Kestrel

Welcome to Kestrel class

Kestrel Class - w/b 20th January 2020

Dear parents and carers:

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a restful and magical Christmas and New Year. I want to use this opportunity to thank you all for the generous Christmas presents Mrs. Tottle and I received. We were certainly very spoilt!

This coming term we have a lot of learning happening, as well as hands of activities.

Have a look below to see all we will be learning about in Year 5.

Maths:

This term we will be learning about formal methods of multiplication and division, as well as fractions.

We have already finished practicing long multiplication and we will soon be using these skills alongside division for reasoning and problem solving.

English:

So far in Year 5, we have written narratives about life on the Moon, non-chronological reports about life on Pandora, poetry based on Walter de la Mare's 'The Magnifying Glass', stories from other cultures and persuasive texts about Edgar the Excitable Dragon and Brussels Sprouts! It's been a very busy year in English, indeed!

Currently, we are using Jules Verne's classic 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' to inspire us when writing adventure stories. We will be exploring the vocabulary and ideas in an extract of this novel and answering the question 'How does Jules Verne establish a feeling of danger in his writing?'

Guided Reading:

This term in History, we are learning about the Victorians. In Guided Reading, we'll be reading a story set in the Victorian era - 'Street Child'. This is a superb adventure story about a young street urchin named Jim Jarvis. It follows his journey through a life of obstacles, challenges and triumphs.

Music:
Now that our Brass lessons are over, we will now be learning music with Mrs. Channing in our new Creative Arts studio! This term, we will be learning to sing (or rap!) the song 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'. Over the next few weeks, we'll add in some musical instruments such as recorders and .

Science:
This term, we are learning about plants and animals. We will be finding out how plants reproduce and disperse their seeds. You will find our new Knowledge Mat towards the bottom of our class page.

History:

This term, our topic is a History unit about 'The Victorians'. We will be exploring how the Victorians changed the world with their inventions and finding out about the Industrial Revolution. On 27th January, we will have a Victorian Day!

Computing:

This half term, we will be evaluating websites and using our research skills to find out more about the Victorians.

PE:

From Tuesday 14th January, we are being taught Hockey by John, an experienced Hockey player and coach. Please make sure you have your PE kit in school, including a jumper to keep warm!

Art:

Our Art project this term is centred around the French Neo-impressionist artist Georges Seurat.

Seurat was most famous for his unique style of painting, in which he used dots of colour to bring scenes to life - this was named 'Pointillism'. Below, you will see the picture we studied in our first session, 'La Grande Jatte'. How has Seurat created the impression of shade? What differences do you notice across the painting in the way the dots have been used?

In PSHE, our unit of learning is called 'Dreams and Goals'. In RE we are learning about Judaism and in Spanish we are learning how to use grammatical structures to create sentences.

Please visit our class page regularly to keep informed and find out what is happening in Year 5. I will also continue to post photographs, examples of work and reminders about diary dates etc.

If you have any queries, questions, concerns or celebrations, please don't hesitate to come and speak to me at drop off or pick up times.

Useful reminders:

PE lessons are every Tuesday. Please ensure your child has a complete PE kit for this lesson and during the whole week.
Spellings should be practised at home every week.
Please ensure all children bring a water bottle into school so they can stay hydrated. Please also make sure your child wears a coat to school as the weather has been very cold and it's to get even worse.