Goodness Class
Welcome to Goodness Class. My name is Mrs Minhas and I am the Year 6 teacher; our teaching assistants are Mrs Dudley, Mrs Waterman and Ms Wilmot.
Year 6 is an extremely important year for the children, as it is their final year at St Augustine before making the leap to secondary school. A key focus throughout Year 6 will be to ensure that the children take a mature and responsible approach to their education; becoming confident, organised and independent learners. It is also the year where all pupils will strive to consolidate, bring together and apply the knowledge that they have gained throughout the past six years in preparation for the SATs; marking the end of KS2. The skills and knowledge that they will build on this year will help to ignite their motivation to strive to reach their best, while inspiring them to grow and adapt to face the new challenges that secondary school will present.
Reading
All pupils are expected to read regularly at home with an adult in order to develop their comprehension/inferential skills as well as the speed, fluency and accuracy of what they read. In school, we focus a great deal on analysing the content of what is being read; asking a variety of questions about the content in order to ensure that they gain a deeper understanding. Asking these questions at home will improve their reading skills so it is imperative that you read with your child every day for at least 20 minutes.
We would ask parents/guardians to initial and date any comments that they make in their reading records on a daily basis, as well as indicating when their child has finished the book; these records will be checked regularly.
Homework
All pupils will be set homework every Friday; this is to be handed in by the following Monday. Please note, sometimes they may get homework on days other than a Friday. In addition, they will also receive spelling homework and they will be tested every week on these spellings.
Please remember - the aim of the Spelling homework is that all children apply this knowledge in their written work, not only in Literacy, but across the curriculum. So please practise the given spellings in a context so that children understand their meanings and how to use them correctly.
Physical Education
PE will take place every Friday afternoon. All children must bring in suitable clothing and appropriate footwear for indoor and outdoor PE.
Autumn Term
Our Literacy texts for this term is ‘Rose Blanche' by Robert Innocenti; an exceptionally moving picture book in which the reader views the sorrow of war through a young girl’s eyes. Rose Blanche discovers a concentration camp full of children in the forest near her hometown and secretly takes food to them for the remainder of the war. Heartbreakingly, there is no happy ending for Rose Blanche. Roberto Innocenti’s illustrations create a powerful and eloquent text. The White Rose was a German resistance group based in Munich. The book can be seen as a fable of resistance.
Another linked text that will be studied throughout the term is War Game by Michael Foreman; some reference will also be made to other texts such as War Boy by Michael Foreman, The Diary of Anne Frank and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne.
Parent/Guardian/Carer Teacher Meeting
This term’s Parent/Guardian/Carer Teacher meeting will be occurring within the first few weeks of September. During this time, you will be provided with information regarding the Year 6 curriculum and homework. More importantly, we will outline how we support our pupils in school and how you will be able to assist your child with their learning at home in order to boost his/her knowledge and confidence.
Please make every effort to attend this meeting.
I look forward to working in partnership with you in order to support our children in succeeding and achieving their aim in life.