Summer term - Dear Humanity
Time has really flown by, and Year 6 in particular can’t believe it’s almost time for SATs, and then for the big move to secondary school!
In English, Year 5 focused on Hugo Cabret, where an orphaned boy is left to fend for himself in a 
busy train station – while Year 6 explored The Island, all about a malnourished man who arrives on a small island only to be imprisoned by the inhabitants. Themes of justice and punishment ran through both texts, and we were able to use this both to present a balanced argument, and to pick a side in order to persuade our reader. Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed their first whole year-group book, Berlie Doherty’s Street Child, which has really brought to life the challenges faced by poor people in Victorian times, and has linked brilliantly to our Crime and Punishment topic.
British Science Week was another highlight this term, with every class taking part in a science investigation under the theme of Change and Adapt. Our Science topic was Forces, so we decided to create and test a variety of parachutes in order to find out more about air resistance.
Year 6 worked hard after Easter to perfect their punctuation, ramp up our reading skills and master all things mathematical. On exam days, the children came in bright and early for a shared breakfast, helping them all to feel cool, calm and collected. Everyone was impressed by the resilience and perseverance of every child. 
Many of Year 6 have experienced another massive end-of-year milestone - 
the residential at Caythorpe. So much fun was had that we could fill the whole website with the memories we made!
In Year 5, refreshing our map skills before delving into the fascinating
world of biomes in Geography. They conducted their own research, becoming experts in the flora, fauna, geology, climate and location of our chosen biome, and were then challenged to use their communication skills to share their learning with their peers. In Writing, the children we wrote biographies of individuals who have stood up to make a difference, such as David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg. Everything has connected brilliantly to our current class book, The Last Bear, in which a young girl travels to the tundra biome, and strikes up an unlikely friendship with an injured polar bear. We can't wait to see how the story ends. Playtimes have taken on an ecological aspect too, and we are having endless fun with the repurposed tires, barrels and pallets that have appeared on the field.
At the end of the Summer Term, Year 6 performed Oliver!. 
Every teacher across the school were overwhelmed by the level of interest and enthusiasm, and everyone who performed did so with confidence and pride.
Click here to see more photos from Year 5 and 6
Spring term - Crime and Punishment
In Year 5 and 6, our new topic is all about Crime and Punishment. Right after the break, we were 
excited to welcome a guest speaker to school; a real life detective, who took time out from his important role with Thames Valley Police to come and tell us all about modern methods of crime detection. It was fascinating to see how modern technology is used to fight crime, and really interesting to look at how police gear has evolved over time. Modern handcuffs are very different to their old-fashioned predecessors - and our visitor proved how difficult they are to get out of by 'arresting' a member of staff. Big thanks to Mr Stocks for being such a good sport!
Aside from special moments like this, the hard work continues in each of our classrooms, day in and day out. In Science, we have been learning about our Solar system, 
using models and physical activities to explore questions such as why we have day and night, or why we experience different seasons. We had fun designing an experiment to prove that the sun's position changes throughout the day - although most classes are still waiting for a sunny day to carry out their plan. We hope that the weather might cooperate as Spring approaches. Reading has also been a highlight, and every class has enjoyed the switch to whole-class reading of a high-quality novel. Year 6 have become experts on the imaginary world of Katherine Rundell, and have been on tenterhooks as the end of the book has approached - while Year 5 have immersed themselves in the life of a Victorian urchin, following him as he is sentenced to spend time in the workhouse, and then tries to survive life on the run. World Book Day was an excellent day for everyone where we shared our favourite books, and read with our peers to celebrating our love of books.
Click here to see more photos from Year 5 and 6
Autumn term - Fantastic Beasts
In Year 5 and 6, a key highlight of this term has been the elections for Head Girl and Head Boy. 
We are excited to reveal that Roux and Jaiden were chosen for these roles, with Hira and Mason as Deputies. All four students are looking forward to helping make our school a better place. Already, they have done a fantastic job of helping out with school photographs, and also enjoyed handing out certificates to nursery children who had completed their first piece of work. This year, an impressive number of children put themselves forward for roles of responsibility, so we have done something different and created a range of additional roles, including House Captains, Sports Captains, Prefects and Reading Rangers. It was great to see so many pupils volunteer to assist our school, showing real leadership.
