We hope you have had a fantastic summer break and are looking forward to a new year of learning!

 

Our first class book this year is called The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf.

'There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it. He's a refugee who's run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help ...

That's where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we've come up with a plan...'

We will follow a group of four friends as they try to befriend the new boy in their class and refuse to believe the rumours other children are spreading about him. This story will help us to unlock our empathy skills as we create our own diary entries, newspaper reports and character descriptions.

In maths, we will be building our knowledge of increasingly larger numbers in place value before using these numbers in context in addition and subtraction. Our Year 4s have their Multiplication Tables Check this year, so we will also be practicing our times tables – make sure you’re also practicing at home on Times Tables Rockstars!

Our science topic for our Year 4s is digestion, where we will explore how our bodies break down food and the role our teeth play. Our Year 5s will look at mixtures and separation where we will conduct our own investigations on sieving, filtering and evaporation.

In history, our Year 4s will travel back in time to millions of years ago by looking at the Stone Age before exploring the Bronze and Iron Ages, whilst our Year 5s have a look at more recent history in their World War Two topic. In geography, Year 4 will expand their knowledge of Europe by exploring different climate zones and biomes and Year 5 will be heading over to the Americas to look at volcanoes and earthquakes.

In PE, we will be completing some Outdoor Adventurous Activities (OAA) and tackling invasion games in football. Our PE day will be communicated to parents at the beginning of the year via text message. Please make sure you come to school in weather-appropriate outdoor kit on our PE day.

How can I help my child at home?

Make sure you read with your child at least 5 times per week.

Help your child to complete their weekly spelling and handwriting homework to develop key skills

Ensure your child completes 20 minutes of Times Tables Rockstars each week to develop fluency and accuracy. Our Year 4s will complete their Multiplication Tables Check this year, so please make sure you practice as much as possible.

 

Please make sure you complete your written and timetables homework weekly, five reads every week, arrive in the correct PE kit and have an attendance of 96% or above to be ‘In It To Win It’!

We are looking forward to a fantastic start to the year together in 4/5M and we hope to continue to:

   'Be the Best we can Be'!