Week Beginning 31st March 2008

Hi everyone and welcome to the summer!!

We love this term, coming to school in the day light and going home while it's still day light it's great!


Remember that the children can come to school in their summer uniforms from Monday.


This half term is 8 weeks long so we really do have a long time in school without a break but on the bright side it means we can get loads done.
On the seventh week of this half term it is SATs, the Year 5's will also be completing their tests this week, it is the week beginning 12th May.
Our Year 6's have been working really hard in preparation for their tests both at school and at home and we really appreciate your support in preparing the children.
Here are some websites that may help you with your preparation.
http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/children_sats.htm SATs questions, you can choose which subject you want to look at.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/index.shtml our old favourite bbc revisewise.
http://www.yourschoolsite.co.uk/tests/Introduction.html SATS question quiz.
http://www.buzzin.net/revision_tips/revtips.htm revision tips.
http://www.st-josephs-pickering.n-yorks.sch.uk/past_test_papers.htm download SATs papers.
http://www.samlearning.co.uk/primary/index.html revision exercises and SATs questions.
http://www.teachingtreasures.com.au/maths/year_6_maths_true_or_false.htm maths true or false quiz.
http://www.counton.org/games/mathonaire/ who wants to be a mathonaire.
http://www.subtangent.com/maths/games.php lots of maths games to help you revise, I love the Weakest Link.
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/engindex.html reading comprehension practise.
http://www.channel4learning.net/sites/essentials/science/index.shtml choose a science area to revise.
http://www.teachingandlearningresources.co.uk/millionscience.html who wants to be a Science Millionaire.

This weeks curriculum...

Literacy

The Year 6's will continue with their final stretch of revision.

The Year 5 children will be moving their unit of work on persuasion to writing a persuasive argument.

This is something the children really love and are usually very good at!

The children will be using the techniques that they have been learning for
persuasive writing in a different context this week. They will be looking at examples of persuasive writing
to present an argument. They will plan and draft their own argument complaining about the cancellation
of children’s television programmes, using the same structure and techniques.

Here are some Key Points to help:-
As you write each point in support of your argument, you need to give some evidence or an
example to back it up and make it more convincing. For example, if you are writing to complain to
the council about some new parking arrangements that you think are dangerous, you could back
up your argument by telling them about any increase in the number of accidents in the area.

Numeracy

Mrs Millington's and Mr Barker's groups will continue with their revision.

Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be using this week to go through assessments we completed at the end of last term and going over any subjects that need more teaching and practise.

Science

This week is Science week. In Key Stage 2 we will be concentrating on Electricity and Magnets.

On Friday we will have a Science show on these subjects.

By the end of this week the children should learn that the brightness of bulbs, or speed of motors, in a circuit can be changed, that care needs to be taken when components in a circuit are changed to ensure bulbs/motors do not burn out, that there are conventional symbols for components in circuits and these can be used to draw diagrams of circuits
that circuit diagrams, using these symbols, can be understood by anyone who knows the symbols and can be used for constructing and interpreting circuits, that the brightness of bulbs in a circuit can be changed by changing wires in a circuit, to suggest a question to investigate, to decide what to do and what equipment to use to test this, to make fair comparisons and draw conclusions.

There is a lot to get through in Science week but it is great revision for the Year 6 and for the Year 5 children. As there is so much to get through and it is Science week then topic time this week will also be spent working on these subjects.

Here I Am

These weeks sees the end of our self-giving topic and we will be reviewing out learning from the previous weeks.

That's all for now have a great week.

Year 5/6 Team

p.s remember to put your clocks forward on Sunday.

Week Beginning 17th March 2008

Hi everyone and welcome to the end of the second term!!


There are lots of events happening in school this week to celebrate Easter, we are really looking forward to it.
Tuesday afternoon sees our turn for fundraising and the children have organised their own stalls and ideas to raise money for Nugent Care. They are running the event but I'm sure they would like to go round and join in with other people's stalls so they will need some change on Tuesday.


There will be no homework this week so the children can spend their time making Easter gardens, we have been overwhelmed this year with the amount of activities Year 5/6 still get involved in, so don't let us down let's see some fantastic gardens.


While we are on the subject of homework we would like to thank those children who complete their homework and hand it in on time every week, this applies to the majority of children so well done. There are a few children that consistently do not complete homework, school policy is that the children receive a 'sad face' when homework has not been completed. We realise that the are the odd exceptions to this when it has not been possible for homework to be completed and we will assess each case individually. Home learning is essential for maximising your child's potential and is also important preparation for them moving up to the high school. If you have a problem with homework and getting it completed on time please see your child's teacher to discuss the matter and we are sure we can come up with some alternative arrangements.



Thank you to all those parents who attended the Year 6 SATs meeting on Tuesday, it is important to us to hear your opinions and thoughts, we hope that this helped you with some ideas on helping your child get through their SATs. If you would like any other information or advise please pop in and see your child's teacher or any member of the 5/6 team.

