Welcome back Oak Tree Class!

Happy New Year! I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas, spending time with family and friends, and the children are ready for the new year ahead!

If there are ever any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch. The support you give is essential for your child's progress and the closer we can work together, the better it will be for them. Finally, don’t forget to follow our class on twitter @OakClass_Sankey for regular updates.

Kind Regards,

Mr. Johnson

Curriculum Overview:

Maths

Our Maths topics for this term will focus heavily on fractions, decimals and percentages and it is imperative that children are supplementing this work with basic skills practise at home. Please encourage the children to use their log in for Times Table Rockstars regularly at home to ensure they know all the multiplication and division facts accurately and rapidly as this knowledge and recall will be hugely beneficial this year. 

English

In our English lessons this term, we are continuing to work on our knowledge of punctuation and grammar from across KS2, with a particular focus on being able to extend our sentences through the use of different clauses. All of our writing across the year will be inspired by high quality texts and children's literature and we will be starting the term off with some writing linked to the story Arthur and the Golden Rope.  Where possible, we will try to link our spellings in class to our writing also. We will be completing daily whole class reading sessions to develop the children’s reading stamina, pace, understanding of vocabulary and comprehension skills alongside individual reading sessions on a biweekly basis.

Science  

In our Science lessons this term, we look at Properties and Changed of Materials. In this unit we will consolidate our understanding of states of matter, finding out how to separate materials using scientific processes, learn how conductors and insulators work, as well finding out about reversible and irreversible changes.

Geography                                           

Our Geography topic for this term is 'Water: friend or foe?'. where we will be thinking about all the different uses of water. We will be learning about the water cycle and how water is essential to all life on Earth; finding out how much water is used in daily life and how we can try and reduce the amount of water we use; finding out about how water is used to create electricity; as well as learning how dams are used to help control water flow.

History                  

In our History lessons, we will be studying the enquiry question 'How has Crime and Punishment changed through the years?'. We will look at punishment throughout the ages, including Anglo Saxons, The Tudors, The Victorians and how modern crimes are detected. We will also find out about famous historical people such as Dick Turpin and analysing how we know about events form the past.

Additional Messages:

SATs 

In May 2025, children in Y6 will complete their statutory end of key stage assessments known as SATs. The children will be tested in Reading, Maths and Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling with Writing being teacher assessed in school. The tests will take place the week beginning 12th May 2025 so we ask that any holidays or time off is not taken during this month. An information evening for parents giving further details will be held later this year and a timetable will be sent out to you in the first week of the Summer term to confirm arrangements. SATs Booster sessions will take place throughout this term and all Year 6 pupils have access to SATs Boot Camp which will support their learning at home.

Reading:

Please make sure that you read regularly (at least three times per week) and get an adult to sign your planner each week. You can read your school reading book, your own book, a library book, newspapers, comics, etc.

Spellings:

Spellings will be taught and practised throughout the week and tests will take place each Friday morning with new spelling lists posted on Google Classroom every Friday. 

PE:

For this term, indoor PE (gymnastics) will be on Mondays and outdoor PE (orienteering) is on Fridays.  Once again, the children can come into school in their school PE kits on these days - a T-Shirt in their house colour and black shorts / joggers / leggings and trainers - with all hair tied back and jewellery removed. Please make sure these PE uniform guidelines are adhered to as last year we started to notice a few football shirts, etc. starting to creep in. It is important the children look as smart in their PE kits as they do in their uniforms. Thanks for your support with this. 

Homework:

Homework will be posted on Google Classroom each Friday and should be returned by the following Thursday. Homework will consist of a Maths activity and an English activity linked to the unit of work they are covering in class, so they should be able to complete the activity independently. 

Some useful websites, resources and links:

https://spellingframe.co.uk - Spelling Frame. A great, interactive website to give you chance to practise your spellings in a variety of different ways.

https://ttrockstars.com/ - Times Table Rockstars. Use this website to practise your times tables, battle with your band mates and keep your arithmetic skills up to scratch!

SATs Boot Camp - Year 6 SATs Revision, Practice Papers & SATs Questions Online - SATs Boot Camp (Year 6 only). Use this website to revise maths and English units and complete practice SATs tests in preparation for your SATs in May.