In the classroom, we have been discovering more and more about our topic, Fantastic Beasts, including our History focus of the Ancient Greeks. Did you know that in Ancient Greece, the only 
state to offer education and rights to women and girls was Sparta? Or that the first Olympic games was held in the Ancient Greek state of Olympia? In writing, we have had fun creating our very own weird and wonderful mythical beasts, and used them as inspiration for our first Celebration write. We enjoyed presenting our work in a range of ways, with some classes creating posters, and others publishing a class 'Bestiary' to show off their impressive writing. Science has focussed on living organisms, and a highlight was an experiment to find out at what temperature yeast grows best. Having mixed warm water with yeast and sugar, Mrs Morrissey's experiment 
backfired dramatically, exploding all over her. Luckily, no-one was injured...
Looking forwards, we are all very excited for our trip to Harry Potter World after half term. We can't wait to discover all the secrets of Hogwarts, and to use what we learn in the second half of our topic.
Click here to see more photos from Year 5 and 6
English
In years 5/6 Writing is taught for one hour every morning and they have a half an hour reading session before lunch.
Homework
Each week the children will receive some English homework and have been given English Homework Folder (Year 5) or CGP exercise book (Year 6). Their homework may be in the form of a SPAG activity (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) or it could be a piece of creative writing. Homework may be set online using the Purple Mash website or it may be a sheet that will contained in their homework folder. The children's logins for Purple Mash can be found on the front of their English Homework Folder or in their Reading Record. Homework is given out on a Friday and is expected to be handed in by the following Wednesday.
Reading
Children are also given a library book, a targeted reading book (if are on the stages) and a reading record to track their reading progress throughout the year. They are then awarded certificates for any reading they do at home. Information about the different certificates can be found in the front of their reading record.
Within reading sessions at school the children will learn comprehension skills and look at different genres of text. Extra practice of comprehension is encouraged at home through the use of Purple Mash and the questions sheets which can be found in the front of their reading records.
Reading Curriculum Expectations
Band 5 - Reading Assessment.pdf
Band 6 - Reading Assessment.pdf
Writing Curriculum Expectations
Band 5 assessment grid.pdf
Maths
In years 5/6 the children are put into sets for maths. Maths is taught from 10:00am to 11:00am everyday. Children are taught to be fluent in all their times tables. Therefore, extra practice of times table is encouraged at home through the use of the TT Rockstars website which the children all have logins for. These log in details can be found in the children's Reading Records (at the back)
Homework
Each week the children will receive some maths homework, This will be online via MyMaths, TT Rockstars or Purple Mash (Year 5). For Year 6, it will be a mix of those websites or a CGP Maths Book. The children's logins can be found in the form of a letter in their homework folders or in their Reading Records. Homework is given out on a Friday and is expected to be handed in by the following Wednesday.
Maths Curriculum Expectations
Maths Curriculum Requirements Year 5 23-24.pdf
Maths Curriculum Requirements Year 6 23-24.pdf
Spellings
Spellings will be 'taught' instead of 'tested' each week. Children will have a new 'spelling rule' to focus on each week and this will be taught in a variety of different ways and will consist of at least four sessions:
Session one - Introduction of a new spelling rule and a new word list
Session two - a quiz which is completed on the Laptops using the Purple Mash website
Session three - LCSWC - a session of Look, Cover, Say, Write, Check. This may be part of a Handwriting session.
Session four - Dictation - The teacher will dictate the word in a sentence for the children to practise spelling
It is always encouraged that children also spend time learning spelling words at home. Below you can find the word lists and rules that children will learn each week so you can also offer them extra spelling support at home.
Your child can also access the spelling activities on the Purple Mash website.
Year 5 and 6 Spelling Resources
Y5 Purple Mash Spelling overview.pdf
Y6 Purple Mash Spelling overview.pdf
Year 5 and 6 Statutory Spellings.pdf
Purple Mash
Home Learning
Your child's log in details for all online homework have been stuck in the back of their Reading Logs.
Below, there are also some useful websites to support Year 5 & Year 6 children with their homework and what we are learning in school.
BBC Bitesize
Online lessons, practice activities and games for Year 6 children. Click on this link to be taken directly to the site.
Primary Homework Help
Especially useful for topic and science research. Click on this link to be taken directly to the site.
Reading
Your child should have brought home a reading book and a yellow reading record which you have hopefully seen! The reading log contains useful comprehension questions to ask your child when reading with them/once they have read independently. It also contains a useful guide to reading.
We want the Year 6 children to enjoy reading a variety of texts (fiction, non-fiction, newspaper and magazines), therefore if your child has a book or magazine at home that they would like to read, please encourage them to include this in their Reading Log. We expect the children to read at least 3 times a week, but the more reading the better!
We will be using a stamp in their reading records to indicate that we have recorded their reading as we are continuing with the reading awards.
Bronze: 50 reads
Silver: 80 reads
Gold: 100 reads
