Mrs Clark Mrs Terry

A time of change continued The first Year 6 class in the school. As you can see, we have a wonderful new classroom that we can be proud of. New curriculum. New assessment procedures. New SATs

Staff Year 6 will be taught by Mrs Dobbs and Ms Forsyth The class TA is Mrs Clark. We will also be helped by Mrs Terry.

School day Timings for the school day are as they have always been. Year 6 have the same number of slots for ICT and use of the Hall as last year.

Equipment To encourage the children to learn to take care of their belongings, we are again asking them to come with their own equipment. This should include: Pencil case, pencil, pencil sharpener, eraser, 30cm ruler, handwriting pen, colouring pencils, compass (optional), calculator (optional), reading books can be brought in from home for quiet reading time. No biros please! Children may also bring highlighters and fine-liners if they wish. Just like last year, we will have a week planner.

School uniform Grey skirt/trousers White shirt Navy St Mary’s V-neck or cardigan School tie Please provide your child with an analogue watch Black outdoor shoes Hair should be tied back if it is collar length or longer with a hairband in school colours or hair colour. Children should not wear jewellery or nail varnish. If stud earrings are worn they should be taped for PE activities.

PE Kit All children must have a PE kit, including trainers for games and activities. PE kit should be in school at all times. PE kit is: a white St Mary’s T-shirt, navy shorts, a navy Sweatshirt and/or jogging bottoms for colder weather. Pupils without correct PE kit will be asked to remove it and wear spare kit. Trainers Every child must keep a named pair of trainers at school at all times.

Art Please ensure your child has a named art shirt/apron in school at all times.

Curriculum The new national curriculum for Year 6 can be viewed at curriculum

Year 6 tests They have changed a lot and are not comparable with the old tests (The levels used have gone) Expectations have risen

In Maths There are 3 papers Arithmetic (mental Maths, using only number) Reasoning 1 & 2 They are heavily weighted toward the written methods of long division & multiplication, which children must master. Children need to have mastered mental addition, subtraction, multiplication & division as they will only have a minute or less per question.

Reading Paper Broadly similar to before but with a focus on information retrieval and inference & deduction questions, as well as finding evidence in the text & summarising of paragraphs.

Grammar, punctuation and spelling test 20-word spelling test with much more challenging set of words knowledge of grammatical terminology such as all the main word classes, and being able to differentiate between different types of conjunction.

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SPAG The new curriculum specifies that children will now be tested at the end of Year 6 on spelling, punctuation and grammar. SPAG will be taught regularly. There will usually be a grammar and a spelling task every week in Guided Reading.

Resources to help at home There are a variety of books you could buy to support your child. We will be looking into this as a school and provide the children with suitable practice material.

Timetable – Y6 Autumn Term 2015 MONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAY Y5 &Y – 9.00 Registration 9.00 – 9.25 GR Mrs. Dobbs English/SPAG 9.00 – 9.25 GR Mrs. Dobbs English/SPAG 9.00 – 9.25 GR Mrs. Dobbs English/SPAG 9.00 – 9.25 GR Mrs. Dobbs English/SPA G Ms Forsyth - English – Assembly, Play Time Mrs. Dobbs Maths – Mrs. Dobbs Maths – Mrs. Dobbs Maths – Mrs. Dobbs Maths Ms Forsyth Maths Lunchtime Y6 Ukulele (Herts Music Service) Then Y6 Computing with Mr. Potter who will dismiss them – 2.15 MFL/with Mrs. Christie 2.15 – 3.15 PE with Mr. Macey (Mr. Macey dismiss Y6) Mrs. Dobbs Topic PE 1.15 – 2.15 – Science with Mrs. Zimet 2.15 – 3.15 RE with Mrs. Archbold Mrs. Archbold dismiss Y Ms. Forsyth Art/D&T PSHE

Topics Areas covered within subjects will include: The Tudors South America Shakespeare The Mayans Autumn Autumn Spring Spring Summer Summer All about us Tudors History Let’s Celebrate! South America Geography Famous FacesThe World Around Us Into The Wild Geography Changes History

Homework & Spellings Homework and spellings will be given out each Wednesday to be handed back in on Mondays. There will be usually two pieces of homework relating to what we are learning about. It will still be expected that children read every day and practise their mental Maths, especially times tables to 12 x 12. Children will receive up to 20 spellings each week, which they should try to practise within sentences.

Maths essentials Problem solving has become an important part of Maths alongside mental arithmetic! Children MUST know their times tables They MUST be able to add and subtract mentally They MUST be able to read a clock (analogue and digital) They MUST be able to do column addition and subtraction efficiently. They MUST be able to do long multiplication and long division efficiently.

Music Year 6 music will be provided by the Herts Music Service on Monday afternoons. Details are still to be finalised.

E-safety Year 6 will continue learning about how to stay safe while using social media and online gaming.

PSHE PSHE will include education about drug use, including smoking and alcohol. RSE will take place in the Summer term. Further details will be provided in due course.

Trips Our big residential trip will be from the 16 th to the 20 th May to Kingswood, Norfolk. We will have a couple of trips throughout the year. First day trip is to St Albans Fire Station on Monday the 28 th September!

Responsibilities This class in Year 6 are taking on a variety of responsibilities. We have class monitors who change weekly and are also responsible for other areas in the school during their week.

Parent helpers Parent helpers are greatly appreciated If you would like to come in, let me know We would like helpers to come and help with times tables, written addition and subtraction as well as hearing children read

Class Rep / Parent Forum Thank you to Mrs Bradley who has kindly volunteered to be our class rep again.

Walking to school & mobile phones Children can walk to and from school on their own. We will require a letter of permission from the parent. Children can bring a mobile phone which is to be handed in to Mrs Dobbs at the beginning of the day. Children are well used to this routine, well done!

Thanks for coming! Any questions?