An Aided School in The
An Aided School in the
Diocese of Winchester
An Aided School in the
Diocese of Winchester
Headteacher
A G King BA Hons PGCE NPQH
Hawthorn Road, Southampton SO17 1PX
Tel: 023 8055 5793
Tel/Answerphone/Fax: 023 8039 9703
Upper Juniors – SPRINGTERM 2017
Dear Parents / Guardians,
Welcome back to a new school term. We hope you had an enjoyable and peaceful Christmas.
ROUTINES IN THE DEPARTMENT
P.E. sessions
Outdoor PE will take place onTuesdays; indoor sessions will be on Wednesdays (South America) and Fridays (North America and Asia). Please ensure your child has their P.E. kit,including plimsolls or trainers, in school each week and that all clothing is clearly named.
Presentations
Each week in your child’s class there is a time where a child gives a presentation on something which interests them. It is a chance for the children to share their enthusiasm and knowledge to their peers.It is also an exciting way of developing speaking and listening. Children are encouraged to talk loudly and clearly whilst facing the audience, and they are expected to have an understanding of the topic extending beyond just the words that are written on the slides, so that they can elaborate on points and try to answer questions at the end. We have already enjoyed some fascinating presentations so far this year. If your child has not yet done their presentation, they will know by now when their allotted slot is. On this day, they should come prepared with their information which could be presented through a PowerPoint, objects, pictures and/or a talk. The children should be prepared to talk for 5 minutes (no longer, please!) on their chosen subject.
Home Learning
In our homework policy, we set out the expectations regarding home learning linked to the age of the children as well as the governmental guidelines. Homework consists of ten spellings a week, five of which are generally individual to your child and five link to the spelling rule taught that week. In addition to learning these spellings, the children are expected to choose five of their spelling words to include in five sentences. We would ask you to please check these sentences for basic spelling and punctuation before the child hands them in, and sign at the bottom to show you have done it. We encourage the children to think creatively with these sentences and challenge themselves to write interesting and varied sentences that show consideration of their writing targets.
As well as spellings, they are generally issued with one other piece of learning. This usually alternates between SPAG/Grammar learning which complements their weekly grammar lesson, and maths or literacy learning which again will either support weekly learning or the children’s target steps.
MOOT Project
In the first half of the Autumn term, Year 5/6 trialled a ‘Manage Our Own Time’ (MOOT) project, where children were given free rein to research and present a project linked to the subject of rivers. This term, children will have around ten hours, spread across the term, to put together another project. Most children will be given greater freedom to choose the topic of their project this time around, provided they can source an information book on the topic that is suitable for their age and reading level. This book may come from their own collection at home, a local library or even the school library. As explained in the homework slip sent out on the 4th January, this book will be needed for their next MOOT lesson. We would appreciate it if you could help your child in finding a suitable book.
We believe that giving children greater choice in their learning and the opportunity to manage their own time when working on an extended piece of writing is an important life lesson, and something the children will really benefit from. As such, Mrs Warren will also be joining the Year 5/6 team for some sessions to help out with the running of the project.
Admin:
Dinner money should be sent into school on the first day of the school week. Please put all money and cheques for dinners and trips inside a named envelope. Alternatively, many of you may prefer to use the TUCASI system to pay for dinners so if you require new login details, please contact the school office. Please check that all school clothing, water bottles, snack and lunch boxes are named. Please ensure your child brings their book bag to school every day.
Numeracy:
Monday 9th January – INSET
Tuesday 10th January – Hindu temple trip
Friday 13th January – Asia class assembly at 2.45
Tuesday 17th January (pm) and Wednesday 18th January (all day) – Y5/6 Parent/teacher meetings
Friday 20th January – Cinderella panto (pm)
Friday 27th January – North America class assembly at 2.45
Thursday 9th February – Lorraine Lee parent talk on managing children’s worry and anxiety (6-8pm)
Monday 20th to Friday 24th February – Half term
Friday 3rd March – South America class assembly at 2.45
Thursday 9th March – Open morning (9-10.45am)
Friday 24th March – Comic Relief
Thursday 30th March - Lorraine Lee parent talk on managing children’s self-esteem (6-8pm)
Friday 7th April – Last day of term (finish one hour early)
The school team recognises how valuable parental support is to our children’s learning and the school
community. We are always extremely grateful for any additional time that parents are willing to give to
the school. If you are interested in sharing books with children, teaching them some basic cookery
skills, or working within the class on a regular basis to support groups of children in their activities, please talk toyour child’s teacher. We ask that you are able to make a regular commitment to help.
Finally, we look forward to meeting you all again at the Parent/Teacher meetings on 17thand 18th January, but please do speak with your class teacher if you have anyimmediate concerns or queries as we are happy to make an appointment to meet with you at a convenient time.
Meanwhile we trust your child will have a stimulating, successful and enjoyable term.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Dodson, Mr Camm, Mrs Ford, Mr Nolanand the Teaching Assistant team
The Curriculum That Is Taught in Years 5 and 6
We believe that home learning plays an important role in supporting children’s progress and this is a summary of the curriculum this term with other ideas on how you could support further.
Spring Term - What your child is learning / How you could support your child’s learning at home...Literacy
Year 5/6 will be starting off with a unit of recount-based text types, including diaries and biographies.
We will then be spending four weeks learning about Mexican culture by immersing ourselves in their traditional stories. Children will be looking at urban and rural life in Mexico and using this as a stimulus to write a Mexican version of ‘Town Mouse, Country Mouse’.
