Dear Parents & Children - Welcome to the Summer Term

Year 5 Westall Class 2021/2022

Miss Jones

Welcome to year 5 class page! 

Our Summer topic is called Groundbreaking Greeks! In the Groundbreaking Greeks project, your child will learn about different periods of Greek history, exploring the earliest civilisations, the devastation of the Dark Age and the breakthroughs and developments of the Archaic and Classical periods. We will build our understanding of how the geography of Greece affected the development of city states and explore Athens, learning about the structure of the government and society. We will get to know some of the most significant Athenians and understand why Greek art, culture, architecture, philosophy, medicine and mathematics were so significant. As a class, we will learn about the leadership of Alexander the Great and discover how ancient Greece became part of the Roman Empire after the Hellenistic period. Then, we will explore how the Romans respected and developed Greek ideas, making them their own and spreading them throughout the Roman Empire. To end the project, we will decide which was the ancient Greeks' greatest idea, and explore how the legacy of ancient Greece affects their lives today.

In addition, we will be following the national curriculum requirements of English, Maths, Science, RHSE and RE In English, we will be looking at a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts and developing our understanding of spellings, punctuation and grammar. In Maths, we will be furthering our understanding of problem solving, statistics and shape. In our RE learning we will be focusing on Islam and Judaism, specifically Passover and Ramadan. In RHSE we will be following our SCARF scheme.

P.E.

P.E. will take place on Tuesday mornings and dace lessons will take place on Wednesday afternoons. Please send children to school wearing their P.E. kit, consisting of a sky blue polo, royal blue Oaklands jumper, royal blue cotton shorts, socks and suitable sports trainers. Hair must be tied back and any jewellery must be removed. 

Homework

Homework is a valuable opportunity for enrichment and consolidation of learning. Homework will be sent home in A4 homework books.

Every night:

Reading for at least 15 minutes and Doodle Maths

Work from an area of the curriculum:           

This will be given out on a Wednesday and to be returned the following Monday in homework books. It will also be displayed on the Google classroom page.

Friday times tables work:       

There will be a times tables/division facts activity set each Friday, to be returned on Wednesday.

Doodle Maths:                           

Daily Maths practice to ensure that gaps are continually being filled and there is continual progression.

Contact and Support

Please do not hesitate to speak to one of the year 5 teaching and support team if you have any questions or queries about your child's learning. You can speak with us on the playground after school, or alternatively, you can contact the school office to book a meeting. Additionally, if you, or anyone you know, has skills or knowledge that could enrich our in-class learning, we would love to hear from you and see if we can make use of this in our lessons. 

Kind regards,

Miss B Jones & Mrs M Donnelly

Reading Books

Please ensure you read daily with your child, as they grow it is important to foster a love of reading within them. A fantastic way to do this is to have discussions about the books they are reading and  listening to them read.

When reading with your child at home it is important that they understand what they’re reading. Use these questions to help question your child:

1. What has happened so far?
2. Who are the main characters?
3. What have you learnt from what you have read? (Non-Fiction)

Please comment in your child's diary each time you read with them. Pupils will also have the opportunity to bring a book home from the school library. Please make sure children have their books available to read everyday.

Useful information to support your child in the project 'Groundbreaking Greeks'

Below are two PDF documents.

- The first is a topic information sheet showing you the main areas of learning that we will be covering in the classroom. 

-  The second is a range of vocabulary that we will be using throughout the project. 

 Please discuss these with your child, as it will enhance their overall understanding of the project.