Year 6

Year 6 Staff:

Welcome to Year 6

Welcome to Year 6, your child’s final year of Key Stage 2. This is a milestone year in every pupil’s education, but at Aston Fields Middle School we take care to ensure that it is not defined solely by the Key Stage 2 assessments. Instead, we aim to provide a rich, balanced experience that enables pupils to flourish both academically and personally.

A highlight of the year is the three-day residential trip to Boreatton Park, the largest PGL centre in the UK. This much-anticipated experience remains a treasured memory for many pupils long after they leave Year 6. The residential gives children the chance to develop resilience, perseverance and teamwork skills, while also building confidence and lasting friendships, all in a setting that is filled with fun and adventure. Character Education continues to underpin everything we do in Year 6. Just as in Year 5, pupils are supported to develop not only their knowledge and skills, but also the personal qualities that prepare them for the challenges of the future.

We look forward to working with you and your child during this important year, celebrating their achievements and supporting their growth every step of the way.

Homework

In Year 6, pupils are set regular homework in English and Maths, as well as occasional tasks in Science, History and Geography.

English: Pupils receive weekly homework, which may be a grammar and punctuation activity or a comprehension task designed to consolidate prior learning. In addition, pupils complete online activities through Spelling Shed and Lexia to strengthen their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) and to extend their reading comprehension skills. Log-in details for these platforms are kept in homework diaries. We also expect pupils to read their Renaissance book for at least 20 minutes each evening. Parents and carers can support this by asking retrieval and inference questions linked to their child’s current book.

Mathematics: Pupils are given a weekly task that either revises prior learning or prepares them for new topics. Alongside this, pupils are encouraged to practise their times tables up to 12 × 12. Teachers may also set online activities through platforms such as Times Table Rockstars, Sumdog, Mathletics or MyMaths. Log-in details for these sites are recorded in homework diaries.

Other subjects: From time to time, homework may also be set in Science or the Humanities. This could take the form of a one-off piece of work or contribute to a longer project.

To support all pupils, a weekly Homework Club is available, where children can complete written or online work with guidance from a member of staff.

PGL Residential

The PGL residential is a real highlight of Year 6. Taking place in late October, this trip provides pupils with an invaluable opportunity to bond with one another and to build strong relationships with the Year 6 staff. Over the three days, pupils challenge themselves, discover new strengths, and, most importantly, create memories that last a lifetime, all whilst having enormous fun.

Day 1

I could hardly sleep the night before we went to PGL. It seemed like I had been waiting forever to go and I could barely believe we were finally going. My tummy was full of butterflies: excitement and nerves were all jumbled together.

In the morning, my Dad dropped me off at school and I had to take all of my things into the school hall with him. It looked like I was going forever because of the amount of stuff I had packed! Once my Dad had handed my pocket money in, I said goodbye to him and went up to the yard to play with my friends. After we had registered, we went back to the hall and we were finally told who we were sharing a cabin with and who was in our activity group. The teachers had promised we would be with at least one of the friends we had chosen to be with and I was really lucky because I was actually with all of my friends!

Eventually, the coaches arrived and we all put our stuff into the coach and started the journey. It took about 2 hours to get to Boreatton Park. Our first glimpse of PGL was a huge mansion house up on the hill with a long straight drive. As we approached the mansion house, our groupies got onto the coach. They were crazy! They were the people from PGL who were going to look after us whilst we were there. They were so much fun and they played games with us and sung songs - they had so much energy!

