Autumn Term Communication Letter

Dear Parents/ Carers of Year 5 Pupils,

We hope that you have had a really enjoyable summer. It is lovely to be back in school and we are delighted with how quickly the children have settled in Year 5.  We hope that you find this letter and pack of information useful.

Autumn Term Curriculum

Here is an outline of some of the areas of learning that we will be covering in class this term within the topic ‘Saving the World’.

Maths	Place value (reading, writing, ordering, comparing, rounding) Calculations (+ - x). Written and mental methods Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Word problems
English	SPaG Wordplay Poetry Fables Non-Chronological Reports Persuasive Texts Reading- our class text is ‘Journey to the River Sea’
Science	Feel the Force Earth and Space
R.E.	What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today? Why do Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah?
Computing	Programming and debugging including a STEMworks computer control workshop day on 4th December
P.E.	Athletics, then  Dance (Tuesdays) Games (Thursdays)
Topic (English, Geography, Art, D.T.)	‘Saving the World’ This will include learning about climate zones, the water cycle, land use, trade links and improving our geographical skills. D.T. will include designing and making a chocolate pudding and a Christmas decoration.

How you can help at home

Homework

Year 5 children will receive one Spelling and one Maths Facts homework weekly. It is really helpful if you can encourage your child to complete their homework in a quiet place where they can fully focus.

As explained in a letter from Mr Short last week the format of Maths homework has changed this year. Your child will receive a list of Maths facts to learn at home (every Wednesday) and these will be tested the following Wednesday.

Your child will learn a spelling rule each week and will receive a list of spellings that follow this rule (every Monday) which they will need to learn for a weekly spelling test on a Friday.

The children will also be tested on a list of 15 half termly spellings at the beginning and end of each half term. We would appreciate your help in supporting your child in learning these tricky words. Thank you.

Reading

As you know children hugely benefit from reading regularly, every night where possible, this is still important in Year 5. We have listened to all children read individually and recommend that they read with an adult three times every week and discuss what they have read. You can discuss unfamiliar words, talk about how characters have developed, make predictions about what might happen, talk about why an author has used a particular type of punctuation, etc. The children should use evidence from the text to justify their answers.

Planners

Thank you for your support already in using the planners. We hope that you find them useful in helping your child organise themselves. The children are using their planners to record homework tasks and important school dates but can also use it as a personal diary. Children will record their weekly spelling, maths facts  and times tables scores every week. Please could you check your child’s planner at the end of each week and sign the bottom of the page. Please feel free to make your own comments. Your child should take responsibility for asking you to check and sign it. Feel free to communicate with us through the planner, but ensure your child knows it is their responsibility to let us know there is a message. We will check and sign the homework planners each Friday.

P.E

We will have P.E sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Our Thursday PE session will be led by Jon and have a games focus. Sometimes our timetable has to change so P.E kit should be in school each day please. A reminder that PE kit should consist of: black daps/pumps/trainers, black shorts and a red or white t-shirt or polo shirt. As the weather is unpredictable it would be useful for the children to have both outdoor trainers and plimsolls (or clean trainers) as part of their kit so that we can use both the hall and outdoors. When it starts to get colder, black/navy joggers and black/red jumpers may also be needed. School PE kit should also be worn for after school clubs.

Art aprons

Children will need to have an old shirt or apron for art. Please ensure your child has one in school at all times. Thank you.

Pencil cases

School provides all the writing and drawing materials the children will need, however, they are allowed to bring in their own pencil case if they wish. The pencil case and its contents are the responsibility of the child and need to fit into their tray. This is a privilege and children may be asked to take their pencil case home if it proves to be too much of a distraction.

Planners and reading books.

Please have these in school, in the classroom, each day. Thank you.

We look forward to working closely with you. Please don’t hesitate to come and see us if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Michelle Parkin and Mrs Marika Hortop