Week Beginning 21st April 2008

Hi welcome to this week's blog.


First all we would like to thank all the parents who attended parents evening, thank you for coming and trying to stick to your times we appreciate it.
Some of our children went to The Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool this week. They went to present the money we raised during out lent fundraising. They had a lovely time at the Cathedral and we would like to thank everyone in school contributed to the cause.


We have another busy week this week as usual so let's get down to it.


Literacy

The literacy homework for Year 5's this week will involved them coming home with a picture that has a titles and a sentence underneath it. They will have to use this sentence as a start for them to write a story. They can use the writing levelling system that they used to level their writing at home a few weeks ago to see what they need to include to take their writing up to the next level.

During their literacy lessons the Year 5 children will move from persuasive writing to looking at non-chronological reports. They will be focusing on identifying the features and planning their own report. They will plan a report to write to an alien about our school. They are going to be using the non chronological planning skeleton to plan their report under different headings.

The Year 6 children will be carrying on with their revision and looking at the different types of non-fiction writing this week.

Numeracy

This week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be moving on from written formal methods of addition to formal methods of subtraction. The children have visited these topics before but they need constant review in order for them to use them effectively and successfully.

They will be subtracting integers of less than 10000 using formal written methods and subtracting numbers with upto 2 decimal places.

They will be using the method that parents were more than likely taught at school, where a number borrows from the number next to it (decomposition).



Mr Barker and Mrs Millington's group are still working really hard with their revision, please look at previous blogspots for revision websites.



Science

The Year 5's are on their last week of gases around us and this week they will be looking at the water cycle, I can feel the water cycle boogie coming on!!

They will be looking at a day in the life of a raindrop.

Try these websites:-

http://www.kidzone.ws/water/ interesting facts about the water cycle.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Watercycle.shtml diagram and a water cycle quiz.

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/droplet.html story of a water droplet.

This week it is St. Georges Day, The Patron Saint of England. We will be looking at St Georges in our RE lessons, have a look at this website for more information.

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/stgeorge.html

Have a great week.

Year 5/6 Team.

Week Beginning 14th April 2008

Hello everyone,

This week is parents evening, you should have already received your appointment day and time. Only 5 minutes per child is allocated, please stick to this time and if you find you need more time to discuss an issue please arrange it with your child's teacher.

The Year 6's are working really hard on their revision and we are really pleased with their attitudes. Including this week we only have 4 weeks left until the SATs. Why not use this time to look over any questions you have struggled with in the test we have done so far. If you take a look at previous blogspots you will find numerous websites to help you with your revision. Keep it up everyone we are nearly there!!

Mrs Millington was really pleased with the response from the family tree homework that was sent home last week. The children really loved tracing their families back and finding out new things, I'm sure you parents were really interested in doing this too.
This week the Year 5's will continue with their theme of Victorians for homework. They will need to use their research skills and then present the information they have found out. Here is what will be included in the sheet that will be sent home on Monday.

Year 5 Victorian Project Homework Week beginning 14th April 2008

Famous Victorians.

Thank you for the fantastic Family Tree information completed for last week’s homework. Hopefully you also learned some information about your family that you didn’t know already!
For your Homework this week we would like you to complete a small presentation to present to the rest of year 5 on Monday 21st April.
The title for your presentation is ‘Famous Victorians’, and each person will be given 5 minutes to present.
This is supposed to be a small piece of fact-finding homework to replace this week’s Literacy Homework. Research skills will be needed, so Literacy knowledge is very important.
You need to choose a person who contributed to Victorian society, and who we would now class as ‘Famous’. Examples of people are….
Queen Victoria
Florence Nightingale
Lewis Carroll (of particular interest to Warrington/Daresbury)
Charles Darwin
Joseph Lister
Robert Louis Stevenson
Alexander Graham Bell
Sir Robert Peel
Charles Dickens.
This is a very small list and we are sure that when you start to research you will find lots of other people.
We want you to choose one person (you can choose more, but remember you only have 5 minutes) and prepare information about their life to share with the rest of year 5. You can be as imaginative as you like with how you present the information. Possible ideas are…
A mind map of facts.
Drawing of the person with key facts.
Information poster.
Simple speech.
Power point presentation
Wordsearch/quiz
Construct simple artifacts that represent the person.
We are sure you can come up with even more ideas of your own!
You will have slightly longer to complete this homework, as it does not have to be in school until the Monday of the presentation. This gives you an extra weekend to work on material.
Please remember that this is only a small presentation and that we do not want you to make lots of resources, and spend lots of time on it. In fact, you should only spend a little longer than you would do normally.

