Mr Hall-Galley
We are looking forward to another exciting school year in Oak Class as we welcome both new and returning faces to our classroom. Here’s what’s in store for the first half-term of 2024/25:
Reading - Our class text for this half term is Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. Wolf Brother tells the story of Torak as he voyages to the Mountain of the World Spirit to try and overcome the threat of a Demon Bear. Set in the Stone Age, the book is crammed full of wonderful description and we will be focusing on how the author creates pace and suspense in the action sequences within the story. In our Non-fiction text we will be reading a range of information texts that will support the children in their learning of our history topic, the Vikings. Finally, in our poetry unit, we will be taking a close look at Led Zeppelin’s Norse-mythology-inspired song, the Immigrant Song, and asking what impression the lyrics give us of the Vikings.
Writing – To begin the year, the children will be learning about nouns and verbs, including how to write in each of the simple, perfect and progressive tenses. We will then be revising and consolidating our knowledge of single-clause and multi-clause sentences before moving on to write our first narrative of the year, the focus of which will be building suspense and changing pace during action scenes. For our Non-Fiction piece we will be creating an information report about an aspect of Viking life.
Maths – The 1st part of the half-term will be spent consolidating and revising our place value, including learning how to read and write numbers up to 10,000,000 and how to round numbers to a given range
In PE, We will be looking at personal skills and how we can persevere and keep trying, even when things are difficult. This unit of work lends itself well to our school value of resilience as the children face up to the challenges of Upper Key Stage 2. During lessons, we will also be looking to improve our ball skills and our use of footwork. Our Humanities work will take our minds off to Scandinavia and towards those most savage of invaders, the Vikings! We will explore their daily lives and their beliefs, and we will even explore if they were indeed as savage as they are portrayed to be. As our new ‘round-robin’ timetable begins in Key Stage 2, the children will be taught Computing and Music by Mr Caston, where they will be consolidating IT skills and learning about film scores respectively. Mrs Edwards will be taking the children for Re and World Views, where they will be studying how people from various religions display their commitment to their faith. Mrs Edwards will also be teaching the children how to describe themselves and others in French. Mrs Gale will once again be teaching science to Oak Class and will begin by teaching the children about states of matter. To end the weeks, Mrs O’Leary will be teaching the children how to draw in a space-inspired project, in Art and Design.
We are really looking forward to a great first half-term, and an even better 2024/25!
It promises to be a very emotional and busy final half-term of the academic year in Class 5 as we say goodbye to our wonderful Year 6 children and endeavour to leave them with memories that will last a lifetime. This half-term is all about consolidation and preparing for our new adventures, be that in pastures new or in familiar surroundings.
In Maths, we will be applying the knowledge learnt throughout the year to everyday life; we will be preparing our field for sporting competitions by calculating and measuring the length and angles of the markings of a rounders pitch and running track.
Our upcoming production, ‘The Pirates of the Curry Bean,’ will be the focus of our work in English this half term, as we aim to perfect our performances and study how different punctuation marks and contexts determine how the English language is spoken.
Class 5 are very privileged to once again be enjoying the expertise of Mrs Gale in science, who will be teaching the children all about the changes that occur within the environment, be they natural or seasonal.
We are equally as privileged to have the expertise of Mrs O’Leary, who will be taking the children for a food technology unit.
In PE, we are learning about the affects of physical activity on our bodies, and the make-up of a balanced diet. With sports fixtures, productions and leaver’s assemblies thrown into the mix, its go, go, go until we say goodbye to Year 6 on 19th July. In the words of Mrs Bearman: Tissues at the ready!
The children have ignored the cold, wet and miserable weather and have settled back in well after the Christmas festivities and are looking forward to what will be a busy but enjoyable half-term ahead. In Maths, we begin the half-term by looking at decimals in further detail. We will be learning about the relationship between fractions and decimals and how to apply the 4 operations to decimal numbers. After our unit on decimals we will be converting between fractions, decimals and percentages and applying these skills to problem-solving activities. We finish the half-term with a focus on converting measures and, finally, analaysing data in the form of pie charts, bar charts and line graphs.
Our class novel for this half-term is the wonderful Skellig by David Almond. We will be reading the story in great depth and exploring the book’s key messages of love, friendship and spirituality. Our reading lessons will then move to a non-fiction focus when we will be undertaking reading that underpins the children’s learning in Science (materials) and History (the Ancient Greeks). These lessons will enable the children to develop their fluency and comprehension skills whilst building upon the knowledge they are gaining across the curriculum. To finish the half-term, we will switch our focus onto poetry reading and use lessons to explore authorial choice in areas such as vocabulary selection and text structure.
