Year Five

Welcome back to the Autumn term of year five! I am very excited to start the new year with our wonderful year five class and we have lots of great learning opportunities ahead of us.

The children through school really impressed me with their love of reading last year with lots of them reading and sharing recommended reads, I cannot wait to share new books and continue with them on their reading journey. We have recommended authors through school, which I look forward to hearing the children's views on as well as some excellent class texts and many more books in our exciting class reading area. We also have a weekly newspaper in class which proves to be very popular so keep a look out for the new arrivals this term! Reading is key to all we do and incredibly important across the whole of our curriculum, so your support is vital in helping your child develop the confidence and love of reading to reach their full potential. We do expect the children to read at home at least three times a week and have this signed weekly in their reading diaries. I will check and sign every Friday.

This term we step into our topic – Dynamic Dynasties

This project teaches children about the history of ancient China, focusing primarily on the Shang Dynasty, and explores the lasting legacy of the first five Chinese dynasties, some of which can still be seen in the world today.

There are several mini topics which fit into the Dynamic Dynasties topic, which ensures children develop a breadth of skills and knowledge.

Taotie, Forces and Mechanisms, Earth and Space, Tints, tones and shades, Investigating our world and Moving mechanisms.

Our books for class story this term are Street Child by Berlie Doherty and Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. In addition to these books we will also be reading Goodnight stories for rebel girls by Eleni Favilli & Francesca Cavallo and Hansel and Gretel by Neil Gaiman & Lorenzo Mattotti. These books will be studied in more detail as part of our literacy topics.

In PE the children will start off with handball and football. After half term this will swap to gymnastics and dodgeball. Our PE days for this term are Monday and Wednesday. The children will need a full PE kit for both days-plain white T shirt, black bottoms and a red, grey or black hoodie or jumper.

Homework:

Homework will be given weekly. The children will be asked to complete:

· 15 minutes of their reading books at least 3x per week (dairies will be checked and signed every Friday.)

· Subject specific homework given on a Friday (due in the following Friday)

· Spellings to learn weekly.

Reflex times tables - please play on this at least three times a week to keep your times tables knowledge fresh and efficient.

In addition to the above additional homework includes:

· Selection of creative topic work (from the working at home ideas sheet) –to be handed in at the end of each half term.

I will post all messages and announcements on dojo so that you can be well informed on what is happening in school.

If you have any questions about any of this information or other questions not relating to this please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many thanks.

Mrs Lowry