• English
• SPAG
• Maths
• Homework
• Reading
• Remote learning

Welcome to Year 5 and 6

Welcome back to our Year 5/6 class! We hope you all had a wonderful summer break and are ready for an exciting Autumn term filled with learning, new challenges and lots of fun. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone and making a fantastic start to the school year together. This year, Mrs Gallagher will be teaching in the mornings (and all day Wednesday) and Mr Snell will be teaching in the afternoons. We also have Miss Hemingway supporting us daily in the classroom.

General information to know about Years 5 and 6:

• Please ensure that items of clothing are clearly named. This will ensure that if anything goes missing, it can be quickly reunited with its owner.
• Swimming is on a Tuesday afternoon and P.E is on a Thursday in the autumn term. Please come to school in PE kits on these days. 
• Please make sure that the children are only bringing water in their bottles please. They keep these on their desks and if they spill, juice can cause damage to books and the carpets.
• Snack will be served in the hall at break times. Children are responsible for their own money and are advised to bring it to school in a clearly labelled purse or wallet.

• As children progress through Year 5 and 6, many parents wish for their children to walk home alone or with friends. If this is the case, please send a letter or email into school giving your permission for this. The teachers have a list of the children with letters of consent, and these are the only children who will be permitted to leave the school grounds without an adult.
• If children are bringing mobile phones into school, these will be kept in the class phone basket during the day. Parents will need to fill out an updated phone consent form for 26/27, which can be collected from either the office or the class teacher. 

Homework

Homework will consist of a weekly spelling assignment on Edshed related to the work the children complete in class. They have the logins for this stuck into their reading diaries. They will also need to complete twenty minutes a week on TTRockstars (logins can be found in the front of their reading records). This can be done in one session or split into daily five minute sessions. The children also have logins for Reading Plus at the back of their reading records. This is set at their specific reading level and helps them develop both their fluency and comprehension. Completing a session of this per week at home will help them to further develop their reading skills. The children also have access to unlimited assigments on Dreambox Maths, which is again, set at their level. 

Please ensure that your children are reading at home, either independently or with an adult, to help develop their reading skills and nurture their love of reading. Over the last few years, the school has invested a great deal of money in new book band reading books as well as reading for pleasure texts. We have encouraged all children to take great care of these and make sure they return to school in the condition that they left. All books are signed out to children under a library system and they will be expected to return their current book before they are allowed to take another.

Autumn Term Curriculum

English

In English this half term, our writing unit is ‘A Kingdom United’. We will be looking at myths and legends from the UK and will eventually be writing our own legends. This will also link to our class reading text, ‘Between Worlds’ which looks at folk tales from across the United Kingdom. We will also continue with Reading Plus, our online reading platform. This is matched to individual reading levels and can be accessed both in school and at home.

Maths

In maths, we are going to start by learning about tenths and hundredths as part of a whole. This will then lead into us calculating with decimals. We will work to use our knowledge of decimals to solve problems in different contexts, such as length. We will then move on to negative numbers and finish the half term with short multiplication (two digit by one digit).

Science

In science, the children will be learning about components and circuit diagram. We will also be learning to predict and present results for electrical circuits. We will also learn about the link between the components and the resistance on an electrical circuit.  We will learn to identify ways to change the voltage and how that affects the bulbs brightness.    

Computing

In computing, the children will develop their understanding on computer systems and how information is transferred between systems and devices. We will also learn to explain the input, process and output aspects of a variety of real world systems. We will also discover how information is found on the World Wide Web and what influences searching through different search engines, by comparing results and how they are ranked.   

French

In French this half term we will learn about cities in France and how to use the alphabet to spell them. We will learn to pronounce the sounds AN and IN and use these sounds in French words. We will learn how to recognise places in a town and how to give the location of places in a town.

History

In history, we will be learning about WW1. We will learn about how the conflict started, which countries were involved and where the fighting took place. We will learn about how soldiers from Commonwealth countries supported the British army. We will also learn about how the military used medals to reward soldiers for their bravery and service. We will explore how local British communities were affected by WW1 and how they contributed towards the effort made on the Home Front during WW1.

Music

In Music, the children are going to learn through the Getting Loopy unit focussing on creating and using patterns as loops in a musically expressive way.  We will also learn to improvise over a simple groove, responding to the beat. We will develop our skills using the Groove Pizza app focusing on creating loops in a rhythmical manner.  

Geography

In geography, we will be learning about North and South America. The children will learn the names of the countries of North and South America and practise how to locate these countries on a map, identifying lines of latitude and longitude. We will investigate how the climate varies in North and South America and describe some of the physical features present. We will also look at the types of biomes found in North and South America. We will look at how population is distributed in the Americas and reasons for this and learn the names and location of some of the major cities of North and South America. We will finish by looking at how economic activity varies between countries and reasons why tourists might want to visit the Americas.

PE

In PE, the children will be playing Invasion Games, particularly football and tag rugby.

RE

In RE, the children will be learning about the creation of laws and the teaching within the communities. We will also be exploring how a leader is chosen and the qualities through monarchs and religious leaders. We will also be learning about leaders within the Muslim and Sikh religion and how the leaders guide them through their worldviews.

Art

In Art, the children will be learning to understand and capture movement through expressive and gestural lines. We will also be looking at mark making and lines can communicate emotions. We will be looking at artists and how they use mark making and shading to create depth. The children will learn about the composition of printing and to develop drawn ideas through printmaking.

Design Technology

In D&T, the children will be learning about programming and control knowledge, with a focus on monitoring.  We will learn how to carry out research into user needs and existing products, using surveys, interviews, questionnaires and web-based resources. The children will create a model artefact prototype for a museum gallery. We will also be learning how to integrate a BBC Micro:bit in a product and use sensors to program a light display.

PHSE

In PSHE, the children will be learning about how our identities can be influenced by different factors. We will also be looking at how families support and protect each other whilst understand the commitment shown in family relationships. We will learn how to maintain positive relationship and why it is important to be assertive when there are challenges to friendship.