Our writing journey this half-term will take us into the wonderful world of the wishing tale. So many familiar stories follow the storyline of wishes-turned-bad (Aladdin, Snow White, Cinderella) and the children will be attempting to write their very own wish tale. Will all be well that ends well or will it be a case of be careful what you wish for! Our other writing objective for this half-term is to write a discussion text. We will be learning the features of the text type and applying it to a topic-based debate.
Our history unit explores the Ancient Greek era with a particular focus on how the Ancient Greek democracy informs modern day democracies.
In PE, we move onto our cognitive unit. In this unit, the children will be encouraged to think about their performance and to identify areas of strength and development. They will be encouraged to think of strategies to promote success. These objectives will be met via a carefully-selected group of games and activities, including gymnastics sessions.
In French we will be learning (or revising!) French numbers, days of the week, months and seasons. In Art, the brilliant Mrs O’Leary will be guiding the children towards imitating the art techniques of some of our most famous artists.
Finally, the children are very lucky to be benefitting from the expertise of both Mrs Cuthill and Mr Caston this half-term. Mrs Cuthill will be leading our music lessons and learning about the music of South and West Africa, whilst Mr Caston will be looking at the past, present and future of computing in his computing lessons with Class 5.
And before we know it, the daisies will be appearing, the sun will awaken and the freshness of Spring will be with us (or at least we hope so!)
We have another busy half-term ahead of us in Class 5 and we are very much looking forward to lots of learning and fun as we count down to Christmas! In our reading lessons this half-term, we will be studying William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. We will analyse the text via the mediums of reading, drama and writing and will be trying to determine whether Macbeth was destined to his fate or in control of his own misfortune! Other writing units in this half-term will enable the children to practise skills in persuasive writing and report writing before we compose our very own warning tales (Beware MacDuff!).
It is a crucial half-term in Maths as we really hammer down on the key concepts of multiplication and division. The children will be working intensively to hone both mental and written strategies in an area that underpins so much of their future maths education. Following on from our multiplication and division work, we will begin to dive into (whisper it quietly) fractions!
In science this half term, we will be looking at the topic of light and space. As you can imagine, these are both vast and complex areas of science and we will be focusing on the initial building blocks of knowledge and understanding necessary for the children to further develop as they move through high school. In terms of light, we will be thinking about what light is, where it comes from and some of its basic properties. This will link in to thinking about night and day and the relationship between our planet, the sun and the moon. We will also learn about our solar system and continue to expand our disciplinary knowledge through our science enquiry work. We are also very much looking forward to our whole school space day on November 8th!
In addition to the core subjects, we have lots to look forward to in our foundation subjects too. In geography, we will be conducting an in-depth study by comparing a region of the UK with a country in Europe. We will explore the key similarities and differences in terms of human and physical geography and how these impact upon life in the different areas. In PE, we will be using activities and team games to develop our teamwork and leadership skills. In music, we will be looking at the work of composer Felix Mendelssohn and using his composition to inspire our very own class piece using pitch, texture and dynamics. Our French lessons will explore the technical aspects of verb agreement and adjectival structure via the topic of monster pets and in art and design, the class will be delving deeper into the realm of 3D installation art with the wonderful Mrs O’Leary! So much to pack in – thou shalt be just about ready for your mince pies and decorations by the end of the term, Class 5!
We are very much looking forward to a busy but enjoyable start to the academic year in Class 5. Our class book for this half-term will be Once by Morris Glietzman. Once is a story that explores the difficult and emotive subject of the horrors endured by the Jewish faith during World War II. Told through the innocent and naïve eyes of a young Jewish boy named Felix, Once offers a sensitive insight into this harrowing but significant period of history. We will be using the book to explore a range of WWII topics, including the holocaust, evacuation and rationing, offering the children an introduction to a topic that they will undoubtedly explore in greater depth as they mature.
In writing, we will begin the year by revising and strengthening our understanding of sentences and sentence structure. We will use the learned techniques to produce a re-telling of the excellent short animation, The Present. In non-fiction, we will be joining the rest of Key Stage 2 in stepping into the world of monsters and mythical creatures. We will be learning all about swamp monsters and using our knowledge of information report writing to create a report about our very own mythical creature!
