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Dear Parents

Welcome back to a new academic year. I hope that you had an enjoyable summer and managed to make the most of any good weather. This is the longest term and it promises to be busy. We shall be continuing our focus on Numeracy and Literacy as well as exploring other curriculum areas. There will also be opportunities to attend visits to support our class work but more about these later.

History is a focus topic this term. We shall be finding out about what life was like during the Victorian era, particularly for children and in the local area. The home project for this term will be based on The Victorians.  A letter detailing the contents of this project and how it will be monitored and assessed will be sent out soon.

In Literacy the children will be practising their handwriting, spelling and grammar. The children will also be reading and writing a range of texts which will include stories, poetry, plays, diaries, journals, letters and reports. Spellings will generally be learned and practised in school. Your child may be asked to take home some high frequency words to learn but you will be informed of this separately.

Your child will have a Reading Journal and this should be filled in every day. It is expected that children should read for at least 10 minutes each evening. The title of the book and the pages read should then be recorded in the journal and signed by a parent or responsible adult. These journals will then be counter-signed by the teacher. The journals have a section in which the children will write a review in school so it is important that these journals are kept safe in bags and brought to and from school each day. We chose to spend more money on higher quality books to use as journals. This means that they will last longer and gives them added status. If one does get lost we will ask for the full cost of replacement (£1.50).

In Numeracy the children will be covering a range of subjects. Number topics will include place value, ordering, rounding, the four rules, fractions and decimals. Other Maths subjects to be studied this term are measures, data handling and 2D shape. Being able to calculate problems mentally is an important part of learning Maths. By Year 5 most children should know all of their times-tables and be working on improving their speed of recall.

The children will be receiving homework for Maths and English on a weekly basis as follows:

• Literacy will be issued on Mondays and should be handed in on Fridays

• Maths will be issued on Wednesdays and should be handed in on Mondays

Your help in ensuring that homework is regularly completed is greatly appreciated. Your child will have separate Maths and Literacy homework books. You are invited to make your own comments in these books about homework, for example, if your child found it too challenging or coped well. Please do feel free to write in these books as it keeps us in touch with you.

The Science focus will be ‘Earth, Sun and Moon’ and ‘Changing Sounds’. There will be opportunities to devise and carry out investigations throughout these topics.

We will be covering two units of work in RE. Children will learn about the Christian Church at Pentecost and the Sikh Khalsa. We will then move on to learn about the ways in which Christians and Sikhs worship.

PE will include ‘Net and Court Games’ and 'Spinning and Turning' in gymnastics. A series of Dance lessons will take place after half term. Please ensure that your child has his/her PE kit in school at all times as it may be that PE will take place at different times during the week as part of our ‘Fit for Learning’ programme. For safety reasons jewellery should not be worn.

Music will be linked to our science work and is called ‘A Journey Into Space’. The children will be looking in detail at the elements of music including pitch, tempo, timbre, rhythm, beat and texture.

An in depth study of the works of the Pre-Raphaelites and artworks that tell a story, like the Bayeux Tapestry will be the main focus for art. As part of this, the children will be examining various artists' work and using pastels, paint, textiles as well as materials to give 3D results.

The children will be increasing their word processing skills as well as developing their skills analysing data. They will also be retrieving information from CD encyclopaedia packages and looking at simulations.

There will be a blocked unit of Design and Technology towards the end of the term where the children will examine a variety of musical instruments before designing and making their own.

Another important date for your diaries is the residential visit to Kingswood in Staffordshire. This has been booked from 4th July and returning on 6^th July 2007. The price of this trip is approximately £110-£120 depending on how many children go. It is a worthwhile trip and the children would get a chance to experience activities such as go-karting, zip wire, laser quest, quad biking etc. Once we have an idea of numbers attending we will send out a separate letter with further details and costs at a later date. Please return the slip below by Friday 15^th September 2006 at the latest to secure your child’s place.

I look forward to seeing you at Parents' Evening later this term. Meanwhile, if you have any queries or concerns about your child's progress or wish to discuss some other aspect of school life, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Sophie Gwatkin

Child’s Name________________________________

I give my child permission to attend the residential visit to the Kingswood from 4th July to 6^th July 2007.

Signed____________________________________

To see the newsletter from Autumn 2005 click here !!

To see the newsletter from the Summer Term 2005 click here !!

To see the newsletter from the Spring Term 2005 click here!!

To see the newsletter from the Autumn Term 2004 click here!!