Welcome to Year 6

1. Welcome to Year 6 Teachers – Miss Taylor (6a), Miss Ali (6b) Support Staff – Mrs McKessy, Miss Kelly and Miss Vaughan

2. What’s in store for Year 6? • Year 6 is an important year. There are high expectations of children as they are now the oldest in the school. • SATs • Lots of opportunities for creativity, independence and fun.

3. Year 6 Extras • Brookies • Rock band • Steel pans band • Enterprise Challenge • Book Club

4. Being Independent in Y6 • Self-directed study in class • Use homework to get into good independent study habits ready for high school • Remembering their P.E kits

5. Homework • Each week your child will come home with a English and Maths homework book. A task will be set for them to complete over the week. • Alongside these homework books, your child can also access the sumdog activities, times table rockstars and spelling shed as usual.

6. Behaviour • We have the same high expectations of behaviour in Year 6. • We continue to use the traffic light system and the Code of Conduct.

7. Attendance and punctuality • School doors open from 8.50am and close promptly at 9am. • Once door is locked all children must enter school via the main entrance to be recorded as late. • Doors open to dismiss children at 3.30pm and are locked at 3.40pm. Any children not collected will be sent to the office where their parents will be contacted.

8. Attendance and punctuality • Persistently late/poor attendance- a record is kept in the class register, parents are contacted. • If your child is experiencing any problems that may be affecting their attendance or punctuality, then please contact their class teacher or the office.

9. Weekly Timetable • English/ Maths each morning. • PE is on Wednesday and Thursday • Daily reading at home • Times Tables/ Helping your child with maths • Homework – Handed out on Tuesday for return the following Monday. • Spellings handed out Tuesday to be learnt by following Monday. • Sumdog • Den day - Thursday

10. Topics Our topics for the year will be – The Victorians The Ancient Greeks # Future Ready inc Enterprise Project

11. Trips • Tatton Park – The Victorians • Cinema • Art Gallery • Ghyll Head • Lots of involvement with local high schools such as Chorlton High • School Visitors – Nurse, Science days, Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Roberts’ Bakery

12. Science • Light and Electricity • All Living Things (human and animal biology) • Evolution and Inheritance

13. Computing First Term : 3d modelling, blogging Year 6 Blogs – Homework will occasionally be posted via the blog. The Year 6 blogs contain links to many useful maths and English websites.

14. E-safety is an issue which is taken very seriously at Brookburn Primary. Internet and social media safety is taught to all year groups throughout the school year and referred to regularly. We have school-wide safety features, but if anything gets past the filters, students are taught to switch off the screen and report to a member of staff immediately. We value your support in keeping children safe online by urging you to supervise your child’s online presence at home and to regularly check your privacy settings on social media sites

15. SATs • SATS week is w/b 11th May 2019 • Children will be tested in reading, GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling); and maths. • There will usually be tests most mornings. • Revision books will be handed out in the Spring term.

16. New SATs • New tests came in 2016 • New, more challenging content but children have been preparing since Year 3 • New grading system based on 100 score.

17. Maths SATs To be best prepared for the end of year, the children need to be confident in: • Times tables (up to 12x) • The four operations (+, -, x, ÷ ) • Place value Mental maths has been replaced with ‘arithmetic’ test.

18. English SATs • The grammar, punctuation and spelling test (GPS) focuses mainly on word classes and common punctuation marks. • We will hand out a glossary of terms to help your child. • Reading – Encourage your child to read every day and talk about the book.

19. Spelling • We are using a programme called Spelling Shed • The focus of the programme is on the teaching of spelling, which embraces knowledge of spelling conventions – patterns and rules; but integral to the teaching is the opportunity to promote the learning of spellings, including statutory words, common exceptions and personal spellings. • Your child was given a login last year – we will send those out again. • Tips for learning spellings at home • Learning at home needs to be an extension of the practice in school. We will send a list of words home most weeks for children to learn • Look at the spelling pattern and use the suggested strategies to support your child to learn them • We will assess the spellings in context, for example: learning spellings in a given sentence, generating sentences for each word, assessing through unseen dictated sentences • We will focus on ensuring that your child then applies the correct spelling in his/her writing.

20. Previous Papers • There are lots of SATs practice books available to use and we will be sending home revision resources later in the year. • Please do not use any past papers as we use these in school for assessment and tracking purposes.

21. Assessment • Assessment Fortnight Over 2 weeks teachers will assess children and discuss progress targets with each child. These will be followed by Parents’ Evenings so that we can share children’s individual targets with parents. Therefore, we have realigned Parents’ Evenings to fit more appropriately with teacher assessment cycles to ensure parents and teachers are working together towards meeting children’s targets. Parents’ evenings - 15th & 17th October, 2019 - 24th & 26th March, 2020 - A final opportunity , after reports go out to parents in July.

22. The fun side of Year 6 • Ghyll Head • End of year productions • Generally being the oldest and biggest in the school • AND LOTS LOTS MORE!!

23. Reminders • PE bags – bring in on Monday and stay in school • Labelling – please label clothes with children’s full name • Lost property – encourage children to be responsible for their possessions • Jewellery – watches and stud earrings only (must be removed for PE) • PE Kit - black or navy shorts/jogging bottoms/leggings a white t-shirt trainers for outside

24. How to get in touch We have an open door policy at Brookburn and are always happy to meet with you to discuss any queries or concerns that you may have. This is key to our partnership in supporting your child. • On the door (via a TA in the morning or teacher in the afternoon) • Send a note in with your child • Arrange an appointment with admin • At Parents’ Evening • Email: parentinbox@brookburn.manchester.sch.uk

25. How to get in touch • We would always ask that, wherever you have a problem or a concern, that we as class teachers are your first port of call. We are the staff who work with and know your children better than anyone else and we hope that we would always be able to listen and respond to concerns to remedy any issue. • If you feel that you need to take your concern further though, you should speak to your child’s year or phase leader (depending on their year group). • The year / phase leader for our year group is: Miss Taylor • Our SENDCo and Deputy Headteachers are always available to offer support however discussions at class teacher / phase lead level would always be encouraged before seeking SLT involvement.

26. Have a look at what we are up to via… • Class blogs • http://6a2019.brookburnprimary.net/ • http://6b2019.brookburnprimary.net/ • Twitter - @MissTBrookburn @MissAssiaAli Please feel free to follow, like and comment.

27. DP