Friday 25th November

Good afternoon everybody - Happy Friday!

Another extremely busy week in year 5! 
Thank you to all of the parents that attended Parents Evenings on Wednesday and Thursday, it was great to talk to you about your children, their progress and next steps.
This week ended with the elves in Hazel class making pop up Christmas cards, please come and buy one - they're amazing!
This week, Hazel class have been working hard on our English unit based on biographies, we have explored the biographies of 2 famous female scientists and the author of Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling.  We have worked hard in Maths, exploring prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers. 
In Geography we explored the 2 informal settlements Dharavi and Rochina, which are in India and Brazil respectively. The living conditions here are different but both very poor. The children have enjoyed their Music session with Miss Boyce this week, really getting to grips with Christmas songs and their R.E. session with Miss Penny, when they learnt about the mosque. 
   We ended the week today, with a P.E session with our Saints Southwest coach Mrs Edwards, based on Uni-Hoc, we learnt about passing, tackling and shooting and put it into practise in match play.


  There is a digital copy of this half term's Wider Curriculum Home Learning on Dojo and the website, as well as paper one, which came home with the children last Monday.  For this, there is a choice of activities, I would like to see 1 completed activity by Thursday 15th December, which is the last Thursday before the end of term. Although this is our optional home learning, the activities are creative and fun and there is lots of time to complete this so I would be delighted to see some really good quality pieces. (See photos for examples)
​
  In terms of home learning, I sent a letter home last week outlining expectations, as well as a recording sheet for time spent on TTRS, which will renew every week. Please take the time to fill this in, as multiplication tables knowledge has such an impact on the children's Maths learning.    I would like the children to spend 25 minutes a week on TTRS, this can be 5 minutes every day, or blocked to fit around what you are doing at home. I will also be in class during some lunchtimes, if children cannot access TTRS at home. Spellings also came home this week and I will post the new spellings on Dojo.

Can I remind everybody that the expectation is that children read for at least 10 minutes at home every day, this can be magazines, newspapers, manuals, cookery books, as well as their reading books, as it is all reading. This is to promote reading for pleasure as there is nothing better than a good book. Remember, that you are your child’s greatest role model, so if they see you enjoying a good book, it really promotes good learning habits.
  I have posted a list of great websites to practise on - see the links on this page.

Next week we will be continuing our unit on biographies in English, Multiplication and Division in Maths, Physical and Chemical Changes in Science, and Islam in R.E.

Please look out for upcoming events, the next one is the Christmas Fayre, next Friday
the 2nd December. 

Have a great weekend, whatever you are up to - enjoy your family time together.
​ 
See you on Monday 
 
Mr F