Wednesday 18 September 2013

Friday 13th September


UKS2 Newsletter Week 2 Autumn 1 2013

News Roundup:

 

Art Club :

Mrs Mistry and Mrs Chin have a new, exciting venture for Art Club this year for Year 5/6 pupils as they will be working with the Rodillian Art Department this term; it will be based at Robin Hood with three planned trips up to Rodillian to work with the Art tutor there and some GCSE Art students who will help the pupils to create some fabulous experimental art work. A separate letter containing further details will be sent out to the Art Club members in due course.

 

Splat the SATs:

A quick reminder that Splat the SATs will be starting this Tuesday for the Year 6 children. Mrs Dale will take the children from 9:00am-10:00am. Your child will need to ensure that they have their folder containing the completed papers from the summer holidays in school ready for these sessions.

 

Blog:

Our blog address has changed. It is now http://year56rhps.blogspot.co.uk Our new blog is currently being developed, so it may look a little sparse at present, but watch this space….

 

Achiever of the Week:

Achiever of the week goes to Josh in Mr Malley’s class for his outstanding attitude to all areas of his learning. Josh’s mature attitude and determination to make progress has been noted by several members of staff. This continued application sets a great example and will result in much deserved progress! Well done Josh!

 

Core Subjects:

 

Numeracy:

In Numeracy this week, we have been learning how to add mentally using rounding and adjusting in order to become faster at adding larger numbers. We have also been busy applying our addition and subtraction skills by calculating bill totals from restaurants in Universal Studios, Florida!

 

Next week, the children will be learning how to order and compare numbers, including positive and negative numbers and decimals. We will even be applying our learning to some Monsters Inc themed learning around co-ordinates!

 

Literacy:

 

In Literacy this week, we have been writing our own non-chronological reports all about Florida, including the history and modern developments of this famous travel destination! The children have been trying really hard to apply connectives and conjunctions in order to develop their sentences even further.

 

SPELLINGS: This week, the spellings are: uniform, bicycle, biannual, triplicate, quadrilateral, pentagonal, September, octopus, November, decimal. Your child has received a copy of these spellings which have been glued into their planner. They will be tested on these words on Friday September 20th.

 

Other areas of the curriculum:

 

PE:

This week, 5/6G have been trying out some street dance moves, including body popping, the slide glide and small street dance routines led by Diversity (not in person I’m afraid, but the video was equally as good!). 5/6M have been introduced to the history of line dancing and have begun to learn their first steps, which have included the electric slide. 5/6MO have been busy toe tapping in their first Rock n’ Roll PE session. Some great moves were seen by all and we can't wait to see how the children progress with the steps! 

Once again, please ensure that your child comes to school with the appropriate PE kit each week. 5/6M and 5/6MO PE sessions are on Mondays and 5/6G PE sessions are on Tuesdays.

 

Topic:

This week the children have been learning all about the great explorer John Smith and his encounters with Native Indian tribes in America. Pupils have studied diary extracts and applied their knowledge into writing an extract of their own from the perspective of John Smith.

 

Spanish:

In Spanish, the children have learnt how to greet each other and have also learnt how to ask where places in school are! Muy bien!

 

Science:

This week, the children have been looking at planning an effective investigation, by using appropriate scientific vocabulary to explain the process needed to carry out and evaluate investigations successfully. The children had a great time carrying out various experiments such as: finding out what happens to an apple when left out of its skin, what happens to the time a spinner takes to land if its wings are shortened and testing which materials are waterproof. The children were able to plan and carry out the experiment and conclude using appropriate vocabulary!

 

ICT:

During our ICT sessions, the children have been collecting images of America and experimenting with the object animation tools of Smart Notebook to create the first stages of a moving montage.

 

 
 
 

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Friday 6th September


UKS2 News Roundup:



First of all, we must say. ‘Welcome back everyone’; Team 5/6 hope you have had a fantastic summer and feel ready for another exciting year ahead!

 

A big welcome to Mrs Moore, Miss Hinton, Mrs Brooks and Miss Morris to the Year 5/6 team! Miss Hinton will be supporting Mrs Moore during the morning sessions and Mrs Moore will teach her class during afternoon sessions; we will be sure to inform you should this change. Mrs Brooks is based in Mr Malley’s class and Miss Morris is based in Miss Gascoigne’s class. Mr Bell, a former pupil, will also be joining Mr Malley’s class each Friday to support children’s learning.

 

Achiever of the Week:

A huge well done to all the children in the phase for their amazing efforts with their home learning all about America! We have been enthralled with the high quality and wide variety of home learning we have seen so far, therefore our Achiever of the Week simply must go to the whole phase for their exceptional dedication to this! Check out our blog to see a selection of home learning we have had the pleasure of seeing this week!

 

Splat the SATs (Year 6 children only).

All year 6 children received a ‘Splat the SAT’s’ pack before the summer holidays. Splat the SATs will begin 17th September, these sessions will run between 9am and 10am with Mrs Dale, initially every other week for the Autumn 1 half term (as this is a longer than usual half term). Splat the SATs will then continue every week from Autumn 2. Please ensure your child has their completed papers in school ready for these sessions.

 

Planners / Reading:

This week, your child has received a planner, where the children should record any entries for reading they have done at home; for every four entries recorded, your child will receive a bookmark sticker and for every ten bookmark stickers collected, they will receive a delicious hot chocolate with squirty cream and marshmallows to enjoy in class over a good book! We do however, ask that parents/carers acknowledge the entries the children or parents/carers have entered into the planner on a weekly basis by simply initialling the planner at the end of each week; the entries will be stamped and signed by the class teacher every Monday. We ask that the children bring their planner to school every day in case anything else needs to be recorded.

 

Numeracy:

In Numeracy this week, we have been learning how to use mental skills quickly to add, this includes finding the missing number to make 100, 1000 and decimals added to make 1; we have taken part in some exciting learning around the summer movie blockbuster ‘Despicable Me 2’, which the children seem to have thoroughly enjoyed!

 

Next week we will be extending our addition and subtraction skills to some multi-step problems, involving problems around Universal Studios to link in with our America unit. 

 

Literacy:

 

In Literacy this week, we have been looking at the features of non-chronological reports and have started to write our own non-chronological report about Florida. Next week, we will be continuing to write our reports, making sure we include ambitious use of capital letters, full stops and connectives within our paragraphs.

 

SPELLINGS: This week, the spellings are: improbable, important, impossible, impress, imbalance, indistinct, inspire, inspect, inadequate, incorrect. Your child has received a copy of these spelling which have been glued into their planner. They will be tested on these words on Friday September 13th.

 

PE:

Mr Malley’s class and Mrs Moore’s class will have PE on a Monday afternoon, Miss Gascoigne’s class will have PE on a Tuesday morning and therefore ask that all children bring their PE kit in for these sessions. Children are required to have an change into their PE kit every session. This half term we will be studying various American dances, therefore indoor PE kit is needed: black shorts, white t-shirt, bare feet or indoor pumps (Miss Gascoigne’s class may wear leggings or trousers as we will be doing street dance and may need to use our knees).

 

Music:

This year, the children in Year 5/6 will be given an exceptional opportunity to develop skills using a musical instrument. The year 5 children will receive a 30 minute guitar lesson every week for the academic year and the year 6 children will all receive a 30 minute violin lesson every week for the academic year. These sessions will commence next week and your child will be provided with an instrument to use during these sessions – how exciting!

 

Topic:

 

In Topic this week, the children have been learning about the landmarks, geographical features and states of America using atlases to help them. Next week we will be learning about iconic American artists and we will be creating our own pop art in the style of Andy Warhol. Please could your child bring in an old t-shirt to wear when painting, if you have one handy!