Year 6 Autumn Newsletter 2020
We wish you all a warm welcome from all the staff in Year 6. We hope you have managed to have some quality time together over the lockdown period; making some lovely memories along the way. We are really looking forward to the new school year and don’t worry, we fully appreciate that (after such a long time away from school) our routines for school might be slightly rusty! We have some amazing activities and topics planned that we hope the children will love, and, most importantly, we will have a huge focus on the well-being and the mental health of the children.
It is important that we have up to date information about your child, which is why we ask that you fill in a new family data form early in the school year. If your child requires medication in school, or has allergies or specific dietary requirements, then please let us know as soon as possible. It’s also really important that we know who is (and who isn’t) allowed to collect your child at the end of the day. For our Year 6 children, please indicate whether your child is allowed to walk themselves home from school.
It makes communication much easier for everyone (no dropped or missing letters!) if you are registered with Parentmail and that we have up to date email and mobile phone information. Many families have already signed up for Class Dojo, where we will be regularly posting on our class pages. On those pages, you can find: information regarding the learning in class that week; photographs of the class work; activities set by the class teachers and it is also the quickest way to contact the class teacher directly.
We will also post information on our year group page on our school website, and celebrate our learning on our school’s Twitter account.
This term, Year 6 children will arrive and leave school via the coded gate on the main entrance, taking them along the ramp towards the junior building, arriving at 8.45am. Please use the one-way system when dropping or collecting children, and do not congregate in groups. They should be collected at 3.15pm from the same gate. We strongly recommend wearing a face-covering to protect yourself and others. Children will not be allowed to go until a staff member sees an adult waiting for them, or they have permission to walk themselves home.
Each child in Year 6 will continue to have their own locker. Initially, the children will just keep their coat in their locker. Please make sure that all items of clothing are labelled with the child’s name and class (yes even in Year 6!). Please ensure that children are wearing school shoes every day. Trainers, even plain black ones, are not part of our uniform. We will be keeping windows open in school to ensure good ventilation of all rooms, so it is important all children have a jumper or cardigan every day.
Some children will be bringing a packed lunch into school for the first time in a while. They place it on the Year 6 trolley as they come into school in the morning. Please make sure packed lunch boxes and bags are named. We are a ‘Healthy School’; please do not include fizzy drinks, sweets or chocolate bars in lunches. School lunches are not provided for free for junior children; you can pay via ParentMail or by sending in money in an envelope labelled with the child’s name and class. Children can bring in a healthy snack, either fruit or vegetables, to eat mid-morning.
We will send home details of each child’s Activelearnprimary and Times Tables Rockstar accounts. We will also send home information about how your child can set up their student Class Dojo account. They will use this for completing tasks assigned by the class teacher. This is especially important, if in the eventuality our Year 6 bubble is closed, we will use Class Dojo to access remote learning videos and activities during the two week isolation period.
We currently have a hall slot for PE on Thursday, so children will need to come to school wearing their P.E. kits or sportswear on that day. The children should have a plain white t-shirt, black shorts or jogging bottoms and a pair of pumps or trainers. We kindly ask that the children do not wear football kits or gymnastic wear.
We aim to make this year enjoyable and interesting, and to support and challenge every child’s learning. Thank you for all your support and help in doing this. We will endeavor to help children catch up with the learning time missed during the pandemic, whilst maintaining a happy, calm learning environment. We look forward to working in partnership with you again over the next year.
If you have any queries or worries, please don’t hesitate to contact us via Class Dojo, or by making a phone or Zoom appointment with the Junior office.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to having a wonderfully successful year J!
Miss Nelson, Mr Backstrom, Mrs Burchardt and Mrs Roberts