Class 4. Mrs Davidson Spring term 2022
Welcome to our Class 4 page – we are delighted that you found some time to come and visit. Here you will be able to find out useful information about your child’s learning and daily life in school this term.
Our deputy head teacher- Mrs Davidson, and Miss Billingham (on a Wednesday) have the pleasure of teaching this lovely class of 17 ‘year five’ pupils. We are delighted to welcome all pupils back safely after the Christmas break and what has continued to be – a very difficult few months in the wider world.
Spring term always revolves around firmly embedding the skills we have learned so far and developing our stamina and perseverance in all tasks that we take on. This is an important spring term, as year five children have experienced some disruption to their learning during the past few terms due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, we want to maintain our standards and ensure all our children reach their full potential- but in order to do that we need to prioritise our pastoral approach. Pupil’s mental health needs to have as much importance as Literacy and Numeracy so we will endeavour to do our very best in this area.
English: Last term, we made some great progress with our ‘Recovery curriculum’- which helped to settle us back into school life, as we explored the delightful text: ‘The Boy, the mole, the fox and the horse’ by Charlie Mackesy. We then based our shared reading and writing on a classic novel: ‘The Midnight Fox’ By Betsy Byars’ by Betsy Byars. This term, we have a little work to complete on this before commencing our new text: ‘The Iron Woman’ by Ted Hughes- which is a passionate and brilliant cry against the relentless pollution of the Earth’s waterways through the dumping of industrial waste.. This is very topical in the media and links to our environmental work.
Spellings: Spelling rules are taught on a Tuesday, when pupils are given words, which follow a particular rule, alongside some common exception words. Our test (using different words from that spelling pattern) will be on the following Tuesday. Our spellings are becoming much more complex so they must be practised even more often at home.
Reading: We have an ‘Accelerated Reader’ programme, whereby children take ‘Reading Practice’ quizzes – which asks questions that measure their comprehension of a book. Children are required to take these levelled reading books home and to read for a minimum of ten minutes every day. We have a dedicated ‘whole class reading’ session each day and whenever possible, we have individual ‘one-to-one’ readers – but children do need much more. So please, please make some time to listen to your child reading. Working both at home and in school will help your child improve his/her reading skills immensely. I am happy to give you advice on how to support your individual child’s reading if you wish.
Thank you in advance for all your support at home.
Maths: We are working on our understanding of multiplication and division. This is followed by exploring fractions; decimals and percentages. We will be practising our arithmetic daily with ‘Fluent in Five’ – which involves working at speed to answer number/calculation questions. We are enjoying practising our ‘Rock Star’ tables; trying to improve our speed with our times tables. It is our aim to become more proficient / fluent at applying our mathematical skills in problem solving and reasoning. Please encourage your child to practise their times tables frequently (chanting orally and Rock Stars).
Science: This term as we are studying and investigating ‘Forces’. This will be followed by us developing our understanding of the solar system within our ‘Earth & Space’ topic.
Art – Using sketchbooks to collect our artistic ideas; using textiles and creating collage using a variety of recyclable materials.
DT – designing to a brief and creating mechanisms to make moving parts.inting
Geography: ‘Biomes’ – we will be exploring ‘Hot Desserts’ – with Miss Billingham.
History – we will be delving into ‘Crime & Punishment’ – with Miss Billingham.
RE we will be studying: Mission -in the diocese; Memorial sacrifice- eucharist; Lent/Easter –sacrifice; & Other religions – Islam -pilgrimage.
PE: Developing the skills involved in swimming, ‘Dance & ‘Gymnastics’
MFL: Spanish- Everyday Conversations & classroom instructions & numbers to 30 – with Mrs Brown.
Pupil Voice: all pupils have opportunities to share their voice on issues that they are passionate about or which they would like to change. We have members of the class who have been elected to represent their peers’ views as: School Council; Anti-Bullying Ambassadors; and Eco Ambassadors.
We also like to go above and beyond the national curriculum by inviting STEM ambassadors and other visitors to raise the aspirations of pupils, as well as inspire them in their future careers and prepare them to be successful members of society. This term, we are delighted to welcome an electrical engineer and a space scientist to complement our curriculum.
As always, I would like to thank you for your continued support as your child progresses through this term. I have an open-door policy – so if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress, or their well-being, please contact me to discuss them.
My email address is: class4@stjosephscoundon.org.uk
Many thanks,
Mrs A. J. Davidson