Grade 6 booklet 2016

SACRED HEART COLLEGE EDUCATION WITH HEART THAT KNOWS NO BOUNDS A MARIST SCHOOL

GRADE 6 INFORMATION BOOKLET 2016

THE TEAM Mrs Picas RELO

Principal

Mrs Dickson

Deputy Principal

Mr van der Merwe Deputy Principal Physical Education

Mrs Paton Mills

Director of Ethos

Ms Cross HOD 6N English, 6 Social Sciences

Ms Nhlapo 6N Class Teacher, Maths 6N IsiZulu

Mrs Raath Afrikaans

Ms O’Leary 6L Class Teacher, 6L English & Maths Science & Technology

Miss Moodley Drama

Mrs Reisinger Creative Arts

Mrs Basson Computers

Mrs Marais Library

If you need to communicate with any of the teachers, please write a note in your child’s diary or alternatively leave a message with Mrs Peters or Mrs Naidoo in the Primary School Office.

PROCEDURES Your child’s class teacher should be your first port of call if you have a query or a problem.

If it is a subject-related issue, communicate with the specific teacher. Remember that the best way to do this is to use your child’s diary.

If you need further assistance you should contact the HOD for this phase. Please call Mrs Peters to set up a telephonic conversation or meeting with Ms Cross. Following this, you need to make an appointment to meet the Deputy Principal, Mrs Dickson and, if needed, the Principal, Mrs Picas. Again these appointments are to be set up by Mrs Peters or Mrs Naidoo.

UNIFORM Children’s uniform must always be the official one. They are allowed to wear their PE uniforms on the days that they have PE. It is very important that you label each item of your child’s uniform, as well as all books and belongings. Also please check every now and then that your child has her/his own uniform and is not wearing someone else’s. If your child has items of clothing that have been passed down or bought at the second hand store, please re-label these. Each child has been supplied with a pack of labels.

STATIONERY AND TEXT BOOKS Please ensure that your child has the necessary stationery and textbooks. Far too much time is wasted because children do not have the necessary equipment at school. It is a good idea

to check at the start of each term that your child has all the stationery needed.

Please look after the school textbooks. If these are damaged or lost a fee of R120 is charged.

THE MARIST WAY St Marcellin, our founder and a man ahead of his time, loved young people. His energy and enthusiasm for educating young people is certainly felt in our primary school, where children are given the space to explore life to the full. This is a family-like environment where excellence in education and a sense of social responsibility are valued. We aim to make sure that children have a safe, actively engaged learning experience, which is supported by passionate teachers. We believe in guiding youngsters toward life-long learning and our curriculum therefore aims to educate children who will strive to achieve their full potential while working as members of a community.

The College’s Vision and Mission Statement outlines the ethos that underpins all we do at the school, the core of which includes:

o Being educators in partnership with the Church, we endeavour to witness the love of God by building a community based on mutual understanding, respect, tolerance, justice, reconciliation, love and peace.

o Having a child-centred approach, we believe in treating each child with respect and concern. Our authority and discipline are motivated by love for those in our care.

o Working in partnership with the family, we are committed to developing the closest cooperation with parents in the education of their children.

o Focusing on Pastoral Care, the College has Pastoral Care structures that respond to the pastoral needs of the learners, teachers and parents at the school. These include: a Pastoral Care Committee, counselling services, Buddy System and programmes which develop values and enrich social skills e.g. Kindness Week, the Caring Caterpillar, our Bully-Busting Campaign and Safety Week.

o Having a pastoral approach to discipline means that we understand the child’s behaviour and encourage him/her to take responsibility, negotiate consequences, educate for resolution and restore broken relationships.

LLS – LEARNER LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE Each Grade 6 child belongs to one of the following committees and serves for a term.

Meetings are held on Friday afternoons from 1:45 to 2:15.

St Marcellin First Aid

Ms Nhlapo Sr. Peta - Ann

School Life Catering Concern

Mrs Paton-Mills, Ms O’Leary Mrs Lindsay-Smith, Mr Zondo Ms Cross

THE DAILY ROUTINE Please ensure that your child has a healthy breakfast – avoid sugary cereals.

Children need to be at school by 7:30 as our school day begins at 7:35 with an assembly.

It is important that children arrive on time in the mornings, as being late can affect the tone of their day. It is also important that they do not miss assemblies.

Classes begin at 7:50 sharp: first break is at 9:50 and second break at 11:45. Please pack a healthy lunch and, if your child is staying the whole afternoon, a snack for the afternoon.

