UKS2 Phase Page

Class Organisation

In Upper Key Stage Two the Year Five class is taught by Miss Dickenson and Mrs Bradley is the teacher in Year Six. Mrs Lockwood is the Higher Level Teaching Assistant, and covers PPA time in Year 5 on Tuesday afternoons and in Year 6 on Friday afternoons.

Communication

Homework and other class information is regularly sent home using ParentPay, which is also how you can get the weekly school newsletter, and all classes hold Parents’ Evenings where you can discuss your child or children’s progress. If you feel there is something you would like to talk to us about (that is not urgent), please make an appointment or speak to us. Please remember that while we endeavour to check our e-mail on a daily basis, this may not always be possible, so please be patient if a response is required – we will deal with it. For issues requiring urgent attention please contact the school office.

General Information & Letters

Autumn Welcome Newsletter for 2024-2025

Our Learning

For details of our current learning, please see the Curriculum Overviews which detail the topics we will be covering this year, with additional information about objectives for subjects is in the Thematic Overviews, uploaded on a half-termly basis. These are available in the Curriculum area of our website.

Homework

Homework will be used to consolidate basics such as vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation and spelling in English, and different calculation methods in maths. There will be also more creative homework to support or research topics that we are learning in school.

In order to consolidate work going on in class and help prepare the children for the routines of secondary school, they will be given regular but manageable amounts of homework. Homework should not be taking much more than two hours over the course of the week. Please inform us if your child is finding work they do at home far too difficult or far too easy, and if you need any tips on helping your child with the homework.

We hope that this information helps you to be aware of what your child should be doing at home. If for some reason your child has not been able to complete their homework please let us know. On some occasions (e.g. due to a trip or visit) there may not be any homework set.

• Year 5 Homework
  • Homework is set as a ‘menu’, which gives the children the duration of the half term to complete at least 5 activities. Children have been provided with a homework book which will contain each half term’s ‘menu’. All homework should be completed in their homework books and returned to school every Thursday to be checked by the class teacher. Your child will have their homework explained to them each half-term and given time to ask any questions. If any models or pieces of artwork are created, a picture of this could be stuck into their homework books and/or brought into school for display. As children will have between 5-7 weeks to complete at least 5 activities, we encourage this to be separated into 1 task per week so it is not rushed.
  • Homework will be set on the first Thursday of each half term, to be returned every Thursday to be checked and completed by the final Thursday of each half term. Homework should be presented well. If your child is ensure of a task, please encourage them to talk to us so that we can give the relevant support. If for some reason your child cannot complete their homework, please let us know.
• Year 6 Homework
  • Homework is set using Google Classroom, which the children are very familiar with. Your child should know both their log in and password but please do contact us if there are any issues accessing the work. In addition to this, children have been provided with a red homework book to complete their work. From time to time we may also give out an activity sheet in school to take home: once completed, this should be stuck into the homework book and returned to school. Your child will be told each Thursday what their homework is, and given time to ask any questions. We encourage children to start their homework soon after it is set, as they will then have it fresher in their mind, and will have time to ask for any clarification or help if needed. Homework will be based on what the children have been learning that week or may be an opportunity to investigate an upcoming topic.
  • This year, homework will be set on a Thursday to be returned the following Tuesday. All work should be neatly presented: black ink for writing and a pencil for maths and drawings. If your child is unsure of the homework set, please encourage them to talk to an adult in school.

Spellings

• Year 5 Spellings
  • An overview of the spellings will be sent out at the beginning of each half term, with a test every Friday.
  • We will have a weekly spelling lesson on a Monday, where children will be learning and revising various spelling rules and letter patterns.
  • Please encourage your child to learn these patterns/rules.
  • The weekly test will consist of a mixture of unknown words which match the rule and some additional Year 5 statutory words.
  • Some weeks there will also be personalised spelling lists which are sent home as a paper copy-these are words identified in written work which are regularly spelled incorrectly.
• Year 6 Spellings
  • Children will be set spelling homework on Google Classroom each Monday.
  • It will be based on spelling rules and ways to help them to spell the focus words and others similar to them.
  • The children will be tested each Friday on their word list – this will either be by writing dictated sentences containing the words or by testing each other on their personal word lists.
  • The spelling task should be completed on Google Classroom – not in the red homework book.

Home Reading

Regular, daily reading is the key to success. Your child should read at least three times per week. These sessions could be reading silently to themselves or reading aloud to an adult or a sibling. We encourage children to read what excites them, in addition to, their levelled reading book. It is important that children keep their school reading record up to date, logging the page and date of the book that they are reading. Children will need their reading records in school on a Monday, to be checked.

The amount of time children spend reading will vary. Be encouraging and guided by your child’s interest. The following points might support you when reading at home with your child:

• Make sure you are relaxed and comfortable during the reading session
• Encourage your child to read with expression
• Your child should be able to read approximately 9 out of every 10 words in the book, fewer than this and the book may be too difficult
• Discuss the meaning of difficult or usual words and encourage your child to use these new words in sentences when talking to you. Discuss their meaning in context and other ways of using them, as well as other words that mean the same
• Ask questions about the characters, the plot, the ending of the book and whether your child enjoyed it
• Encourage talk about favourite authors and illustrators, giving reasons for their choices. Suggest books that you loved when you were young or ask an adult in school to help support choices
• Try and make sure that your child reads a range of different books, not always stories, and not always the same genre
• Model the reading process yourself by having your own book to read
• Give lots of praise and encouragement
• Read more challenging texts to the children or listen to an audio book
• Books For Topics Year 6 List

Times Tables

Times Table Rockstars is a brilliant website that helps to develop and support times table knowledge. The children can earn points and keep a track of their speed as well as updating their avatar! It is important that by Year 5, children have secured their knowledge of all times table facts up to 12 x 12, as this will be invaluable in many maths topics and in preparation for Year 6 and SATs. We often have times table challenges and competitions in class, to help build children’s times table knowledge. Please encourage your child to regularly practise their times tables at home, either on Times Table Rockstars or via another method