Spring News Letter

Dear Parents,

A Happy New Year

We hope you had a super Christmas, enjoyed the break with your child and are now looking forward to what will be a very busy time in Year 6.

As we said in our last letter to you, Year 6 is especially important for your child as we prepare them for both SATs tests and secondary school. We are only 14 school weeks away from SATs week (week commencing May 11^th) so there is lots of hard work to do before then for both us and the children! After SATs we of course have the Year 6 Production to look forward to and our trip to Okehampton or Activities week in school – a great reward for the hard work and effort that the Year 6s put in during the run up to National Testing.

This letter gives a brief outline on the areas of study that we will be covering in the run up to Easter.

English

English will be a mix of narrative, non narrative and revision work – focusing around the topics of Spain and then after half term somewhere in America to be confirmed! Please continue to support your child in listening to them read - this is so important. When you listen to them read please spend time to ask them lots of questions on what they read as their comprehension of a text is as important as the ability to read. An example could be ‘The truck thundered down the highway……’ . Why has the author used the word thundered and what impression does this give you? They will also still need to be learning their spellings and completing any homework that is set.

Spellings

Your child will have a list of spellings to learn and prepare for a test each week. Normally the lists are given on a Tuesday (Apple Class) or Friday (Juniper Class) and tested on the same day the following week.

Maths

Maths will continue to follow the range of objectives set out in the National Numeracy Strategy. As in our previous letter, any sort of quick fire mental maths at home along with times tables practice will help your child’s progression in maths. The maths lesson places an emphasis on the rapid recall of mathematical facts. There will be regular mental maths tests. Every week your child will continue to receive some SATs style maths questions – please support your child if they need it, but if they are totally stuck, do indicate this on their homework so we can go through it with them in class – thank you.

Topic Work

The topic for this term is Viva Espana (Long live Spain). In Geography, we will look at maps of Spain, Europe and the world, learning the latitude/longitude system as well the 4-figure/6-figure system for locating a place on a map. We will also learn about the other important geographical lines: the Equator; the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn; and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles.

We will be exploring abstract art through the work of Salvador Dali, developing sketching and modelling skills before applying them with a special piece of art based on his painting 'The 
Persistence of Memory'. - We might never look at clocks in the same way again! Music won't be based entirely on the Spanish theme, but will include elements of Spanish culture past and present, as well as looking at musical accompaniments and contrasting different arrangements of the same tune. During the Autumn term Year 6 started to develop their knowledge of Classical composers and famous pieces of Classical music. It would be great if you and your child could listen out for 'favourites' you hear at home, for example on adverts and films, which we could add to our classical poster.    

Science

Science will cover the topics of Electricity, Materials, Habitats and Adaptation as well as some revision work on the whole of KS2 Science.

Homework

As stated in the September letter, homework remains an essential part of your child’s learning. It allows us to reinforce what is learnt in school and it also develops skills of independent learning. Year 6 will generally have various pieces of homework each week including: maths, English, reading and spellings – these pieces of work will extend or consolidate your child’s learning from the classroom. If there are any circumstances why homework cannot be completed, please indicate this in your child’s homework diary.  If your child has access to the internet, the BBC has an excellent SATs revision programme called BBC Bitesize; www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize. 

Please feel free to use your child’s homework diary to communicate any concerns or comments you may have. 

PE and Games

We will continue to do PE on a Thursday afternoon (Orienteering up until half term) and Games on a Friday (football up until half term). As long as it is not raining hard, both of these hours will be spent outside so could you please ensure that your child is properly equipped for P.E. and Games.  The accepted kit is black PE shorts, red T-shirt, and indoor trainers/ plimsolls.  Due to the nature of winter weather, plain tracksuit bottoms and a warm sweatshirt are, of course, allowed. In addition outdoor trainers or football boots should be provided.  Please assist your child by naming all items of kit appropriately.

We are still having too many cases where children forget their PE/Games kit – this is unacceptable as the lessons are an integral part of your child’s learning. Please ensure your child has their PE/Games kit EVERY Thursday and Friday. A note from home is required for any child not participating in PE/Games.

Okehampton Trip June 1^st – 5th 2015  Please keep up with your payments for Okehampton - this will avoid you having to find a large sum of money towards the end of May. Many thanks to those of you who have paid in full or are up to date with payments. There are a few parents who are yet to pay anything – we will be in contact shortly if this remains the case to discuss any problems you may be having.

Looking ahead

TBC in March – SATs information evening

March 27th  – End of Term.

We are looking forward to working with your child and providing a stimulating term in the run- up to Easter. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Mullett for all her hard work, particularly in Apple Class – the children and staff have loved having you as part of our school community – thank you.

Many thanks for your continued support,

 Mr Shams Wahab                               Mr Martin Preston                              Mrs Chris Rolls                                  

6 Juniper                                              6 Apple