St. Sebastian – Years 5 / 6
Autumn 2023
Welcome to St. Sebastian's class page!
A warm welcome to our class page where you will be able to find out what we will be learning each term, pictures of what we have been doing and key information we would like to share.
Our class name comes from the patron saint of sports and athletes. St. Sebastian came from Milan and was a member of the Roman army. Upset by the persecution of Christians he used his position to speak to people about Christ and his example of faith led many to believe too.
St. Sebastian lived his life as every Christian should; he courageously faced challenges, showed concern for the needs of others and never gave up his faith. In St. Sebastian’s class, we try to follow the example of our class saint.
Class Teacher - Mrs Tassell
Teaching Assistants- Mrs McGregor- Mrs Cooper -Mrs Kane
- Our PE Days are Wednesdays and Thursdays- Come into school in your full PE uniform.
- Please bring a named water bottle into school every day, a coat in cold weather and a hat and sun-cream when it's hot and sunny as sometimes, we will be taking our learning outside.
- Please make sure all your school uniform is named so we can get your belongings back to you if you lose them.
Parents, please feel free to message me on Dojo if you have an queries.
Learning in Year 5 and Year 6
The emphasis in Year 5 and Year 6 is upon children taking an increased personal responsibility for learning, in order to prepare themselves for being ready for secondary school. The children will explore their own creativity in more depth and take ownership of their own learning, identifying where they can make improvements. The children in Year 5 and Year 6 are taught together for their daily English lessons, RE and their curriculum subjects. For mathematics, Mrs Burch, our Head teacher teaches Year 5.
What we will be learning...
Religious Education
We will be learning about the two stories of Creation in Genesis as a way of explaining that God is creator and how we are made in the image and likeness of God. We will also be looking at miracles and the Sacrament of the Sick. The children will learn about some of the miracles of Jesus and the work of the Church to heal and care for the sick in Christ's name.
English
In English we will be exploring journalist writing using The Guardian’s advert of The Three Little Pigs, with an unusual twist to the well-known fairy-tale.
The children will also delve into the book ‘The Promise’ by Nicola Davies and write a sequel using narrative language to continue the cyclical story.
Maths
In Maths, the children will be learning about Place Value; ordering and comparing numbers (Y6s up to 10,000,000) (Y5s up to 1,000,000), powers of ten and rounding. They will also be revisiting the four operations both written methods and mental arithmetic.
Science
The children will be learning about ‘Animals, including humans’. They will be learning to describe the changes as humans develop to old age including a mammal’s life cycle, gestation periods of mammals, foetal development, puberty and the changes humans may experience in old age.
Topic
In our Geography topic this term, the children will be learning about the physical and human features of The Alps, understanding what life is like in The Alps as well as learning about its climate and the need for tourism. The children will learn where The Alps are and the countries that surround it.
Other Curriculum Subjects
Art & DT- Cooking- Designing and making Spaghetti Bolognese
French- Greetings in French, including explaining how we feel.
PE- Netball
Music- Singing
Home-Learning
In order to support the children in their progress, home-learning is given in Reading, Maths and Spelling.
The children use Spelling Shed to practise their weekly spellings, which focus on the Year 5/6 Common exception words. The children must also complete a maths task linked to their lessons or a maths task with a focus on arithmetic. It is imperative that the children read daily for 15 minutes as it secures new vocabulary, improves fluency and supports their writing outcomes.
Homework goes out on a Thursday and is due in the following Tuesday.
Useful documents
Maths Calculation Policy
Age Related Expectations- Year 5
Age Related Expectations- Year 6
Useful Links
IXL have separate pages of skills linked to individual Year group. The Y6 page has links to practise both English and Maths skills. Pages are then split into skills of which has a practise question for the children to think about.
https://uk.ixl.com/promo?partner=google&campaign=1187&adGroup=Key+Stage+2&gclid=CPPa8teS_8kCFQbnwgodgOIB6A
BBC Education have produced a whole host of materials for KS2. Follow the KS2 link and then select either Maths or English. Each area usually has an information section for reading, plus an activity and then quiz which is marked online. Some aspects require a subscription.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education
A site with both Maths and English based quizzes which are marked as you go along.
http://www.educationquizzes.com/ks2/maths/
A site with a range of information and questions – great for revision purposes!
http://www.icteachers.co.uk/children/children_sats.htm
A revision site based upon the old Key Stage 2 Tests but still contains lots of useful information for both Maths and English.
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/
A site with links to old style Key Stage 2 Maths Papers, Maths Tutorials as well as Maths Games. Some of these games are linked to Memory and would therefore help pupils to retain key information.
http://www.online-maths-tutor.com/
A site with links to Maths and English revision materials, including worksheets to look at online or to print off and practise with.
http://sats.highamstjohns.com/
Maths
These are “old style” Key Stage 2 test papers but are still useful for practise, and in particular, creating discussion around questions and strategies to answer. View on screen or print off for free. Best used
http://www.emaths.co.uk/index.php/student-resources/past-papers/key-stage-2-ks2-sat-past-papers
Click on “For Kids” to access some fun games to practise speed of recall of times tables.
This site has loads of Maths games which help to practise a range of skills.
http://www.mathplayground.com/games.html
Loads of Maths games on a range of Mathematical concepts.
https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
English and Reading
https://shop.scholastic.co.uk/reading-lists - Year 5/6 Book reading recommendations
Bookfinder on the Booktrust website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/
You might like to try some spelling practise on this BBC spelling site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/spellits/home_y6flash.shtml
An excellent, fun website covering reading skills and several different genres of writing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/z7mtsbk
This is a great resource for writing, reading and grammar. It directs you to several websites specific to your needs: http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/engindex.html
A range of English games and activities.
http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html
Activities to reinforce and practise a range of spelling rules.
http://www.keystage2literacy.co.uk/spellings-menu.html
A range of activities and games to practise a range of spelling rules and patterns.
http://www.spellzone.com/games/index.cfm?wordlist=2255