Place value is a cornerstone of mathematical competence and we shall start the academic year ensuring that the children have a firm understanding of this important mathematical concept. We will then move on to look at the four operations (with a particular focus on addition and multiplication) and will be concentrating on developing both mental and written strategies that the children can use to solve problems efficiently.
In science, the brilliant Mrs Gale will be teaching the children all about forces and magnets, using a range of practical, interactive and thought-provoking activities to heighten the children’s understanding of this fascinating topic.
In history, we will be conducting a local history project and will be exploring Venta Icenorum, the market place of the Iceni tribe. We will investigate how the settlement has changed over time and will study a range of artefacts that have been excavated at the settlement to understand what information these treasures can give us about what life was like at Venta Icenorum.
At Aldborough, we use our PE sessions not only to develop the children’s physical literacy but to embed and instil those key values and concepts that underpin our school’s eths. As well as developing the children’s ball skills, this half-term we will be looking to develop our personal skills, particularly that of resilience.
The important topic of E-safety will take prominence in our computing sessions this half-term, as the importance of remaining safe online becomes increasingly prevalent. We will also be practising our coding skills on Scratch this half-term and I’m very much looking forward to the children teaching me many new things about the virtual world!
With all of this look forward to, plus some exciting art portrait lessons with Mrs O’Leary, some slightly-less-exciting advanced rhythm music lessons with Mr Hall-Galley (I know what you’re thinking!) and the small matter of a Year 6 residential to round things off, I think we’re going to need another holiday!
We have another busy half-term in Class 5, as we continue towards preparing the children for the next stage of education. Our reading focus for this half-term is the wonderful Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. The book is full of brilliant descriptive language that we will be learning and applying to our writing when we write our own journey stories. Our non-fiction genre for this half-term is explanation texts; we will be studying the Amazon River and trying to understand why it is so important to the world. Our topic for this half-term is water, water everywhere. In this topic we will be finding out more about the world’s oceans and continents, as well as developing our map-reading skills, including topography. In addition to practising the four operations in maths, we will be looking at perimeter, area and volume; ratio and proportion, and taking our first voyage into the wonderful world of algebra! In art, Mrs O’Leary will be exploring the area of architecture, whilst our PE focus is on teamwork, via the sport of Netball. All in all, a busy half-term, which we are thoroughly looking forward to.
It will be a busy start to 2023 in Class 5. In maths, we will be consolidating our knowledge of fractions and exploring how fractions relate to both decimals and percentages. Our class text for this half-term is the brilliant War Horse by Michael Morpurgo. We will be exploring the themes of friendship, bravery and loss throughout the 5 weeks as we follow the journey of Joey and his heroic exploits during World War I. Our writing focus for this half term will be on developing character description via our ‘lost and found’ narratives, before we turn our attention to effective instruction writing during our non-fiction unit. Our topic for this half-term is the Ancient Egyptians; we will be sharpening our analytical skills to investigate the importance of the Pharaohs to everyday Egyptian life, and trying to determine just why the Ancient Egyptian civilisation came to an end. In RE we will be learning more about the religion of Islam, and Mrs O’Leary will be continuing her amazing art lessons, this time focusing on an artist study and using mixed media to help the children to create their own masterpieces! Mrs Bearman will be teaching C5 Music where the children will study the era of war songs to support their work on War Horse.
We are really looking forward to this half-term in Class 5. Our reading lessons for this half-term will be based on the book Holes by Louis Sachar. As well as being a captivating read, the book is centred heavily upon the concept of tolerance and the powerful role of friendship and kindness: important qualities for our class as we navigate our way through the academic year and beyond. Our writing focus for the first half of Autumn 2 will be to write our own balanced arguments; we will be analysing the controversy around the upcoming World Cup in Qatar and exploring both sides of the argument as to whether a boycott of the tournament would be justified. As Santa’s annual visit draws closer and the decorations begin to appear, we will switch our attention to narrative writing: the children will be creating their own ‘warning tale’ around the idea of curses and fate, similar to that which befell Stanley Yelnats in Holes. In Maths, we will be turning our attention towards the division, multiplication, addition and subtraction of fractions, including the conversion of fractions into mixed numbers and vice versa. Our geographical focus this half-term is on the UK and its counties and cities. We will begin the unit by ensuring that the children are able to name, locate and describe the position of the major counites and cities in the UK, using the 8-point compass. As we move further into the unit of work, we will be comparing the physical and human geography of Norfolk with that of the country of Peru. PE will see Class 5 begin their gymnastics unit of work and Mrs O’Leary will be continuing her transformative art lessons, this time looking at how the material of clay can be manipulated in different ways for artistic effect.
