Dear Parents/ Guardians,

The first half of the Autumn term has flown by and already we are looking forward to a busy lead up to Christmas. This letter will give you a brief overview of the topics we will be studying this half term, alongside some general information for the next 7 weeks.

During this half term in Literacy, we will be studying biography and autobiography. We have begun by focusing on Martin Luther King and will move on to other significant figures including Malala Yousafzai. The children will have the opportunity to write their own autobiographies too. Following this we plan to study the book Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah and consider how to write a persuasive argument. This will be followed by a unit of work on poetry called ‘Finding a voice’.

In Numeracy, children will build on their knowledge of calculations, learning how to multiply and divide using both written and mental methods. They will develop confidence in reading and drawing pie charts and finding missing angles on a straight line, around a point and in a shape. The children will also develop their understanding of perimeter, area and volume. Our weekly test this half term will be a mental maths test. Any practise the children have at home in learning these times tables will be very beneficial.

This half term our topics are:

Science / Have we always looked like this? (Evolution and inheritance)
History / Why should the world be ashamed of slavery?
ICT / Research/ Sound
P.E. / Gymnastics
Art / Pencil drawings
P.S.H.E. / Relationships
R.E. / Prayer and meditation
Music / Christmas Carol concert
French / Food

Thank you for all your support in ensuring the children have the appropriate items for school.

Our weekly timetable is as follows if you are unsure what your child needs each day.

Monday / Reading book, homework, P.E. kit
Tuesday / Reading book, library book
Wednesday / Reading book, P.E. kit
Thursday / Reading book,
Friday / Reading book, spelling book, P.E. kit

The children will continue to bring home reading books each day. I check their blue reading records daily and books are changed as needed. It does make a real difference if the children have the opportunity to enjoy and share their books with their parents. Many of the class are well on the way to their first reading hero certificate. Look out for these special awards in your child’s book bag as a celebration of how hard they are working to improve their reading.

Linked to our Geography work on slavery, Violet class will be visiting the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool on Thursday 26th November where we will participate in workshops in Human rights and African music.

This half term the children will be learning songs for the Christmas carol concert at St. Mary’s church. This is on Tuesday 15th December and the Year 6 children take on the important role of reading. We hope you can join us and look forward to seeing you there.

The Christmas party for Year 5 and 6 children will also take place on Thursday 17th December. The children can come to school wearing party clothes on that day.

As some parents have already noticed, Violet class have blogged about their learning on our school blog. We really appreciate your comments so please check regularly and let us know what you think. The address is http://blog.st-marys-reddish.stockport.sch.uk .

Thank you for reading this letter. If you have any queries at all please do not hesitate to come to speak to me so that problems can be addressed quickly and easily.

Mrs Grant

Autumn 2 newsletter- Nov. 2015