6^THCLASS INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

• This is a very important year for children. This year the children will transition between primary and secondary school.
• We have a varied programme in place.

The goal is to create an environment in the class where the children are content, safe and supported.  They should also know that expectations of them are high and they should always try to achieve their best. The hope is that they will have lots of memorable experiences, leaving with a sense of fulfillment and pride in their achievements.

Punctuality

• The school day begins at 8.30 a.m and the children are supposed to be in the classroom by that time.   Children will be marked late if they arrive after40a.m.
• Formal teaching/lessons start promptly at50a.m.
• An email/note on aladdin is required if your child is absent from school. Alternatively, give the office a ring .

Parent / Teaching Meetings

• Throughout the year, individual meetings can be arranged if required. Please drop me a note or an email.
• Please also come to class in the morning between 8:30am and 8:40am should you wish to have a brief chat then.
• If there is anything at all you are concerned about for have questions about please ask. Usually, I have a reason for everything that I do and am happy to explain.

Homework

• Homework will be written down every day in homework journals. If for some reason there is a day where it is particularly busy at home and difficult to get homework completed just let me know. I just ask that they catch up in another way , over the week or however it works for them.
• 6th class homework needs to be done independently and they take responsibility for completing it. This will help prepare them for Secondary school.
• Homework should not exceed 45 to 50 minutes a night to complete, this includes learning homework.
• Each child has a homework copy for written work. All homework should be done in their homework copy apart from workbook activities (Maths Challenge and Spellings For Me work).

• If homework is causing any stress or anxiety at all at home please let me know as this is absolutely not the aim! Also let me know if you feel homework could be more challenging. However it should just be revision and something they can do independently.

Homework will generally consist of:

- Léigh sa Bhaile/Bua na cainte – four stories  each week and the questions- Sometimes          Gaeilge homework might be to practise something else.

-Four Maths Challenge tests.

Spellings for Me , 3 words a night. Focus on strategies.

A written Irish and/or English exercise…. or some other area of the curriculum.

Learning homework eg SESE (History / Geography / Science)

Core curriculum or SPHE

Reading: some pages from the novel and/or read for pleasure or reading from some other source on a regular basis.

Project work from time to time.

Daily exercise is also part of homework.

Behaviour

• The school policy is followed in the class and is available to all parents should they wish to see it, available on the website.
• The policies are based on mutual respect between children and staff and every member of the school community.
• Behaviour in the classroom is built on good relationships and connection I will work hard to build that positive relationship and create positive connections. This is embedded in everything we do.
• Having a respectful classroom is very important. I treat the children in the class as I would expect them to treat others. The children have made a list of class rules (Class Contract) for the year. This has been signed and is on display in the classroom. Will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Class contract :

Be helpful and supportive

Be kind to yourself and others

Help to build a good learning environment

Be respectful of people and their personal things

Listen to each other

• Rewards - Intrinsic rewards are focus at this age but there will be positive notes home on a regular basis. Children will be praised for effort and trying best however it is expected that they behave in a respectful way. We have something called Positive Pathways where we talk about an aim each week based on what I think the class need to work on. Children who need help to ‘’get back on the path’’ and are given advice from others. This is done in a supportive way and encourages and reinforces the idea that they are part of a community and it is within their interest to ensure that community is working well and that there is support, should it be needed.
• If I feel a child is not on track or there are small things happening in class I will observe and try to see what the reason might be. Once I have changed something and it continues then I will chat with them and let them know, try to come to a solution with them. We use Restorative Practice in the class to come to solutions when there has been an incident. It is solution focused and helps children to recognise the affect their behaviour has on others. These questions are: What happened? What were you thinking of at the time? What have you thought about since? Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way have they been affected? What do you think you need to do to make things right?
• Children can feel there is a way of moving forward. There is always a solution. There are consequences for behaviour but these are natural consequences and will be fair and reasonable.
• Children can appreciate that there are children for whom behaving appropriately can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. In difficult situations there must of course be a balance sought between the rights of the individual child and the rights of the other members of the class. It has been explained to them that fairness isn’t about giving everybody the same …it’s about giving them what they need. It is important that we are inclusive and tolerant of all people.

