Dear Parents and Carers,

The big event of this week was our Year 5 and 6 Mass. It went very well, with excellent behaviour from the children and lovely readings. Thank you very much to those family members who attended, and special thanks to those who walked with us to and from the church. We would not be able to do it without you.

Another thank you for your support in encouraging your children in their job applications. We received 38 in all; successful applicants will be notified as soon as possible. The standard was very high and children have obviously made huge steps towards a valuable life skill.

Next week we will be moving on to subtraction in maths. In English we are continuing to think about Frankenstein and will be writing a newspaper report. If you would like to share some suitable news articles with your children over the weekend, this would help them develop their journalistic writing style.

Please bear in mind that we have only three weekends left to complete the Home Learning Pyramid. Please encourage your children to work on it. Far too many children are still not submitting any work.  My Maths and Abacus have been set, as well as a new book on Bug Club.

Useful preparation for next week’s R.E. would be to read Matthew 25:1-13, the parable of the bridesmaids and Luke 12:35-40, the parable of the servant waiting for the master to return.

Enjoy your weekend,

The Year 6 team.

As this is National Anti-Bullying Week, we have been discussing with the children ways to keep themselves safe on the internet and social media. The children had interesting discussions around this topic and asked thoughtful questions to deepen their understanding of how cyber bulling occurs, what to do if this happens to them and the emotional effects that words can have on people’s feelings in both the short and long term.

This message was also part of their morning trip to Fort Purbrook to take part in a variety of activities in how to stay safe in different scenarios. Workshops included: safe fun at the beach; keeping the environment clean; what to do in a fire emergency; domestic abuse and social media/chatroom/stranger safety.  Evaluating the activities with the children afterwards showed that they found these sessions of great value and learned many things that they had not been aware of beforehand. Please feel free to speak to your children about their morning.

Just to remind you again, following the letter earlier this week, about the Year 5 and 6 Mass at the Sacred Heart Church next Tuesday (22nd November). Everyone is welcome and we would love to see as many people as possible to support the children. Please send in the acceptance slips by Tuesday morning. If anyone is able to accompany us on the walk to and from the church, please let us know by Monday.

A big thank you for supporting us in home learning. It is so important that you encourage to complete daily reading and weekly tasks. Just a reminder that we would like Home Learing Adventure books by Friday each week. Abacus, My Maths and Bug Club reading have been set.

Enjoy your weekend.

Year 6 Team

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our focus this week has been preparation for our Remembrance Day assembly.  The children enjoyed reading and analysing poetry and used different poetic devices to write their own. The results were impressive and many have been published in a book which was offered in assembly. Five children read out their poems and others have been included in our Spirituality book.  We would also like to thank those children who made an effort at home to produce something for Remembrance. A PowerPoint was included in assembly and other offerings added to the sense of occasion. It is very heartening to see children applying their school learning to their independent home activities.

Children have come home today with their new home learning pyramid. We hope that this term all children will make a big effort to complete work weekly. We have ensured that all of the tasks are achievable. Although the tasks can be completed independently, could we ask you to check that they are completed to a high standard of content and presentation before pages are stuck in? Also, the scrapbooks get damaged very easily, so transporting them in a plastic wallet would be very helpful. Thank you for your help with this; we want the children to feel pride in the work they produce.

Yesterday we were involved in a workshop about bullying, which the children found both enjoyable and thought provoking. We will be following this up next week.

Next Friday, 18th November, Year Six will be spending the morning at Fort Purbrook, taking part in Junior Citizen activities. We will be collected from school at 9.05 and will be back by lunchtime, so the children won’t need to bring anything extra. Please make sure they are wearing warm coats as some of the activities will be outside.

Please make sure you check your child’s Home Learning Diary regularly. You may be pleasantly surprised and find a silver or gold sticker if your child has demonstrated excellent learning behaviour; we may also communicate other issues.

Thank you for your attendance at Parents Evening. It was good to see so many of you and we appreciated your supportive comments. We will continue to support your children in achieving their targets at school and hope that you will encourage them to apply them in their home learning. We are sure you know how important your support is and the positive effect it has on your children’s progress in school.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

The Year Six team.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Back at school after half term holiday for only four days, but still a lot achieved this week.

We have been enjoying our work on poetry related to Remembrance and World War I. Next week we will be writing our own poems and practising them for inclusion in our Remembrance service on Friday. You might like to help your child find and read more poetry on the subject this weekend so that they further develop their ideas and vocabulary for their work next week.

We have finished working on fractions in maths – for the moment, at least – and will be turning our attention to measures. Look out for opportunities to use these at home, as maths in real life contexts is always more meaningful. Maths homework has been set on Abacus and My Maths.

You should have received a letter today about the use of social media by children under the age of 13. If you haven’t, please ask for one. It is important that you have a discussion about this with your child to ensure they fully understand the issues. Also, please remember that Mr Austin is running an e-safety workshop for parents on November 10th at 2.30  in the school hall. If you haven’t already signed up for this, there is still time.

We have had some rain this week and many children have had no coat. With a coat, they are able to stay outside when the weather is a bit wet; without a coat, they are more likely to be brought inside for wet break. They really need the fresh air and time to run around, so please encourage them to wear a coat to school.

You will know about the accident suffered by one of our Year 6 pupils yesterday. We have been holding her in our thoughts and prayers, and all children will have the opportunity to send her cards and messages early next week.

Many of you will be attending firework celebrations this weekend. Have a wonderful time and stay safe.

Looking forward to seeing you at Parents evenings,

The Year Six team.