Year 6

Happy Easter everyone.

Both myself and Mrs Callaghan were so proud of the way your children portrayed the final stage of Jesus' journey to the cross on Thursday.  They managed to convey the solemnity of the occasion to the rest of the school and I know that the younger children definitely felt the emotion of Mary for her son. 

A massive well done to John-Boy and Sophie, who had to remain in role for a long period of time to get across the message. 

We took photographs during our rehearsal, and they are below. 

I have asked the children to keep up with their reading during the holidays and to use a dictionary for any unknown words, and to keep revising the maths facts that will help them with efficiency and accuracy in their maths problems. 

Miss Crouch and I will be continuing the booster maths and English lessons after Easter, starting on the 17th April.  

I hope everyone has a restful, safe and happy Easter.  

Thank you for your support

Mrs McKnight 

BOOSTER LESSONS CANCELLED 

Just a reminder that as stated on the website calendar, we are not able to hold the booster lesson on Tuesday 13th March, and, due to unforeseen circumstances, we will not be able to hold the booster lesson on Wednesday 14th March either.  

We are sorry to let you down, but everything should be back to normal during week beginning 19th March.

Best wishes

Mrs McKnight 

Another half term over.  Your children are half way through their last year at primary school.  It's a sobering thought, isn't it.  They've worked really hard this half term and they are fully aware of how hard the next few months are going to be.  So, as so many of you ask me what you can do to help them prepare for SATs, here are a few ideas. 

• ask them to recite their times tables or pose questions that test their application, such as 630 divided by 70 = ?   0.8 x ? = 3.2
• ask questions about the passing of time - this programme will end at 5.45pm and has been on for 55 minutes.  When did it start?  What would that time be in the 24hr clock?
• I have sent home a sheet with imperial measure conversions, please ask them questions about that
• cooking/weighing/measuring are excellent ways of giving the children hands on experience of using scales and having an idea about the weight of 200g/500g/1kg etc 
• When you listen to you child read, ask them to write down all the words they don't understand and then discuss them together.  I think you will be quite amazed at the sorts of words the children don't really understand.  If you could put them into a context that will help them that would be much appreciated. 
• Visit the library if you have time and ask the librarian to point out age-appropriate books which your child could then access and try reading over the holiday. 
• Ask your child to recount the days events using descriptive vocabulary, varied sentence structures and some of the higher level punctuation they have been learning over the last few months. 

I know you are all very busy and I do want the children to have a well earned rest, so if you can do nothing else but share books and stories together then that will also help greatly.  

Mrs Callaghan and I wish you all a lovely half term break and we'll see you all back again on the 19th February. 

Thank you all for your support. 

The homework presentations were of a very good standard with many of the children doing a huge amount of work - especially when finding out their family tree.  It was fascinating to listen to. I know there are 3 or 4 children who still have to present, so we will be listening to those children on Monday 19th February. 

Puberty - changes inside and outside the body

Over the last couple of days we have been discussing the changes the children will be experiencing throughout puberty.  We started by talking about personal hygiene and the importance of daily washing and how they must pay particular attention to those parts of the body which can lead to body odour if not kept clean.  I then explained about the internal changes a body goes through during puberty and how these can affect their mood and emotional state.  I showed sections of a dvd which demonstrated in diagram form male and female reproductive organs and how these change as a child goes through puberty.  We had an interesting discussion about periods and most of the children asked relevant and mature questions to clarify their understanding.  We still have to have a discussion about friendships and relationships and get the children thinking about what they want for their futures in terms of further education, careers and a fulfilling social life with their peers.

There was a bit of embarrassed squirming and giggling at the beginning of the first day when the children realised we were actually going to talk about it and use the correct words, but they were actually very mature and interested to learn about their bodies.  I think they appreciated the opportunity to discuss openly about things that may have worried or confused them and I hope we helped them understand that everything that happens to them is perfectly normal.   We have told the children to speak to you about how they might be feeling, so I hope you are happy to continue the discussions with them at home. 

Please be aware that the themes of conception and child-birth are now covered in the KS3 curriculum and we will not be teaching that in year 6. 

Thank you for your support

Mrs McKnight/Mrs Callaghan

A Happy New Year to you all.

We would like to express our thanks for your generosity at Christmas and the lovely gifts we received.  It was very much appreciated.  

I have sent home the information about the Maths Home Learning and a letter about SATs Booster sessions starting on January 16th.  

This information is also available on this class page under the Letters and Homework tab.  

Best wishes and thank you for your continued support.

Mrs McKnight and Mrs Callaghan 

It's been an amazing half term in year 6.  So many of the children have come back to school with a 'can do' mind-set.  They are showing far more resilience than last year and the work that some of them have put in over the summer holidays is very noticeable, especially when they answer questions.  I am hearing much more thorough and thoughtful responses now and the children are able to articulate their understanding well.  Thank you for supporting your child's learning at home - it does make difference when we all work together and our expectations are the same. 

Mrs Callaghan and I are absolutely over the moon with how many children are now bringing in their reading log every day.  Almost everyone in our class will have received their bronze certificate by half term.  It is important that the children bring in their logs daily to get into good habits.  Secondary school isn't very far away, and that brings added demands, so the more organised the children can be now the better they will settle into a new routine. 

Nearly everyone in the class has produced some brilliant project homework.  The standard is amazing!  It is obvious that the children have spent a long time thinking about their project, designing it, making it and then putting together a presentation.  We have been extremely impressed with how well the children can speak about their chosen topic. Thank you, again, for your support.

                        Welcome to Year 6

Year 6 will be holding a Liturgy on Wednesday 27th September at 2.30 pm in the hall.  We will be celebrating the life of our class saint - St Vincent de Paul.

Please check the letters section of this class page for the Nethercott kit list. 

remember, Nethercott meetings are Tuesday 3rd October at 3.30pm and Tuesday 10th October at 6pm.  All welcome. 

It's wonderful to be teaching your children again this year and being able to continue the relationships we've already established.  Watch this space for this year's class photo!

The year 6 welcome meeting for parents will be held on Friday 15th September straight after school.  

Best wishes

Mrs McKnight and Mrs Callaghan. 

Mrs Callaghan and I were very impressed with the children's presentations to become the School Council representative for the class. They were very well thought out, with many children showing evidence of research.  All children presented their speech confidently and clearly and were able to answer any questions posed.

Well done to Noah and Josie who were chosen by the class.