Welcome to Class 5. 

We will be learning about Ancient Greece in T5  but not before we look back to the Maya in T2.  This will link nicely with our work in Geography where we look at the Ring of Fire and the countries that it affects.

Science will include animals including humans, living things and their habitats, properties and changes of materials, forces and Earth and space.  Other learning will include sculpture, music, PE, French, secular / non religious communities and, a production at the end of the academic year! 

Homework and Routines:

Spelling homework is over a fortnight and focuses on learning the spelling rule, so that it can be applied, rather than the set words.  Fifteen spellings, linked to the new spelling rule, will be handed out on a Monday.  During the course of the first week the children are expected to practice daily and will be tested, at the end of the week, on a combination of these words and others that follow the rule.  The second week of spellings is an opportunity for the children to further practice by writing sentences that include the 15 set words.  Another test will take place at the end of the second week.

As well as the spelling 'rule', the children will also be given 3 'High Frequency' words.  These are the words that, often, don't follow a rule but that we just need to know how to spell.  These should be included in the sentences that are written for the 'rule words', they don't need a separate sentence of their own, and will be tested. 

Maths homework, either giving an opportunity to embed learning that has taken place during the week or preparing the children for new learning, will be set on Tuesday and will be collected in the following Monday.

In Term 1, PE lessons will happen on Monday afternoons with myself and with Mrs Winn on Thursday afternoons - please make sure that you bring your PE kit to school with you as we will be returning to our pre-Covid way of working and will at changed before the lesson.

Independence:

As the children move through the school, they grow tremendously in independence.  We appreciate your continued support in encouraging this further by allowing the children to take responsibility for getting their homework into school when it is due, taking care of their own belongings and delivering messages to me.

Can I remind you that notification of absence or a change in who will collect your child, needs to go directly to the office.  We cannot let children go home with someone other than you unless that message has been given to the office.  We will not take the children's word for it and will need to contact you for confirmation before we let them go.

In Years 5 and 6, the children are dismissed at the end of the day from their classrooms in The Stig building.  For the first few days, I will accompany them to the playground but, from then on, they are 'on their own'.  Please reinforce the message that I will be giving them - they do not leave the school premises unless they are with the adult who is collecting them (see above), if that adult does not arrive, they are to return to the classroom where they will find me and we will sort it out together.  Children in Year 5 sometimes walk home on their own.  This is only in agreement with parents - don't believe them when they tell you that "everybody else does!" If you are happy for your child to leave the school grounds and walk home alone, we ask that you inform the office of this arrangement. 

DOJO will be my primary method of communication with families and so I ask that you check it regularly.  If you need me for anything, please either contact the office, who will pass on a message, or send me a message on DOJO and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Mrs Wx