Our All Saints family shall ARISE and shine for the light of The Lord is upon us...

Welcome to St Martha Year 6

Class Teacher: Miss O'Reilly

                 Teaching Assistants: Mrs Ingram, Mrs Kemsley                       

Now that your child is in Upper Key Stage 2, please encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour and learning and help them understand these are fundamental to their future at secondary school and beyond.

We would be glad to speak to you at a convenient time about any queries you or your child have throughout the year. Please speak to the office to arrange a phone call or email Miss O'Reilly at: oreie048@mastacademy.co.uk 

The core priorities of the school this year are reading and writing and ensuring pupils are challenged regularly in these areas

Our Learning

We have a daily maths lesson that is taught using our school scheme ‘Third Space Learning’.

Daily English lessons cover all aspects of speaking and listening, reading, writing and grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPaS). Many of these lessons are linked to the Cornerstones topic for that term. Each term's learning is based around a cross-curricular theme; knowledge organisers for each term can be found below.  Super-starter days introduce the theme and fantastic-finisher days conclude the learning at the end of the term. We follow the RE scheme 'Understanding Christianity' as recommended by Rochester Diocese. PE and French are taught discreetly.

Term 1&2 Topic

Our term1 &2 topic is 'Britain at War'

This project teaches children about the causes, events and consequences of the First and Second World Wars, the influence of new inventions on warfare, how life in Great Britain was affected and the legacy of the wars in the post-war period.

Physical Education 

PE Days in St Martha are: Thursday and Friday- pupils should bring their PE kit in on these days. 

P.E. kit: White t-shirt, dark shorts or jogging bottoms, plimsolls or trainers. . Long hair must be tied back.NO jewellery. If your child is unable to remove their ear rings, they must come to school with tape on their ears or you can show your child how to apply the tape themselves before the lesson.

If your child cannot partake in PE, we expect to receive written confirmation of this unless the class teacher has already been informed previously. PE is a compulsory element of the National Curriculum.

Behaviour and Rewards

The children are expected to work towards our six school Golden Rules at all times and are encouraged and rewarded for being 'Green to go'. These are:

• We respect and follow our school values.
• We work hard to achieve and shine brightly.
• We listen carefully and follow instructions.
• We are kind, gentle, inclusive and supportive.
• We look after property.
• We are safe and honest so everyone can enjoy school.

If, after a reminder, a child continues to break a rule, their name will be moved on our class traffic lights. Each colour (yellow, orange and red) has a number of possible consequences, such as loss of play time. If a child has to move their name, they given the opportunity to earn their way back to green by sticking to the golden rules and showing “green to go” behaviour.

Rewards

Children are individually rewarded for good work, effort and behaviour.

Individual pupil names are added to the school praise book for English, Maths and Attitude to Learning.

Whole class rewards are negotiated between pupils and staff in each class every term. The children decide what they would like for a whole class prize.

Challenge

Each term, the children are set a curriculum challenge which is linked to the cross-curricular theme.  Every lesson includes a challenge which the children strive to reach to extend their learning further. Weekly chocolate challenges are set in maths based on the week's learning. Children complete the task independently and one child is selected to win a prize.

Children can be selected  to join the Maths Masters Challenge Club where they receive additional weekly problem solving activities.

SEND Pupils

We understand that every child is unique and so, we adapt our learning to suit all needs. Similarly, if your child is registered with the school as having specific special learning needs, please look at the home learning links to meet their requirements attached to this link. Thank you

Homework in UKS2

Children are expected to read and practise their spellings and times tables (up to 12x12) every night (approx 8 mins each). Independence is a critical skill pupils should develop in preparation for secondary school and are encouraged to do so through autonomous engagement in homework.

Weekly homework tasks will be provided on a Friday and be expected the following Friday. These will include a comprehension and maths based task each week (approx 45 mins).

Please use the knowledge organiser as a starting point for extra study. The information on these sheets should be easily recalled by the children once the topic is completed. Children are encouraged to extend their learning beyond the knowledge organiser if they have a specific interest in the topic.

Homework is adapted for all abilities and each homework task includes an accessible challenge to ensure that all children are being extended in their learning.

Reading challenging texts is vital to pupils in year 6. Whilst it is paramount that children read for pleasure, children must ensure they read a variety of texts. Local libraries are free to join and are currently offering a 'click and collect' service. It might be an idea to use the AR Book Finder website to check if the book/s your child has chosen is on the AR system then they will not only be able to read it, but quiz on it too!

Spellings & Times tables

Please note - Every Friday is spelling test day and every Tuesday 120 club day. Please practise the spellings which are given out during Friday's lesson and placed on spelling shed. All the spellings are on the 'Spelling Overview sheet' (below) should you forget which ones you should be practising. Dedicate some time to practising your times tables. 'Hit the Button' and 'TT Rockstars' would be good games to do this with. 

Knowledge Organisers

Please remember to look at your Knowledge Organisers each night at home and quiz your child on the different interesting facts on both sides! The information on these sheets should be easily recalled by the children once the topic is completed. Children may also wish to extend their learning beyond the knowledge organiser if they have a specific interest in the topic. Please use the knowledge organiser as a starting point for any extra study.

The knowledge organiser for our current topic, 'Britain at War', will be sent home with your children.

Partnership Work

We have an informal 'open door' policy in upper key stage two. We are asking during this time for parents to make contact either via email or pop into the school office and request a call back and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Miss O'Reilly at: oreie048@mastacademy.co.uk 

Parent – teacher partnership. How can you help?

Reading - the key to everything. If we can get our children engaged and loving reading, then they will achieve great things. When children read, they are unknowingly taking in new vocabulary, spellings, sentence and text structures and hopefully enjoying it too.

Times tables - need regular practise and revision. Please support your child to learn their times tables by heart.

Spellings - need regular practise. Please support your child and test them on their spellings. Look, cover, write, check also works a treat.