As we get closer to Easter, we will be reading the Michael Morpurgo novel Kensuke’s Kingdom, and doing a variety of writing tasks based on this much loved story. / - Read, read, read – reading is one of the best ways to improve your child’s literacy skills. Whether or notthey are an avid reader, they shouldalso still try reading a variety of books, both non-fiction and fiction.
- When your child is reading (you are reading all the time even though you don’t notice it), encourage them to think about the purpose of the text and the writer’s viewpoint, and how they show this through their writing. Also, check that your child understands any hidden or implied meanings on the page, in addition to what is plainly written.
- Encourage them to write Mr King a story for his wall.
- Encourage them to read and discuss extracts from the nonfiction text types that we will be studying in the first four weeks (biographies and diaries) to help them to better understand each one’s written style.
- Check over your child’s weekly spelling sentences that are done for homework, particularly looking out for basic spelling and punctuation errors and encouraging them to correct.
- Engage your child in discussion about their Prove It targets (Year 5) or banked work (Year 6). As we approach the second half of the year, we are expecting more and more children to earn badges for their written work.
Numeracy
We will continue to revisit the four operations, place value, fractions and decimals. Work in the Spring term will also cover Roman Numerals, area and perimeter, angles, time and percentages. Year 6 will also be covering ratio and proportion, and beginning some basic algebra. Year 6s will be doing an increasing amount of SATS-style questions in preparation for their end of Key Stage tests in May. / - Get your child to practise the ‘rung’ they are on for each of the four operations, as a regular routine.
- Practise times tables every week, in preparation for the weekly test. If they haven’t done it yet, they should be aiming to pass Mr King’s times table challenge very soon!
- Practise other mental maths with them, such as adding/subtracting 2- or 3-digit numbers in their head, writing number sequences (including with decimals and fractions!), and listing factors of numbers.
- If your child is not already confident at telling the time using both analogue and digital clocks, it is important that they start to practise this at home as soon as possible, as we are planning to cover this in Maths before half term.
- Please refer to the information given out earlier in the year about other areas that you can be practising with your children as the year goes on, staying mindful of the fact that just because something has been learned once, it doesn’t mean it will stay learned, especially without regular practice!
Geography
The Spring term topic for Years 5 and 6 will be ‘Survivor!’ We will be studying the journeys of some famous explorers, notably Ernest Shackleton, as well as planning a trip across the Atlantic. This will then lead to a four-week study of Mexico, before imagining what life on a desert island would be like. / - A trip to the library to investigate booksErnest Shackleton or Mexican culture.
- Look at globes and world maps with your children. Use websites like to read about different countries together.
Science
In the second half of the Spring term, we’ll be looking at forces, including the effects of gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction, and investigating how mechanisms including pulleys and gears can help small forces create a greater effect. / - Take a trip to Winchester Science Centre with your child, where there are plenty of hands-on activities focusing on forces.
- If possible, allow your children to look closely at mechanisms around the house, such as gears in clocks and on bikes.
Art / DT
We will be exploring artists’ use of colour, thinking about how they use tone, shades and hue to affect the mood of their pictures. We will also explore the effects created by textured paint, and creating pictures based on Central and South American artwork techniques. / - Visit some of Southampton’s art galleries, and discuss the artwork with your child, talking about the artists’ use of colour, tone, shading and texture.
Computing
We will begin the term by allowing children to design and code their own project in Scratch based on the theme of a round the world sailing trip. Later on in the term, we will be using Scratch to complement our Maths learning on perimeter of shapes, before experimenting with plasticine to create short stop frame animations. / - If you have not yet downloaded Scratch at home, you can do so for free at - let your childexplore and experiment to their heart’s content!
Music
Music is taught every Tuesday by Penny Hastings. Children will get the opportunity to sing, compose melodies using the school’s collection of instruments, and learn the vocabulary to talk about the different styles of music that they will experience.
Music learning this term will revolve around the topics of rhythm, pace, lyrics and melody. / - Expose your child to different types of music and see if they can name the instruments. Describe the mood of the music and how it makes them feel.
- Sing together at home or in the car!
Personal, Social and Health Education
PSHE will continue to be taught by Mr Camm across the three classes. Lessons in the first half of term will include lessons on identifying and celebrating what makes each of us unique, and considering the difference between boastfulness and pride.
In the second half, we will be looking at target setting and encouraging children to go for goals. / - Talk to your child about your friendship groups at school. Has everyone been getting on? If not, what is the right thing to do to try to work through problems?
- Chat about what your child has been learning about in PSHE lessons, and how it has made them feel. How do they think it will affect their life as they grow older?
Physical Education/Dance/Gym
In PE we will be developing the children’s skills in invasion and target games. Dance session will focus on the children creating their own routines in response to Indian music and the tale of Hanuman. / - Encourage your child to be active outside of school by joining clubs and playing outside.
Religious Education
RE will continue to be taught by Mrs Ford across the three classes. In the first half of term, we will be continuing our learning about the Hindu religion by comparing Hindu and Christian ideas about God. We will also consider the importance of Jesus’ suffering in the Easter story. / - Talk with your children about their ideas about God. What do they think God is like? How does this compare with what they know about other cultures’ ideas, including what they may have already learned about Ancient Greek or Roman gods. Discuss how it is important to respect other people’s religions and beliefs, even if they may not always match our own.
French
Mr Dodson will be teaching French across the three classes. We will begin by learning how to talk about buildings that are commonly found in towns, as well as giving directions in French.
This will then be followed by a unit on telling the time in French, including speaking about daily routines. / - Ask your child to share their new French vocabulary with you–learn alongside them!
- Access primary websites such as or the French section of Espresso every now and then so they can practise the basics and develop new learning.
- For the second half of term, having a good understanding of telling the time in English will be vital in order to be able to talk about it in French!