Purpose of the meeting
General Comment
An important year for children…. transition between primary and secondary school. A varied programme in place. The goal is to create an environment in the class where the children are content and know they are expected to work hard and will have lots of nice experiences leaving with a sense of fulfillment and pride in their achievements.
Punctuality
The school begins at 8.30 am.and the children are meant to be in the classroom by that time.
Marked late if they arrive after 8.40 am.
Teaching starts promptly at 8.50 a.m.
A note is required if your child is absent from school. Alternatively email or give the office a ring .
Parent/ Teacher Meetings
Individual parent/teacher meetings in November.
Pop in between 8:30 and 8:50 to arrange a meeting if required or ring the office or write a note to make an appointment for a meeting .My work email is rita@rmds.ie .The time between 8:30 -8:50 is really for a very quick chat.
Homework
Monday – Thursday, taking not more than 50 to 60 minutes to complete, this includes learning homework.
All have 2 homework copies for written work. When one is handed up for correction, the other one should be used. All homework done in the copy apart from workbook and Maths Challenge work.
Children need a note if the work isn’t done or if they can’t meet a deadline eg. for a project
Homework will generally consist of:
If homework is taking much longer than the time suggested or causing undue anxiety, write a note or come in and we can have a chat about it.
No need for you to sign the Homework Journal or their written homework (unless we have made a particular arrangement but you might check in regularly …to see what work has to be done …the quality of the work.. presentation, punctuation, effort made etc.
I will ask you to sign tests from time to time
Handwriting and Presentation
Joined writing when doing homework and schoolwork. Use a blue or black pen for writing and a pencil for Maths.
Code of Behaviour and Anti Bullying Policies
All policies have been revised by the BOM and all parents should have a copy. Copies can be got from the secretary’s office or see the school website.
The policies are based on mutual respect between children and staff and every member of the school community.
For the last two weeks I have been introducing class rules based on this keystone of respect. The children have made a list of class rules for the year and signed them. They’re in their Core Curriculum copies. Will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
We encourage the children to be kind to each other in class, in the playground and outside school.
We endeavour to help children realise that there are consequences to their actions – both positive and negative. We aim to encourage and reward positive behaviour.
Must learn to deal with the consequences of negative behaviour – verbal reminders, loss of play time, time out to reflect, completion of reflection sheet to be signed by you.
It is important that children are clear about these rewards and sanctions and can see fairness in how they are applied. Sometimes I may put a note in journal to ask you to “chat” with your child about their behaviour. This would be as a result of persistent minor misdemeanours. If they still persist I would need to arrange a meeting with you to see where we go from there.
Children can appreciate that there are children for whom behaving appropriately can be a challenge for a variety of reasons. In difficult situations there must of course be a balance sought between the rights of the individual child and the rights of the other members of the class. It has been explained to them that fairness isn’t about giving everybody the same …it’s about giving them what they need. What we expect of all children is that they try their best in all aspects of school life.
Special Education Needs and R.M.D.S
We are committed to supplying a holistic education to all the children in R.M.D.S including those with special needs. Therese Curran, is our Special Educational Needs Resource Teacher with 5th and 6th this year.
Playtime / Healthy Lunch Policy
A healthy lunch policy is in place in the school. Children are expected to put left over lunch in their boxes and bring it home. They are not allowed to bring food to the yard or go out with food in their mouths. No treats are allowed to celebrate birthdays.
Rang 6 have two playtime venues. On Tuesday and Thursday they play in Linear Park the other days they are in the yard.
Assessment
Standardised tests take place in Maths and English in early May. The Sten scores will be on the end of year report and we will be forwarding a copy of that report to the Post Primary school your child will be attending when we have confirmation of that. They are assessed on an ongoing basis in Maths once a topic has been completed and have weekly spelling tests as well as regular assessments in SESE areas. Children are encouraged and given guidelines on how to assess their own performance on a daily basis also.
Subject Areas
Maths: 3 mixed ability groups and Therese Curran will be taking a third of the class during our timetabled Maths lessons , while Paul Fairbrother will take the other third. Groups are changed half- termly approximately. We will be differentiating the work within each group to suit the needs of each child.
In English (Strands Oral Language, Reading and Writing) we aim to cover three novels in class. We read some text in the class and some for homework…we discuss the content …the themes in the books…do summaries…discuss the author’s strategies in building the story …how the author gives hints using language and descriptions etc.
We will work on vocabulary extension, debates, grammar, creative writing, comprehension and spelling.
I will be encouraging reading for pleasure at home and in school and ask all children to have a book on their desks for silent reading in class. We will be updating a list of “Good Reads” recommended by Rang 6 and circulating the list to all.
Gaeilge: Using a communicative approach using “Bun go Barr” as the class textbook. They will get some written work for homework based on the theme being worked on but not necessarily always writing sentences every night. We’re encouraging the children to use whatever Gaeilge they have.
Core Curriculum
Focus on Christianity, Humanism and Buddhism this year.
Development education, with an emphasis on a third world country. Festive charity at Christmas time.
Moral Education is part of the C curriculum and this overlaps with SPHE.
Care of the environment links up with our green school policy and SESE.
The Mindfulness programme will continue again this year, it helps students calm the mind down and help them focus.
PE classes take place in Mountpleasant L.T.C. on Wednesdays. Children need to wear appropriate footwear and loose comfortable clothes. Strands include Athletics, Dance, Games, Outdoor and Adventure Activities. We will have Sport for all Day at the end of the year.
SPHE, the themes are Myself, Myself and Others and Myself and the Wider World. We use the Walk Tall and RSE programmes and also do work on Anti Bullying. The Walk Tall Programme includes topics such as prevention of substance abuse, building self esteem, making choices and making decisions. We will be working on RSE (Relationships and Sexuality Education) in the third term. This will build on the work the children covered last year in 5th class. We also have our Buddy System with Junior Infants which has gotten off to a fantastic start!
SESE includes History, Geography and Science. We will use “ Small World”as the class text but will also draw on other resources eg block loans from library and relevant websites . Project work will be done in these areas individually or in groups. We will be encouraging the children to do research and to work cooperatively.
In Drama, we explore and make drama. This is a subject in its own right but it also helps the child’s competence and confidence in language both Gaeilge and in English. We will have our performance before Christmas with a Core Curriculum theme and we plan to do something that will have elements of musical and dramatic performance towards the end of the year, which will be a large part of our drama curriculum this year.
In Ceol, we will be learning songs in Gaeilge and in English and using a variety of resources to promote listening and responding to music.We are taking part in the Cór na nóg coir this year also, with Rang a Cúig.
The Visual Art programme covers the areas of drawing, paint and colour, print, clay construction and fabric and fibre.
Finally, we will be going on lots of tours this year including to Kilmainham Jail, the GPO, The Dáil (Leinster house) , and others as they arise. The year will close with our final tour, a 2 night trip to Delphi Adventure Centre, in late May. I will keep you posted on any forthcoming trips nearer the times as they arise.
I am really looking forward to working with all of your fantastic children and am really enjoying reacquainting myself with them!
Thank you
Rita Brennan
