Class Four – Years 5 & 6

Welcome to Class Four

We are a class of year 5 and 6 children taught by Mr Dean.

Our class email address is: class4@levens.cumbria.sch.uk - please feel free to contact us with any questions you have and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Any urgent enquiries or drop-off & pick up arrangements must be sent to office@levens.cumbria.sch.uk as the class inbox is not monitored during teaching time.

Swimming lessons have now concluded for this year. PE sessions are now on a Monday and Wednesday. Barrow Raiders continue to deliver sessions on a Friday.

Home Learning Information

Homework will continue to be set and checked each Friday - it must be submitted by Friday morning unless otherwise specified. Pupils who do not have their homework in school by the deadline may be required to complete it during their break time or complete alternative work. This includes homework which has been completed but left at home. I recommend bringing it in on Thursday just in case! Each student has a blue homework diary where they record what they need to do each week - there will usually be a maths, English and ‘topic’ task.

Spellings follow a slightly different timetable, being tested and set on a Monday. Students will be taught a range of strategies for learning their spellings but encouraging them to practice daily is really valuable. Little and often is the key! As with our expectations on homework, students who have not practised their spellings may be required to use their own time in school to catch up. I will contact you if I have any concerns.

Reading: Students are expected to read regularly at home too - around five times a week - both alone and with an adult. This should be acknowledged by a parent signature in a reading record. Pupils regularly read to adults and other children as part of our guided reading lessons and in the wider curriculum, as well as being given guidance on their independent reading with suggestions about what to read next as appropriate. This will also be recorded in the child’s reading record.

Online learning Links:

- TTRockstars - We use TTRockstars in school to practise our times tables. Practising little and often is the key to success!

- IDL - To improve spelling, students have opportunities in school to use the IDL application. This can also be accessed from home if needed.

Forgotten your login information? Login information for the services above can usually be found inside a student's home learning diary. If you have lost or forgotten your username or password, please let us know as soon as you can and we will be able to reset it for you.

Curriculum Information - Autumn Term 2024-25

Maths this term starts with a focus on place value, examining the structure of numbers up to 1 million and beyond! This includes partitioning, rounding and the use of negative numbers. Building on this foundation, we will then move on to applying the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. At the end of the term, we will introduce fractions, exploring fraction equivalence, mixed numbers and improper fractions.

English begins with writing based on the book “Way Home” by Libby Hathorne, including a diary entry and ‘missing persons’ poster. Our work in history & geography inspires persuasive writing in the form of a travel brochure and the retelling of well-known Greek myths and legends. The marking of Remembrance Sunday and learning about the history and significance of this event will lead to students producing an informative piece. We will also read, write and perform poetry in the styles of Pie Corbett and Michael Rosen. Core learning in SPaG is interwoven throughout, as well being covered in standalone sessions focusing initially on word classes. Handwriting is also explicitly taught in weekly sessions, supporting our learning in spelling.

Guided reading begins by focusing on comprehension and written response to novels chosen to suit the differing abilities and interests of our pupils. This is supplemented with an additional focus on fluency where required.

Our science topic this term is materials. We begin by recapping year 4 knowledge about solids, liquids and gasses, before applying this knowledge to identifying reversible and irreversible changes. We also study dissolving, including how to recover substances from mixtures and solutions.

In history & geography we study the achievements and legacy of the Ancient Greek civilization. We study the location and physical geography of both ancient and modern Greece, linking this to the importance of seafaring to the Ancient Greek empire. We then move on to examine the legacy of the Ancient Greeks, including their influence on democracy, language and education.

Art is also inspired by the Ancient Greeks as we look at depictions of mythical beasts. We also complete self-portraits using a range of drawing tools and use the work of Carolee Clark to inspire portraits of animals with a focus on colour, line and pattern.

Design and Technology is condensed into two end-of-term projects. In Autumn, we will be designing and making stuffed toys in textiles and electronic greetings cards in electrical systems.

Music has two units this term: ‘how does music connect us with our past?’ and ‘classroom jazz’ with a focus on improvisation with a variety of instruments.

P.E. begins with swimming coaching led by the team at Kendal pool. Alongside this we have a teambuilding unit incorporating a variety of games. After half term, we get stuck in to creating our own games based on a variety of invasion games as well as beginning a two-part unit of gymnastics.

R.E. this term has a unit of work on the Exodus, exploring the life of Moses and the events of Exodus in the Bible, associating this with how the events of the Passover are marked in the Jewish community and how this relates to the importance of the Last Supper in Christianity. After half-term, we explore how Christians prepare for Christmas through the period of Advent.

SCARF explores relationships in the first part of the term with a focus on teamwork and collaboration strategies to complement our PE sessions. After half-term we move on to examining rights and responsibilities, including managing money and the function of local councils.

Computing starts by looking at how information is shared in computer networks, before building on this learning to explore how the internet functions.

French builds on knowledge of vocabulary for school subjects, giving opinions and preferences on these. We also learn a range of adjectives to describe the place we live.