Classes end at 14:00 each day and the co-curricular programme starts at 14:15.

After co-curricular activities the children can be fetched from the homework venues or from Aftercare. The venues are listed below.

All children are encouraged to take part in the co-curricular programme, which is designed to develop children’s sporting skills as well as their cultural interests. Duplicate lists are sent out at the beginning of each season and, when children have made their choices, one of these should be returned to school and the other kept at home. The co-curricular activities are followed at 15:00 by homework classes and then Aftercare.

Homework Class Grade 6N in Room 2 Grade 6R in Room 9

15:00-16:00 (classroom) (classroom)

In the Orchard

16:00-17:30

Rainy Day Venues Grade 6 in Room 2

(classroom)

After Care Cell Number:

0836304707

ASSESSMENT & REPORTING Assessment of children’s progress occurs throughout the term. A report is issued once a term and the marks are taken from both classwork and tests. Children will be notified of upcoming tests timeously. The tests and classwork are weighted and form the final mark per subject for the report.

In the second term, there is a week of formal testing for English, Maths, isiZulu, Afrikaans, Social Sciences and Science and Technology. These marks are added to all class work and other term tests and weighted to make up the second term mark, which appears

on the report.

The third term mark is made up of term work and the end of year assessments in the previously mentioned subjects. The final result is the average of all three terms.

Teachers will send out mid-term reports for children who they feel are experiencing some difficulty.

THE CURRICULUM English Afrikaans isiZulu RELO Social Science Performing Arts

Mathematics Science & Technology Computers Library – Book Education Physical Education Visual Arts

We follow the CAPS documents and supplement this curriculum with the Singapore Science curriculum as well as weaving in other important aspects of education.

ENGLISH The children will do a number of both shorter and longer themes focusing on different genres of literature and writing. Each theme will include exercises in the four areas of the curriculum namely Reading & Viewing, Listening and Speaking, Writing, and Language Structure.

The children will have a Spelling Test every two weeks and various assessments, both formal and informal, throughout the term. Please sign all tests so that you are in touch with your child’s progress.

In class the children will both listen to and read a selection of novels. It is essential that children always have a book with them at school; they have access to the Library as well as a class library. Reading is crucial for the development of vocabulary, which is vital for cognitive growth. Children whose parents read have the best chance of becoming readers themselves.

MATHS Each year, we extend on the knowledge from the previous year and expand the children’s understanding of concepts. The children learn about numbers, operations and relationships focusing on whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentage. They investigate patterns, learn about 2D and 3D shapes, do conversions of length, mass and capacity, use formula to work out perimeter and area. In handling data they read and draw graphs. The children write weekly mental maths tests, theme tests and formal assessments in the testing weeks in July and November.

ISIZULU In Grade 6 we begin the year with the theme: ‘Ilanga lami’ – My Day. Verbs and vocabulary must be revised daily as children need to be able to speak about their day from waking up to going to bed in the evening. The language focus is on the present tense;

long, short and negative forms.

In the second term we look at transport/ going to school – ‘Ukuya esikoleni’. We revise present, past and future tenses. Children will be able to hold a conversation at a taxi rank or at the station asking for directions and how much the fare is.

In the last term we learn about the weather, seasons and the months of the year. We also look at appropriate clothing and the relevant vocabulary.

IsiZulu skills include listening, speaking, reading and viewing and grammatical structures.

AFRIKAANS This year in Afrikaans, we will be working in the "Goed, Beter, Afrikaans" workbook.

Learners will also be expected to have their bilingual school dictionary, that will be used daily. These dictionaries should stay in the Afrikaans classroom.

Most of the curriculum work will be completed in the classroom and homework will only be given to those learners that need to catch up on work that they have missed.

Our themes for the year are: "Meestersjef, Oorlewing, Blyplekke, Sportsoorte, By die Kkool, Australië en Brasilië, Vakansies, Diere, Suid-Afrikaanse Kulture en Wat is Interessant?"

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY In Science and Technology we will maintain a strong focus on enquiry, discovery and reasoning. Of course there are facts to memorise and information to recall – but our aim is to ensure our scientists are actively engaged and involved in their own learning.

Therefore, we will be performing investigations and experiments for each of our topics, and working in pairs and groups to develop our questioning and reasoning skills. Our curriculum will be flexible to incorporate new scientific information and discoveries that will surely surface over the course of the year, to foster a life-long love of enquiry and observation. The topics we will cover are: The Solar System, Changes in Materials, The Human Body, Plants, Energy, Forces and Simple Machines.

