Badger Class

Class teacher’s welcome

Welcome back to the Badger Class page! This page has now been updated for Autumn 2.
What an amazing first half-term we had together! The children did a fantastic job exploring World War I through drama, poetry and D.T. They threw themselves into every activity – from writing and trench model-making to asking brilliant historical questions — and showed great perseverance and enthusiasm along the way.

We were also so proud of their wonderful performances at the Harvest Festival at All Saints’ Church, where they shared readings, stories and songs, and at The Big Sing at St George’s Hall alongside other local primary schools.

It’s was a brilliant eight weeks full of creativity, teamwork and fun. Well done, Badger Class!

Now time for Autumn 2!

Mr Hunt

Curriculum news

At a glance – Autumn 1

Maths – Fractions
English – Fiction: Matilda; Non-Fiction: Biographies; Poetry: Comic Verse; Writing – setting/character descriptions, biographies
Science – Changing Materials: recovering substances from a solution; reversible and non-reversible changes
RE – How and why are Jewish festivals celebrated today?
Geography – Rivers
PSHE – Valuing Differences
Art – Rivers: Drawing skills – shading / light; Painting Colour mixing; Texture and Collage.
Music – Bamboo Tamboo Let’s Play: Tuned percussion
French -Numbers 22-39; time phrases, large and small
Computing – Creating media – video production

Home Learning

All children are encouraged to complete a home learning project to build on their class learning.

Ideas for this half term….

English – write a WW1 inspired Poppy Day Poem; read Roald Dahl books; research a favourite author and create a biography
Geography – River-in-a-Box Diorama, Use foil or blue tissue paper for water, and model clay, pebbles, and twigs for banks, trees, and animals
Science – Chocolate Challenge, test how quickly chocolate melts in different conditions (in your hand, warm water, fridge) then re-set it by cooling — a simple reversible change and a tasty experiment.

These projects are designed to run alongside the learning for the half-term and should be handed in on or before Monday 8th December.

How parents/carers could help

Read with your child on a regular basis
Encourage positive routines
Support with home learning projects
Develop independence and organisation for each day
Help to expand your child’s vocabulary within everyday conversation
Exposure to a variety of text types

Spelling

At All Saints’ Primary School, we follow the Read, Write Inc. spelling scheme in Key Stage 2. Please find the plan for the teaching of the Year 5 units below.

Date	Focus	Example Words
wb: 3rd November	Words ending in -ibly and -ably	understandably, suitably, comfortably, miserably, horribly, incredibly, responsibly
wb:10th November	Words ending in -ent	frequent, patient, innocent, dependent, intelligent, obedient, magnificent
wb: 17th November	Words ending in -ence	absence, silence, magnificence, obedience, dependence, innocence, patience, intelligence
wb: 24th November	The ee sound spelt ei	receive, deceive, ceiling, receipt, conceit, seize, protein, caffeine, conceive
wb 1st December	Words ending in -ant, -ance and -ancy	vacancy, pregnancy, defiant, tolerant, tolerance, relevance, hesitancy
wb 8th December	Words ending in shus spelt -cious	spacious, vicious, precious, suspicious, conscious, delicious

In addition, children in Y5 and Y6 are beginning to learn a specific word list (as set out in the National Curriculum, English Appendix 1) that can be found in the centre of the school reading record or accessed here.

Dates for the diary

PE days – Thursday and Friday (swimming until February half-term).

After Badger class have completed their swimming lessons, we will have PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Autumn 2

Individual photos – 10^th November

Children in Need – 14^th November

Christmas Fair – 5^th December

Links to support learning

Reading

Please encourage your child to read daily for a minimum of 20 minutes. At least 3 reading sessions per week should be recorded in the school Reading Record. Children should all have a school reading book (that can be changed regularly) but should be encouraged to read other material as well.

Read more about English in Y5 in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study

Maths

Times Table Rock Stars (please ask if you need a reminder of your child’s login details) – all children are expected to be fluent in their tables up to 12 x 12 so regular practice is very helpful!

Written methods for addition, subtraction, short multiplication, long multiplication and short division are taught as in the pictures below.