Autumn Term Welcome Meeting Year 5

Year 5 staff: Year 4 Rowan: Mrs Pettifer Mrs Bridgwater – TA PPA staff: Mrs Holman Mr Newland Year 4 Cedar: Miss Rainbow Mrs Betts - TA PPA staff: Mrs Holman Mr Newland Year 4 Pine: Miss Peters Mrs Mabbett - TA PPA staff: Mrs Gallagher Mrs Bridgwater Mrs Sheail

What the children will be learning this year:

All our subjects are part of the National Curriculum and are planned by all of the class teachers in your child’s year group. The curriculum overview details the topics covered over the year and is available on the schools website. More detailed information about year group expectations can be found on the website under ‘Curriculum’ e.g. Year 5 Reading

Main topics Autumn term – Journeys linked to North America / Native Americans Spring term – Anglo Saxons and Scots Summer term – Ancient Greece and Africa Please let us know if you have any special interest/knowledge in these areas and would like to come and talk to us!

Enrichment activities for the year All visits organised by the school are important for your child's learning and development. They may not necessarily be a trip outside of the school, but could be a ‘day of enrichment’ provided within the school. Autumn Term Native America Workshop Spring Term West Stow Anglo Saxon Village Summer Term Ancient Greek Day Please make sure you: Return permission slips on time Offer to come and help if you can!

Mastery in Maths What does it mean?

Maths Mastery The idea behind mastery is that all children need a deep understanding of the mathematics they are learning so that: future learning is built on solid foundations; there is no need for separate catch-up programmes; attainment is raised for all children The national curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils: become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics reason mathematically can solve problems The current national curriculum document says: “The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace…Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.”

Maths Mastery Teaching for mastery keeps the class working together on the same topic, whilst at the same time addressing the need for all pupils to master the curriculum and, for some, to gain greater depth of proficiency and understanding. Challenge is provided by going deeper rather than accelerating into new content. More time is spent on teaching topics to allow for depth and sufficient practice. Carefully crafted lessons provide a scaffolded, conceptual journey, encouraging pupils to reason and develop mathematical thinking. Achieving mastery is not just being able to memorise key facts and procedures and answer test questions accurately and quickly. It means being able to use one’s knowledge appropriately, flexibly and creatively and to apply it in new and unfamiliar situations. The mastery approach includes a belief that all pupils are capable of understanding and doing mathematics, given sufficient time. With good teaching, appropriate resources, effort and a ‘can do’ attitude all children can achieve in and enjoy maths The mastery curriculum is one set of mathematical concepts and big ideas for all. All pupils need access to these concepts and ideas and to the rich connections between them. There is no such thing as ‘special needs mathematics’ or ‘gifted and talented mathematics’. Mathematics, its key ideas and building blocks, are important for everyone.

Maths fluency Children will take part in daily sessions (up to 15 minutes a day), rehearsing core facts from their curriculum, covering key areas which require increased practice. Regular rehearsal allows children to access the maths curriculum more confidently and easily. Time is provided to allow them to assimilate facts that they have learnt and see these applied in a range of contexts. Over each half term the areas and question types stay constant but increase in complexity gradually to allow children to become more secure and confident.

Mastery in English For each year group, the Mastery English curriculum is built around high quality, whole-class texts which the class spend a half term exploring and enjoying. The texts are carefully chosen to link with other areas of the curriculum, particularly humanities. A typical learning sequence includes: A hook to fully engage and interest the children Responding to reading activities to allow immersion in and exploration of the text Capturing ideas which include drama and talk to support understanding and develop vocabulary Possibilities for contextualised teaching of grammar Sentence games to develop creativity, vocabulary, language and grammar A range of writing tasks including extended writing Opportunities to evaluate, edit and re-draft

Spellings Parents will be informed There is more emphasis on spelling and grammar in the current curriculum. We are following a spelling programme across KS2: ‘Read Write Inc. Spelling’ which is a 15-minutes-a-day programme covering all the spelling requirements of the National Curriculum. It uses a proven approach underpinned by phonics. This means that spelling activities will happen daily, and children will be assessed regularly. Parents will be informed

Words to learn Homework books will also have their weekly spellings in and will look like :- We will work on the group of spellings in the week. The following week, the children will be tested on their recall.

Science This year we continuing to use an exciting scheme called Empiribox. It is based on fun, practical activities, demonstrations and investigations. The children will learn about areas of Physics, Chemistry and Biology on a four year programme.

Homework Homework helps to develop essential skills such as time management, organisation, task completion as well as responsibility. It also contributes to the mastery of key skills and knowledge Homework will be given out on Thursdays and should be handed in on Mondays In Year 5 we expect daily reading and book discussion (recorded in reading records) Weekly learning of number facts and spelling patterns Fortnightly grammar, punctuation or composition tasks Holiday homework – all research based and optional

Bengeo Primary School places a lot of importance on reading, both at school and at home. Children are given many opportunities for reading and talking about books at school. We expect them to read at home and out loud to an adult as well as discussing the text. Please fill in their reading record

PE PE days Rowan: Indoor PE – Monday; Outdoor PE – Tuesday Cedar: Outdoor PE – Tuesday; Indoor PE – Thursday Pine: Indoor PE – Tuesday; Outdoor PE - Monday PE kit: navy blue shorts, white round-necked T-shirt, trainers for outdoor PE, tracksuit bottoms in cold weather. Bare feet for gymnastics/dance. If possible children should have plimsolls in school to wear in the classroom if the weather is wet.

Break Time Snacks As part of our Healthy School’s status, we are trying to promote healthy snacks at break time. We have children in the School with severe allergies so we would appreciate your support by giving your child a healthy snack of fresh fruit or vegetables.

Wet weather Please ensure children bring in coats every day as they will be expected to go out at playtimes, whatever the weather! If possible children should have plimsolls in school to wear in the classroom if the weather is wet and the ground muddy.

Thank you for coming! Our partnership is essential to your child's education. We value your help and support.