Mont Nicolle School
La Route des Genets, St. Brelade, Jersey JE3 8DB
 01534 744992  01534 498989
E [email protected]  www.montnicolle.sch.je
Headteacher: Mr. John Baudains
Year 5 Summer Term Newsletter 2017
Dear Parents,
Welcome back to the final term of Year 5! I cannot believe how fast this year has gone!
We have a very busy term ahead so here are some key dates for your diaries!
- French school visiting Year 5 – Tuesday 27th June
- States Chamber Visit and Debate – Monday 3rd July in the afternoon
- Year 5 Swimming Festival – TBC as it clashes with Move Up Days
- Safety In Action – Wednesday 19th July
Plus there will be the usual Sponsored Walk, Sports Day and Beach Day – the dates have been published in the
school newsletter.
Miss Huby will continue to teach the class on a Friday this term.
As well as all this we also have a lot of learning to do! Below is an outline of what we will be learning…
Literacy:
Reading It is very important to continue to practice reading skills by reading a wide range of texts at home,
including non-fiction, talking about what they have read, as well as being read to. Your child needs to continue
to record their reading each evening in the diaries provided. Well done to all the children who did this so well
last term!
This half term the children will be using the Kindles in our whole class reading sessions. We are going to read
Jeremy Strong’s book ‘Killer Tomatoes’. I am also going to be reading the class Jacqueline Wilson’s book ‘The
Worst thing about my sister’ which is from the Read Write Inc. recommended reading list for this unit. Other
recommended books that your child could read at home are:
First half term
Saffy’s Angel – Hilary McKay
Journey to the River Sea – Eva Ibboston
The family from One End Street – Eve Garnett
Second half term – stories from other cultures
How to Train a Dragon (series) – Cressida Cowell
Dragon Rider – Cornelia Funke
The Dragon Keeper Trilogy – Carole Wilkinson
Working with Dragons – Helen Ward
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Secret of the Sirens – Julia Golding
Writing This half term, our RWInc we will be creating a new scene for a play about a bully, using dialogue and
stage directions to develop a clear picture of the characters’ feelings and actions. In preparation for our
States Chamber visit we will learn to write a balanced text about whether or not junk food should be banned.
Next half term we will write a new adventure for Mai-Ling, using ideas from Dragon Slayer to include adverbs
and adverbials of time to create pace and drama, e.g. ‘Suddenly’, ‘In a flash’. We will also write a clearlystructured non-chronological report about a species of dragon to include adverbs and adverbials that show why
things happen, e.g. ‘This is useful because…’ ‘However…’ ‘Therefore…’ to signpost cause and effect for the
reader.
Maths: This term we will be continuing to work through ‘Maths - No Problem’. Our chapters this term are;
decimals, percentages, angles, translations and reflections, converting units of measure, area and perimeter,
volume and Roman Numerals. Lots to do!
The children’s mindset in Maths has developed greatly this year. They are working really hard and I am proud
of all their achievements so far!
Topics this term:
Eureka! - This first half term we will be learning about materials and their properties. We will be designing
experiments and learning to publish results in tables and in graphs.
Islam – This is a short topic exploring some of the beliefs and practices in the Muslim faith. This will run the
week before half term and the week after half term.
The Circle of Life - After half term the unit focuses on the changes that human beings experience as they
develop to old age. It tackles some sensitive subjects including puberty and death. The children will learn about
the life cycle of a human being. They will investigate the development of babies and compare the gestation
period of humans and other animals. They will learn about the changes experienced during puberty and why
these occur. Finally, we will learn about the changes to the body as humans get older, as well as comparing the
life expectancy of different animals. If you have any concerns about this, please do come and speak to me or e
mail me. Many thanks.
As always, a home learning task will be sent home to be done alongside these topics.
Music: We will be covering two units from the Year 5 Charanga scheme this term – ‘STOP’ which is a rap song
about bullying and ‘Reflect, Rewind, Replay’ which is a unit that summarizes our learning from this year. Both
units build on music skills, learning a song and then playing along on the recorder! I’ll let you know how we get
on!!
RE: In RE we will be continuing to learn about Judaism and Islam and the links between different faiths with
Liz Lambotte.
PE: This half term the children will be doing touch rugby with a Sports Development Officer on a Friday and we
will be doing various physical activity sessions on a Monday afternoon to include developing stamina in running
and team games.
PSHE: This term we will be learning about friendships and relationships for the first half term. After half
term, we will be looking at healthy life styles including healthy eating, exercise, getting enough sleep and
drinking plenty of water.
Homework: As mentioned before, children are expected to read daily. They also need to practice their times
tables at least twice a week. I am making sure that I set Mathletics homework weekly to tie in with our maths
learning from that week, please can you ensure your child is completing the assigned activity as it is designed to
support their learning in class.
As mentioned above, there will be the ongoing topic home learning tasks so watch out for those!
Shared Learning: I would like to invite parents into school for an Art Shared Learning Session on Wednesday
14th June 1:15pm – 3pm. It will be messy so please don’t wear your best suit!
And finally… We are always keen to involve parents in children’s learning. If you can spare any time to help in
class please come and see me!
If you have concerns or questions about any aspect of your child’s education or well-being at school, please do
not hesitate to come and see me.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Miss R. Harrison
[email protected]