Dear Parents/Carers,
I thought I would catch up with all our Year 6 parents as we come towards the end of the autumn term. Overall the majority of the pupils have responded well to the teaching and support they have had this term and made good progress. However some of the children have not been 100% focussed in class and have used too much energy and time in silly behaviour in the playground and in the classroom which has affected their work. I have had to issue red and yellow card this term to some pupils who think it is acceptable to disturb other children in class. I will be meeting the children individually in the first week back in January and setting targets for each one.
Assessment
We assessed the children last week to see where they are after one term, where the strengths are and the areas we need to work on next term. We gave them a past end of year test so it was quite a challenge. Many of the children have made good progress and are on track to achieve their expected levels at the end of the year, but as I mentioned above, some will need to focus all their energies on class work next term to ensure they are on track by Easter. I will be writing to individual parents in the new year where I have concerns.
Saturday Study Clubs
Thank you to everyone who has signed their children up for the Saturday Study Clubs next term. I can confirm that we will be starting them on Saturday 11th January and then every Saturday during term time unless otherwise informed. The club runs from 9:30am to 12:00pm (children should aim to arrive around 9:15 ready for a prompt start). They can wear their own clothes and can bring their phones as long as they are switched off during the lessons and are not used inappropriately in the playground. Please make sure your child knows if they are being collected at 12:00pm or have permission to go home. If you have not signed your child up as yet, I would strongly recommend that you do so. We are providing around 30 hours of free teaching from the Year 6 staff who know the children best. Just to show the impact this can have. In 2017-18, around 50% of the pupils attend the study clubs regularly and at the end of the year 69% achieved the expected standard in reading and 72% in Maths. Last year, around 90% of the pupils attended regularly and at the end of the year 94% achieved the expected standard in reading (up 25%) and 96% in Maths (up 24%). Of course there were other factors in this large improvement but the Saturday Study Club made a big difference. The children made the commitment to attend and to work hard while they were there. Some who were initially reluctant to come, actually quite enjoyed it when they came!
Future Trips
Looking ahead to the summer term, we have booked a two day residential visit to Gilwell Park for the whole year group. The original dates were 30th June to 1st July but we have recently been informed that 1st July is transition day for Waltham Forest when most of the pupils would be visiting their secondary schools. The only alternative dates were 4th and 5th May (this was the original bank holiday time but this has been moved to the Friday next year) so have re-booked for then. I will have a meeting with parents in the new year to go over the details of this visit.
Future Dates
- Monday 9th March – Bikeability Cycle Training this week
- Thursday 12th March – Deanery Mass for Year 6 pupils in St Joseph’s Church 10:30am
- Wednesday 25th March – Year 6 trip to Harry Potter World
- Monday 4th May-Tuesday 5th May – Residential trip to Gilwell Park
- Monday 11th May – SATs Week
- Friday 3rd July – Year 6 Deanery Sports Day
Yours sincerely,
J Alexander (Head teacher)