Here are some websites to get you started with your research:-
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/victorians/famous.htm information on famous Victorians from another junior school.
http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/vpeople.html ideas for famous Victorians you could research.
http://www.st-nicholasvc.wilts.sch.uk/Learning/Victorians/FamousVictorians.htm links to websites on famous Victorians.
http://www.st-nicholasvc.wilts.sch.uk/Learning/Victorians/FamousVictorians.htm photo graphs and ideas to use in your presentation.

Literacy

Last week we asked the children to spend 15 minutes per night reading their reading book. This is to speed up their reading. They could have a little competition and try and beat the number of pages they read the night before. It is an important to skill to be able to read and understand and this will help them with every subject in the curriculum. Please encourage your child to do this. We know how busy modern life is but maybe you could make it a family activity where everyone in the house reads for 15 minutes at the same time each night.

Year 5's this week will be designing an advert to promote a new soft drink. Look out for soft drink adverts on t.v and on the radio.
They will use all the skills they have learned in previous weeks to persuade people to purchase their product.

Numeracy

This week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be learning to add two integers less than 10000 using written methods and add two place decimals using written methods.
The children will learn many different methods to do this, this is because some people find different ways easier, so we teach all the methods and then the children can choose the method they find easiest. If you want help your child at home you can show them the method you use but explain to them that there are different ways of doing things. If you want to help them to add numbers with two decimal places then the best way to do this is to use money. Why not try giving them some problems to work out. e.g. Matthew went to the shop and bought a coat for £35.99 and a pair of trousers for £24.49, how much did he spend altogether?

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

Science

The children will go back to their topic of gases around us. They will learn that gases are different from solids and liquids in terms of how they do not maintain their shape and volume
that gases flow more easily than liquids and in all directions.
The children made volcanoes in a previous lesson and they are now going to take them on the playground and make them erupt, weather permitting!
This will help them see the differences between the states and the fact they you can have gases and liquids together at the same time.

Year 6 could try to answer some of these questions for revision. In this week's revision sessions they will be looking at the parts of a flower.

