Welcome to Year 5 and 6: Shakespeare Class 

 Teacher: Miss Connearn 

Support Staff:  Mrs Hine 

                            Mrs Lucas  

School trip to Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery 26/2/25 

                                 Spring 2

                        English 

In our English lessons we are enjoying the text 'Beowulf' by Michael Morpurgo. Long ago there was a Scandinavian warrior who fought three evils so powerful they could destroy whole kingdoms. Standing head and shoulders above his comrades, Beowulf single-handedly saves the land of the Danes from a merciless ogre named Grendel and then from his sea-hag mother. But it is his third terrible battle, with the dragon of the deep, in which he truly meets his match. Lovers of heroes, monsters, and the drama of battle will find this retelling enthralling. We will be basing our written work around this text, focusing on vocabulary development and comprehension skills through short writes and independent writes.

Punctuation and grammar will be included in all our daily English lessons this year. We will focus on and embed a variety of Alan Peat sentence types into our writing throughout the year to upskill our work with a focus on the audience and the purpose of the writing.

Maths

In Maths we follow White Rose Maths. The scheme supports us in teaching for mastery and problem solving. Throughout this half term we will be focusing on area of a triangle and volume, converting units statistics and algebra. We will apply learning practically when answering reasoning questions.  

Arithmetic skills and mental maths are of great importance this year. Children will be expected to complete quick, accurate calculations when completing arithmetic activities. In class we complete a daily 'Tough Ten' which are questions based on the mathematical expectations for year 6. Please encourage your child to continue practicing their times tables to aid their ongoing development in maths.  

 Reading

Reading books will be sent home every day, this may be a free read library book or a banded book. Please encourage your child to read as much as possible. This will expose children to different genres, vocabulary and reading skills essential to develop them as competent readers. Stamina for reading is a particular development area in class, to ensure children read independently, at an appropriate speed whilst summarising key events.

Our class read will be Macbeth. Each day children will enjoy listening to and discussing the original work of William Shakespeare through an adapted text. 

In class we will be reading a variety of text types: fiction, non-fiction and poetry in guided reading. Everyday children will enjoy a class text at the end of the day. This text will be Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

https://www.booksfortopics.com/_files/ugd/df731a_40a7d01f518341828462ddcd7eaf81fa.pdf

                                        P.E

P.E is on Wednesday and Thursdays. Children will be required to come to school in full PE kits, white top, navy bottoms/ shorts, a school jumper and appropriate footwear. This half term we are focusing on problem solving through team building and dance based on The Victorians.

Homework

Homework will be sent home on a Friday. This will include a reading comprehension, maths activity, grammar and spellings. This should be returned on the following Thursday. Homework is an important aspect of this year, not only does it encourage a sense of independence in preparation for high school, it also embeds new learning from the classroom.​ Spare homework will be available in class if this is needed. If your child needs any support with their homework, please let a member of staff know so we can put any support in place. Children can complete their homework at lunchtime and will have access to a school computer during this time if needed. Children will complete a spelling test each Friday based on the spelling list that week.

History

This half term our History topic is based on the big question, 

'What can the census tell us about local areas?' Students will have opportunities to use primary and secondary sources to verify the data in a census. Use a range of sources, including the census, to build an understanding of a period and plan a local history enquiry using the census. They will identify the type of information the census gives about people and use the census to make inferences about people from the past. Students will create questions about Victorian working conditions and the thoughts and feelings of a Victorian working child and identify and describe the changes between periods of time using the census.

Science  

This unit is focused on Living things and their habitats: Classification. Building on previous knowledge, pupils will describe how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro-organisms, plants and animals. They will give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics. The children will be introduced to the Linnean system of classification and will be able to develop their practical scientific skills though investigation.

Religious Education

Following Questful R.E scheme of work, this unit is focused on the big question 'Why do Christians believe that Easter is a celebration of victory?' Children will learn that Christians believe that Easter is the celebration of Christ’s triumph and victory over death. This is is at the very heart of Christian belief. Pupils will develop an understanding of the importance of Jesus death and resurrection in Christian belief, as a rescue plan to restore the relationship between God and his people

Year 6 After School Boosters will be on Tuesdays 3.30-4.30 with Miss Connearn.

Please see the curriculum overview for at the top of the page for all other subjects. 

If you have any queries please don't hesitate to contact me at school through the office on 01254 702119 or on the playground after school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Connearn