Upper Juniors - 2019/20
Welcome back to a new term and a new school year! We hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and are looking forward to what should be a really exciting Spring term. During this term, the Upper Juniors will be studying a theme titled ‘The Art of Drawing’. Within this theme, pupils are going to be learning and improving their sketching skills as well as using other mediums of art. There will be a lot of time dedicated to the re-drafting of art work so pupils can learn to be critical evaluators, focusing on improving the quality of the work they produce.
This term we will be covering the following areas:
Later on in the term, we will be opening our very own ‘Uppers Art Gallery’, celebrating the learning and achievements of all pupils. Although final details are still to be confirmed, we are planning for the museum to showcase a wide range of the pupil’s art work, as well as some of the photos they have taken. The museum (held at St. Mary’s Church) will be open to pupils and families as well as anyone from the West Bergholt community.
We would also like to take this opportunity to share the homework arrangements in the Upper Junior Department for the Spring term as outlined below:
READING: Children are expected to read at home five times a week. All the children benefit from reading to an adult and reading is to be recorded (5 times a week) and signed in the relevant section of the student planner. Pupils will be rewarded with a house point when they meet this target for three weeks in a row. The benefits of regular reading are proven to have a big impact on a child’s spelling and writing. We continue to appreciate your support in this area.
SPELLING: As always, we are putting a big emphasis on promoting the learning of spellings. To support this, pupils will be set 5-10 spellings each week on a Friday to learn for a test on the following Friday. These spellings will follow the National Curriculum words set for pupils to learn in Year 5 and 6.
MATHS: All maths groups will have times tables to practise and learn. In each maths group/class, teachers will make it clear to pupils what they should be practising each week. Pupils also have access to Times Table Rockstars. This is an online website that allows pupils to practise and reinforce their times tables. The login for these can be found in pupil’s diaries.
Year 6 pupils will be set a weekly piece of maths and GPS homework to reinforce what they have been learning in class.
Additional Theme homework will be set when appropriate and recorded by the children in their student planner. Please can you encourage your child to take responsibility for their homework by handing it in on time and requesting it if they have been absent on the issue date. In the circumstance where a pupil is experiencing difficulty in completing their homework by the due date, please encourage them to speak to their class teacher as soon as possible (i.e. not on the date it is due in).
As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch if there is anything we can do to support your child’s learning in class.
We look forward to working alongside you,
Mr Hassard, Miss Farrow, Mrs Best and Mr Turver
This term we will be covering the following areas:
- Art- Developing and refining sketching skills, still life drawings and pastel work
- Geography- Water cycle
- Science (Year 6)- Living Things and their habitats
- Science (Year 5)- Earth and Space and Forces
- P.S.H.E- S.R.E (Sex and relationship education) & Keeping Myself Safe & Rights and Responsibilities
- Computing (Year 6)- Coding and Blogging
- Computing (Year 5)- Making a 3D game and Coding
- R.E (year 6)- Humanism, Creation accounts in different religions, Understanding Christianity: Salvation
- R.E (year 5)- Understanding Christianity: Incarnation, Life Changing experiences for founders of different religions & Understanding Christianity: Salvation
- P.E (year 6)- Tag Rugby, Real P.E and gymnastics
- P.E (year 5)- Tag Rugby, Real P.E, gymnastics and netball
Later on in the term, we will be opening our very own ‘Uppers Art Gallery’, celebrating the learning and achievements of all pupils. Although final details are still to be confirmed, we are planning for the museum to showcase a wide range of the pupil’s art work, as well as some of the photos they have taken. The museum (held at St. Mary’s Church) will be open to pupils and families as well as anyone from the West Bergholt community.
We would also like to take this opportunity to share the homework arrangements in the Upper Junior Department for the Spring term as outlined below:
READING: Children are expected to read at home five times a week. All the children benefit from reading to an adult and reading is to be recorded (5 times a week) and signed in the relevant section of the student planner. Pupils will be rewarded with a house point when they meet this target for three weeks in a row. The benefits of regular reading are proven to have a big impact on a child’s spelling and writing. We continue to appreciate your support in this area.
SPELLING: As always, we are putting a big emphasis on promoting the learning of spellings. To support this, pupils will be set 5-10 spellings each week on a Friday to learn for a test on the following Friday. These spellings will follow the National Curriculum words set for pupils to learn in Year 5 and 6.
MATHS: All maths groups will have times tables to practise and learn. In each maths group/class, teachers will make it clear to pupils what they should be practising each week. Pupils also have access to Times Table Rockstars. This is an online website that allows pupils to practise and reinforce their times tables. The login for these can be found in pupil’s diaries.
Year 6 pupils will be set a weekly piece of maths and GPS homework to reinforce what they have been learning in class.
Additional Theme homework will be set when appropriate and recorded by the children in their student planner. Please can you encourage your child to take responsibility for their homework by handing it in on time and requesting it if they have been absent on the issue date. In the circumstance where a pupil is experiencing difficulty in completing their homework by the due date, please encourage them to speak to their class teacher as soon as possible (i.e. not on the date it is due in).
As always, please do not hesitate to get in touch if there is anything we can do to support your child’s learning in class.
We look forward to working alongside you,
Mr Hassard, Miss Farrow, Mrs Best and Mr Turver