5a Keeping Healthy
Which exercise affects pulse rates the most?
Which becomes fatigued faster - dominant or non-dominant arm/leg?
What forms of relaxation can slow down our resting heart rate?
How should we store and prepare our rice crispies to get the best ‘snap, crackle and
pop?
Which type of biscuit is the best for dunking into a hot drink?
Are some makes of waterproof plaster more effective than others?
Are different makes of pan scourer equally effective?
Are some washing up liquids better at removing grease than others?
Are some makes of soap more effective at cleansing than others?
5b Life Cycles
What do seeds require in order to germinate?
How is seed germination affected by size/ soaking/ light/ temperature/ motion
/fertiliser/pollutants?
What is the best seed design for effective wind dispersal?
What are the possible factors which affect the rate at which frogspawn develops in
the classroom compared to the pond?
What are the possible factors which affect the rate at which maggots change into
pupae?
5c Gases Around Us
How do sugar/ yeast/ temperature affect fermentation rate of juice?
How does the brand of washing up liquid affect the size of bubbles?
Do different soils have different amounts of air in them?
Which brand of antacids/effervescent tablets produces bubbles for the longest?
Do all brands of sparkling water have the same amount of fizz?
What factors affect the time a candle burns for when placed under a glass jar?
What factors affect the rising time of yeast dough?
What factors affect the amount of gas produced when vinegar is added to baking
powder?
Does the colour of a balloon make a difference to how the air trapped inside is
affected by temperature?
How does the type of balloon which is used affect the performance of a jet propelled
straw – balloon rocket along a string course?
How does the type of lid used affect the performance of a balloon hovercraft?
How does the length of tubing between two syringes affect performance as a
pneumatic linkage?
5d Changing State
How is evaporation of a liquid affected by size of container/ viscosity/ moving air/
additives/ temperature?
What makes a good day for drying clothes?
What factors affect the process of evaporation?
Do all liquids evaporate completely?
How is boiling time of water affected by adding salt?
How is the freezing point of water affected by adding salt?
5e Earth, Sun and Moon
How is the size of shadow affected by the size of object/relative distances between
light source, object and shadow /brightness of light source?
How does the length of string alter the number of orbits the ball on the end makes?
How does the angle that light from the Sun (angle poise lamp) falls on the Earth
affect the temperature at the surface (sand tray)?
How does the size and mass of meteorites (balls) affect the size of the crater they
make on the planet surface (sand tray)?
If the Earth (globe) was further away from the Sun (lamp) would it make a difference
to the temperature on the Earth?
5f Changing Sounds
How is the volume of a bell affected by the surface it is on?
What material conducts sound the best?
What material is the most effective sound insulator?
How does pitch affect the volume/distance a sound can be heard from?
How does type of string on home made guitar affect pitch/volume?
How does the height a marble is dropped from affect the volume of sound it makes?
How does the size of a block of wood/amount of water in a bottle affect the volume of
sound produced when struck?
Which material is best for soundproofing?
What affects the note of a string or wind instrument?
What affects the loudness of the sound from a stringed or wind instrument?
6a Interdependence and Adaptation
What is the best seed shape for water or wind dispersal?
How does soil type effect root shape?
How does a lack of light affect plant growth?
How much fertilizer does a plant require for maximum growth?
What habitat conditions do woodlice prefer?
6b Micro-organisms
How does temperature affect rising time of dough/fermentation time of juice?
How does amount of yeast affect the rising time of dough?
How does the amount of sugar affect the fermentation time of juice?
What factors affect the speed or type of decay of food?
What factors affect the temperature inside a compost heap?
6c More about Dissolving
What makes a powder dissolve quickly?
What factors affect how much or how quickly sugar dissolves in water?
How does temperature affect dissolving time of salt/sugar in water/vinegar?
How does temperature affect the amount of salt that will dissolve in a liquid?
Which liquid dissolves antacid tablets quickest?
How does size of antacid tablet affect dissolving time?
6d Reversible and irreversible changes
What factors affect the time a candle burns for?
What factors cause iron to rust?
What effect will lubrication have on rust prevention?
How is size of baked biscuits affected by substituting butter for shortening?
How is crystal growth affected by light/ temperature/ acidity?
6e Forces in Action
How does type of material/weight added/shape/ making holes affect the falling time
of a parachute?
How does moving the fulcrum on a lever affect the force needed to move an object?
What factors affect the sag of a simple beam bridge?
What affects the time of the swing of a pendulum?
What affects the height bounced by a ball?
What features of a parachute affect the time it falls for?
How does the shape of a boat affect its speed through water?
What factors affect the time for a helicopter 'spinner' to fall?
What affects the time for different Plasticine shapes to sink in water?
What type of surface has more friction?
What makes objects move at different speeds?
How high does a tennis ball bounce on different surfaces?
How does the height of the drop affect the height of the bounce?
6f How we see things
Does the colour of writing affect how far away it can be seen?
What colour of writing can be seen best in the dark?
Does music affect how well we see?
How much more can a person see (peripheral vision) with two eyes than with one?
What effect does light have on us seeing objects and colour?
6g Changing Circuits
How does a knot in a wire affect amps/brightness?
How does the number of wires affect brightness?
How does thickness of wire affect brightness?
How does length of wire affect brightness?
What factors affect the strength of an electromagnet?
How does the number of batteries/bulbs affect bulb brightness?
What types or length of wire gives the best speed control for an electric motor?

