Welcome to Merlin Class

A warm welcome back to school!

The first few days will be utilised as a soft start and for setting expectations. In English, we will begin with Robot Girl by Malorie Blackman, a futuristic drama that explores the very current theme of artificial intelligence. The children will start with a debate and eventually produce a science fiction narrative using the techniques and narrative structures learned during the course of three-weeks.

For the final three weeks of the Autumn half-term, we will be reading ‘The Man Who Walked Between the Towers’ by American author Mordicai Gerstein. The book is a portrayal of the real-life achievement of Philippe Petit, a Frenchman who walked on a tightrope between the roofs of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in August 1974. This brilliant picture book will facilitate research on both the man and the Twin Towers, leading to the children writing a biography of the Frenchman. They will also create interview transcripts, persuasive speeches, and a letter of advice to Philippe.

In Maths, we will be focussing on numbers up to one million. The children will be taught to read and write numbers up to one million, along with partitioning, comparing, and ordering. We will also explore powers of 10 and rounding to the nearest 10, 100, and 1,000. Relevant MyMaths homework will be set each week, so please ensure that homework is completed by Friday.

In Science this term, we will be exploring forces, including gravity, friction, wind, and air resistance. The children will investigate how these forces affect objects.

Our foundation subjects for this half term are as follows:

History: The Stuarts

PSHE: Being me in the world

Music: Livin’ on a prayer

PE: Dance

Spanish: My Family

RE: Christianity

Art: Stuart Landscapes

Computing: E-safety

Spellings will be sent out every Friday, with an assessment on the following Friday. Please continue to encourage the children to practise their spellings using their word lists and to read as frequently as possible.

PE is scheduled for every Monday, so children should come dressed appropriately. Parent meeting will be held in September, and you are encouraged to attend for Year 5 and general updates.

Starting October, children will need to bring coats as the weather becomes cooler and wetter.

Week 5 Spelling Homework

These are the words that we will be learning to spell next week.  They are words ending in ‘-cial’.

You will be tested on Friday, 4^th October.

Can you think of any other words that would follow the rule?

Helpful links for Autumn 1 homework

The Topic homework for this half term is based on The Stuarts.

House of Stuart - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help

Top 10 Facts About The Stuarts! - Fun Kids - the UK's children's radio station (funkidslive.com)

The Great Fire of London Facts - National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)

Who was Samuel Pepys? - BBC Bitesize

Mental Health Resources