We are looking forward to a fantastic school year in Class 5 and have much to look forward to! In the first half-term, we will be consolidating our knowledge of place value and the 4 key operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We will be applying mental and written strategies within the four operations to increasingly complex problem-solving scenarios. Our class text (and the focus for our reading lessons) this half-term is Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. The story, set in the Stone Age, follows the quest of Torak and Wolf as they try to save the forest from a demonic bear! Our writing unit will focus on building suspense and the children will look in depth at how Michelle Paver creates a sense of the unknown in Wolf Brother, before trying to write their very own suspenseful narrative. Our humanities focus for this half term is The Stone Age to the Iron Age; we will be looking at how life changed during these time periods and asking how the relative lack of evidence from this period of history impacts our understanding of prehistory. Our PSHE unit for this half term will support the children in aiming high, setting achievable and ambitious goals, and exploring their own preferred learning styles. The personal focus is also evident in our PE and Art units, where we will be looking at personal improvement and self-portraits respectively! We cannot wait to get started!
Here we are back a really busy half term. The year 6 are the first to go swimming although only 20 are able to swim in any week- those who stay will work with me on extra research for our rivers project which is our first humanities unit. I will rotate the groups who don’t swim to ensure everyone gets the same opportunity to go to the pool . In RE we will be looking at creation stories from many world religions. In PE this term class 5 will be playing netball. English work will have as its context Shakespeare’s The Tempest and we plan to have a performance ready very close to half term- we will confirm the date ASAP. Maths follows the national curriculum beginning this year with rounding and decimals, addition, subtraction multiplication and division. Class 5 will have weekly spelling assessments so there will be spelling as well as reading homework every week. French is being taught via ‘Language Angels’ with a focus on key vocabulary. In my absence on Fridays Mrs Cuthill will be teaching science, games and music. Mr Caston will take Class 5 ICT on Fridays too. Art this term uses the artist Modigliani for inspiration as we study his style looking at faces then attempt to create masks of characters from The Tempest in his distinctive style.
This term we are using Richard lll as a focus for our English writing. We are comparing the known facts about Richard with the play by William Shakespeare. We are comparing fiction and non-fiction text and how newspaper reporting can use bias for persuasion. As a culmination of our study we will be performing a version of the play and making it available to watch on line. The class are reading Skellig by David Almond and we have resumed group reading. In maths the work is problem solving applying the algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but recognising when a mental calculation is more appropriate in solving a problem. Investigations will continue to support mastery of patterns and are contextualised using Richard 111. In art we have started by looking at form and colour using Kasimir Malevich as inspiration and will move on to masks of the reconstructed face of Richard 111 practising more natural colour mixing as we do so. Humanities this term is, rather appropriately, medicine and disease through the ages. PSHE will be a particularly important subject so children have an opportunity to discuss their feelings about the world they are living in. We will be using IT across all subject areas.
ENGLISH/HUMANITIES: To commemorate the centenary of the end of WW1 most of the Humanities and English in class 5 will be inspired by that event. We plan to study the poems of Carol Ann Duffy, Wilfred Owen, Rudyard Kipling and Rupert Brooks. To help with the understanding of the period the children will, in humanities, build a model trench. . If anyone has any item which they wouldn’t mind sharing with the class (from WW1) it really would be fantastic to see and talk about it. Last time we studied the period a tin brought by a parent became the inspiration for some story writing which is on display in class.
MATHS: This will start with fractions decimals and percentages followed by ratio and proportion and then towards the end of the term we will study geometry, particularly triangles and circles.
ART: This will follow a WW1 theme looking at the work of Paul Nash then, to cheer ourselves up, focussing on poppies and the work of Georgia O’ Keefe as well as Matisse and his cut outs. Towards Christmas Class 5 will make their traditional advent calendar and also create the backdrop for the pantomime (Any artistic parents who might like to help out please come to talk to us).
MUSIC/FRENCH/PE: The second half of the autumn term is a very busy one indeed. As well as the pantomime to rehearse and perform, particularly for the year 6, instrumental music will continue with the specialist teacher Mr Taylor, French with Mrs O Malley and Miss Gillespie will continue to work on gymnastics.
SCIENCE: Mrs Cuthill will continue to teach Science on Friday mornings. We will start by revising our learning on Space and beyond, Electricity and sound before focusing on Teeth, Muscles and skeleton.
ENGLISH: In English the class writing, comprehension, drama and lots of reading will be based around the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. There will be a performance around half term to which all parents will be invited.
