Red Kite

Helping at Home

 

We know that all too often you want to help your children with their learning at home but you're not quite sure what you could be doing; therefore we thought we'd put some pointers to help you help them!

 

1) Times tables - The children really do need to have a good handle on their times tables. Ideally they have 'rapid recall' and can answer any times table question within a few seconds. If you need your child's Rock Star login please just ask.

 

2) Reading - Children should read aloud 3/4 times a week and should read alone at least once a day. 

 

3) Homework - The homelearning is a handy guide for you to know what we're doing in school; take a few minutes to discuss what they've been set each week. If you want to lend a hand there are a few pointers in the maths area of this website; alternately, if you're a bit rusty yourself, get online and onto The Khan Academy - it's really useful!

 

4) KIRFs - Key Instant Recall Facts! These are facts that if recalled without troubling the grey-matter too much will allow the children to access the maths curriculum with a greater deal of confidence and ease - this term's are below. 

 

5) Routine - getting up, going to bed, dinner times, home work, times tables practise, learning KIRFs, reading...

 

All of the above and much, much more will benefit greatly from being built into a consistent routine at home. 

 

Please speak to one of us if you would like help with any of the above.

 

Kind regards,

 

The Year 6 Team

Welcome Back!

 

Hopefully you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and managed to find the opportunity to catch up with those close to you while also enjoying some down time. 

 

We move into 2020 much the same as we ended 2019, cranking through the gears in readiness for Monday 11th May! The children seem to have enjoyed their break and we're sure that getting a bit of routine back will do us all some good!

 

The next few weeks are very busy with plenty to look forward to. Speaking of things to look forward to, there will also be a letter coming your way soon to let you know about the activity week we have put together for the children's final week at primary school - July will be here soon enough!

 

Cheers,

 

The Year 6 Team

 

 

 

 

Children's Sleep

 

As the term draws towards its conclusion we notice that some children are looking a little more tired. Obviously this is more noticeable towards the back end of the term but it does appear that some children are getting less sleep than they probably should. 

 

Children in Y6 should be getting between 9 1/2 and 9 3/4 hours sleep per night, which would mean if your child is asleep by 9pm then they would be sleeping through to just before 7pm. Sleep is essential to your child's continued and succesfull development, please click here for more information: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sleep-and-tiredness/healthy-sleep-tips-for-children/. 

 

Thanks for your continued support.

 

The Year 6 Team

Bang - and we're back!

 

Well the half term holiday is done and dusted and we're back in and on the run-in to Christmas. Between now and then we've plenty of ground to cover but we all know it will be here before we know it. The children have come back fired up and ready to go, long may that continue. 

 

Cheers,

 

The Year 6 Team

Well Dones!

 

A well done to one and all for getting through this half term with such positivity and assurance - we hit the ground running and we've not looked back since. It's been a frantic but fulfilling eight weeks (that's right...eight!) of learning and the children have really shown their mettle. Hopefully they will enjoy their break and come back raring for more in November - powered up by Halloween treat or two! 

 

A special well done to our Outstanding Learners, Leah and Samip and our Super Spellers and Marvellous Mathematicians (to be announced tomorrow, hence no names). These children have gone the extra yard in their learning and set a wonderful example to those around them. 

 

And a final well done to you parents, it is clear that we have a shared drive and passion for your children to be the best that they can be; it was wonderful to meet so many of you across the two parents evenings.  

 

Have a restful and relaxing half term and we'll see you in November.

 

The Year 6 Team

Times Tables and Reading

 

Dear parents,

 

It is enormously beneficial to your child's progress if you are encouraging them to read at home as well as take some time to get tables practise on the Rock Stars platform.

 

Reading is the bedrock of nearly everything we do in school and reading aloud has proven benefits for those children who are able to find the time to do so. It shouldn't be too onerous, 20 minutes or so over the week would be sufficient and it really can make a huge difference. 

 

The same can be said for rapid recall of times tables knowledge; the simple fact of the matter is if children don't have to think about a step in a problem they are solving they free up working memory which allows them to more easily access to the rest of a calculation. Children who are not fluent with their tables are inevitably going to have to do more thinking to solve a calculation and therefore are more likely to make a mistake. 

 

Time taken at home now will make a difference - both this year and those that follow. 

 

Thank you for your support,

 

The Year 6 Team

Homelearning apology

 

For reasons beyond my understanding the homework instructions for SPaG this week read  'Page 31 + 31'. It was meant to, and now does, read page 31 and 32. Apologies for any inconvenience. 

 

Mr Tatum 

Times Tables Rock Stars

 

Please ensure the children are getting at least 20 minutes practise on the Rock Stars platform over the course of each week. Rapid recall and fluency in times tables enables children to work more confidently when solving mathematical problems and will be of increasing use as the Y6 curriculum develops. 

 

The children came home earlier in the week with their logins, if they haven't got this please let us know and we will re-issue these. 

 

Kind regards,

 

The Year 6 Team

Hi parents,

 

For those who were unable to catch the meeting last night, the presentation we went through is below. If you have any questions please catch us in the playground or get in touch with the office. 

 

Cheers,

 

The Year 6 Team

Welcome to Y6!

 

So here it is, the final year of primary school: my, my hasn't the time gone by quickly! At this stage we want to say hello, let you know that we're here should you want to catch up (after school is best but we appreciate that's not always possible) and to draw your attention to why it is worthwhile dropping in on us here on our class pages frequently to ensure you're up to speed with all that is going on. 

 

We will use these pages to keep you abreast of what's going on across the year, in each of the classes as well as setting homelearning and giving you access to important information and documentation. Below this message you'll notice a number of resources already there fore you: all you need to do is click on them and they will surrender their informative goodness. If you have any problems in doing so please send a message in with your child and we can provide you hard copies. 

 

A couple of dates for the dairy worth noting at this juncture are: 

 

16/9 - Y6 Curriculum Meeting @ 3:30pm

20/9 - Jeans for Genes Day

1/10 - Y6 trip to Milestones Museum

 

That's all for now, thanks for reading,

 

The Y6 Team