Room 6
with Miss Fromow
Welcome to Term 1, 2012!
Important things to note:
PE - Mondays 2.15pm and Wednesdays 11.30am - Remember to bring your sports uniform on these days.
Library - Wednesdays 10.00am - Remember to bring back library books within two weeks of issuing them.
Syndicate Sport - Fridays 1.45pm - Remember your sports uniform, and of course your sunhat.
Homework Expectations
As Year 6 is part of the St Thomas’s senior syndicate, nightly completion of homework is expected. Homework tasks will not be overly challenging - they are intended to form good homework habits and contribute positively to their learning experience in the classroom.
Children are asked to plan their own homework schedule using their student diary and all homework must be completed in their homework book.
I realise that many children are heavily involved in sport and other extra-curricular activities which restrict the amount of time they have available for homework. If this is the case, please let me know so we can discuss those activities that MUST be completed and those that are less important.
Your feedback, comments and communication with me through the homework book is encouraged.
The minimum weekly requirement for homework is as follows:
Spelling
Each Monday your child will compile a list of spelling words which they are expected to learn for a spelling test on Friday of that same week. The spelling words will usually relate to a ‘spelling rule’ which your child should also learn and understand.
Basic Maths Facts
Depending on your child’s maths stage, a list of facts will be provided for practice and home testing. These facts should be learnt for a 5 minute test on Friday of that same week. Unless your child scores 48 or more out of 50 within the 5 minutes allowed, they will not progress to the next level.
While the problems on these sheets may seem easy, the point of the exercise is to promote immediate recall of the basic maths facts. Repetitive learning of these facts has been proven to be most effective. Your child will be given more challenging maths problems where application of knowledge is required, in set classroom exercises.
Reading
If there’s one thing that will improve your child’s general academic progress, it is reading, reading and more reading. It doesn’t matter what your child reads, as long as they do it regularly. Getting your child to read from a self selected novel or interest book for a minimum of 20 minutes each night is an absolute MUST.
Children are asked to keep a daily reading log in the back of their homework book which you must sign weekly to attest to the reading being done. If your child is having trouble finding books that interest them, please discuss it with me as I have names of a broad range of books covering a variety of interests, we will find something that they like.
Writing
Each child has a personal writing goal that covers the next learning steps to improve their writing. Children are expected to produce 1 paragraph (5-6 sentences) of free-choice writing which demonstrates achievement of their writing goal. For example, if using a range of punctuation correctly is their goal, then they should write a story that demonstrates as many different forms of punctuation as possible, used correctly.
Maths Problem Solving
Most weeks your child will have some maths problem solving sheets to complete. At this age it is important that children begin to use the strategies they learn in maths in real-life or contextual problems. For some children these tasks may initially be difficult, but with continued practice, your child will find completion of these problems extends their maths ability and understanding. We will always cover they required strategy for solving the problems in class the week before, so they should know how to approach the problems, even if they can’t answer them correctly.
Topic Related Tasks
Your child may also be given some topic related tasks to complete. These tasks are designed to support the learning that is being done in the classroom.
Please support your child in their homework tasks by taking an interest and signing off their work each night. If you have any questions or concerns, please come and see me or correspond via the homework book.