RELIGION AND LIFE ORIENTATION The RE department follows the curriculum as set out by the Catholic Schools Office, the Life Bound Curriculum. We also follow the new CAPS documents. The various areas of focus for the year are Leadership, Relationships, Comparative Religious Studies and the Sexuality Programme.

VISUAL ARTS In Art the children continue to explore their 2D and 3D skills in a variety of media and spanning a range of topics.

PERFORMING ARTS In Performing Art learners have much fun discovering and developing their creative talents social skills and emotional intelligence. Various activities such as movement, poetry interpretation, improvisation etc are used to facilitate the teaching of the 5 Cs of Drama which are described below:

Commitment: Being there, on time, and prepared. Strive for your own excellence.

Courage: Risk-taking, trusting your peers and your instincts for what is possible.

Caring: Be encouraging, supportive, and respectful of others’ work and creative process.

Cooperation: Accept ideas with grace. Participate in your group with constructive ideas and enthusiasm.

Concentration: Focus on your part of the task, communication of needs, listening to your teacher and the class

PHYSICAL EDUCATION Our focus is on strengthening children’s gross motor skills and giving them the opportunity to explore a variety of sports.

COMPUTERS & IPADS At Sacred Heart College, we use the COMPUTERS4KIDS programme. The integrated ICT learning activities make use of local content, themes and topics. The children get a Username and Password and any of these projects can be accessed from home on the Internet.

Additional software includes Tux Paint, RapidTyping, Scratch and many others, and can be downloaded at home.

Students also receive certificates once the examinations, endorsed by the ECDL (European Computer Drivers Licence) have been completed in Grade 5 or 6, which is The children will also be using iPads and computers across the curriculum and we will set online tests and exercises for them. Quizlet is a very handy tool for all sorts of learning.

All of the children’s Spelling Lists as well as their Zulu vocabulary will be available online and the children will be given the exact references for these.

We will also introduce Edmodo in Grade 6. This is a free and secure learning network for teachers, students, and schools. It provides a safe way for us to connect, share content, access homework, participate in discussions and receive class information. Learners can access their account from any mobile device or computer and set up notifications within Edmodo to receive alerts/reminders via text or e-mail. Parents will be given a code to access their child’s account to see how they are doing.

LIBRARY All children visit the library once a week and are able to take out books as well as learn vital book skills such as research, writing a blurb and referencing work. The library is also available for children in the afternoons for project work.

HOMEWORK Homework is an opportunity for your child to consolidate what he/she has covered at school but, more importantly, it is a time when your child learns to work independently. o o o o o o o

Please help your child but do not do their homework for them!

All projects are to be done at school.

Create a space for your child to do their homework.

Avoid any distractions such as phones, TV, music and noisy siblings.

Sign your child’s diary daily – even if your child attends homework class.

When preparing for tests use study notes, concept maps etc.

Help your children pack their homework away and prepare their bag for the next day.

The following tasks will feature in their homework:

•

Spelling – English, Afrikaans, isiZulu.

•

Daily independent reading, a book of their choice.

•

Maths homework - InstaMaths or exercises in their textbooks.

•

Revising the day’s skills or working on writing tasks, grammar or comprehension.

•

Other homework will be subject and teacher dependent and will vary weekly.

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Theme and section tests.

GRADE 6 CAMP The camp this year will take place from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th of February. The cost of the camp is R1400, which includes transport, meals and all activities. The focus is on outdoor activities, which dovetail with both the Social Sciences and Science and Technology Curricula. Being in the bush and staying together in dorms give children the opportunity to improve their social skills and work cooperatively as a team.

EXTERNAL EXAMS Each year, our children in Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 write the International Bench Mark Tests in Maths, Science and English and the Grade 6s write the IEB Core Skills Tests. We use the findings from these results to enhance our learning and teaching at the College.

GRADE SIX FAREWELL

As it is the last year of our children’s Primary School career, we celebrate this together. The children accompanied by two family members and the teachers, come together to celebrate at a dinner/dance. We jointly choose a theme for the function and decorate the hall and the tables. Parents organise the event with guidance from the teachers. We have loads of fun, so please pitch in with the preparations for this function.

BIRTHDAYS Birthdays are always special occasions and, as we all love to celebrate, we ask that you help the teachers out by sending in cupcakes or pre-sliced cake for your child’s birthday.

Serviettes are also nice to have!

We look forward to a wonderful and successful year for all.

The Grade 6 Team.