Lunchtime

• A healthy lunch policy is in place in the Children are expected to put leftover lunch in their boxes and bring it home. They are not allowed to bring food to the yard or go out with food in their mouths for safety reasons. No nuts please!
• Please keep birthday treats for home.
• Rang 6 have two playtime venues. For break time we will use the yard at the school and for lunch time we will use Mount Pleasant.

Assessment

• Standardised tests take place in Maths and English in early May. The STen scores will be on the end of year report and we will be forwarding a copy of that report to the Post Primary school your child will be attending when we have confirmation of that.
• They are assessed on an ongoing basis in Maths once a topic has been completed. We are also continuously assessing on a daily basis and will focus on certain children the following day should they need support or extension.
• Spellings for Me is a differentiated spellings programme. English assessments will also be ongoing and support groups or extension groups will be set up in the same way as Maths , in class.
• Regular assessments in SESE areas will also take place.
• Children are encouraged and given guidelines on how to assess their own performance on a daily basis also.

Subject Areas

Maths

• Groups will take place each week with myself and Rita. Groups are changed regularly, every three weeks is our aim. We will be differentiating the work within each group to suit the needs of each child. Challenges and support are also provided within class and lessons are differentiated.

 English

• In English (Strands Oral Language, Reading and Writing) We will use a range of texts for reading and then use these to write, respond and extend our ideas. Will choose topics based on the interests of the class and where we can get good discussions and debate going. Aim to deepen understanding of literature.

• I will be encouraging reading for pleasure at home and in school and ask all children to have a book on their desks for silent reading in class. We will have read alouds and I will be asking children to recommend books to each other. I will also ‘’book push’’ and make lots of recommendations also. Spellings for me used as a tool to practise spellings. I will also be teaching spelling in the class. Once set up properly it is a very useful programme. Tests once a month but the programme is focused on long term memory -identifying and understanding sounds, patterns and origins of words in order to make them better in spelling.

 Gaeilge

• Gaeilge: Using a communicative approach using “Bua na Cainte ‘’ as the class textbook. They will get some written work or notes for homework based on the theme being worked on but not necessarily always writing sentences every night. We’re encouraging the children to use whatever Gaeilge they have. ■
• We will use Léigh sa Bhaile for homework activities. The children will read two/three stories each week and answer the questions (written work). Children are encouraged to read these stories aloud when completing their homework.
• I will teach using the CLIL approach (Content Language Integrated Learning). This means that I will be using a small bit of Irish throughout the school day, informally (Gaeilge Neamhfhoirimiúil).

Core Curriculum

• Focus on Christianity, Humanism and Buddhism this year.
• Development education, with an emphasis on a third world country. Festive charity at Christmas time.
• Moral Education is part of the Core curriculum and this overlaps with SPHE.
• Care of the environment links up with our green school policy and SESE.
• The Mindfulness programme will continue again this year, it helps students calm the mind down and help them focus

The Arts

• PE classes take place in Mount Pleasant L.T.C. on Fridays. Children need to wear appropriate footwear and loose comfortable clothes. Strands include Athletics, Dance, Games, Outdoor and Adventure Activities. We will have Sport for all Day at the end of the year.
• Drama, we explore and make drama. This is a subject in its own right but it also helps the child’s competence and confidence in language both Gaeilge and in English. We will have our performance before Christmas with a Core Curriculum theme and we plan to do something that will have elements of musical and dramatic performance towards the end of the year, which will be a large part of our drama curriculum this year.
• Ceol, we will be learning songs in Gaeilge and in English and using a variety of resources to promote listening and responding to music.
• The Visual Art programme covers the areas of drawing, paint and colour, print, clay construction and fabric and fibre

S.E.S.E

• SESE includes History, Geography and Science. We will use a variety of sources to teach and learn from. Museums trips will be planned and lots of Project work will be done in these areas individually or in groups. We will be encouraging the children to do research and to work cooperatively. These subjects will also be integrated with other subjects such as English, Art and Drama. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BYSA SPHE
• SPHE, the themes are Myself, Myself and Others and Myself and the Wider World. We use the Walk Tall and RSE programmes. We also do work on Anti Bullying.
• The Walk Tall Programme includes topics such as prevention of substance abuse, building self esteem, making choices and  making decisions.
• We will be working on RSE (Relationships and Sexuality Education) in the third term. This will build on the work the children covered last year in 5th class.
• We also have our Buddy System with Junior Infants. They have all been paired up and will see each other once a week. There will be events planned with them during the year also.