Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back after a lovely half term. After a lovely half term exploring Ancient Greece, reading Percy Jackson and going to the theatre, we are back for another half term of fun and new learning in the build up to Christmas.
Several adults will be continuing to work in year 5 this year.
Mrs Keyte- Monday to Thursday
Mrs Gardner- Wednesday afternoons
Mrs Duckett- Friday mornings
Mr Fanning and Mrs MacRae - Friday afternoons
Mrs Connelly- TA on Mondays
Miss Dunkley- TA on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Daily Routines
Please come into school via the KS2 door, store your bag in your locker and have your water, pencil case, reading book and reading diary to hand. When you come in, we will have an activity ready to ease us into our day. At the end of the day, we will come out to the KS2 playground ready to go home.
Weekly Routines
We have a few activities timetabled every week.
Wednesdays- PE
Fridays- PE
On PE days, please come to school wearing your PE uniform. Pupils need to wear a plain white t-shirt (or one with the school logo) and plain black or navy bottoms.
Snacks and water
Just a reminder to bring a water bottle to school. There are opportunities to fill up your bottle during the day. Also, do bring a healthy snack like fruit to school for break time.
Homework
Homework is an important support to class learning. All homework is sent home on a Friday, stuck into their diary.
Maths- this will be a page or 2 from Mathletics. Mathletics is an online forum where I can set work based on what we are learning in class. You will receive a login and you will be able see assignments set for you. They are set on a Friday and reviewed on a Wednesday.
Reading- Please read as much as you can and record it in your diary.
SPaG- This will be a page of our CGP book. It is due back to school for Wednesday.
Spelling- These will be spellings which usually follow a pattern or rule. You will receive a list each week on their homework sheet. Mrs Duckett will teach the lesson on a Friday, I will revise it during the week and there will be a test on the following Friday.
Topic- This is a longer homework and you have a half term to complete an activity of your choice.
You can also practise your times tables on TTRS.
Curriculum Overview
Every day we have a maths, writing and reading lesson. There are fluctuations for special events, but otherwise we generally learn:
Monday- Science and Young Leaders
Tuesday- RE and Computing
Wednesday- PE, French and Music
Thursday- Art or Design and Technology and PSHE
Friday- PE and History or Geography.
This term in writing we will meet texts which link to our science topic on space. We will use Hidden Figures as a basis to write information reports on the four women of colour behind the Space Race. We will also use the Tempest by Shakespeare as a stimulus for writing scripts. We will revise our year 5 skills of using brackets, embedded clauses and subordinate clauses. We will learn new skills in dashes and relative clauses. In spelling we will continue to develop our knowledge of silent letters, ant/ancy endings and will practise our zero tolerance spellings daily.
In reading we will read ‘The Good Thieves’ by Katherine Rundell and ‘Cosmic’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce. We will practise retrieving information, considering language, predicting, inferring and summarising.
In maths, we will be exploring factors, multiples, common factors, cube numbers, prime numbers and square numbers. We will be revising our addition and subtraction from the previous term so it stays fresh in our mind. This will help us as we progress to learn about fractions.
In science, we will learn about Space. We will learn the name and order of the planets, about the heliocentric model and the geocentric models of the solar system, how we have day and night and how we have different seasons.
In geography, we will learn about the Alps and think about the features of the environment before moving on the impact humans have on the environment.
In DT, we are making Soup in the Great British Soup Off! We will explore where ingredients come from, adapt a recipe, learn how to prepare vegetables and make the soup. We have invited judges who will judge the soup. We will reflect on our soups and consider how they might be improved.
In music, we will learn about musical theatre and how music can tell stories. Those who wish to, can attend Mrs Woolley’s Choir and then attend Young Voices in January.
In RE, we will be thinking about who Jesus is and why some people in history did not like him. We will explore artistic depictions of Jesus and how he is represented in different ways.
In PE, we will be doing gymnastics and invasion games.
In computing, we will be learning to use word processing software and the nearer to Christmas we will be exploring 3D software to make models.
In PSHE and RSE, we will revise our Zones of Regulation and then continue to look at families and how they are different, and our relationships within families. We will participate in Anti Bullying events.
This year we are excited to be taking part in the Archbishops Young Leaders Award. During the project, which will happen during most of the year, the children will learn about their own leadership potential and look at different issues in our local community, national community and global community. They will complete small challenges on the way to creating a large community action project at the end. We will help them to lead their choice of event. This is an excellent opportunity for the children to shine!
Ways to help at home
In addition to homework, please always remember the following.
The children all did fabulously well in their times tables and they should be rightfully proud. However, to keep them fresh, the children still need to practise them regularly. They are really needed for our maths curriculum.
Please also read as much as you can. There is a significant body of research which tells us of the benefit of reading for developing language and empathy.
Completing puzzles in the newspaper such as su doku and anagram puzzles is really good for logic and reasoning.
Thankyou- do be in touch if you would like a catch up.
Hannah Keyte