Year 6

Indoor PE	Monday afternoon
Outdoor Games	Friday afternoon
PPA/COSMIC	Thursday afternoon
Library	Tuesday afternoon

Year 6 – Curriculum Map 2023-24

Spring Term

Revision Books – SATs

Thank you for joining us and helping us to support your child towards their SATs in May. It is so important that we work together to encourage them to do their very best, whilst at the same time reassuring them that their best is absolutely all that we ask for. The process has become such a rite of passage for all children in Year 6, across the country, and we know what a sense of achievement they will feel and what great times ahead we have planned for the summer. Not long now!

Just a few key messages from the meeting, as reminders, so that you can help at home:

Revision book ARE:		Revision book ARE NOT:
Help Reassurance A chance to practise Familiarisation Control Power!		Punishable homework Must do! Home learning Daily tasks

How will we use the books to help?

Children will be directed to the best pages for revision that particular day/week – this will vary from class to class, and week to week
Pages are there for support – if the children choose
Books will come in and out of school so that we can have the chance to look through some things together
We will encourage the children to have a go at home
We will discourage the children from racing ahead to complete too much, too quickly

As always, any further questions: do give us a call. See you for Parents’ Evening 😊

Happy New Year, Year 6!

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas holiday and a chance to recharge their batteries, ready for the new and exciting year to come! Just a few reminders for the term ahead to make sure that we are all well prepared, and starting out on the right foot…

Social Media Use and Smart Watches

We are becoming increasingly aware of social media issues at home and how they have the potential to impact your child’s day at school. Your child’s safety and well-being are of utmost important to us – this is even more prevalent as they mature and transition into the next stage of their childhood.

As we are sure you can appreciate, we cannot prevent or control your children’s actions when they are not at school. We need your help. Together, we can help your children to navigate the difficulties that are, sadly, synonymous with social media use. We are asking that you check your child’s phone regularly to monitor their own behaviour online. If you are worried about anything, we are here to help but our powers are limited. While we will certainly protect your child in school, we have no control over their behaviour in your home. If you see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or that is concerning, seek help. This may be in the form of us at school or, in extreme circumstances, calling ‘111’ may be the most appropriate course of action.

Below are the key pieces of advice we give to children on a regular basis and it would be hugely beneficial if you could reiterate these messages at home.

If at any point you feel concerned or uncomfortable, tell a trusted adult and follow some or all of these steps:

Delete the application and stop using it
Block the individual
Leave the conversation
Do not take your phone out of communal areas of the house

It is important to mention that the legal age for the use of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snap Chat is 13 years of age. The legal age for the use of WhatsApp is 16 years of age. As you can see, this makes it even harder to manage as, legally, they should not be using any of the applications that are causing concerns. This makes the regular monitoring of your child’s use and their behaviours online of utmost importance to their safety and well-being.

As a final safeguarding note, SMART watches are not allowed to be worn in school. While we appreciate the wearing of these is often innocent, many of these watches have the same capabilities of a mobile phone.

Reward points

Reward Points will continue this term and run in exactly that same way: The children will have the opportunity to earn 3 points per day towards a reward trip just before half term. Authorised absences and holidays will earn 2 points per day missed. And, of course, points could be lost for any behaviour issues, including use of unacceptable language. A 5-point star award is also on offer every day for outstanding contribution – this could be in class or it could be for exemplary behaviour or empathy. Although our ethos in Year 6 is very much based around the team, there is, of course, a chance that one or more children may not earn enough points to attend the reward trip. If this happens, they will be expected to remain in school with one of us for the day – and it is vital that you support us in this as we prepare the children for their transition secondary school. Please continue to ask your child to explain further, especially about some of the ideas they have had for rewards! And if you have any further questions regarding this matter, please come and talk to us about it sooner rather than later.

Attendance

As always, attendance is KEY to a successful spring term for everyone. The Department for Education has the expectation that your child’s attendance reaches a minimum of 95%. There are 29 days of school this half term and 95% would equal 27 ½ days in school – that’s a maximum of 1 ½ days off. Please be aware how quickly ‘odd’ days can mount up and how detrimental that can be to your child’s learning and also to their overall wellbeing. We really do appreciate your support with this matter.

Uniform – Eyelashes & Nails

We continue to expect the children looking fresh and smart in their school uniforms this year, and we aim to maintain the good standard until the summer. Of course, we are sympathetic to any disasters but it is easy to fall into bad habits, and we will be vigilant to ensure everyone is looking super smart in their uniform. Please look at the school website or contact the school office with any queries.

Can we also take this opportunity to advise you that false eyelashes and false nails, of any description, are not suitable wear for school. Please ensure that these have been removed.

Home Reading & Revision Material for SATs

We continue to ask that Home Reading Records come in only once a week, on a Friday, when they will be checked and signed off in the normal way. The expectation from us is that the children read a minimum of three times a week at home. If, for any reason, you feel this is not achievable at home, please let us know as soon as possible. And, please be remined that the onus is on the children to remember – it is not your responsibility to make sure it’s in their bag on Friday mornings! This is a vital learning curve as we approach the expectations of Year 7 homework.

