Welcome to Year 6

Miss. D. Cohen - Year 6 Teacher 

Welcome to Year 6. We aim to make Year 6 the most productive, successful and enjoyable year ever! As this will be your child's last year at St. Margaret's, working hard and embracing all aspects of school life is something we will encourage them to do. We will help them to develop their independence, confidence and skills in order to move through the SATS and, later, on to high school. 

We have extremely high expectations and will expect everyone to work to the very best of their capabilities. Concentration and hard work will be the key to achieving the very best outcomes throughout the year. Year 6 will be expected to set good examples of behaviour and be positive role models for the younger children to follow. Our pupils will have the opportunity to take on extra roles and responsibilities, in and around school. In class, children should be prepared to work hard and always look to challenge themselves. We will be a fantastic TEAM! 

But first we are going to kick off the year with a fantastic week in Dearne Valley!!! Get ready to get muddy, messy and make the best memories you will hold with you forever! 

We can't wait to see you all back tomorrow! 

Mrs. C. Devine - Year 6 Teaching Assistant

Mrs. D. Patel - Pupil Support

Mrs. R. Clark - Pupil Support

WEEKLY NEWS.

Friday 15th September, 2023.

7.00am Our final day! We are already up and dressed for our breakfast and then we shall be tidying up and packing. We will then be off to our last activities before having lunch and leaving for home. We will update you with our travel progress here! 

2.00pm What a busy morning! Breakfast, tidying our rooms, packing, aeroball, laserquest and dinner. We are now on the coach and, traffic allowing, hope to be at school before 3.30pm. Please keep an eye on the school app for further updates! See you soon! 

Thursday 14th September, 2023.

9.45am Breakfast is done and we are on our first activities of the day: half the group is on Jacob’s Ladder or the low ropes and the other half are on the climbing wall. Both of these are climbing activities so we have our helmets and harnesses on. After a break, the groups will swap! 

2.55pm After lunch (pasties, chips and beans!), we have tidied our rooms and are now about to climb Jacob’s Ladder or the climbing wall. Our new headteacher, Miss. Whiteside, has joined us - she hasn’t been to Dearne Valley before so she has really enjoyed seeing what this trip involves and spending some time with the children. 
 

8.00pm Our final evening activity is the campfire. We sang songs and enjoyed toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate! 
 

Wednesday 13th September, 2023.

9.30am Today is a bright day! No rain! We had breakfast at 7.45am and are now at one of the site’s ponds (see photo gallery) where we are raft building! After the build, we will be testing our rafts on the pond! Wish us luck - this might be a rather wet activity. 
 

10.00pm Lights are off and we have silence along our corridor! It’s been a busy day - after our raft-building exploits (and a hot shower!) we tried our hand at archery and the high-ropes! This involved more climbing (see the photo gallery) and we all did really well at beating our fears and trying to get as high as we could. Our evening activity was a walk into the local hills to see the wonderful views. This may be why we are so tired and happy to climb into bed! 

Tuesday 12th September, 2023.

9.30am We were up early for a 7.45am breakfast - there were cereals, fruit, yoghurt and a cooked breakfast, available. This morning’s activities see us kayaking and crate building. The weather is not great, today, with steady rain. 
 

9.30pm Hello! Sorry for the late update - seem to have had signal issues, today. We have had a lot of rain, today, but the children have got on with the activities and had a great time. It was lovely to see them kayaking and crate building (this involves building a tower that the children climb with the use of harnesses and safety ropes). Our last activity was art-based and (thankfully!) indoors. The children got creative and made a robot using various materials. Staff have just checked everyone and turned the lights off for a slightly earlier night. Hopefully, tomorrow will be dryer! 

Monday 11th September, 2023.

11.30am Good morning, everyone! The children are in class watching a film. We will shortly have dinner and then board the coach! 
I will keep you updated with our daily activities right here on the class page and add some photographs into the gallery below!

Please keep your fingers crossed for dry weather! 
 

2.30pm We are about 15 minutes away from the centre, where we will discover which children are the fastest at bed-making! 

I did worry that I would nod off on the journey (due to a belly full of cake-pops!) but Year 6 entertained us with the Backstreet Boys on a continuous loop! 
 

3.00pm We have safely arrived! 
 

8.00pm We have enjoyed two activities, so far. ‘Bushcraft skills’ saw us foraging for materials in the woods to build shelters (please see the photo gallery). We then went for tea - choices were pizza and chips, chicken casserole or chilli with a doughnut to finish! ‘Mini Olympics’ is our final activity where we are playing fun games beneath the evening sky! 

Year 6 Class Curriculum 

Please see the curriculum overviews in the relevant term below for details of what we are doing in the curriculum. The weekly spelling words can also be found there. There are ten spellings each week, plus an additional five words from the National Curriculum list of spellings that children are expected to know by the end of Year 6. This full list can be found in the Autumn Term. Please encourage and support your child in learning these words throughout the year.

Homework

We would welcome your support with encouraging your child to complete homework and in handing it in at the appropriate time. We will ensure that the children know what the homework is but it will be the children’s responsibility to make sure they take it home at the time it is given and bring it back accordingly. This will help the children become independent learners. 

English: given out on a Wednesday handed in following Monday.

Maths: given out on a Wednesday handed in following Monday.

Spellings: given out on Friday for the test on the following Friday.

Reading Logs:

It would also be helpful if you can ensure that your child reads each night (minimum of 15 minutes), to build up their fluency and vocabulary. Ensure that they read a variety of fiction and non-fiction and the texts reading will be a challenge. Please make sure your reading records are signed by an adult three times per week and in school each Friday to be checked.

PE: Our PE lesson is on Thursdays. On this day children need to come into school wearing their FULL PE KIT. Please ensure you do not wear earrings and that long hair is tied back.

Year 6 Recommended Reading List

I have attached, below, the link for the recommended reading list where there is a wide range of books appropriate for Year 6. These will include the rich vocabulary and Year 6 features to help them improve their writing. 

https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-6-pupils-ks2-age-10-11/