Another solid week of learning has been enjoyed in Year 6, with the children now familiar with the daily routines and expectations.

Thank you to all parents/carers who were able to attend the ‘Welcome Meeting’ on Monday. We hope it was helpful and informative. Do let us know if you require clarification on any aspect of Year 6 life!

Our English learning culminated with the children penning an opening to their own version of ‘Way Home’. Through this, they focused on building layers of extra detail into their writing, considering where they could use action, description, thoughts and feelings or dialogue. This has resulted in some lively and engaging writing to share with their peers.

RE has begun its focus on Moses and the Ten Commandments, where the children considered the impact this set of rules would have had on the Hebrews given that they had spent many tough years in the wilderness. This thinking will all help the children when they come to respond to our question, “Is it easy to be a follower of God?”

Fairthorne Manor is just over one month away and preparations are continuing at pace. Please look out for the ‘Kit List’ and ‘Meal Choices Sheet’ that will be sent home this coming Monday. The latter needs to be completed in consultation with your child so that they understand the different meals they will be enjoying over the week. Further details surrounding the organisation of the residential will be relayed to parents via an online Teams presentation at 5:00pm on Monday 27th September.

We look forward to ‘seeing’ you then.

Have a lovely weekend

The Year 6 Team

A great week of learning has been had in Year 6, where much of our learning has required the children to consider ‘how’ they are going to approach tasks and why they made the choices they made.

This is known as being ‘metacognitive’ – thinking about our thinking – which has been found to be a powerful tool in helping children make good progress in all areas of learning. When pupils are aware of their strategies for writing a detailed paragraph or solving a maths problem, they begin to grow the independent learning habits that will be with them into adulthood.

Reminders

4:30pm Monday 13th September – Year 6 Welcome Meeting

A link to this Teams meeting has been sent out via Parentmail and we are looking forward to ‘meeting’ you all then.

P.E. Days

These are every Tuesday and every second Thursday of the term. Children should continue to wear PE kit to school.

Have a lovely weekend

The Year 6 Team.

Together, Mr Pratley, Mr Land, Mrs Wibberley and Mrs Richardson would like to welcome our new pupils and parents to Year 6. With your support, we are committed to ensuring that the children enjoy their learning, make excellent progress and leave St Peter’s ready for the next stage in their education. Please do contact us via the school office if you have any queries or concerns that we can help you with.

We have had a productive two days of learning so far and the children have settled well into the new routines. As part of this, they will have brought home with them the following letters which we would be grateful if some time can be made to talk through the contents of:

• Home School Agreement (white sheet)- this details parent, school and child responsibilities.
• Term dates 2021/2022 (blue sheet)
• Home Learning suggested schedule (yellow sheet)
• Year 6 Must Reads (white sheet) – 6 books to be read throughout the year.

We are glad to invite all parents/carers to a Year 6 ‘Welcome Meeting’ via Microsoft Teams on Monday 13th September at 4:30pm. This will run for approximately 30 minutes and will focus on key dates, general ‘housekeeping’ and how you can best support  your child in this final year of their primary education.

Similarly, a Fairthorne Manor information evening will be scheduled to take place via Microsoft Teams towards the end of the month. You will hear from us in time about details and times!

Enjoy the weekend,

The Year 6 Team

With our Year 6 Leaver’s Mass now within sight, the children have spent time this week thinking back on their experiences throughout their time at St Peter’s. All have thought deeply and personally about their key moments, take-aways and the advice they would give to their four-year-old self as they near the end of primary school. We are very much looking forward to sharing these and a special song with parents at Sacred Heart on Tuesday afternoon.

Year 6 have been reflecting in other ways too as they have worked their way through a range of Year 7 transition exercises. This has involved thinking about the attitudes we choose and our barriers to becoming the best learners we can be – do we have a fixed or growth mindset? With more work still to be done, we are confident this will set the children up for a great start to secondary school in September.

Have a relaxing, sunny weekend!

The Year 6 Team.

A great week in Year 6 has come to a close after a great Friday of Art and PE with Mrs Pearson and Mr Crozier. I think we can safely say that if Mr Crozier played another game of dodgeball he would be ready for the Summer Olympics! Luckily – dodgeball is not coming home!

6P had a fantastic time during their water sports trip, benefitting from much kinder weather than 6L had to endure. Great fun was had by all, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, canoeing and climbing. Many thanks to Miss Wibberley and Mrs Osmond for braving the water all morning.

With only two weeks left of their primary school experience, the children are preparing for their leavers mass on Tuesday 20th July. More details will follow shortly via parent mail.

In other areas, we are still working towards our DT project and learning the Sacraments in RE.

