Welcome to Year 5

I am Julie Marston and this year I will teaching your child. Mrs Smith will be based in Year 5 and will be working with the children and covering my P.P.A. (Wednesday afternoon).  I have worked at St. Peter’s for a very long time and may even have taught your other children. I live in the village and you will probably see me around!  I have two grown up children of my own who both attended the school so have a good understanding of the school and what makes the children tick. If anything is bothering your child, please let me know as soon as possible so that I help. 

Our topic for the Autumn term is…Dynamic Dynasties! 

In Dynamic Dynasties, your child will learn about periods of ancient Chinese history. They will explore a timeline of the first five Chinese dynasties and learn about the legends surrounding the beginning of Chinese civilisation. They will take a deep dive into the history of the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty and explore evidence found in the ancient city of Yin. They will study oracle bones, learn about religious beliefs, and explore bronze artefacts that set the Shang Dynasty apart from other civilisations. They will also study the hierarchy of the Shang Dynasty and discover who was powerful and who was powerless. They will look at warfare and find out how bronze technology gave the Shang Dynasty an advantage over their enemies. They will learn about the life of the great military leader, Fu Hao. The children will then look at significant aspects of life after the Shang Dynasty, including the work of Confucius in the Zhou Dynasty, the short but significant reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty and the importance of the Silk Road created by the Han Dynasty. To end the project, your child will find out how ancient China’s lasting legacy can be seen in the world today. 

Useful Information 

In our classroom this year we will be supported at times by Mrs Smith.  Mrs Swain, our literacy volunteer, will be coming in to help children with spellings.

Homework will be set every Friday to be completed by the following Friday. Details of this and the weekly newsletter will be put on the class page on the website. Usually homework will consist of a piece of English, maths and spellings/times tables practice.  We mark together as a class on Friday mornings.  We will go over the task expectation in class when it is handed out but if your child is struggling, please let me know as soon as possible so that I can help them.  In past years, I have run a homework club after school where children can do their homework, catch up with work, go over things with me. If there is enough interest I will restart this.  Occasionally homework will be of a creative nature and children will be given longer to complete it. I will give plenty of warning and will also endeavour to ensure that it doesn’t involve expense or big trips to Hobbycraft or online shopping!  I have enclosed copies of maths grids and challenges that I use regularly in class and for homework.

P.E.

This year, PE will be on a Thursday. Children will need to bring their PE kit into school to get changed into, and an additional jacket (if required) - recommended now it is getting colder! All inhalers and medication needed for the children must be in school to be taken up to the field.   Please can you also ensure that all P.E. kit and clothing is named and suitable for sport – preferably school kit or similar colours, not branded football strips. Sport will taught by myself and Harvey (you may know him from table tennis) and his team.

Water

A clean, fresh water bottle is to be brought into school every day and put next to the water dispenser. Children are encouraged to drink regularly throughout the day. They do not have to ask permission to get a drink.

Please name all clothing and equipment. Children have had a name label placed onto their diaries. 

School diaries and reading books - These will be used in school by the children as well as at home, so they will need bringing in each day. Each week, as a class, we evaluate our daily work and the children will be commenting on what they have learnt and how they will use it in every day life. I will sign the diaries and would be grateful if you could do the same. The children will write their weekly spellings in these and also keep a log of any personal reading (home and school) they have read in a book list. Children are welcome to bring in their own books to read from home, however we do have a large and varied selection in our school library. The expectation in Year 5 is that children will read a minimum of 6 books a term. It would be really helpful if you could encourage your child to talk about the book they are reading or discuss books that you enjoyed as a child. Book Trust has an excellent book finder tool that helps introduce children to authors they have not read before. The service is online and I will show the children where to access it during our ICT session.

Handwriting and spelling will take place every day ensuring these skills are being taught, practised and applied.  Details of the National Curriculum spellings are in the diary and I will also give the children a personal list to record their progress. Spellings will be tested every Friday. Any words which the children have spelt incorrectly will be written in their diaries and will need to be practised at home for retesting the following week. As we move through the term there may be additional spellings that the children bring home as homework, but these will always be detailed/explained in the weekly newsletter available on the school website. 

Hot Seat

Each week two children will give a Hot Seat talk on a subject selected at random from a list devised by the whole class.  The Hot Seat can be a Powerpoint, talk or  presentation but it should last about 10 minutes.  Some children include quizzes but please do not send in prizes for the winners as in the past this had caused problems.  Examples of past Hot Seats are in the classroom.  I will create a list of Hot Seat dates so the children have plenty of notice in advance.

Forms –

It is worth keeping in mind that if you are able to fill in forms online for the office, or email these, rather than children bringing in printed versions, this is much quicker.  

Communication - If you have any queries, please feel free to use parentcorrespondence@st-peters.notts.sch.uk to contact the office, who will forward your queries on to me. We will also be present on the playground after school. If your query is urgent and requires an immediate response, please call the school office as the first point of contact on 01949 20226. 

Letters

If your child is off for any reason, letters given out that day will be placed in a named plastic wallet in the class letter folder.  Please can you remind your child to see if they have missed anything.