Term 1 & 2 Newsletter – Class 5

Welcome back to school! I hope everyone was able to enjoy an enjoyable summer holiday and that you are all refreshed and ready to get going with a new year at school. The children have already got stuck into our work this term, with lots of excellent learning going on. There are lots of exciting topics and events to look forward to and I’m sure it’s going to be another great year!

Mr Boorman

If you have any questions, or need to speak to me about any issues, please contact the school office in the first instance.

rboorman@blackboys.e-sussex.sch.uk

Geography

Our main theme this term is called ‘Comparing Continents.’ We will be concentrating mainly on the continents of North and South America, looking in depth at some of the physical and human geographical features of these continents. This theme will also feed in to other areas of learning.

Maths

We start the year by learning about place value and number, the building blocks of mathematics. We then move onto working with all four operations, (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication), before starting our work on fractions before the end of term.

Art

In art, we will start the year by focusing on our drawing skills, creating a futuristic piece of artwork for the Harvest Festival.

DT

After half term, we will be developing our skills in textiles to create Native American medicine bags.

PSHE

In PSHE this year we will continue to follow the ‘Jigsaw’ scheme. In our first term, we will be looking at ‘Being Me in the World’ where children will learn about their role in making school a positive place. After half term, we will be studying the unit ‘Celebrating Differences’.

ICT

In ICT, we will firstly be learning about spreadsheets, before focussing on online safety and networks after half term.

Homework

Homework will be set each week on a Wednesday. A homework menu will be given out which will feature mainly reading and writing tasks. Maths tasks will also be set, either on paper or on Mathletics.

Don’t forget, you can do some extra work at home on Times Table Rock Stars, and make sure you keep reading – Reading records have been given out, and we are keen for children to earn some certificates! Please ensure that children do still get the chance to read at home with an adult – it is important that they get the chance to discuss their reading as much as possible outside of school as well as in class.

Monday: Homework handed in. PE with Mr Boorman.

Tuesday: PE with All Star Soccer.

Wednesday: Homework handed out.

Friday: Spelling dictation sentences.

English

In Literacy, we will be focussing on the text, ‘Ghost Hawk’ by Susan Cooper. The plot follows the interactions between Native American tribes in Eastern America with the first white settlers from Europe. After half term, we will be studying the book ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar. In whole class reading, we will be reading ‘Girl of Ink and Stars’ by Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

Spelling

There is a spelling session each day Tuesday – Friday where children will be practising and learning about spelling rules and patterns. Children will be given a list of words each term from their year group’s statutory spelling list. These lists will be need to be learned over the whole term, and we will be doing dictation sentences using the words each Friday. Each term’s list will be added to the class page on the school website.

Science

In science we will be learning how to group and classify living things including animals, plants and microbes.

RE

This term, we will be considering the questions ‘What would Jesus do?’ and ‘What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today?’

PE

Our Tuesday PE sessions will be run by All Star Soccer, who will be teaching the class about invasion games. Children will then be learning about striking and fielding games in our second PE lesson of the week, with a focus on cricket. After half term, children be will be taking part in dance lessons with specialist teacher Zara Breeze and playing netball in their other PE lessons.

French

In French, children will be revising basic phrases before learning about how to talk about their families.

Music

Singing practice takes place every Wednesday afternoon for all KS2 children. In class, children will be learning about the work of the American composer Aaron Copland, studying the song ‘Hoe-Down’ to see how he creates the feeling of the Wild West through his music.

Key Dates

Monday 16th September – Year 6 Bikeability week

Monday 23rd September – Cycle to school week

Thursday 26th September – PTA AGM

Tuesday 1st October – Harvest festival and hike

Friday 4th October – INSET day

Monday 14th October – Year 5/6 trip to Glyndebourne Opera House

Friday 18th October – Parent Maths sessions

Monday 21st October – Parents Evening

Wednesday 23rd October – Parents Evening

Thursday 24th October – Class 5 assembly

Friday 25th October – Last day of term 1

Monday 4th November – Return to school for term 2. Pupil photos

Friday 6th December – Year 5/6 Senior Citizen Christmas party. Uckfield Late Night Shopping.

Tuesday 17th December – Whole school Christmas lunch. Christmas jumper day. KS2 Carol Concert

Thursday 19th December – KS2 Christmas party

Friday 20th December – Cup assembly. End of term 2.