavoidable through illness, please ring school first thing to let us know.

 

Trips

We are in the process of arranging a trip to Tropical World to give the children an idea of the habitat of the Amazon Rainforest (unfortunately we can’t arrange a trip to Brazil!) As soon as we have a date we will send out the details.

We are also having a trip to the Sculpture Park on 25^th September as part of our work in Art. Details will be given in a separate letter.

There will also be a meeting on 12^th September about the proposed trip to Bewerley Park, again a letter will be sent out about this.

 

Bikeability

Another exciting activity which takes place in Y6 is bikeability. This is to prepare children for independent cycling on the road. It is free of charge and bikes and helmets are provided if your child requires them. Being able to ride a bike safely is an important and enjoyable life skill and we would encourage all children to take part. The course lasts for a day and a half and will take place during the week of the 16^th September. More details to follow in another letter.

 

 

 

We are holding a brief meeting with a question and answer session this Thursday at 3.15pm to share information and expectations about year 6. Refreshments are provided and it would be great to see you there.

 

Finally parents, we would love to invite you in at any time to chat to us, see what your child is doing, or even come and join in with a lesson!

Please see us any night after school, or send an e-mail or letter if you need any information. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Thank you for all your support,

Suzanne Roxby, (suzanne.roxby@manston.leeds.sch.uk)

Kerri Meah, (kerri.meah@manston.leeds.sch.uk)

Tifa Hall