Welcome to Year 6
6SB Mrs Sampson & Miss Booton
6L Mr Lane
6D Mr Land
Our LSAs are Miss Ratcliffe, Mrs Davies, Mrs Donald, Miss Hammond, Mrs Wills, Ms Morgan & Miss Scull
Autumn 2023
We are delighted to welcome you all to Y6.
We have a very busy and exciting year ahead of us, and we look forward to meeting you all throughout the year.
The year group is divided into 3 classes:
6D taught by Mr Land and is supported by Mrs Donald, Miss Morgan, Miss Scull;
6L taught by Mr Lane and is supported by Mrs Hoskins (Monday & Tuesday) & Mrs Davies (Wed to Friday)
6SB taught by Miss Booton (Mon to Wed) & Mrs Sampson (Wed to Fri) and supported by Ms Cowell and Mrs Wills.
The year group will also be supported by Miss Hammond.
We recommend that your child brings a small, named pencil case to school with essential stationery (which must fit into their class tray – no stationery toys please). In the morning, Y6 should enter through the main playground gates (8:40-8:50) and will leave via the same way at 3:20. If your child arrives later than 8:50, they must enter through the front office. We appreciate that as the children grow older, they gain more independence. Children who wish to walk or cycle home on their own must have a completed ‘Walking Home Alone’ form which is available from your class teacher.
Reading
We shall continue to encourage our children to share our love of reading. Your child will be bringing home one of our level-appropriate books from our reading scheme. The expectation is that our children to read five times independently at home for homework and we ask for your support in this by recording their reads on ‘BoomReader’ and, on occasion, discussing their reading. Along with the book they bring home from school, we would also encourage children to read one of their own books. We look forward to hearing about what they have been reading. All children who read five times a week will be entered into a half-termly draw where they have the chance to win prizes.
English
In the first half of this term we will be studying ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ by Emma Carroll. There will be a big focus on broadening our children’s vocabulary and applying this into the children’s writing, as well as a sharpening of the children’s understanding of sentence structure and grammar. After half-term, we shall be introducing the children to the work of William Shakespeare through the play ‘Macbeth’. We will have a visit from The Young Shakespeare Company on 10/11/23. A letter regarding this shall be sent out shortly.
Mathematics
We will be starting our work looking at place value, progressing on to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Within this, children will be faced with a range of problems to solve. We will be working hard to make sure the children know and can use their times tables, and would appreciate it if you could encourage your children to continue learning them at home! Children will be provided with homework books during the Autumn Term which will serve as excellent revision for the end of year SATs.
Science
This term we will be undertaking an Electricity study. This will be building on the children’s knowledge of circuits and making switches. We will also be looking at the circulatory system and describe the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood.
Curriculum topics this term
Throughout the autumn term we will be exploring the Hindu faith with a focus on ‘Why Hindus try to be good’. We will also be studying ‘How conflict changed our local area in World War 2’, and a comparison study of North America, and in computing there will be a continuing focus on Internet Safety and computing systems and networks. All key information about the topics your child will be exploring can be found in the knowledge organiser section in the year 6 class page on our website.
Social Media
In recent years, Year 6 classes have increasingly been impacted by the harmful effects of social media resulting in many children becoming deeply upset for a variety of reasons. The minimum age for ‘WhatsApp’ (for example) was 13, but has recently been raised to 16 (although this is not legally binding). We understand that it is very hard to prevent children from using social media, but we stress the importance of discussing and monitoring your child’s usage and implementing strategies to minimise the impact.
RHSE
In year 6 we will start with the ‘Being me in my world’ topic (discussing the year head, anxieties and setting targets, as well as learning about the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child), followed by ‘Changing Me’ (understanding body changes, child birth and conception – letters will be sent out nearer the time and you will be invited to view all teaching materials).
PCSO Ali Thompson will be coming in to work with us throughout the autumn term, where she will be delivering sessions on Hate Crime, Bullying and On-line Safety. She will also be delivering the ‘STAR’ programme which is specifically designed to teach children about drug and alcohol awareness, how to live a healthy lifestyle and making the right choices.
P.E. and Swimming
P.E kits must be worn to school on PE days. Kit consists of:
Outdoor PE for all classes will take place on Thursdays and Indoor PE is on a Tuesday afternoon for those children who are not swimming. Your child will need to wear their PE kit to school on those days unless they are swimming, in which case they will bring their swimming kit in and wear school uniform as usual.
We are very fortunate to have our own pool here at Trinity, and we feel that it is very important that children take advantage of this resource. Therefore, children must remember to bring their swimming kits to every session. If, for any reason, your child is unable to take part in P.E. or swimming, a signed letter must be provided.
6L will be swimming for the first term. Please make sure they have their swimming kit in every Tuesday.
Their lessons will begin on Tuesday 12th September.
6D & 6SB will swim at a later date and they will be having PE and Art on Tuesday afternoons.
Your child is to wear PE kit to and from school on PE days.
Please contact us if you have any questions or need any support.
The Year 6 Team
ssampson@trinity.hereford.sch.uk
jbooton@trinity.hereford.sch.uk
Some Key Dates
Wednesday 6th September – Autumn Term Begins
Thursday 19th October Queenswood Reception Buddies Trip
w/c Monday 30th October – Half Term
Friday 10th November – Macbeth Workshop