We will also be providing the children with some revision materials in readiness for SATs week in May. Please be on the look out for an invitation to a meeting regarding this so that we can discuss our expectations together and, more importantly, settle any anxieties before they begin 😊

KEY DATES

Parent Meeting – Monday 22^nd January 2024 2pm
Reward Trip – Friday 9^th February 2024
Half term – Monday 12^th – Friday 16^th February 2024
SATs Week: Monday 13^th May – Friday 17^th May 2024

Email the Year 6 Team at year6@warrenpark.hants.sch.uk

You’ve made it! Finally, it’s your chance to be the oldest children in the school and to help all those who are younger than you to thrive at Warren Park. It’s a very important job – being a Year 6 role model – but, we’ve heard that you’re more than ready to take on all the challenges that lay ahead. We hope that you will have a mature and positive attitude, that you’ll be ready for lots of hard work and we very much hope that you will be ready to do lots of laughing as well…with your friends, your classmates and, most importantly, with us. It would be great if you knew your times tables so well that you could recite them in your sleep, and it would be really great if you could tell us about a book that you have read over the summer holidays. We know you all loved Who Let The Gods Out so maybe you’ll read something else by Maz Evans. We will be reading the well-known Michael Morpurgo before Christmas so, perhaps, you may choose something buy him as well… Make sure you have a fantastic holiday and get ready to join the very special team that is Year Six…We can’t wait 😊

Firstly, we would like to say how lucky we feel to be able to teach your children for their last year at Warren Park – it really is a special year. We will do our best to make sure that their time in Year 6 is both challenging and enjoyable, and we hope that by the time they leave us in July, they will have many special memories to take with them.

There are a few details for this year that we’d like to let you know about:

UNIFORM

We look forward to seeing all the children looking fresh and smart in their school uniforms this year, and we aim to maintain the good start throughout the school year. With secondary school and their clear expectations around uniform on the horizon, we will be challenging any children who seem to be repeatedly without the correct uniform. Of course, we are sympathetic to any breakfast disasters or washing machine malfunctions but it is easy to fall into bad habits, and we will be vigilant to ensure everyone is looking super smart in their uniforms this year. Please look at the school website or contact the school office with any queries.

PE INFROMATION

Our outdoor PE afternoon is on a Friday and our indoor PE afternoon is on a Monday. We would ask that the children continue to wear their PE kits to school on both days. Their PE kit should consist of a pair of shorts whilst it’s warmer, and then a pair of tracksuit bottoms or leggings for colder months – either in grey, blue or black. An ordinary school t-shirt and jumper will be fine for them to wear on the top. We ask that PE kits remain in school colours only. Football kits, colours other than blue/black/grey bottoms / white tee-shirt and clothing with motifs or labels are not acceptable PE kit. Suitable trainers for PE should also be worn, too. We would also ask that the children do not wear any jewellery on their PE either.

HOME READING

Your child has a new Home Reading Record for the year. As we did last year, we kindly ask that these Home Reading Records are carefully looked after when they are at home – along with the reading book that they will accompany. The school has made a huge investment into reading books over the last few years and we ask you to value the books at home as much as we do in school. Please be assured that we will be working hard to make sure the children begin on a suitable book band colour, especially to encourage fluency and confidence to begin with. These bands will be under regular review so don’t be surprised if they seem to move quite quickly through the colours this term! We ask that Home Reading Records come in only once a week, on a Friday, when they will be checked and signed off in the normal way. The expectation from us is that the children read a minimum of three times a week at home. If, for any reason, you feel this is not achievable at home, please let us know as soon as possible.

MOBILE PHONES

We appreciate that as the children are getting older, many of them are walking to and from school alone. It is completely reasonable, therefore, that they should have their mobile phones with them for these journeys. We also understand that they may be other circumstances whereby you may feel it necessary to send your child to school with their mobile phone on a particular day. In all other cases, may we ask that children do not bring their phones to school with them. Whilst at school, mobile phones will be collected immediately and kept in a safe cupboard until home time. The children may not keep them in their own bag all day. We view this very strongly with regards to safeguarding, and any deliberate attempts by the children to keep hold of their phones during the day will be taken very seriously.

REWARD POINTS

We will be running a Reward Points system in Year 6 this year. The children will have the opportunity to earn 3 points per day towards a reward treat or trip at the end of every half term. Authorised absences and holidays will earn 2 points per day missed. And, of course, points could be lost for any behaviour issues, including use of unacceptable language. A 5-point star award is also on offer every day for outstanding contribution – this could be in class or it could be for exemplary behaviour or empathy. Although our ethos in Year 6 is very much based around the team, there is, of course, a chance that one or more children may not earn enough points to attend the reward trip. If this happens, they will be expected to remain in school with one of us for the day – and it is vital that you support us in this as we prepare the children for their transition secondary school. Please ask your child to explain further, especially about some of the ideas they have had for rewards! And if you have any further questions regarding this matter, please come and talk to us about it sooner rather than later.

SECONDARY SCHOOL

I know it seems a little early to be mentioning it, but your child’s secondary school application must be submitted by the end of October. You will be contacted, via letter, by the County Council about the process – it’s all online now and very simple to complete. You now have the not so straightforward job of actually making the decision as to where you will send them when they leave us. To help you in this process, the secondary schools usually hold a series of open evening events which you will be able to find if you look on their websites. Over the past few years, we have had our children move on to many local secondaries. Schools you may wish to consider are: Park Community School, Havant Academy, Crookhorn College and Warblington School. This is certainly not the complete list of schools in and around the area. The Hampshire County Council website will provide you with further options should you require something different.

Key Dates:

Park Taster Day: Wednesday 20^th September 2023 (details to follow)
Parents’ Evening – Tuesday 26^th September and Wednesday 27^th September 2023

We look forward to seeing you all for parents’ evening in a few weeks – please book an appointment if you haven’t yet done so.

Literary Festival – Friday 29^th September 2023 (details to follow)
SATs Week: Monday 13^th May – Friday 17^th May 2024

(Please don’t book any holidays for this week!)

Our ethos in Year 6 is very much centred on ‘the team’. We do the great things together, we do the good things together, and we get the hard work done together. Yes, there will be tough times when things get difficult – but there will also be some truly amazing times that will make life-long memories to cherish…

Finally, and as always, we are on hand if you have any queries. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, however small you may consider your concern. See you soon…

With our best wishes,