To all children and parents in Year 6 (Class 5)

As we all look forward to the return of the whole class on Monday March 8^th, I would like to reflect on the time we have spent in this lockdown. For those working at home, I am sure it has been a strange and bewildering time, but both Mrs Thompson and I are very proud of the work the children have done in keeping up with the diet of home learning they have been given. It is difficult at Year 6 age because the work is becoming more and more challenging and we all have one eye on preparing the children for their secondary times ahead. But we both would like to say a big thank you to every child and every adult who has worked to complete as much home learning as they can.

It would be remiss of me not say a huge thank you to the children who have been coming into school from the very start of this lockdown. We call them the ‘Fantastic Four’- Sophie, Harriet, Billy and Max. They have been wonderful in school, working very hard and having lots of laughs together. And of course, a big thank you to the children who subsequently joined the class a little later. We are now up to nine children who have been coming in. Thank you to you nine!

In terms of preparing for next week, I would like to mention a few things:

• Our reading book is ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. We chose this book because, as well as it being very accessible and very enjoyable, we could get a PDF version so that we could guarantee the children at home could read the chapters with us in school. That was not the case with ‘War Horse’. If any children have their own copy of the book, please bring it in on Monday so you can use it when we read in class (although it doesn’t matter if you don’t!) Also, if you have any artefacts that you can donate to our ‘HPATPS’ table, please bring them in! (nothing of great financial or sentimental value please!)
• As you saw from the letter sent out this week, the children are expected to wear full uniform, including shoes, and are expected to bring in a full P.E kit on a Monday and keep it in school.
• Children will receive their homework on a Monday in school from now on. They will have till the following Monday to complete it.
• Spellings will be given out on a Monday and will be tested on a Friday.
• We have been really focusing on good learning manners in class. This is to prepare the children for their secondary times ahead. The main thrust of this is that we expect all children to raise their hands if they want to speak in class. We have been focusing hugely on this and have been giving loads of credits to those who maintain a high standard of manners and those who show improvement. This will continue next week and beyond.

These are worrying times for us but, with your efforts at home and the efforts of the children at school, I am sure that the light at t=end of the tunnel is ahead!

Thank you

Mr Redfern

- Lent- Lent started last week with Ash Wednesday. We are going to do lots of work in R.E and in Collective Worship thinking about this time of year and what it means to us.

- Literacy-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Because of the difficulties we are having with getting War Horse to everyone, we are going to switch to HPATPS. We have managed to download a PDF version of the book which has been put onto Purple Mash. Please note- It is an American PDF download and so it is called 'Sorcerer's Stone'! And there are lots of different spellings, which we will pick up along the way!

We are going to ask  you to read a chapter EVERY day, with the intention of finishing the whole book by Easter! Literacy tasks will mainly focus on the book so it should be lots of fun!

Hopefully lots of you already have a copy of the book and so you won't need to use the PDF! 

- Numeracy-We are going to do a couple of weeks on Shape and Space now.

-Geography-We are going to focus on the role of fieldwork in Geography, hopefully with the intention of getting out and doing our own fieldwork-even if it is inly on the school grounds!

- Science- Continuing our work on States of Matter, with experiments to tests our theories!

Hopefully everyone will be back in before Easter. Look after yourselves and your loved ones, try to do your learning at home and be safe!

Mr Redfern