Oak
Welcome to Year 6
Oak Class -Mr Hunter
Sycamore Class – Miss Kadiri
Year 6 is an exciting and important year. Children are preparing for secondary school, developing greater independence and building confidence in their reading, writing, maths and wider learning.
Regular practice at home can make a big difference.
READ EVERY DAY
Reading is still imporatant.
Aim for 20 minutes of reading every day to build fluency.
Encourage your child to:
- Read independently and regularly.
- Read a wide range of books, including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, newspapers and magazines.
- Read aloud occasionally to develop fluency and expression.
- Explain what they have read and give opinions about texts.
- Explain the meaning of unfamiliar words.
- Use evidence from the text to support their ideas.
- Make predictions and explain their reasoning.
- Discuss characters, themes, settings and events.
- Compare different characters, books or authors.
- Develop a wide and ambitious vocabulary.
SPELLING & WRITING
Year 6 children should increasingly be able to check and improve their own writing.
Encourage them to:
- Practise weekly spellings and Year 5/6 common exception words.
- Recognise spelling patterns, prefixes, suffixes and word families.
- Use a dictionary and thesaurus independently.
- Write for a range of purposes and audiences.
- Organise ideas into clear, well-structured paragraphs.
- Use ambitious and precise vocabulary.
- Vary sentence structures.
- Use punctuation accurately and confidently.
- Check their own spelling, grammar and punctuation.
- Edit and improve their writing independently.
- Present their work neatly and take pride in their handwriting.
HAVE FUN WITH MATHS
TIMES TABLES SHOULD BE AUTOMATIC
By Year 6, children should be confident with all multiplication and division facts up to 12 × 12.
Encourage your child to:
Recall times tables quickly and accurately.
Use multiplication facts to solve more difficult problems.
Complete mental calculations confidently.
Solve multi-step problems involving all four operations.
Explain their mathematical reasoning.
Work confidently with fractions, decimals and percentages.
Convert between fractions, decimals and percentages.
Find fractions and percentages of amounts.
Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions where appropriate.
Multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1,000.
Work with ratio and proportion.
Solve problems involving money and percentages.
Calculate perimeter, area and volume.
Identify and calculate angles.
Read and interpret tables, charts and graphs.
Estimate answers and check whether answers are sensible.
Everyday maths: shopping, cooking, budgeting, measuring, timetables and journeys all provide fantastic opportunities to practise.
TALK, TALK, TALK
Encourage your child to explain, justify and challenge ideas.
Ask:
- “How do you know?”
- “Can you explain your reasoning?”
- “What evidence supports your answer?”
- “Is there another way of solving it?”
- “Can you prove it?”
- “What would happen if…?”
- “Do you agree? Why?”
Encourage your child to use full explanations and subject-specific vocabulary.
LEARN THROUGH EVERYDAY LIFE
Encourage your child to become increasingly independent.
They could:
Help plan a shopping trip and work out the cost.
Calculate discounts, change and percentages.
Help with cooking and measurements.
Read maps, timetables and travel information.
Follow written instructions independently.
Research topics they are interested in.
Read age-appropriate news and discuss current events.
Write reviews, letters, instructions or explanations.
Organise their school bag and belongings.
Prepare what they need for the next day.
Manage simple responsibilities around the home.
These everyday activities help children develop the organisation and independence they will need at secondary school.
PREPARING FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
Help your child develop good habits before they leave primary school.
Encourage them to:
- Take responsibility for their belongings.
- Remember equipment they need.
- Organise their own school bag.
- Manage homework and deadlines.
- Ask for help when they need it.
- Take responsibility for completing tasks.
- Be resilient when something is difficult.
- Talk positively about moving to secondary school.
CAN YOUR CHILD…?
☐ Read independently for 20 minutes and confidently discuss what they have read.
☐ Explain unfamiliar vocabulary and use new words appropriately.
☐ Find and use evidence from a text to support their ideas.
☐ Make predictions and explain their reasoning.
☐ Discuss themes, characters and events in depth.
☐ Spell common Year 5/6 words and apply spelling rules.
☐ Write independently for different purposes and audiences.
☐ Organise writing into clear paragraphs.
☐ Use ambitious vocabulary and varied sentence structures.
☐ Use spelling, grammar and punctuation accurately.
☐ Edit and improve their own writing independently.
☐ Recall all multiplication and division facts up to 12 × 12.
☐ Solve problems involving all four operations.
☐ Explain their mathematical reasoning clearly.
☐ Work confidently with fractions, decimals and percentages.
☐ Convert between fractions, decimals and percentages.
☐ Solve problems involving ratio and proportion.
☐ Multiply and divide by 10, 100 and 1,000.
☐ Calculate perimeter, area and volume.
☐ Solve problems involving money and percentages.
☐ Read and interpret tables, charts and graphs.
☐ Estimate answers and check whether they are sensible.
☐ Explain how they reached an answer rather than simply giving it.
☐ Organise themselves and take increasing responsibility for their learning.
☐ Manage simple tasks and responsibilities independently.
☐ Be ready for the increased independence of secondary school.
MOST IMPORTANTLY…
Year 6 is about more than preparing for tests. It is about developing confidence, independence, resilience and a love of learning.
Praise your child for their effort, perseverance and progress, not just for getting the right answer.
Together, we can help every child leave Year 6 feeling confident, capable and ready for their next adventure.
