Why is homework important?
Homework may feel like an arduous task but it is really beneficial to your child and not just because if they've done it they don't have to worry about being told off. All homework set is linked to what we are learning about in class, something the children are struggling with, or an introduction to something we are about to look at in class. In any of these cases completing their homework with you will give them a great opportunity to practise and hone their skills as well as learn new ones from you. You will always be able to add a new dimension to their learning even if you are learning something new for the first time with your child.
Homework Club!
If you want to support your child with their homework but feel you could use some pointers or a helping hand then KS2 homework club is open every Thursday at 3:15 until 4.15pm. Everyone is welcome and Mr Cook will be willing to help explain your child's homework, give you some ideas of where to start or work with your child directly. KS2 children are able to come by themselves if you are unable to attend but it would be great if you could follow up that visit by asking your child to explain what they did.
Homework in Year 5 Owl Class
Homework will be given out every Thursday. Year 5 pupils will all receive literacy, numeracy, spellings/grammar and/or topic homework. Literacy and numeracy homework will be set by their group teacher to ensure that this is the appropriate challenge for each child. Homework has to be handed in on a Monday morning. It is important keep to this deadline as it will prepare them for homework expectations at secondary school. Sometimes homework can be difficult but we always encourage the children to ask for help and persevere when they get stuck - they can speak with myself or their group teacher on a Friday or attend homework club. If homework is not handed in on a Monday morning, a text will be sent home to the child's parents.
If your child's homework is lost or stolen please let me know and I'll get them a new copy. If you child is absent when homework is set I expect them to come and get the homework from me the following day.
Spellings
Spellings will all link to a given pattern from the curriculum. The pattern will be noted on the children's homework sheet so if you would like to set your child some extra spellings or some work linked to the spelling pattern you can use this as guide.
If you are finding it tricky to motivate your child to learn their spellings, why not try these ideas?
Fun ways to learn your spellings:
- Graffiti - choose one spelling you are having real difficulty with and write it out on a big piece of paper like a graffiti artist would. Use lots of colour and bold lines and patterns. Now hang it on your wall. Every time you see it it will remind you how to spell that tricky word.
- Post it's trail - Grab a pad of post it's and put one of your spellings on each one. Now stick your post its on the wall, and a route you take frequently in your house e.g. from your bedroom to the kitchen. Now every time you take that route choose 3 spellings post its to stop at - read them and spell them in your head.
- Race - write out a tricky spelling as many times as you can in a minute. Now try again can you beat your last score?
- Feely writing - fill a tray with flour, sand, rice (or anything similiar that your parents don't mind you using) and write your spellings out with your finger in whatever you have chosen. It is great fun and you can keep shaking the sand/rice back to cover the tray and repeat with a different spelling.
- Active spelling - Spell out a word using you finger in the air, now with your hand, now arm and now your whole body. Don't forget to jump up to dot the i's.
Grammar:
Here are some useful things to be practising for your grammar:
- Using exciting verbs
- Use of connectives and conjunctions in sentences
- Use of adverbs to extend sentences
- Use of adjectives to add description to sentences
- Checking verbs are in the correct tense (past or present)
- Whether parts of sentences are 'clauses' or 'phrases'
If you have any queries or questions, please feel free to speak to me before or after school on the playground and I will be more than happy to help!
THE VICIOUS VIKINGS: Can we prepare and host a Viking museum?
This term (Term 2), our topic will be all about the Viking invasion of Britain. Our challenge is to prepare and host a Viking museum. The children will prepare various exhibitions, images and models to host in the museum and will act as guides. We hope to invite parents, the community and other classes from around the school to share in our school learning.
We will begin the topic with a study of where the Viking invasion of Britain sits in history, building on their prior knowledge of the Prehistoric Age and Roman Britain. Children will learn about where Vikings came from and settled and, through drama, roleplay and writing, will imagine what life would be like for the new settlers and existing Britons.
As our understanding of Viking origins grows, we will take a deeper look at life in the Viking era. We will learn about Viking gods, how they fought and won so much of Britain and, through the study of Viking artefacts, tools that enabled them to succeed as settlers.
We will take and in-depth study of the crowning achievement of Viking technology -- the Viking longboat! Children will learn how the design of this impressive ship enabled settlers and soldiers to reach England and travel easily. They will then use this knowledge to recreate their own large scale Viking ship from scrap materials to be displayed in our museum.
Later in the topic, children will choose a famous Viking to research and gather information on. Then, using their learning from our work in literacy lessons last term, they will create a comprehensive biography of their chosen Viking, becoming the expert in an exhibit dedicated to that figure.
Finally, children will use the work from the whole term to put together a Viking museum crammed full of information and exhibits. The museum will be across the Year 5 and 6 classrooms and will be opened up in the afternoons of the final week of term for visitors to come learn about the Viking era.
