Times Table Rockstars!
A massive well done to 5,6B who have won the TTR tournament two weeks in a row. They have worked super hard at home to make sure they are learning their times tables and have worked hard as a team to continue their winning streak. I wonder if it will be three weeks in a row?!
Living and learning
Our living and learning statement this week has been about recognising the importance of sleep. The children talked about what sleep does for our bodies and emotions and how it impacts on our lives. They were able to recognise that sleep helps our memory, helps us to concentrate, keeps our immune systems healthy, it repairs our bodies and it keeps our mental health positive. They could identify how a lack of sleep could impact them at school and how it would make them feel. They generated lots of ideas of how to get a good nights sleep: having a bath, listening to some music, reading and even a bit of drawing.
Help at home: Is your child getting enough sleep? The recommended amount of sleep for primary school children is between 9 and 12 hours. How could you improve your child’s sleep? Encourage your child to read before bed rather than depending on screen time.
We are scientists
We have started some new science learning this week, all about living things and their habitats. The children were introduced to their new vocabulary:
We spent the lesson learning about how plants reproduce. This incorporated some of our new vocabulary – pollination, fertilisation and reproduction. We dissected a tulip flower in order to see the different parts of the plant. The children could then identify the parts using scientific vocabulary and see the function of each part. What part does it play in reproduction?
Help at home: have a go at learning the vocabulary. Give your child one of the words, can they explain the meaning? Can they draw what the word represents?
Welcome back!
Welcome back after the Easter holiday, I hope you had a lovely rest and are ready for another fun-filled term of learning.
Just a few little reminders…
Please encourage your child to read at home daily. This is really important in them becoming fluent, confident readers. If your child isn’t a fluent reader, it can limit their learning in other subject areas too. This reading can be recorded in their journals and these need to be in school every Friday. Please ensure your child has completed their weekly task and add your signature to show you have checked this.
Homework will still be sent home on a Friday. This will contain Talk Time and spellings. The spellings need to be learnt at home ready for a test the following week. Don’t forget that you can make this fun – play some games, create some flashcards!
If you feel like your child needs any further support, please come in and chat to us.
Here’s to a successful half term!
Food Glorious Food
Children in year 5/6 have been making vegetable pasta bakes.
At home, discuss the techniques used in the lesson. Ask your children about the ‘bridge’ and ‘claw’ method. You could even add it to your weekly meal planning.
Science
We are continuing to be chemists this half term and we have carried out some great experiments so far. This week, the children planned out an investigation into which ingredients make the best glue. They could choose between baking powder, flour, cornflour, sugar and salt. They could create any combination and mix it with 5ml of water. They mixed their glue and then stuck two pieces of paper together and hung them on a line to dry. When we were convinced they were dry, we had a competition to see which glue was the strongest. This involved a very tense period of time in which they pegged pegs onto the paper until it broke. I think we created a new world record as one group managed to peg on 86 pegs! Who knew that we were so good at making glue!?
Help at home: use the link to investigate the history of glue with your child. There is some gory stuff, so beware!
Red Nose Day
A huge thank you to everyone that donated money last Friday for Comic Relief. The Junior Leadership Team stood at the gate and shook their buckets and collected any donations. You are such a generous bunch of people and we managed to raise £337.97. Thank you again for your support.
Bikeability
Year 5 have been working hard over the last couple of weeks to improve their cycling skills in school. They began on the playground working on being able to stop safely, going around obstacles and learning hand signals. When they were ready, they were let lose on the roads of Scholes. On the road they were learning to get on and off a bike safely, checking it was safe to stop and set off, and being aware of parked vehicles. They battled poor weather – freezing temperatures and torrential rain – but they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
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Class 5/6A News
Well, that was a week with a difference! The weather has been up to all sorts of mischief this week, but thankfully it hasn’t disrupted Class 5/6A’s learning. Let’s see what they have been getting up to.
In Maths, Year 5 have been exploring fractions represented as decimals, focusing in particular on tenths and hundredths. To help us make the connections, we have visualised objects or numbers being split into ten and one hundred equal parts respectively to identify the fraction, and then representing this in decimal form, via the use of a place value chart.
Topic has seen us continue our Computing learning with the microbit devices. This week we have turned our devices into a Magic 8 ball-style fortune teller, and also a counter. The pupils have worked hard in understanding the various coding block which form an algorithm and using an emulator to trial their code before downloading it onto the microbit.
Writing this week has concentrated on understanding the rules around the punctuation of direct speech. Help at home: Parents, when you read at home with your child, get them to identify examples of direct speech in their books and have them explain why they are punctuated correctly.
In Living and Learning, we have discussed the importance of friends and family and maintaining happy and healthy relationships with these individuals. We have particularly looked at ourselves and he role we play in these relationships, identifying what qualities we look for a in a friend, and why might people choose to be friends or spend time with ourselves.
Finally, a huge thank you to those pupils and parents who managed to make it into school on Friday despite the wintry conditions. Ensuring regular attendance at school will really help with your child’s development and learning.
Have a great weekend!
Mr. Robson
Living and learning: I know we’re all the same and we’re all different.
Our circle time has been all about being the same and recognising differences in each other. The children linked up with someone in the class who they felt they didn’t know much about. They spent a few minutes swapping fun facts about each other. They then had to report back what they’d found out. We found out some brilliant facts – who was scared of spiders, who had brothers and sisters, favourite foods and favourite sports. Even I learnt a few things that I didn’t know!
We then discussed how these differences between us are really important and they make us who we are. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same?
At the end of each circle time, we have an open forum in which the children can discuss, in confidence, any worries that might be bothering them. We listen without judgement and offer advice using the sentence stems ‘Would it help if you…’ or ‘Would it help if I…’ The class feel really comfortable in discussing any issues and are brilliantly empathetic towards each other – a really mature group of children.
Help at home by asking your child about circle time. Do they enjoy it? Does it help them?