MATHS: In Maths we are starting off with pattern and algebra though revision of times tables and the accurate and efficient application of tables to multiplication and division will be an important focus.
HUMANITIES: To fit with the English the class will study the geography and history of Italy so if anyone has any photographs or books they don’t mind lending to the class that would be super.
As usual there will be French, music (whole class ukulele playing!) and this term gymnastics, games and for the year 6 swimming so they will be very busy with P.E.
ART: We are looking at the work of Kasimir Malevich, particularly- the Athletes- which we are adapting to fit our Romeo and Juliet theme.
SCIENCE: This year science will be taught by Mrs Cuthill on Friday mornings. There will be a biology focus this term with children extending their learning on teeth, muscles and the skeleton.
ENGLISH: This half term is going to be very busy for Class 5 (what else is new!) As well as completing our work on Richard 111 and performing a version of Shakespeare’s play, we are going to use our visit to the Houses of Parliament as a context for some of our written work. Obviously school camp and preparing for Leavers’ assembly will be a significant part of the term for the Year 6’s.
MATHS: In Maths we will be revising the 4 rules and continuing investigations including a rather messy one involving baked beans.
ART: Speaking of mess the art focus on the work of Jackson Pollack and Mark Rothko as we look at the abstract expressionists and their influence on contemporary art.
SCIENCE/ICT: Dr Doak is coming into school to work on robotics with the children and Mrs Cuthill will deliver Science.
FRENCH: French resumes this term with Mrs O’Malley.
PE: Premier Sport will continue to teach Athletics on Tuesday afternoons. We also plan to do lots of PE and games to prepare for sports day. There is a special archery taster session in July.
English: This half term the context for all our English work will be Shakespeare’s Richard III. It will culminate in a class performance of a version of the play.
Humanities: Linked to our Richard III topic, we are studying the Plantagenet dynasty and the impact of the wars of the Roses as well as the many discrepancies between the known historical facts about Richard and Shakespeare’s version. Due to SATs preparation which has to move up a notch in this half term, the year 5 children are spending their humanities afternoon with Mrs Read.
Science: Year 5 will also be joining the Y5 from Class 4 on Friday morning to have an outdoor science/Forest School session this half term led by Jane Steed. There will be a focus on Habitats, using our grounds for hands on learning.
Year 6 have a science, maths and English revision focus for the first weeks but around that we will squeeze in as many other subjects as possible- particularly sport and P.E.
PE: Unfortunately Mrs O’Malley, the French teacher is away for the rest of this term recovering from a planned operation. This means the class will have an additional sports lesson with Premier sport on Tuesday afternoons. Games on Fridays will focus on athletics whilst my PE will be cricket and rounders.
Art: In art, as well as completing the Rousseau unit, it seems pertinent to look at some of the portraits of Richard III so that will be our starting point.
The half term will end with our visit to Kentwell Hall for the ‘Through the Ages’ living history. Costume details will be sent home soon (we want everyone to dress up to really enjoy the experience) but if anyone struggles with organising a costume please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Mrs Taylor for advice.
English: This half term the class will finish their science fiction novellas and the stories will be used to present the Class 5 assembly. For the rest of the term the context for our writing will be Shakespeare’s history play Richard 111 and we will explore some of the ‘inaccuracies’ demonstrating how Shakespeare may have played with the facts. Spelling will focus on some of common rules and I will be teaching ways of remembering them. Although there will continue to be spellings to learn, the focus is very much how the rule can work to help remember the spelling. In grammar we are looking at sentence structure, the passive voice, subjunctive and the various verb forms as well as subordinating and coordinating conjunctions. Although the Year 6 need to be able to recall the technical vocabulary for their tests, it is also important they know how the grammatical conventions affect the style of their writing, throughout the grammar taught will be applied in writing.
Maths: We will focus on embedding the number and algebra already introduced. A continuing necessity has to be to learn times tables as committing them to memory is the single most effective way of improving mathematical performance. For those children who are not yet fluent in their recall of multiplication, facts homework will focus on learning them (lots are already great - but the practice is useful). We will also work on measure, conversions between units, time and the properties of both 2 D and 3D shape.
Science: We will be exploring light followed by some investigations into the topics introduced in previous years - especially Year 5. The list includes forces and resistance, solution and suspension as well as insulation, condensation and evaporation.
Art/DT: In art, Africa week will inspire some sculptured heads, an opportunity to hone the skills used in the Modigliani heads. Following this we will be looking at the collages of Henri Rousseau (We ran out of time last half term) but applying perspective to the work rather than Rousseau’s naive style.
