Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope you had a lovely Easter break and welcome back to Year 5! I am really looking forward to teaching the Year 5s this coming term and I have planned lots of exciting things to support them to make progress in their learning.
In Year 5, we start working very promptly on our start of the day activity (SODA). This is an important part of the day for the children, so please ensure that your child is on time each morning so that they don’t miss anything.
As always, we have a very busy Summer term ahead of us, starting with our ‘Kingdom of Benin’ topic in which we learn about all about the ancient and glorious kingdom of Benin and how that culture differs from ours today. More information on our topics can be found on the Year 5 Curriculum Grid. We will be continuing our book ‘The Water Tower’ by Gary Crew.
This term’s PE lessons will be on a Wednesday morning and swimming will be on some Fridays (look out for the timetable from the office). Please ensure your child comes to school in their PE kit (school PE T-shirt with logo on or plain white/black/navy t-shirt, joggers or shorts, trainers and normal school jumper). Children are welcome to bring in a fruit or vegetable snack to eat during morning playtime. Please ensure that your child has the appropriate swimming attire, a towel and a pair of goggles for swimming. We encourage children to bring a named bottle of water to drink during the day. Children are permitted to have a small, clear pencil case and are encouraged to bring a small set of felt tips and colouring pencils into school.
Homework will be given out at the beginning of each half term. Each chosen piece from the optional home learning grid should be completed in their home learning book and handed in on Wednesdays. While this is optional, as your children are looking towards moving to Year 6, I would encourage home learning tasks to be completed, as this will be compulsory in their final year at Duxford Primary. In addition, children will be given compulsory weekly spellings, which will be tested every Friday, and times tables to learn, which will be tested every Monday. To support your child in learning these essential facts and spellings, they have access to Times Tables Rockstars and Spelling Shed, both of which they should play as often as possible. Your child should read regularly at home, as this will help them better understand writing techniques that we learn in class.
If you have any queries, please contact the office who will pass on the message to me. I will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible.
I look forward to working with you to help your child to have a great final term in Year 5.
Best wishes,
Mr Yarde-Leavett
