Year 5

Welcome to Year 5!

Hello and welcome to Year 5 where your child will learn to be an independent and confident learner. It is going to be an exciting year full of positive change, adventures and opportunities to discover new knowledge. Mr Craven, along with other school support staff, are here to aid your child’s learning and development. Within the classroom, we care about both students and parents so please let us know if you have any concerns, ideally via Seesaw. I am always happy to meet with parents and families, so please get in touch if you wish to discuss anything. Each day your child is required to bring to school a coat, water bottle, lunch and snack (unless they order a hot dinner or toast).

 

Messages between school and home

Seesaw will continue to be our main method of communication within this academic year. Please try where possible to send any message (no matter how small the worry or query!) through the inbox tool on Seesaw and we will always get an answer for you as promptly as possible. Mr Craven will have access to a school iPad, however, please be aware that during teaching hours he will access messages only when time allows. Other support staff may also respond to you if they see a message and can provide you with an answer. Feel free to send a message at any time but please be aware that if a message is sent in the evening or over the weekend, it may be seen but depending on the content of the message, it may not be responded to until the following school day. Likewise, we will be mindful and give advance notice of any messages/announcements that we send too. If you have an urgent need, please do contact the school office.

 

Learning Behaviours

We are developing children's ability to discuss their learning and helping them develop a language to talk about their own learning. The children in school today are going to be facing huge challenges in the wider world and we are working with them to develop skills and attitudes that will help them be successful in the wider world.The whole school follows three rules: be kind, be ready and be safe. All children are encouraged to follow these rules.

Daresbury’s Learning Behaviours are: Collaborating, Active Listening, Showing Curiosity, Being Independent and Reflecting. 

 

House Points

Children can gain house points for a variety of things from following our learning behaviours to completing their homework. Their teacher and other members of staff can award house points throughout the school day or on Seesaw. If a child has been awarded a certificate in the assembly on a Friday, they will also receive house points:

Special Mention = 3 pom poms

Wall of Success = 1 pom pom

Mathematician of the week = 1 pom pom

Reader of the week = 1 pom pom

Homework

Homework will be uploaded onto Seesaw and will be live to complete on a Friday after school and is due to be completed by the following Wednesday. In Year 5, your child will receive one piece of homework beginning the first week we're back. The homework will alternate between Maths, SPAG or a reading based task and may occasionally link to a topic being studied within class. The homework that is set for your child will be something that they can access independently at home and will be a consolidation of the learning that has happened in class that week. Mr Craven will have a homework tracker in school to monitor this area. Please note here that homework is not to be battle or a stressful time for you as parents or for your children at home. In Year 5, 30-60  minutes is the recommend time to complete homework as independently as possible. If support is needed, please let Mr Craven know when the homework is uploaded onto Seesaw: this way, we can all work together to reach the best outcome for your child.

 

Reading

Reading is recorded via Seesaw, where a reading activity will be assigned each Monday. You and your child can log and comment on any reading completed during the proceeding week. You are expected to comment on this reading record on how your child has read at least three times a week (remember it doesn't just have to be about a school book) this allows the child a chance to discuss the book, author, illustrator, its themes, features and language, all of which are important for your child's comprehension and literacy skills. A half termly reading comment based on progress/target to be sent to parents/carers via SEESAW.

Mr Craven will have a tracker in class to monitor reading records coming and going throughout the year. Please note that if a reading record is lost, as the first one is given for free, there will be small charge to replace it. These details, if needed, can be found with Mrs Staveley.

 

Reading Vipers

Year 5 will be using 'Reading Vipers' during their guided reading whole class lessons.  (Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve, Summarise). The reading vipers have had a massive impact on developing language, comprehension and inference skills. Attached below is a link to the website with key questions that can be asked to the children whilst they are reading at home. This will give you the chance to see the type of questions that they are asked during lessons and assessment periods. On here you will find a link with the Reading Vipers strands with example questions that we encourage you to ask your child at home during reading sessions.

 

P.E

Year 5 children will have two sessions of PE a week. This term PE will take place on a Tuesday and Thursday. If the class attend Swimming for PE, you will be notified in advance via Seesaw (A separate post will be placed on Seesaw also regarding swimming kit). We will be continuing to ask that your child comes ready for PE on their PE days. We request that the children wear a school PE kit with a logo or a plain white t-shirt with plain black shorts/bottoms for PE.

 

Seesaw

As you all know, Seesaw is an interactive learning journal where your child will be able to share their work. It will be used in all subjects from core subjects such as Maths and Science, to exciting topics such as History and Art. Homework and spelling lists will additionally be added to Seesaw every Friday and Monday respectively. You will be able to like and comment on your child's work, which will add to the great sense of achievement that the children feel when using the app. Please also feel free to post about any child’s achievement outside of school. This is always very much enjoyed by school staff and a great way to share hobbies and interests with classmates. Any questions about Seesaw and how it works please feel free to ask Mr Craven. Please ring the school if you have an urgent message.

 

Birthdays and Treats

We will ensure all children whose birthday it is are recognised and that their birthday is celebrated by school, however we would prefer not to distribute cakes and sweets or gifts in class as this can take up quite a bit of time at the end of the day and can put some parents under pressure to provide this treat for everyone. We are also a 'Healthy School' and should not be actively promoting sugary treats on a regular basis. Thank you for your support with this.

 

How to help your child

 

Here are some websites that you may find useful to support your child's learning.

 

Maths

http://www.ictgames.com: Fun and exciting maths and literacy games available.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/numeracy.shtml   A BBC website with all maths topics covered.

http://www.mad4maths.com/ Fun maths games for children and advice section for parents

http://www.mathszone.co.uk/ Lots and lots of games and tools to help your child with maths at home.

http://www.teachingtables.co.uk/ Fun games to support the learning of times tables.  Table Mountain is recommended and can be played in demo mode.

https://www.myminimaths.co.uk Lots of arithmetic practice for all areas of Maths

https://www.mathsframe.co.uk Maths games and

 

English

https://www.literacyshedblog.com/uploads/1/2/5/7/12572836/ks1_reading_vipers.pdf

Reading VIPERS guidance.

https://www.pobble365.co.uk a picture a day that your child can talk or write about to let their imaginations soar.

https://www.spellingframe.co.uk Spelling rules practice for each year group.

Please always ask if you want anything to support your child at home.