Welcome to Class 4

Dear parent/Carers

Welcome back, I hope you all had a restful Easter break. We are now entering our Summer term. This half term is an important time for our year 6 children who will be sitting their SATs starting on Monday the 12th May. I have continually tried to reassure the children that these tests only measure a small part of their learning journey and nothing to worry about. I will still be doing booster sessions on Wednesday after school and will be offering breakfast sessions on the mornings of the SATs. I will provide more details closer to the time. During these sessions we will go over anything the children are worried about. We will be continuing with a full curriculum in this busy but short half term with lots of fun learning to be done.  
 
In Topic – Geography: Where Does Our Energy Come From? This Geography unit is designed to support the children as they explore different energy sources and their environmental impact. It introduces key vocabulary such as renewable, non-renewable, fossil fuels, and solar power, helping the pupils understand how energy is generated and used. The pupils will also learn about the advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources and how choices about energy consumption affect the planet.
 
In Science We continuing with investigating changes of materials. We will this half term be exploring acids and chemical reactions. Children will learn how to classify substances as acids, alkalis or neutral? They will also look at soluble and insoluble substances and explain the process of dissolving. I have lots of exciting experiments planned. 
 
Maths.  For the first couple of weeks we will be touching on several mathematical areas to ensure that we have covered enough range so that the year 6 children have enough knowledge to attempt the KS2 maths SATs paper. We will also be looking at problem solving and reasoning style questioning. After SATs we will continue to work through our maths units and look at ratio, algebra, shape and measure. Both Yr5 and Yr6 should now be confident when using times tables; if your child is still not confident with their times tables, please encourage them to learn them as this will give them greater confidence in the following units of work. If you would like any material to support this please let me know
 
In English:  We will begin out new unit based on ‘The Paperbag Prince’ by Colin Thompson with the aim of writing a persuasive leaflet to give information about waste management (selecting an appropriate audience). We will be focussing on a number of grammar features such as: modal verbs to indicate degrees of possibility, building cohesion within a paragraph, using brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis and enhance meaning through selecting appropriate vocabulary. 

In R.E: We will be covering the death and new life unit which is linked to Easter. Please note that within this unit we do talk about death which can be upsetting, if you feel that this is an area that your child will find too difficult please let me know and I will make alternative arrangements when necessary. We will then be learning about Pentecost and the courage to be a witness. 

In ART/DT:  Children will be completing the unit of Sculpture: Interactive installation, learning about installation art, including identifying and comparing art installations, exploring space and scale in 3D art, problem-solving in construction, planning installations to communicate ideas, and applying knowledge to develop and present installation art pieces effectively.

In Music: The children will be studying the unit of Theme and variations which is a common musical structure, especially in classical music. The structure features a theme at the start of the piece, then once the theme has been played, the composer repeats it but with some form of variation. The theme is then played again but this time with a further variation.
 
In ICT:  website creating: This unit introduces children to the creation of websites for a chosen purpose. Learners identify what makes a good web page and use this information to design and evaluate their own website using Google Sites. Throughout the process children will pay specific attention to copyright and fair use of media, the aesthetics of the site, and navigation paths

In PSHE: We will be looking at self-talk and keeping ourselves safe. Children will learn about how thoughts and feelings impact on actions. Sharing isn’t always caring, children will learn that increased independence comes increased responsibility. Children will also learn about different forms of abuse and how to respond. Children will also lean about making good choices with regards lifestyle. 
 
Spanish: Children will be completing the  ‘In the Classroom’ unit which teaches key vocabulary related to classroom objects, subjects and prepositional language. 
 
P.E will now be on THURSDAYS. This half term we are looking at the skills in kwik cricket and Athletics. 
 
Homework- The children will need to complete a weekly maths consolidation sheet. I will also be re-introducing weekly spellings to practise at home. We will be learning these in class but to give your child the best possibility to understand the spelling patterns and rules I will be sending home spellings on a Friday and will be (by request of the children) testing these on the following Friday. 

Reading- I am asking that reading be part of your child’s home learning as it is very important, it not only develops a love of reading but also develops imagination which is essential for story writing. Please wherever possible encourage your child to read at home and bring their reading and library books back into school when they are ready to change them.  We are wanting to inspire a love of reading if your child is not enjoying their school book and prefers to read a book of their own please just make a note in the reading book journal so that the children can be rewarded for reading for pleasure. Year 5 and 6 children should be reading at least three times a week for approximately 10 minutes. 
 
Personal Belongings
Please make sure that all belongings are clearly labelled with your child's full name as we are getting a number of items left daily that are unclaimed or are taken home by other children in error.  Many thanks for your help with this.
If you need any help or information please email parents@smrc.lancs.sch.uk or call school on 01254 812543
Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs Taylor and the Class 4 teaching team. 

The Class 4 Team
Mrs K Taylor– Class Teacher
Miss Thornber- HLTA

Miss Seed -HLTA

Miss Halstead - Class 1 teacher.

'Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart' - Colossians 3:23-24