Dear Parents and Carers,

Well here it is – the end of term 5. How have we got here so quickly?!

The final week of term saw our Literacy sessions take on a SPaG focus. The children have practised using an ellipsis and also refreshed their minds when using relative clauses and pronouns in their work. The classes demonstrated a good knowledge of the differences between a main and relative clause, and had remembered some of the previously learnt relative pronouns. We also used our current reading books to convert short sentences into longer pieces and vice versa before completing the week with some reading comprehension practise based on a comedic adaptation of the classic ‘Humpty Dumpty.’ After half term we will turn our attention to playscripts, beginning with a focus on characters and layout before looking for differences between implicit and explicit language.

New challenges have also been undertaken and conquered in Maths. A short study of regular and irregular polygons as well as some revision of the features of 3D shapes brought our unit on angles and shape to an end, and there has also been a good understanding of position and direction through using coordinates. Upon our return, we will continue to look at coordinates and develop our skills when using mathematical operations with decimal numbers.

There has also been a range of activities taking place in the afternoons. In Science, the children tested several materials to check for their level of solubility, and we imagine that you have now seen the wonderful creations that are their freshly painted Mayan masks. After the break, we will move onto our new topic – ‘Enough for Everyone -‘ where we have already begun discussing settlements and the most crucial reasons for why a group of people would, or used to, select a place to set up home.

Other highlights this week included the French fashion show on Tuesday, complete with catwalk, music and appropriate lighting – huge thanks to Mrs Steele for organising this, as well as to those members of staff who gamely strutted their stuff on the catwalk – and the Interhouse Challenge, where the children almost unanimously provided enough information to keep their brief speech going for around one minute. Thank you for your support with this.

Reminder for the first week back:

• Class 5RF/JM will have their final Forest Camp session on Friday 6th June. Please let us know if you are not sure if your child is involved in this.

Have a great half term,

The Y5 Team