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.
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.
