Curriculum Newsletter
Class 5/6
November to December 2016
What are we doing in our class this half term?
How did people in the past protect themselves?
English
Grammar, punctuation and spelling activities will be an integral part of our English programme
once again as we develop a more complex sentence structure across a range of writing genres.
We will continue to learn about a wide range of sentence types – we will locate them in a text,
discuss their impact and write our own. In addition, we will see how commas can change the
meaning of a sentence and how to use a wider range of punctuation instead of a full stop to
extend a sentence. Children are becoming increasingly confident with editing and improving their
own work as they respond to their targets; this will be a continued focus. We will be interrogating
several texts this half term alongside our whole class Guided Reading Book (The
Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick); these will be The Book Thief, The Silver Sword and
Anne Frank’s Diary. We will use these as inspiration to write contrasting diary entries as we develop
our tense manipulation for personal recount writing. We will also write news articles and write a report on how
WW2 started, and develop our non-fiction writing as we write a non-chronological report to inform an audience
about life during WW2.
Maths
The main emphasis will be on place value and the methods to add, subtract, divide and multiply whole numbers
and decimal fractions. The children will be developing mental and written methods of all four operations and will
continue to build on their problem solving skills as they learn to explain, convince others and justify their findings
using specific vocabulary. Children will also become more confident when applying these strategies to solve
tricky problems. There will be regular homework to consolidate these areas and apply their skills. We expect the
children to know all of their multiplication and division facts up to the 12 times table for use in calculations by
Christmas. There will be a weekly times tables test; children will then be given a target to improve their time
or to learn the next times table. Please help them to learn their multiplication facts alongside their division facts
as we have found that it increases mathematical confidence and accuracy.
Enriched Curriculum
This half term, the children will answer the question: ‘How did people keep themselves
safe during the war years?’ This will be closely linked to their history topic, and the
children will consider how people kept themselves safe both physically and emotionally
during this period of history. We will also be exploring how people keep themselves safe
today through PSHCE. We will investigate how WW2 began and learn about The Blitz,
rationing, propaganda, different shelters, the Axis and the Allies, and the role Britain
played in WW2.
Religious Education
This half term, we will continue to develop our knowledge and understanding of the Sikh
religion. We will learn about the lives and teachings of the 10 Gurus, why they are so
important to the religion and what made each of them special. We will investigate some
of the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, and make a visit to a local Gurdwara to
further our understanding of this religion.
I.C.T.
We will be continuing to build on our ICT skills with a focus on coding. We will also be
building on our existing PowerPoint skills and applying these to create a multimodal text
based on WW2.
Art
The theme will focus on the Yorkshire Artist Henry Moore and his WW2 Underground shelter
drawings and paintings. The children will learn about the artist, his life and work and they will
develop their skills in drawing and painting. We will be exploring the tools and techniques
used by Henry Moore himself during the war years and produce some of our own work
based on the colours and moods of the shelters during the war.
PSHCE:
The children will continue to support their buddies during break times, helping them to make
new friends, play games and get on together. They have done a fantastic job so far – their
buddies just love having them come to play with them!
French
We will be starting French this half term and will continue to follow the ‘Jolie Ronde’
scheme of work, including revision of basic conversational French, parts of the
body, and zoo animals.
Physical Education and PE Kit
Mr Brotherton will be teaching Basketball Monday afternoons and Wednesday afternoons. Children will also be
taught how to play Hockey. Please ensure that children have both an outdoor and indoor kit in school
(including trainers) for the whole week as other indoor and outdoor sessions might take place at
alternative times.
Homework
Maths homework is given out on a Monday. It is to be returned on Thursday.
English homework is given out on a Thursday. It is to be returned by Monday.
Spelling homework is given out on a Wednesday and will be tested the following
Wednesday.
Reading should be done for a minimum of 15 minutes every evening. We would appreciate
your assistance in checking that this is taking place. The pages must be logged by the
children in their planner.
Learning Log homework will be given out twice each term.
Planners
In the past we have found that the planners are an excellent means of communication between home and
school. The planners have two main purposes: to record homework and to reward good work and good
behaviour with stamps. The bronze certificate is awarded for the achievement of 100 stamps, 200 stamps will
achieve the silver certificate, 300 stamps for the gold award and so on.
The children have responded exceptionally well to the introduction of planners and are enjoying using them. We
would appreciate your assistance in checking that your child has their planner with them each day. Please look
at the planners regularly as notes from the teacher might be written in them. Please sign it at the weekend.
Water Bottles
Please ensure that your child has a water bottle in school every day. They must remember to take it
home every evening to wash the bottle and bring it in to school already full. This will ensure that the
bottles are kept clean and germ-free for the children’s use each day.
Thanks
Many thanks for your support with the children’s homework. The time you spend ensuring that the homework is
completed to the best of your child’s ability and returned to school on the correct day is appreciated. If your child
finds something difficult, please put a star beside it and I will take the time to help your child. If you have any
queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to come into school or send a note in the planner.
Miss Asomaning