These could form some mini investigations you could do at home, Year 5's you could also try some of these.

Have fun.

Year 5/6 Team.

Week Beginning 7th April 2008

Hi and welcome to this weeks blogspot.

We had a great time last week as it was science week. We did activities all week and finished off the week by having a science show which was really interactive and informative.

The children came back really smart last week, some braving the weather in their summer uniforms. There are a few pairs of trainers creeping in especially on the boys, therefore we ask if you could please ensure your child is wearing black school shoes and not trainers, thank you.

The Year 6 children are working their socks off with their revision and it is really showing when we assess them. Thank you for all your hard work in school and at home.


Curriculum....
Literacy
This week the Year 5's will be completing and improving their argument and re-writing it as a letter written to persuade. They have worked really hard on this topic and we look forward to reading their finished pieces of writing.


Try these websites to review your learning:-
http://www.kidsonthenet.org.uk/dragonsville/poster.htm design your own persuasive poster.
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/hotel.html answer some simple questions and design your own travel advert.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/writing/index.asp?topic=Persuasive persuasive writing workshop.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/revision_bites/argument1.shtml revision of persuasive writing.
http://www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/nationalstrategy/literacy/index.php?category_id=248&page_no=&preview=1&s=!B121cf29d70ec8a3d54a33343010cc2 points for persuasive writing and other genres.
http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc-home/vtc-ks2-home/vtc-ks2-eng/vtc-ks2-eng-writing/vtc-ks2-eng-writing-genres/vtc-ks2-eng-writing-newspapers.htm understanding persuasive writing.

Even though the Year 6's are revising this week, some of these websites may help them with revision on persuasive writing.

Numeracy
This week Miss Wright's and Mrs Morgan's group will be using standard units of capacity and converting from larger to smaller and estimating, measuring and drawing angles in degrees.
By the end of the week they
MUST be able to record estimates and readings from capacity scales.
SHOULD be able to estimate the size of an angle in degrees.
COULD use a protractor to measure and draw angles to the nearest 5 degrees.

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

Science
This week in Science we will be continuing last week's Science theme of Electricity and Magnets.
The objectives for this are on last week's blogspot, here are some websites to help you on your way.
http://www.strettonhandley.derbyshire.sch.uk/electricity.html a selection of websites concentrating on circuits.
http://www.learningcircuits.co.uk/ a great website on circuits.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/ revisewise on electricity and magnets.
http://www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk/primary_curriculum/electricity.htm
http://www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk/primary_curriculum/forces.htm selection of websites on forces and magnetism.
http://www.brainpop.com/science/

PE
For the next half term the children will benefit from a dance teacher coming and teaching them during PE. We have worked with the dance teacher before and she is excellent and the children will enjoy their lessons. Please ensure your child has an indoor PE kit in school.

Topic
The Year 5's will continue working on their mantle of the expert in time travel. They have designed and advertised a time travelling devise which took them back to Victorian Times. Mrs Teeling then came and did a talk for the children on The Victorians which they all enjoyed. Thank you Mrs Teeling.
If we have any other parents who would like to come and talk about subjects we are learning in school just let one of the Year 5/6 Team know.

Here I Am
This week we will be starting a new topic of Holidays and Holy days. This week we will be working on the recognise section of the topic and will recognise what makes a day recreative, renewing, relaxing and restful.
The key words for this part of the topic will be holidays, recreative, renewing, relaxing, restful.

Thanks and have a good week.

Year 5/6 Team.

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