Welcome to Year 6 - Puffin Class

Puffins are famously hard-working and resilient and as we step into the final year at primary school, our classroom is a place where we 'fly' high and always do our best!

The teaching team this year comprises of:  Mrs Kelly, Mrs Mulnier and Miss Austen. 

We are excited to work with you all and hope to create lots of wonderful memories in what is your final year at primary school!

Important dates!

• Monday 7th September - Back to school
• Wednesday 16th September – Morning visit to Trent College for a 'Meet the author' event.
• Wednesday 23rd September - School Parliament elections.
• Wednesday 24th June - Expert group afternoon.
• Wednesday 30th September - Expert Afternoon 
• Tuesday 12th  October - Parents' Evening.
• Thursday 22nd October - Spooky Disco.
• Friday 23rd October - Dovedale’s Got Talent and Break up for half-term.

Autumn 1 - Our learning.

English – This half-term we will focus much of our learning around the exciting text: Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief.  The children will extend their understanding of spelling and grammar alongside their reading comprehension skills.  We will be writing to entertain and develop our descriptive skills further.

Maths – To start year 6 we will focus on the 4 operations: addition, multiplication, division and subtraction.  This will run alongside work on place value and time designated to honing our table knowledge and understanding of mental arithmetic. We will also develop our oracy skills through describing our thought processes when solving mathematical problems.

History – The ancient Maya is our focus for this half-term.  We will be learning all about the lives of the Maya and their amazing inventions, including some exciting oracy work, comparing both the Egyptian and Maya pyramids.

Computing – This half-term we will be learning about how data is transferred across networks using agreed protocols and exploring methods of communication and collaboration using the internet – evaluating the effectiveness of the different methods.

RE - This half-term's focus is 'What is it like for a Muslim living in Britain today?'  We will be learning about the 5 Pillars of Islam and what daily life looks like for Muslim people.

Science – Our first knowledge block for this academic year is 'Living things and their habitats'.  We will learn about the classification system and also about microorganisms, as well as discovering how living things are suited to their habitats.

PSHCE – We will be exploring our identities and developing our oracy skills when discussing what it is like to belong to a diverse community and the meanings of important vocabulary like respect,  responsibility, discrimination and prejudice. We will work on how we can show respect in our lives and how people in other countries show respect in their communities.  

Spanish – Our focus this half-term is 'La fonetica', where we will extend our understanding of the Spanish alphabet and improve our pronunciation of letters and sounds in Spanish.

ART – Our first knowledge block for Art is Sculpture. We will learn about the work of the Ancient Greek potters and compare and contrast these with more modern-day artists like  Giacometti and Grayson Perry.  We will create our own sculptures using clay 

PE – Tuesdays and Thursday are our PE sessions for this half-term. Indoor PE (Maya Dance) on Tuesday and outdoor PE (Forest School) on Tuesdays – Starting on Tuesday 22nd September. 

Knowledge Organisers.

These are linked to the knowledge blocks we are learning and include important key facts the children need to know and refer to in their work.

Homework.

Homework will be set weekly on a Friday. It will then need to be completed and in school the following Friday or before.

A piece of English or maths will be set each week. It may be a paper-based task or an online activity. Paper-based activities will be stuck in homework books. Children will be given login details for online tasks.

Reading – Children are expected to read 3 times a week either to an adult or to themselves.  This needs to be recorded in the children's planners. Planners and reading books need to be in school every day.  Children will be rewarded for reading three times each week with merits and entry into the reading raffle.

Timetables – These are vital to progress in maths.  Children are expected to practice tables using TT Rock stars at home regularly.

Spellings – These are set each Friday and then tested the following Friday. Again, these are vital to children's progress in English and in improving their vocabulary and quality of their writing.

Spellings.

All children will be given a copy of this overview in the first full week of term. It will be stuck in their planners.

Some children will be given personalised spellings in the first full week back.

Please keep in touch!

• Please keep a close eye on the class webpage for a wealth of information that is updated regularly.
• Link up to Class Dojo for up-to-date messages and announcements. You can contact me here too.
• My email is: ekelly@dovedale.derbyshire.sch.uk