1st year ect advice for y4/5/6 class

[curaçao]

I am really happy to have been offered the first job I applied for and keen for it to go well! I am only 21 so quite young still.
Any advice gratefully received!

You have years 3, 4 and 5 all in the same class?? Have you got a ta? If not ask for one!!

I have only just spotted this - I teach y4,5,6 - it's a tough mix as an ECT.
If you are still looking for advice I'm happy to help where I can.

@mamaduckbone i am curious as to how you manage the maths input with 3 year groups?

That's a tough mix. I used to teach 5/6 and that was hard but doable.

Maths is the trickiest area to teach in mixed age classes. I used to treat them as one class and assess, then teach in a rotation for those areas where the objectives were very different.

Will you have a TA?

How large is the class?

What is the schools policy? There must be at least a curriculum overview in place already?

Most schemes such as white rose have guidance in place for mixed age classes. However, I personally found this to be lip service and not really very practical.

Maths is the trickiest. I tend to do a whole class input with extra bits for year 6, and keep year 4 at the front of the class for extra input and support. It's amazing how much the year 4s learn by osmosis, even though they appear to be lost some of the time!

I also have an amazing LSA so she will sometimes take the year 4s so I can extend the 5s and 6s, or take the year 6s.

I only have 5 in year 6 this year and they are quite low ability so I'm treating year 5/6 as one, with the exception of one very bright year 6 girl who needs extension work.

It's constant plate juggling to be honest.

Very much depends on what the lesson is, what area of maths etc. I have taught mixed age groups and my advice is to keep it manageable. Have the whole class write a diary entry, but give each year group a card with what to include in their diary entry. So the year four children must include fronted adverbials, the year five children must include subordinate clauses, the year sixes must include semi-colons etc. Same with maths, teach fractions but split into what each group should be learning. If you have a TA, use them wisely and get them teaching a year group from the start.