Mandarin overview

Our class

Mandarin is our Year 4, 5 and 6 class for children aged between 8 and 11, led by Miss Griffiths. Children in Mandarin work from the Key Stage 2 curriculum. Detailed assessment and streaming is key to ensuring that every child is working at the right level, and that attainment targets are sufficiently challenging to ensure high standards and good progress for all children. Children in Mandarin are assigned to Green, Red, Blue or Purple group, and homework and class work is set at the right level for your child, with the most able students given the opportunity to drawn on more advanced aspects of the curriculum. 

In the classroom we utilise a variety of accelerated learning techniques, mixing teacher-led sessions with self-directed learning, open ended problem-solving activities and timeboxed tests and challenges. Last year our Year 6 children made outstanding progress: 83% of pupils achieved Level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths and we also had a good number of pupils exceeding national expectations and achieving Level 5. In all subjects our results exceeded the national averages for last year and our results continue to improve. You can find out more about how we track and assess your child's progress here.

Rewards and incentives

We use the individual merit reward system to motivate children to behave well, try their best and focus on the quality of their work. Good work or good behaviour is rewarded by a merit point, which the children collect to achieve certificates for every 50 merits earned. Star charts, small daily prizes for group or individual work, and the opportunity to earn Reward time for their chosen activities also help motivate the children to do well. The Young Leaders scheme gives children opportunities to develop responsibility and leadership skills, including directing games at playtime, and each week a Class star is nominated to receive a special award at our Awards assembly on Friday.

Learning schemes

In Mandarin we continue the learning schemes which children will have followed in King Eider, including the Maths passport and My writing goals which reinforce teaching by setting regular achievable targets for maths and writing skills. Small weekly tests help assess progress against those goals, and every substantial piece of written work will be assessed against your childs individual learning goals. Their Independent writing book, in which they have the opportunity to produce pieces of writing free from teacher input, is a key component of assessment.

Homework

Homework is set each week on Friday, and is due in on the following Wednesday. Homework sheets will specifiy the activities for Green, Red, Blue and Purple group where appropriate and will generally consist of 30 minutes of maths exercises, or literacy-related 'topic' homework on an aspect of the Creative curriculum topic for that term. An extended project may sometimes involve work over several weeks to produce a more substantial final piece. Children should also allow time to prepare for a short spelling test and mental maths test each Friday.

Reading

Your child will have a school reading book selected from our collections, and individual reading time will be allocated in the class timetable. Regular reading is really important for the development of reading, spelling and writing skills and children should aim to choose a new book each week to read at home and in school.