Useful websites for SATs revision:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/levels/zbr9wmn - Revision resources for all subjects and levels
http://www.emaths.co.uk/ -Maths revision covering all areas of curriculum
http://www.compare4kids.co.uk/maths.php - A thorough “Maths Bootcamp” offering a huge amount of practice lessons and test
Welcome back to term 5.
This is the term in which the year 6 children will sit their statutory tests (week beginning 14thMay); the results of these tests are also passed on to secondary schools so they can be used in planning for Year 7 teaching. More details will be sent to you all nearer the time. There will continue to be a significant focus on applying skills in mathematics, spelling, punctuation and grammar. I shall be continuing to teach each morning and use time in the afternoons to revise work taught and practise in test conditions. Please continue to support me and my team in ensuring that children complete all set pieces of homework and have plenty of sleep before each school day so that they have the stamina and focus required over these next four weeks.
We will begin this term by finishing our work on geometry, solving problems involving the properties, surface area, perimeter and volume of 2D and 3D shapes. After this we will revise time and children will be introduced to algebra, learning to express missing number problems algebraically and to find numbers that satisfy an equation in which there are two unknown values.
As always, children will be given the opportunity to build, then apply skills in contexts of varying degrees of challenge. If required, they will have the opportunity to use concrete objects, manipulatives and pictorial representations to help them understand what they are doing and to support them as they reason and solve problems.
We shall begin this term with the study of report writing; the children will construct a newspaper report linked to the current guided reading text, ‘The Giant’s Necklace’ by Michael Morpurgo. The level of reading and writing expected, and the word and sentence skills integrated within the writing will build on prior learning. Therefore, there will continue to be a particular focus on developing children’s use and understanding of a range of higher level vocabulary. We shall manipulate sentences and improve them using a thesaurus to help us, vary the way sentences begin and the length of sentences for effect, and continue to develop and extend skills in understanding and using complex sentence structures. The children will bring home their published work, which will include all improvements made to the original piece, for you to read and comment on so ‘thank you’ in advance!
As always, there will be a huge emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar. This is very important as these skills feed into the children’s reading and particularly their writing. The spelling of every word they use is vital as the children’s writing is heavily judged on their ability to spell the words they use correctly. With this in mind we continue to ask you to work in partnership with us, encouraging and helping your children to learn and understand a variety of vocabulary. There will continue to be daily ‘SPAG’ sessions (spelling, punctuation and grammar) and some of the pupils’ homework will be linked to various aspects of this area of the English Curriculum.
We shall be studying adaptation this term. The children will explore the seven life processes through investigating how animals and plants have adapted so that they are suited to their environment. Scientific enquiry skills will include choosing and planning the most appropriate scientific enquiry method to answer a question, making careful observations, measuring using a data-logger, recording and concluding.
An interactive display and table will motivate and encourage children’s independence. I have set challenges which will enable children to solve problems, thinking scientifically and trying out ideas with independence.
PE will take place each week this term on Wednesday. The focus of term five will be three weeks of games, consolidating and securing the skills taught in previous terms, followed by three weeks of outdoor and adventurous activity. As I am sure you are aware, it is really important that PE kits are in school for that day each week and are clearly labelled. We will continue to challenge ourselves to undertake the ‘Golden Mile’ which entails running 60 metres every day. The children will therefore need trainers in their lockers each day. Long hair must be tied back and all earrings removed for safety during PE sessions. Thank you!
This term children will study Sikhism and Christianity, the latter focusing on Pentecost. Examples of learning experiences include exploring: the Khalsa and making connections with their own school community, the festival of Baisakhi, and ‘The Gifts of the Spirit’ and the difference that these gifts might make to a religious believer.
Every Monday, children will be given a list of spelling words to practise in class each morning. These will, for the most part, consist of the National Curriculum list of words which are a mixture of words pupils frequently use in their writing and those which they often misspell. On Friday the children will bring their spellings home for you to test them and bring them back for a class discussion on Monday. The end of year statutory tests places a significant emphasis on children’s ability to spell, not only the National Curriculum statutory word list for their year group, but also the word lists from previous year groups.
Maths and English
Homework will be set and given to children on Monday, to be returned by Thursday. The content will enable children to practise what they have learnt in class.
Fluency in reading, coupled with developing comprehension, plays a vital role in your child’s learning. In class we have daily guided sessions of reading and actively seek out opportunities to read across the curriculum, but it is essential that children are able to practise this skill at home. Reading can include a range of text-types and media; not just the school reading book that comes home each day. Children should be reading four at least fifteen minutes, five out of seven nights of the week. If your child is reading independently, please encourage him/her to clarify unfamiliar word-meanings with you or with a dictionary. Also, it is very important that the children understand what they are reading as this feeds into their ability to engage in comprehension tasks in class. Of course, this all leads to their final statutory end of Key Stage assessments.
An additional piece of homework will be set each Friday, to be completed by Monday.
Many thanks for your continued support.