Have a look at this website about preparing your child for high school, it has some good information and ideas.



http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk/foragegroup/7to11years/movingtosecondaryschool



We would like to thank you also for having a go at the literacy homework this week. We really do think that it is important for you to see all the things your child needs to included to achieve certain levels in writing. It is also important that you and your child are aware of their targets.

Through the diaries and conversations with parents we have received some excellent feedback on this task, we hope to do this more often but realise that it is not practical to do it every week, we would like to do it once every half term, this will help you and your child see whether their writing is progressing.



This weeks curriculum.......
As it is the last week of term this will be our assessment and review week.


Literacy
The Year 5's had great fun last week designing a persuasive advert for a new chocolate bar.
This week they will be planning a radio advert for a competition. They will be advirtising a new film called 'Kung Fu Panda'. As you can imagine the children are really excited about this.

http://www.filmeducation.org/kungfupanda/index.htm Have a look at the website.



Year 6's will continue with their revision programme, they are absolutely working their socks off in school and we are really proud of them, well done guys not long to go now.

At the SATs meeting we said we would but some spelling websites on the blogspot for children to practise on, here you go..
http://www.funbrain.com/spell/ pick the word that is spelt wrong and spell it correctly.
http://www.gamequarium.com/spelling.html lots of different games e.g. hang man
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html games and activities provided by Woodlands Junior School.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/ad_menu_flash.shtml bbc schools spellits, solve mysteries while having spelling practise on the way.
We also have a list of all the spellings that have appeared on previous SATs test which we will print out and send home. It will not help to learn this list but will give you an idea of the types of spellings that come up on the test.

Numeracy
Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's groups will be reviewing what they have learned this term, this includes:-
Probability, line graphs, dividing HTU by U, finding percentages, multiplying u.ths x u.
See previous blogspots for websites and remind yourselves of all the things we have covered.

Mrs Millington's and Mr Barker's groups will be continuing with their revision programme.

Science
Year 5's will be continuing with their topic of gases around us, this week
Children should learn:
that soils have air trapped within them
to measure volumes of water carefully
to recognise whether measurements need to be repeated
to use their results to compare the air trapped in different soils

Year 6's will be continuing with their revision programme.

Here I Am
This week will be spent on the true meaning of Easter and looking at the different things that happen in mass which stem from this celebration.
The children will work on dramas and readings which they will perform at the Easter Service. It will take place at 9am on Thursday Morning.
You are welcome to join us but please remember, as always space is limited.

So once again we have reached the end of a very hardworking term and we thank you for your support and the hard work from the children in school and at home.

Have a Happy and Holy Easter and we would also like to wish you Happy St Patrick's Day.

Year 5/6 Team.

Week Beginning 10th March 2008

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s bog.

We really enjoyed the Year 3/4’s fundraising afternoon on Thursday and we now have lots of ideas for our own event which will take place this Tuesday afternoon. Get thinking children, you have already told us some of your excellent ideas and we can’t wait until the event takes place.

On Tuesday, after school we will be holding a parent’s meeting for the parent’s of our Year 6 children. The meeting’s aim is to give you ideas on how to help your child through their Sates. If you wish to attend the meeting please return your reply slip so we know how many parents to expect, thank you.

This week’s curriculum….
Literacy
The Year 6 children have now started a revision programme in Literacy as well as Numeric and Science. The children have been put into two groups and will spend this time working on reading and writing skills in order to prepare them for their forthcoming Sates.

Our Year 5 children will start a new unit working on Persuasion. We all know how persuasive children can be so we are just really polishing skills that they already have. We will be moving on from ‘Mum can I have a Nintendo Wii because my friend has one?’ and working on the art of persuasion using our writing skills.

The children will be planning, writing and designing their own persuasive advert.
By the end of this unit of work the children will….
Use note making as a way of collecting and organizing their ideas before they write.
Choose words carefully, adding adjectives, adverbs and powerful verbs to help get their
message across.
Compose sentences carefully, choosing whether to use long or short sentences to
make a particular point.
Use paragraphs to organize their ideas in a longer piece of writing.
Check and correct their own spellings.
Edit and re-draft their own writing.
Reflect on their own writing, using a checklist to help them decide whether they have got better.

Literacy homework will take on a different format this week. The children have completed a piece of writing in school. They will bring this writing home on Monday along with some level descriptor sheets. They will use the sheets (with the help of an adult) to determine which level they feel their writing deserves.
They will then use the sheets to give themselves targets i.e. things from the descriptors that they have not used in their writing will become their targets.
The Year 5 children will then re-write the piece of writing using their targets to improve it. We are not going to ask the Year 6 children to re-write their work as they have a lot of other homework, but if they do want to do this it is a very worthwhile exercise.

