Welcome to Year 5! This year in Year 5 there are two classes who will be taught by Mr Wrigley and Mrs Ball. These classes will be assisted by Miss Tara Lewis-Lord, Mrs Jackson, Mrs Wooley and Miss Hand.

School starts (and doors will be opened) at 8.45am and children will be provided with early doors activities and interventions so please ensure your child arrives to school promptly. The register (and doors) will close at 9am, ready to begin the day’s lessons. Any child arriving between 9am and 9.15 will receive a late mark. Year 5 can access their classes via the doors opposite the new building in the morning.

Break time will be at 10.30am for 15 minutes and lunchtime will be at 12.15pm for 1 hour. Please use Parent Pay to check the daily lunch menu and pay for meals if your child is having a school meal. If your child wishes to have a packed lunch, we ask that you provide a healthy lunch and drink in a container that children can take to the hall.

School will finish at 3.15pm. Please make sure your child knows where to meet you: the front gate or astro-turf stairs. If your child is to walk home alone, please inform the office and their class teacher.

Year 5 will be having PE on a Tuesday afternoon and children will need to come to school in their PE kits. PE kits consists of a grey plain T-shirt or one with the school logo on and black shorts.  If children still have their coloured house T-shirts these can still be worn. Parents will be informed if your child is not in the correct PE kit. If your child wears earrings, they will have to be removed for the session or taped up.

We are not currently selling snacks for children, so if you wish for them to have something to eat at playtime please provide them with a healthy snack.

Please ensure your child brings a full, named water bottle to school each day. These will be accessed by the children throughout the day. Unfortunately, school will not be able to provide cups to children without water bottles so please ensure children have them in school every day.

We would also like you read with your child at least 3 times a week.  This could be listening to them read or reading together.  Reading records will be coming home to fill in and for children to obtain certificates and books throughout the year. Reading journals will be checked on a Friday so please make sure that your child has their reading journal in school on those two days. Children will receive certificates when they reach particular milestones with their reading. If your child reaches 10, 20, 50, 100 or 150 reads at home, they will get to visit Mrs Jones in her office and choose a book to take home and keep.

Your children will also visit the school library on a regular basis and will be able to choose and change their books accordingly. Please remind your child to return these books before their due date and encourage them to take care of the books at home.

Children in Year 5 are allowed to bring their mobile phones to school. They must be turned off and handed to the class teacher at the start of the school day and will be returned before home. We ask that children do not turn on their mobile phone until out of the school gate. Parents must sign the consent form which can be found on School Spider.

Term 1 - Coming To England

While reading 'Coming To England', by Floella Benjamin, the children focused on the 'Windrush era' and the movement of people from the Caribbean to England between the year 1948 and 1971. Year 5 studied the different countries in the Caribbean and compared life in the Caribbean countries to that in England. The children were also able to discuss and compare ideas and attitudes that people had during this time about race and culture.

Term 2 - Letters From The Lighthouse

Through reading 'Letters From The Lighthouse', by Emma Carroll, Year 5 learned about World War II. During this topic, the children studied important dates and people in the Second World War as well as important changes to the welfare of children and the attitudes towards women. The children also looked at anti-seminism during World War II and how it affected people's lives.  

Term 3 - The Explorer

Year 5's final class text is 'The Explorer', by Katherine Rundell, which is a story based on four children surviving in the Amazon Rainforest after a plane crash over Brazil. During this term, Year 5 children have studied the layers of the rainforest, the animals and vegetation that live in these areas as well as the dangers that face life in these tropical forests. 

In Term 3, Year 5 have been lucky enough to have weekly sessions with Ranger Dan. During these lessons, the children have learned many invaluable survival skills which link to our latest class text, 'The Explorer':

• Creating and maintaining a safe fire
• Building different styles of shelters, using only branches and natural resources
• Foraging edible leaves from the school grounds, identifying the leaves and the health benefits they provide
• Digging, working and manipulating clay from the ground to build walls and outdoor ovens
• Hunting for and identifing minibeasts within differents habitats on the school grounds
• Maintaining a bug house and habitats for insects 

The children have used these sessions to inspire and develop their writing on a Friday.