Class Page Autumn 2024

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the new Academic Year and the first term of your child's time in Year Five.  I hope that you have had a good and refreshing Summer break, despite the poor weather, and that the children are ready for some hard work as we move towards getting them ready for Year 6 and High School.  

Our topic for this term will be The USA and Victorians. We will be studying History and Geography through this until the end of term. Our studies will look at the History of the subject and how the Victorians have influenced the world in which we live.   We will explore lots of History and Geography through this topic. I expect the children to really enjoy the excitement that the topic provides. 

We will be looking at ‘Forces’ and ‘Earth and Space’ in Science, specifically.

The children will be taught to:

explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object

identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces

recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system

describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth

describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies

use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

In RE we will looking at Christianty 

Specifically: 

• Which beliefs do we find hard to believe in Christianity?

There will be two PE sessions each week so the children will be required to come to school in their PE kits on a Tuesday and Wednesday. One session will be on a Tuesday morning and one on a Wednesday afternoon.

The homework will to be sent out on a Wednesday and due in on the following Wednesday.  It is extremely important that children continue to practice their tables and read regularly. The 'My Maths' has proved a really useful tool for homework and general practice of what we had been doing in class. 

The homework will always be set online and can be found on the Meerkats' Class Page. 

English

In English, we will be looking at King Kong followed by Oliver Twist.

Opportunities to write include:

• Setting descriptions
• Character descriptions
• Persuasive letters
• Diary entries
• Newspaper reports
• Alternative endings 

We will be creating our extended writing through our topic of Victorians giving the children lots of creative and interesting information for them to improve their Spelling, Grammar and text construction through research and analysis of the topics and the previously mentioned varying genres. 

These opportunities form an interesting and varied list and I will endeavour to keep writing opportunities as interesting as possible.

As always, please continue to read regularly with your child as this really helps their comprehension skills and improves their understanding of English Grammar and spelling patterns. I would stress to parents of our class to discuss anything the children have read in any one session with them at home to improve their comprehension skills. This has to be a focus for us moving forward through the year and also towards their personal preparation regarding the reading test at the end of Year Six. Reading helps massively with the children's writing.

If you can find the time please read with your child and ask them the meaning of the text they have read. The children need to find evidence for their reasoning within the text.

Spellings that come home will come from the Year Five National Curriculum requirements.

Maths

In Maths this half term we will be looking at Place Value, Addition and Subtraction and Multiplication.

As we start the new year I would appreciate your continued support and encourage you to speak to me directly should there be anything to discuss. Please feel free to speak to me at the beginning or end of the day so that I can deal with any issues that you may have as quickly as possible. This makes for good communication and relations between us all and keeps things positive and forward moving throughout the year. Good communication between myself (as a teacher) and yourselves (as parents) leads to your children being in the frame of mind where they are ready to learn. 

As always, I will strive to keep your children happy at school, encourage a love of learning and to equip them with a passion for their future time in Year Six and High School.

Many Thanks

Mr. S. Hewson

Autumn Term 2024