Humanities: Because of the organisation of the timetable to aid the Year 6 for this half term, Mr Portas, whose sons were both pupils here at Aldborough, will be planning and delivering Humanities. He will be teaching Islam as part of the RE programme of study.
French: This will continue on Tuesdays but until SATs Class 5 will lose their music session in order that PE can continue. We appreciate this loss will be a blow but rest assured we will focus on more music post May. Any parents who might like to support the class, if they have any spare time and would be interested, then please let me know it would be lovely to hear from you.
ENGLISH: In Class 5 the children will be looking at the genre of Science Fiction; writing a novel set on a planet in a galaxy far, far away. Incidentally, and to help our background knowledge, we will be revising our understanding of the solar system using information books as well as exploring the creation story from the Bible and other cultures. As well as creating a story, we will be using and applying a range of punctuation for effect as well as working on National Curriculum grammar.
MATHS: We will be revising number facts and proceeding to work on sequences, including those with negative numbers, fractions, data and co-ordinates as well as conversions between different units of measure.
HUMANITIES: Geography is our focus and the class will be studying the course of the river Mississippi creating a 3 D model of the three stages and studying the wildlife and demography of the river. Art will start with masks in the style of Modigliani and then proceed to looking at the naïve art of Henri Rousseau, using his inspirational jungle pictures to create the landscape of the planet at the centre of our own science fiction novels.
SCIENCE: We are going to study the heart, keeping fit and healthy and then light and finally electric circuits. There will be some SAT test practice questions included in the timetable to familiarise the year 6 with the format for the formal tests in May. That should keep us all very busy.
English: This half term, having performed Macbeth at the Playhouse, we will begin a new unit of work based on the poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. Characterisation will be explored with children writing their own version of the tragic tale describing the night setting using a range of writing techniques.
Maths: We will be moving from fractions, decimals and percentages to ratio and proportion and then moving into geometry. Maths investigations will have a focus on algebra. Accurate recall of times tables will continue to be a focus with regular opportunities to use these facts.
Humanities: We are looking at the history of crime and punishment- not too gory- but this theme fits in beautifully with work on The Highwaymen. The periods of history we will consider are, the Middle Ages, the Tudor period, Regency and Victorian ending with WW1 so that gives great chronology too.
Art/DT: The pantomime will dominate drama and creating a backdrop as well as the advent calendar should keep us busy in art.
Science: This will be focussed on the human body initially and then, linked to light at Christmas, we will move on to the symbols used to create electrical circuits.
English: The context for work will be Macbeth as the class are performing at the Shakespeare School Festival in November. As a result we will be using drama for writing and lots of the grammar and spelling work will be based on Macbeth. Writing arguments, short stories, newspaper articles and letters will give the children ample opportunity to become immersed in the play. As a break from Shakespeare, the children will share, for group reading, War Horse, Private Peaceful and Kensuke’s Kingdom- all titles by Michael Morpurgo.
Maths: Following the national curriculum for year 6 maths, with support for year 5, the term will begin with arithmetic but there will be opportunities for problem solving and investigations too. Using familiar patterns in mathematics and learning how to explain outcomes algebraically will also be part of the first half of the autumn term work.
Science: Adaptation and classification will be the initial unit of work; Mrs Cuthill will lead science in the autumn term.
Humanities: To begin the year the topic will be history and the class will study Scotland and the Scottish wars of independence. Later in the term, the topic will focus on key figures and events from the middle ages, particularly the Magna Carta, King Richard and King John.
Art: As well as mask making, faces of the weird sisters from, guess what? Macbeth, we will be looking at the print making of the Japanese artist Hokusai. Later in the term, to coincide with a major exhibition at Tate Modern, we will be studying the work of Modigliani.
Music: We will be studying The firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky, exploring how composers use rhythm, tempo and dynamics to create variations on a theme and use these ideas to compose our own fanfare. We will work as a class to choreograph a response to the finale music and have opportunities to perform to other classes in the school.
All the children will be lucky enough to continue French with Mrs O’Malley and music with Mrs Cuthill. On Friday for games we have a specialist Karate teacher for the year 6 in the autumn first half term, as the pool at Aylsham High School is out of action due to refurbishment; the year 5 will be having football with Mr Barnard. Tuesday P.E will be led by a specialist gymnast this term.
I think you’ll agree-an action packed beginning to the school year 2017-2018 here in class 5.