We were then shown to our cabins (they were so nice) and given some time to unpack before eating lunch. After that, it was a whirlwind! We went straight into activities! My groups first activity was abseiling. The tower was really high, but the PGL staff were really lovely and did all they could to make sure everyone at least tried to push themselves to have a go – they never forced any of us though! Eventually all of our group went down the tower and everyone was so proud of themselves because some people were really scared! Our group were so good at getting everyone off the ropes that we got 4 goes each. Next, we went to rifle shooting. I had never done anything like that before and to begin with I was terrible! I hit nothing on my first go, but the instructor really helped me. Eventually I got a little better, but I don’t think a career in the army awaits me! We then got to have dinner and the food was amazing! We had so much choice and there was a salad bar which we could have as much from as we wanted. Later on in the evening, we played a game as a huge group. We had to go around the whole of the PGL site in the dark with our torches hunting for hidden flags. It was so much fun. My team weren’t very good at it, but it didn’t matter because we had fun anyway. That night we were all so excited that it was hard to get to sleep, but we did… eventually!

Day 2

The second day started very early and some people definitely regretted their late night! We went to breakfast (amazing again) and then went to get kitted up for raft building. It was really cold and I wasn’t sure about a swim in the lake, but we were given jackets to keep us warm and the instructors did lots with us to keep us warm. We then headed down to Lake Clive. We spent ages designing and making our raft, making sure all of the knots were really tight so we didn’t end up sinking! Eventually, we launched our super raft and all clambered onboard. We were on the lake for ages and played all sorts of games where we had to swap positions etc without falling in! Not everyone managed it: a lot of people ended up going for an unexpected swim! We then sailed our raft back to the lake edge and packed away. After that, some people went back to their cabins for a hot shower, but the rest of us stayed to play games! We played head, shoulders, knees and toes and had to sing to the fishes! It was so much fun! Eventually, we all went back to our cabins for a shower, before going to lunch. Lunch was amazing and we then went straight to afternoon activities: giant swing and orienteering. We all had to work together to ensure we all had as many goes as possible. That night at dinner we had the most amazing brownies I have ever tasted. We then went to the shop to spend our pocket money. Lots of us bought sweets and chocolates for a midnight snack later on. Others bought souvenirs like stationery and footballs. That night we had a campfire deep in the woods. We had to pick our way through the wood in the pitch black using only our torches and we then sung songs and played games around the campfire. We had plans for a huge mid night snack but almost all of us were asleep long before midnight after such a busy day.

Day 3

Day 3 was not such an early start. In fact, lots of us had to be dragged out of bed by the teachers! We had to pack all of our things up before breakfast as we were leaving just after lunch. After breakfast, we went to our final 2 activities: climbing and archery. Climbing was so much fun and we got to have a go at different walls depending on how easy and fast we could get to the top. I was surprised to find I was really good at it! Archery was really hard, but I learnt how to hold the bow safely and eventually hit the target!

At lunch time we got to eat our lunch with the 2^nd group who were coming to PGL. We got to talk to our friends and tell them how much fun they were about to have.

The journey home was definitely quieter than the journey to PGL. We all had so much fun and learnt so much. Lots of us learnt we were far braver than we thought we were. We climbed higher than we thought we could, went into cold, dark water and stayed away from our parents / carers (something lots of us have never done). We all came home knowing we could do anything Year 6 could throw at us.

As you can see, PGL is an amazing experience and one the pupils benefit so much from. They all learn resilience and perseverance as well as having to work as part of a team. We do of course realise that not all pupils want to come to PGL. Those pupils who remain in school have an activity programme organised for them that aims to offer them the opportunity to gain similar skills to their peers who do attend PGL. They do cooking and DT skills, art, sport, parachute games and drama amongst other activities.

SATS

Year 6 marks the completion of your child’s journey through Key Stage 2, culminating in the SATs assessments in May. At Aston Fields Middle School, we pride ourselves on maintaining the highest academic standards, and pupils are carefully and thoroughly prepared for these end-of-key-stage tests.

Equally important to us is ensuring that pupils feel supported rather than pressured. We do not narrow the curriculum, and every child continues to enjoy the full breadth of subjects throughout their time in Year 6.

Most pupils approach the SATs with confidence, but if your child feels anxious at any stage, we encourage them to speak with their teachers. Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact us directly so that we can provide reassurance and practical support.