Enjoy the weekend. Is there something happening this Sunday?

The Year 6 Team

We have enjoyed another busy week in Year 6 for which the highlight has to be the Icarus recital to the Year Fives on the field. This was a new challenge for the children this year – to learn and perform, off-by-heart, a poem/rap – which they met with great verve and co-operation.

With the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on presently, and having learned tennis for the summer term in PE, the children will be competing in a Wimbledon tournament to see who will reign as greatest in the year group. The children have been ably coached by Mr Henman and Mr Borg, aka… you decide!

6P are looking forward to their Andrew Simpson visit on Monday!

Have a great weekend. We  think there might be some football on!

The Year 6 Team

The children have had a particularly active week in school where Penguins have conquered the Andrew Simpson Centre and then re-joined their year group for Tuesdays Sports Day ventures. Some great racing was had by all and Rochelle and Oliver proved to be the fastest boy and girl in the year group!

Today saw the culmination of this active week where the school celebrated their Carnival Day and Year 6 performed proudly their Brazilian dance – they saved their best performance ’til last. The adults in the year group were extremely proud of their focus and independence at completing the dance from memory and in synchronicity. A special mention to Miss Wibberley who choreographed the three minute sequence and rallied the children together.

Have a great weekend

The Year 6 Team

We have been extremely creative across a range of subjects this week!

In English, the children used Chapter One of The Explorer (Katherine Rundell) as the driver for writing their own chapter extension, linking in nicely with our topic work on Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest.

On top of this, much rehearsal time has been given to perfecting the Brazilian dance that the children were taught last term. It is always a tricky task to co-ordinate over sixty children – many thanks to Mrs Wibberley as the males within the Year 6 team have four left feet between them!

The carnival theme has continued into our Design and Technology studies, where the children will be designing and creating a moving carnival fairground ride using motors and pulleys. We cannot wait for the tidy-up after the children have got their hands on the dowel and sellotape!

Everyone in 6L is looking forward to our day trip to Andrew Simpson Centre on Monday – remember to check Parentmail for today’s last-minute reminders.

We think there is a game of football on later tonight. Enjoy that, and enjoy the start to National Picnic Week!

The Year 6 Team

Our learning this week has certainly had a worldly theme, tying in with our study of Brazil and looking forward to the start of the European Football Championships.

In topic, the children have used their research skills to discover more facts about the indigenous tribes of the Amazon rainforest, using these to create a fact file.  We focused on the Awa tribe, of whom only approximately 350 remain in the forest. Incredibly, there are still 100 of these who have yet to come into contact with the modern world. Their continual fight for survival in the face of logging companies shows us how important it is that we all make efforts to reduce deforestation.

To mirror our topic, we have now begun to read ‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell which promises to be a gripping tale of survival. Pupils have also crafted their own Rio Carnival masks in Art and continue to learn and refine their dancing skills ready to unleash a jaw-dropping performance in front of the whole school in a few weeks time!

Our week came to a close with a wonderfully delivered and informative visit from Father Jeremy, where he explained, using many though provoking stories, how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are at work in the world and in us. This is a tricky concept for children to understand but Father Jeremy had the children hooked for the duration of his visit. Thank you Father Jeremy!

Have a wonderful weekend

The Year 6 Team

Despite it being the end of a busy half-term, the children have kept their motivation high to produce some excellent quality work across a range of subjects.

In English, the children have shown that they can really connect with the thoughts and feelings of Sir Ernest Shackleton during his failed expedition, communicating these in the form of a monologue. This is no easy task for children of their age and we are very proud of their end products.

Maths has centred on solving real life problems with unknown numbers, the children using bar models and other representations to make sense of the information. They may now be able to help you decide which are the best value products when you are out shopping!

On Thursday we were treated to surprise visit from Mr Lavery, who answered both classes’ follow-up questions regarding his volunteering in a village in Nepal. Many of these questions centred around our Romero Award values, with children wanting to know what impact his work has had, what the community was like and how the experience has affected him. Great work!

When the final term arrives (the final term of primary school for our pupils), we have great deal to look forward to.

Here are some dates for your diaries:

Friday 11th June – Euros football competition/Art day. (Children to wear PE kits)

Thursday 17th June – Oaklands Year 7 Teachers in to talk with pupils about transition.

Monday 21st June – Mr Land’s class at Andrew Simpson Watersports Centre.

Tuesday 22nd June – In-house KS2 sports day (apologies no spectators)

Friday 25th June – Carnival Day

Monday 5th July – Mr Pratley’s class at Andrew Simpson Watersports Centre.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and half-term.

The Year 6 Team