Numeracy
This week Miss Wright’s and Mrs Morgan’s groups will be looking at Probability and Line Graphs.
They will classify events based on the degrees of likelihood and recognize the distinction between ‘impossible’, ‘unlikely’, ‘likely’, and ‘certain’. They will also draw and interpret line graphs using probability investigations.
Try these websites for a head start…
http://www.e-gfl.org/e-gfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/teacher/other/spark/playcards/gamelaunch.html play your cards right.
http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/resource/prob/spinners.html a spinner exercise where the results are recorded on a graph.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/maven/loudlou/index.htm become the detective in this mystery but you must use probability to help solve it.

Mrs Millington’s and Mr Barker’s groups will continue with their revision programme.

Science
The Year 6 children will continue their revision programme in Science.

The Year 5 children will continue with their topic of gases around us. This week the children should learn that powders and sponges are solid materials with air in the ‘gaps’ in between particles and to make careful observations of materials and to explain these using scientific knowledge and understanding.

Here I Am
This week in Here I Am we will be discussing the Easter Story and performing our own dramas. A selection of the dramas will be performed in the Easter Service which will take place in the last week of term.

Topic
Topic this week will used to plan the charity fund raising afternoon which will take place next Tuesday. The children will have time to plan and design their stalls in order for the fundraising to run smoothly.

That’s all for this week, until the next time,

take care

Year 5/6 Team.

Week Beginning 3rd March 2008

Hi everyone and welcome to this week's blogspot.

Firstly we would like to say thank you to the Year 6 children who were really well behaved on the away day with the staff from St Gregory's, they made a really good first impression. The Year 5's were also really well behaved in school with Miss Wright, thank you children.


This week Mrs Morgan will be on a first aid course on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Mrs Morgan's class will be taught by Mrs Woodcock.


As you are probably aware the children have been fundraising for the past few weeks on behalf of the Nugent Care Society. This week on Thursday the Year 3 and 4 children will be holding a fundraising afternoon on behalf of the charity. The whole school will be able to join in and the children are allowed to bring money on the day to take part in the activities.
There will also be a second hand book sale in school so any old books that you have will be much appreciated.
The Year 5/6 children will be holding their fundraising afternoon in the last week of term, before Easter.


On Tuesday this week the Year 5 children will be making their First Reconciliation. They will spend the day up at church doing activities, there will be a service for the children and their families at 2.30pm. There will be a creche for those parents who have other children at school as we expect the mass to finish at 3.30pm.


Because of the Reconciliation Day the first week of booster for Literacy and Science will have to be cancelled as Mrs Millington and Miss Wright will be at church. Numeracy booster will still take place on Wednesday even though Mrs Morgan will not be in school, it will be run by Mrs Harding.


Ready for this weeks curriculum.....?


Literacy
The children did some fantastic work on The Highwayman last week and will be continuing this week.
They wrote letters and did art work for the PAN art project with Mrs Clancy and the finished product was amazing.
This week they will look at Newspaper Reports and will be writing a newspaper report about the death of Bess and The Highway man.
Take a look at these websites on newspaper reports
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/revision_bites/non_fiction1.shtml
http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishD9.htm


Numeracy

This week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will change over, Miss Wright's group will look at dividing HTU by U and Mrs Morgan's group will be working on percentages.

Mrs Morgan's group will learn how to find 50% 10% and 1% of a number and by using these facts be able to find other percentages of numbers. By the end of the week the children:-
MUST be able to find 50% of a number.
SHOULD be able to find 10% and 1% of a number.
COULD relate these facts to find other percentages of numbers.

Try these websites:-
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/maths/caerphilly/percentages/eng/ explanation of percentages.
http://www.tre.ngfl.gov.uk/server.php?request=cmVzb3VyY2UuZnVsbHZpZXc=&resourceId=11507 scroll down to the Percentimator, it gives questions to practice with.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/percentages/index.htm find percentages in 'real life' situations.

Miss Wright's group will be dividing HTU by U, firstly using informal written methods and then moving on to formal written methods. Remember the key to being able to divide is to know your tables inside out so keep practising.
By the end of the week the children:-
MUST be able to multiply HTU by U using an informal method.
SHOULD be able to multiply HTU by U using a formal written method.
COULD relate division to multiplication and be able to see the links between the two.
Try these websites:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/division/mental/flash4.shtml warm up your brain by practising dividing TU xU.
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/bingo/bingo1-3.html have some fun playing division bingo.


Mrs Millington's and Mrs Barker's group will continue with their revision programme.

Science
The Year 6 children will continue with their science revision. The Year 5 children will continue their work on gases all around us.
The children will learn:
that air has weight and is all around us and to explain phenomena related to air in terms of scientific knowledge and understanding.
The children often think that air is nothing so they will be thinking of ways to prove that air is all around us e.g. making kites, they will then be testing out their ideas.

There are still some outstanding permission slips for the Year 5 Reconciliation away day. Please ensure your child's slip has been sent into school or we will not be able to take them to church. Thank you

We will be holding a parent's meeting next Tuesday for the parents of our Year 6 children. The purpose of the meeting will be to give you ideas of how you can help your child through their SAT's. If you wish to attend please return the slip so we know how many parents to expect. Thank you.

That's all for this week, take care.

Year 5/6 Team