Below you will find some links to websites that children might find useful to extend or practise their learning in school. I have checked that all these websites are suitable for children however any website adverts may change so parental supervision is still important.
I will continue to add more links throughout the year so keep checking back for updates and new and exciting websites I've found.
Literacy
General/All areas:
Grammar:
Fun English - Punctuation Game
Spelling:
Fun English - Prefixes & Suffixes
Reading:
Narrative:
The Girl and the Fox - short animation
For the Birds - short animation
The Monk and the Monkey - short animation
Numeracy
General/All areas:
Number & mental maths:
Crickweb - ordering and sequences
Shape & Measures:
Data Handling:
Top Marks - Data Handling Tools/Games
Logic & Puzzle:
Science
General/All areas:
Life Cycles:
Changing State:
Space:
At Hannah More we always like to take the children on a variety of trips throughout the year. These are great opportunities for children to engage in new experiences and extend their learning outside of the classroom.
Please regularly come and visit this page to find out about all the exciting trips Owl class go on this year!
Note to Parents/Carers:
If you would like to support us on our Educational visits then please feel free to speak to me and I will be happy to accomodate.
Our trips planned so far...
Wednesday 4th June (Morning only):
Harbour Trail around Bristol Floating Harbour finding answers to clues (with a short ferry journey included!)
Date to be confirmed (All morning):
M-Shed Meuseum - 'Port of Bristol' workshop.
Monday 23rd June (All day):
Servern beach - Beach activities. We will be going via the Great Western train from Temple Meads Station.
Wednesday 9th July (All afternoon):
Theatre performance - Beauty and the Beast.
Hello and welcome to Year 5!
Owl class is very lucky this year to have three teachers - Miss Jenkins, Mrs Sessions and Miss Tibbott! Mrs Sessions will teach on Mondays and Tuesdays. Miss Jenkins will teach on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. When Miss Jenkins and Mrs Sessions are not in class, they support children and teachers to develop numeracy and literacy across the school. Miss Tibbott is excited to be starting her teaching career at Hannah More and will be in class every day. Our excellent LSA, Lisa Starr, will support children in Owl Class at different points of the day also.
On Thursday mornings, Year 5 will be taught by Ms Sokoni and Mollie, our school sports coach.
We will always be in the playground before or after school if there is anything that you wish to discuss. If you want to arrange a longer meeting, you can phone the office staff and they will arrange this for you.
Teaching:
In Year 5, the children will spending the morning in literacy, numeracy, reading and spelling or grammar lessons. In the afternoon, we will do anything from art, handwriting, PSHE, circle time, French and, of course, our exciting topic lessons!
Assessment:
Children are assessed regularly and progress can be discussed with parents at learning review meetings. I will contact you if we have any concerns about your child's progress but you are always welcome to ask how your child is doing at any time!
Homework:
Homework will be given out every Thursday. Year 5 pupils will all receive literacy, numeracy and spellings homework, and sometimes topic homework too. Homework has to be handed in on a Monday morning. If homework is not handed in on a Monday morning, a text will be sent home to the child's parents.
It is important that your child reads for 15 minutes each day, whether by themselves or with an adult. Do be sure to sign your child's reading journal and test their understanding through questioning.
PE:
PE is on Thursday mornings and will be delivered by Molly, our very own sports coach! Children must wear sensible, safe PE kit suitable for the weather (we will usually go out, even if it is cold!). PE kit must be clearly labelled with your child’s name on to avoid anything going missing! Children can arrive at school in their PE kit in the morning as long as they bring full school uniform with them to change back into before lunch.
*NEW* Additionally, Year 5 Owl will be going sailing every Tuesday morning in the Term 1 in Bristol. Please can you make sure your child brings their swimming costume and a towel for Monday mornings. We will be returning to school in time for lunchtime. These sessions will be starting on Monday 7th September. If you have any questions or concerns about sailing, then please don’t hesitate to get in contact as this is a fantastic opportunity that we don’t want the children to miss out on.
We will be going swimming at Easton Leisure centre later on in the academic year.
Our first topic of the Autumn term 2015 is The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings where we will be exploring different aspects of life during this period of history. We are working towards the challenge of putting on a museum for members of the school community. Some of the questions we will be answering during our topic are:
- Who were the Vikings and Anglo Saxons?
- When and why did the Vikings come to Britain and take over the Anglo saxons?
- Who were famous Anglo Saxons and Vikings?
- What did they wear/use during their daily lives?
- How did they travel?
- How did they fight?
Book bags:
Children's book bags should be brought to school every day to ensure that they are reading regularly at school and at home. They are expected to change their reading books regularly once yellow reading record books have been signed.
Committees:
School council member:
Fundraising committee member:
School librarians:
