Welcome back to an exciting, new year, in Year Five!

As we start the new school year, we would like to share with you an overview of the learning journey your child will take part in, during the Autumn Term.

We have worked hard to create an exciting and cohesive curriculum that will allow the children to thrive! The majority of our learning will take place around learning themes; some subjects will be taught discreetly where they do not easily link to our overall theme. Our first topic is linked to The Mayans. This will be taught through our English, Guided Reading, Art, and Science units.

Our other subjects include: PSHE (we are all stars and keeping safe); RE (Belonging and Magi); Place Value, Addition and Subtraction and Multiplication in Maths; and Computing. On a Wednesday afternoon, PE, music and French will be taught on a carousel. Please see our curriculum overview for more details of the learning that will take place during Autumn Term.

HOME LEARNING: In order to prepare our year 5’s for year 6 and senior school, there will be an English and Maths task set every week. This will be set every Monday via your class’ Microsoft Teams account. In addition to this, the children will also be set spellings, which they should practise throughout the week, via their Spelling Shed logins. A creative learning log task will be set each term.

Please ensure that your check these accounts regularly for any updates or messages your teachers may post.

READING RECORDS: This year we are delighted that we are continuing to send home Reading Record books. We would encourage all pupils to continue to read at home daily, where possible. We have shown the children how to fill out their reading records, and these will need to be returned to school every Monday, as this is the day we will be visiting the school library.  We do encourage our pupils to bring them in every day so that they an also fill in their reading they are doing at school.

Just a reminder, that all children have logins to the School Library Service, https://portsmouth.eplatform.co/. This is a fantastic service, where the children can loan books and eBooks online, to read at their leisure. We would really encourage you to explore this wonderful service, as it is something that will benefit the children’s reading.

Dia de los muertos : Towards the end of this term, we will be having a special day to celebrate our learning of all things ‘Mayan and Mexico’!  We will invite the children to take part in face painting in school. On this day, we will be off timetable and will have lots of creative and fun activities around the Mexican holiday ‘day of the dead’. No costumes will be required.

P.E.: We are continuing to invite all Year 5 pupils to wear their PE Kits to school every Wednesday and Thursday. Pupils will have two P.E. lessons each week (see each classes additional P.E. day, below). For reasons of safety and personal hygiene, it is important that they are appropriately dressed for the P.E. activities. Additional safety precautions during PE: Earrings need to be removed or covered with plasters or tape (to be supplied from home) and long hair needs to be tied back. No watches or rings please.

P.E. Kit: Children are encouraged to wear black shorts and or jogging bottoms; their house team hoodie; their house coloured PE t-shirt. Please ensure that your child has appropriate footwear. At this time, all games will be held outdoors, therefore, trainers are essential to ensure your child can take part in all activities safely.   Additional safety precautions during PE: Earrings need to be removed or covered with plasters or tape (to be supplied from home) and long hair needs to be tied back. No watches or rings please.

• All classes will have PE on Wednesdays and Thursdays

Parents Evening:

In the Autumn term, we look forward to seeing you on parents evening.  This will be an opportunity to discuss this initial ‘settling in’ period with your child’s class teacher, and to discuss progress made during the Autumn Term.  These will take place on: Monday 16^th October 2022 3:20 – 6:00pm and Thursday 19^th October 2022 3:20 – 6:00pm.

Years 5 are permitted MOBILE PHONES in school; however, they must COMPLETE A PERSMISSION SLIP to do so.

We are sure that we will have a happy and successful year; please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have via the office email:   solentjunior@thesolentschools.org

Yours Sincerely,

The Year 5 Teachers,

Miss Cawthorne, Mr Legg, Mrs Colarusso and Mrs Brooke