• Literacy
• SPAG
• Maths
• Homework
• E Safety
• This week in the classroom
• Reading

Welcome to Year 5 and 6

Welcome to the new school year! It has been so wonderful to see all the children again after the summer holidays, all fresh and ready for the new school year. The Y5/6s have settled quickly back into school life and we are enjoying our new classroom! This year, Mrs Caldwell will continue to teach the class on a Monday and Tuesday, with Mrs Gallagher taking over Wednesday to Friday.  We are also lucky to have Mr Coxon working with us for the first half term

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.

-  P.E will be changing to Mondays so please ensure that your child comes into school in their PE kit on this day. During the autumn term, the children will be swimming on a Tuesday and need to ensure that they bring their swimming kits on this day. They may wear their PE kit to school on a swimming day. PE kit should not be worn on the other days of the week (Wednesday to Friday).

- 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. This system was in place for the Year 6s at the end of last year and they did a fantastic job with returning and taking care of the books. I am sure that our Year 5s will be the same!

- Homework will go out on a Friday to be returned to school by the following Wednesday from the week commencing 11^th September. There will be weekly spellings (tested on a Friday) alongside another piece of homework which will be related to work completed in English or maths.

- Children need to bring their own water bottles into school which they can access throughout the day and they will change their water regularly. Please do not allow other drinks such as juice, fizzy drinks etc. If children bring juices, smoothies etc. they should be kept only for lunch.

- Snack will be served in the hall at break times. Children will be responsible for this money and are advised to bring it to school in a clearly labelled purse or wallet.

- As children enter 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 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.

Autumn Term Curriculum

History

We are beginning the year by looking at what happened to Britain when the Romans left. We will discover who the Anglo-Saxons were, where they came from and why they wanted to settle in Britain. We will investigate the changes that happened in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon rule and how the country was organised. We will also look at how historical artefacts can help us to find out more about the everyday life and culture of the Anglo-Saxon people.

Geography

This term we will take an in-depth look at the UK’s coasts. This will involve naming and locating the key topographical features of the UK’s coastline. The children will also discuss how these features may have changed over time.

Art

In art we will look at the artist Jean Michel Basquiat and try to create our own pieces of work following his style. This will feature bold and bright colours and lots of crowns!

Music

Music lessons will continue to be taught by teachers from the Love Music Trust from the week commencing 11^th September. Forms will be sent out to parents in the coming weeks to consent to your child bringing their instrument home to practise. This is optional, and the children are responsible for making sure their instrument is in school every Thursday for their music lesson.

RE

In RE we will be finding out more about Hinduism, looking at important aspects of Hindu beliefs in God. We will look at when Hinduism started as a religion and the symbols associated with Hinduism. We will discover how Hindu’s worship, both at home and in the temple. We will find out why puja is important for Hindus and how it is practised at home. We will also look at how Hindu’s worship in the mandir. We will end the unit by looking more deeply at the festivals of Diwali and Holi, discovering how and why these festivals are celebrated.

French

This year, we will be teaching French through the digital language programme, Languagenut. Their lessons are designed to follow the National Curriculum objectives for KS2 and ensure clear progress in language development. The children will build on reading, writing, listening and speaking skills and they will practise forming full sentences and sentence chunks. For the first half term, the children will revise the vocabulary required to introduce themselves and greet other people. They will also learn the words for different countries and how to describe where they live. The children will also practise using the verb “to live”, and they will be taught the compass points to describe a location more precisely.

Science

In science this term, we will be learning about animals including humans.  We will be learning all about the different stages of the human life cycle and what happens at each stage. We will be learning about specific stages in human development and the effect of this on our bodies.

PSHE

In our PHSE lessons, we will be learning about our shared responsibilities in the wider community.  We will learn about rules and laws and their purpose, democracy, appropriate behaviour and how to tackle anti-social behaviour. We will think about ways to keep ourselves and others safe in different situations. We will also be beginning our ‘My Happy Mind’ learning where we will be learning all about the human brain, mental well-being and how to develop positive mental well-being – this is a whole school initiative and every class will be taking part in this programme.