Hello!

Welcome to Year 5 and Upper Key Stage 2! We hope that you had a wonderful summer break and are refreshed and ready for the challenges – and fun – which lie ahead this year! The children have settled into their new building fantastically and have begun their new school year with great enthusiasm, maturity and curiosity.

A little about me: I've been teaching for 16 years and there's no other job in the world I'd do. I'm super-lucky because UKS2 is my favourite phase to work in - Year 5 is brilliant! I love reading, history, coffee, and Eurovision (sorry / not sorry!). The thing I love most in the world is animals; I have two very naughty little cats and a collection of foxes and hedgehogs who visit my garden for their dinner every night. I can't wait to get to know the children and all of you; thank you for the lovely welcome and kind words so far. I just know we're going to have a great year.

Curriculum:

This term we will begin our topic ‘How did the Kingdom become united?’ The children will become historians and investigate the role of the Anglo Saxons and Vikings played in shaping the country we know today.

English:

We will be adopting the Talk 4 Writing approach to teaching English: lots of talk and games to imbue children with the skills and confidence to become fluent writers. To kick us off, the whole school will be enjoying Goldilocks and the Three Bears and we will use this familiar story to explore Year 5 grammar and punctuation objectives. We’re sure their work will be “just right”!

We will continue to learn a new set of spellings each week, practising these every day using a variety of methods. Additionally, Reading will continue to be taught as a whole class.

It is a school expectation that children read to an adult, at home, at least three times a week. We would love to encourage reading for pleasure, so children are more than welcome to read their banded book from school alongside another book of their choice. We have a great selection of books in the Key Stage 2 library as well as in the classroom book corner. We are also lucky enough to have Heald Green Library on our doorstep. Study after study demonstrates that children who read are more likely to achieve academic success in all subjects—not just in English! Research also shows that reading is also brilliant for promoting mental wellbeing and good sleep habits. Sharing a book is also just a lovely way to bond and enjoy one another’s company.

Maths:

We will continue to explore the Year 5 AREs with a focus on many different place value and aritihmetic skils. We will look at the value of numbers and how to work out what each digit means in a number. The children will also be rounding numbers, ordering and comparing them. We aim to make Maths varied and active; we use games to practise concepts and the children love grappling with tricky concepts through their Maths Cats puzzles!

The best thing you can do to support your child's Maths is encourage them to keep up regular times tables practice, using all the methods you learned in Year 4. So many areas of Maths hinge on being able to recall these facts. Children who know their times tables are always the most confident and fluent mathematicians. 

P.E. and Outdoor Learning:

Tuesday: Swimming

Tuesday: Forest School

We will post about our learning on Class Dojo, so keep an eye out on there to see what we are up to. Please feel free to message me there, too. If you have any questions or concerns, staff are always on the ramp before and after school for a chat.

AT ETCHELLS WE HAVE 5 BEE RULES