Dear Year 5 Parents/Carers,
I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome you and your child to Year 5! I hope that you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer holiday. I am looking forward to working with your children over the coming weeks and throughout the year. This letter will hopefully clarify some of your questions about curriculum coverage and classroom routines this year.
In English, we will begin with Explanation Texts. This will be followed by Narrative Writing, with a focus on Myths and Legends. Throughout the term, there will be a strong emphasis on building and adapting Grammar, to enhance story settings and narratives. The children will enjoy several Guided Reading sessions each week, with reading for pleasure at the heart, and which will often be linked to the genre that they are studying.
Each Monday, we will continue with the Spell to Excel scheme that the children are already familiar with; spellings will be written in their Reading and Homework Diary and tested on the following Friday. Please do help your children check the words that they have generated to learn and work with your child/children to practise their spellings. The children will also be given their Learning Logs each Friday which should be returned by the following Wednesday unless otherwise stated.
During Maths, we shall continue to build on prior learning from Year 4, developing skills in understanding number, calculating shape, measuring and handling data. On Wednesday afternoon there will be a Maths Challenge that will focus on arithmetic and calculation skills. We would like to emphasise the importance of times tables which should have been secured at the end of year 4, and encourage practise to learn any of those that your child is still yet to secure with the use of Number Gym as well as your support to help. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss any concerns in this regard.
Our first topic for Science is ‘The Earth, Sun and Moon’ in which the children will examine moon cycles, seasonal changes, whilst learning some facts about our Solar System. Brazil is our Geography unit and we will examine the physical
and human geograghy of this country. It is my hope that towards the end of the unit we are able to incorporate ‘Food Tech’ and allow the children to make Brigaderios.
We will be swimming on Wednesdays, starting on 11th September. Sandringham have a strict policy on the wearing of swimming hats in the swimming pool. If children fail to bring one then they will not be allowed to swim. At present we are short of adult help in respect to walking the children to and from Sandringham. If you are able to volunteer your time to help in this capacity, it would be greatly appreciated.In school, Year 5 are timetabled for PE on Fridays. It would be helpful if they have their PE kits in school all week in case an extra PE lesson is arranged.
During the year, we are planning on taking the children on three trips in order to support learning within the curriculum. The first will be to the French market in December, costing around £4 per child. Supporting our unit on ‘The War Of The Roses’, we are also planning a trip to the Tower of London during the Spring Term. Including a tour guide, the approximate cost will be around £20. Our final trip will be to the Houses of Parliament and is planned for the Summer term. It has been estimated that the cost will be around £12.
We hope that your child will be very happy in Year 5 and we would like to thank you for your help and support in advance. As you may already be aware, there is a Parents’ Evening in November but if you have any questions or concerns at any time, please feel free to contact me.
Kind regards,
Mr Jones and Mrs Traviss