Welcome to Year 5!
It was so nice to welcome the children back after the holiday and hear all about their summer adventures – I really missed them! This term, we’re learning about the Titanic in English, which is in response to their excitement about seeing a small picture of the ship in the Maritime Museum during our visit last term! We’re also learning about Space in Science (an inflatable planetarium will be visiting school in October) and focussing on European countries in Geography.
If you have any questions, please feel free to message me on Dojo, or pop into the school office.
Mrs Houlgate
Film Club
Film Club takes place on Fridays until 5.00. It seems quite popular so far... The children are allowed to bring snacks and sweets, but it’s helpful if they can be decanted into pots (to limit rustling). They like to make themselves comfortable, so teddies and blankets are welcome, too. There’s no commitment to attending every week, but it’s good to know who should be there each week, so please let me know if your child will not be attending – a Dojo message or a message from them during the school day is fine. I prefer them to be collected by an adult after Film Club, rather than walking home alone.
PE
PE is on Thursdays. Children can come into school in their PE kits. Appropriate school PE kit must be worn, and please make sure hoodies are labelled – it’s hard (and time-consuming) to find the owners of a pile of identical unnamed tops! As the weather turns cooler, please ensure your child has warm clothes, as PE may still take place outside.
Home Learning
Reading
Hopefully, the children are reading independently for pleasure at home several times a week. Although it may seem that your child can read fluently, they should also have a weekly opportunity to read aloud to an adult. This gives them the opportunity to delve more deeply into the plot (of a fiction book) or the content (of a non-fiction book) by answering questions posed by the adult or engaging in a discussion of what they have read.
Times Table Rock Stars
By the end of Year 4, the children should have been able to answer quick-fire multiplication questions up to 12 x 12. Their ‘heat map’ should be completely green, and they hopefully scored somewhere near 25/25 on their official Multiplication Times Table check. These scores were sent out at the end of last term. Please ask me if you’re not sure of your child’s score. We use times tables continuously in maths lessons in Year 5 and 6 (and they will continue to do so in high school). If your child still struggles with some tables, they need to continue accessing TTRS 3 times a week, for 5 minutes, until their heat map is green.
Spellings
I will be sending out a spelling booklet for the children to keep at home. They will also have one in school. The words will come from our school spelling scheme. They will be tested on the words they have learnt during daily dictation sessions and in a test at the end of each half-term.
Our class story:
Useful Links
Classroom Secrets
Useful website for support with home learning ideas and resources
Love Reading 4 Kids!
Useful website with access to many books
Maths Bot
Maths website with ideas for daily maths activities
Oxford Owl
Free website with hundreds of audio and e-books
Times Table Rock Stars
Online site to support times tables - please remember to play 'studio' to gain and improve your 'Rock Status'
White Rose Maths
Great website with ideas on maths lessons and resources too