Year 6 Homework

It’s half-term…

It’s the half-term, so in line with our current homework policy, there are no homework tasks or spellings to learn.

However, please make sure you’re reading lots with your child – we’re finding children are reading less than they need to if they are to gain fluency and understanding.  You could take your child to a local library, hunt down an old favourite to re-visit, plan a story book for each bedtime over the holiday, read more about a favourite subject on the internet, buy a comic or magazine… And, so they have good role models, make sure your child sees you read, too!

Our current homework policy will be reviewed soon.  A small number of you have told us you’re not entirely happy with it – it would be really helpful if you tell us more about what you’d like.  Send us an email or speak with Mrs Weekes or me about this.  Thank you.

31 January 2014

For all children in Year 1 – Year 6, the homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 05 February.

I know what makes a good school councillor.

It’s time for children to consider if they would like to stand for election for our new school council.  With two representatives from each class, chosen democratically by their peers, all children at Moortown Primary are encouraged to take an active part in pupil voice.

Elections for our new school council will take place next Friday 07 February with our polling station and ballot boxes at the ready.  Candidates will have the opportunity to give their election speech to their class on Wednesday 05 February or Thursday 06 February.

What makes a good school councillor has been considered by our current school council and in each class this week.  Suggestions have included:

• ‘Communicating with others – pupils and adults.’
• ‘Having good listening skills to know what to contribute in meetings.’
• ‘Thinking of realistic ideas to suggest in meetings.’

We invite children to respond to the sentence above in a creative way – they might choose to use this time to prepare an election speech or otherwise consider this statement and present it as a character description, pictures, an interview with a current school councillor or other ideas of your own.  For either option you should include the importance of voting.

Hints for your speech include:

• What skills and abilities would a good school councillor have?
• What are you particularly good at that would help you to be a great school councillor?
• What do you think would make the school better? What could you do that people would really like?
• Think of things that are realistic, maybe that you could do yourself, rather than having to ask other people to do?

Thank you to our current school councillors for all their ideas and contributions over the last year.  We hope you have enjoyed this role and responsibility and you are welcome to stand again for election.

Good luck to all children who decide to stand in the elections.  Results will be announced in our assembly on Friday 07 February.

17 January 2013

For all children in Year 1 to Year 6, the homework this week is Talk Time:

Which two charities should we support at school and why?

It’s time for children to think about our school charities. Currently, we support Dogs Trust and Water Aid. A previous School Council selected these because they wanted to help animals and people, and wanted to help nationally and internationally.  These charities were chosen because pupils passed on to School Councillors very clear and strong arguments to choose them eg Dogs Trust help us by visiting, so we have the chance to re-pay this, and everyone has a basic human right to water.

We’ve helped these charities for two years now, so it’s time for a change. We need you to have a discussion at home about which charities would be best for us to support. Each class will then discuss this and then the councillors will bring the views and ideas together to decide on the charities.

Once your child has decided on a charity, make sure they have clear, powerful reasons to support their views.

You might want to discuss whether we support…

• a local charity
• a children’s charity
• a charity which helps a vulnerable group in our community – this would link back to vulnerable groups we thought about in last summer’s Community Week

29 November 2013

The homework this week is creative. The children are invited to respond to something from either a cultural or spiritual perspective.

I can respond to a book I’ve recently read.

We’d like children to present their responses about a recent book they’ve read. We’re interested to hear your child’s opinions and any connections they might have made between the book and their own life. This book review might include pictures, an interview (you could write a fictional script between an interviewer and a character), a letter (eg to or from a character, or perhaps even the author) – anything which might include your child’s responses!

However, your child might prefer to do the following:

I can show what Eid, Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas or another festival means to me and my community.

Before half-term, some children in school will have celebrated the Muslim festival of Eid. A couple of weeks ago, some children in school celebrated the Sikh and Hindu festival Diwali, and more recently, children of Jewish faith might have celebrated Hanukkah. Finally, in a few weeks, Christians (and many non-Christians) will be celebrating Christmas. We invite children to respond to the sentence above – they might include a recount (like a diary entry), pictures, an interview (perhaps in a script).

22 November 2013

This week’s homework is Talk Time and is due in on Wednesday 27 November 2013.

I know what bullying means and how to stop it.

At the start of this week we had anti-bullying day with classes having the chance to talk about what is bullying, what are the different types of bullying and how can we stop it.

As part of your discussion you may find our school definition of bullying useful, as agreed by our School Councillors:

Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, more than once and on purpose.

Alongside this definition we have used the following prompts for the children to remember:

• Several
• Times
• On
• Purpose

• Start
• Telling
• Other
• People

The purpose of Talk Time homework is to encourage a conversation around current learning. Any notes made in their homework book should be there to aid them as a prompt when it is discussed in class the following week. For this reason, teachers tend to give verbal feedback during their homework feedback session in class.

It’s half-term…

…so no specific homework, spellings or tables this week.  It’s a good time to relax and enjoy some time with your children – have you visited the free exhibition of Anthony Browne pictures at Leeds City Museum, for example?

05 July 2013

This week, your child has been taking part in a variety of activities as part of our Community Themed Week. One of these activities involved learning facts about different countries.

This week’s homework is creative. It is due in on Wednesday 10 July 2013.

I can show what I know about a country I have a connection with.

They could:

• produce a spider diagram of information
• draw pictures with labels
• write a fact file
• create a promotional leaflet for a tourism brochure
• design a homepage for a website about the country

…or think of another creative way of presenting their information.

This homework can be about any country of their choice, but it would be ideal if there is some sort of connection. This could be where your child was born, or where their family originate from; it could be where they have visited on holiday or even where they plan to visit in the future – any sort of connection would be good!

28 June 2013

This week’s whole school homework is a Talk Time one, and it also involves completing the pupil health questionnaire sent home with your child today.

I can give my opinions on health issues.

Emotional health and obesity are the two main health targets we are focussing on to further our healthy schools status and the questions are linked to these areas.  They include:

• Are you happy at school?
• What do you enjoy most about playtimes and lunchtimes?

Please support your child to complete the health questionnaire in order to find out their views on some of our key health issues at school.

Completed questionnaires to be returned by Wednesday 03 July.

07 June 2013

Homework this week is creative. It’s the third of three homework tasks this school year when we invite children to respond to something from a cultural or spiritual perspective (we’ve timed these so they fall close to religious festivals, from Eid to Easter).

I can respond to a piece of art.

This week, we’d like children to present their responses about a piece of art. Your child might think about the colours used in the artwork or the line or shapes. They may discuss the mood of the piece and decide if they like or dislike it.

However, your child might prefer to do the following:

I can show how I celebrate an occasion.

We invite children to respond to the sentence above – they might include a recount (like a diary entry), a report, draw pictures or use photographs to show how they celebrate an occasion.

It’s the half-term break…

…so there’s no homework or spellings this week.  Enjoy the holiday, whatever you get up to.