Welcome to Class 5!

Croeso i Dosbarth 5!

Welcome to Class 5! My name is Mrs Williams and I am the class teacher. Working alongside me is Mrs Yousaf, our Learning Support Assistant.


Teacher: Mrs Williams	Learning Support Assistant: Mrs Yousaf

Communication

Twitter/X: @stmellonsprm

Google Classroom Code - cmeaz3u

The 'Teacher to Parent' text messaging service will be used when required.

Overview of the day

8.55 Children arrive and settle down to complete their Morning Activity / Register

9.05 – 9.25 Worship

9.25-10.45 Literacy, Languages & Communication

10.45 – 11.00 Snack / Break Time

11.00 – 12.00 Mathematics & Numeracy

12.00 – 1.00 Lunch

1.00 – 1.25 Guided Group Reading

1.30 – 2.45 (Topic/Science/RE/ICT/Welsh)

10 minutes daily mile

3.00 Daily Welsh Activities

3.20 Home Time

Important Dates for the Half Term

2nd and 3rd September– INSET Day, School Closed for Pupils

4th September – Pupils return to school

9th September – Responsibility Values Day Celebration

11th September– Meet the Teacher 3.30 pm and 4:00pm

17th September - Family Learning Super heroes CAVC 1-3.30

18th September - Individual photo day.

20th September – Mother Rose Identity Assembly, Whole School

23rd and 24th September - INSET School Closed for Pupils.

26th September– European Languages Day Celebration

27th September - Macmillan Coffee Morning 9.15am

30th September – Year 6 Cycle Proficiency

1st October – Black History Month

8th October – Harvest Eucharist with Mother Rose 2.30pm Food Bank Collection

10th October – Pedestrian training Year 2

10th October - Rags to Riches Collection

9th October - Judaism Day - Whole School Celebration

15th October – Nasal Flu Immunisations Reception to Year 6

17th October - Year 6 Family Worship (Responsibility) 9.15am

21st & 22nd October – Parents evening

23rd October - School Autumn Disco PS1 & 2- 3.30-4.30pm, PS3 4.45-5.45pm

25th October – Last Day of term

Classroom Routine

Please bring a bottle of water to school daily, clearly labelled with your name.

Healthy snacks can be purchased from the snack trolley (ordered via ParentPay) or brought in from home.

Our PE day is returning to a THURSDAY - please wear your PE kit to school every Thursday.

PE kit is a white polo shirt (or your house colour) and grey or black shorts/joggers & trainers. Plain kits please, no patterns or large logos.

Please ensure that the correct uniform is worn daily and that clothing is clearly labelled with the child's name.

Current Learning

Our context topic this term is

Diversity of Nature.

Our enquiry question is "How has nature diversified to suit its habitat?"

During our topic we will be considering different habitats, including rainforests, deserts and Antartica. We will consider how animals and plants have adapted to suit their environment. We will consider how human actions can impact animal's habitats.q

We will explore how the world is diverse and consider the diverse wildlife in our own local habitat with a visit from a local wildlife photographer.

We will exit our topic with an exhibition of our work.

Pupil Voice Questions - coming soon!

Planning

Weekly planning will be available on Google classroom.

Homework

This grid is available to download HERE.

The Four Purposes

The curriculum for Wales is based on four core purposes.

The four purposes are that all children and young people will be:

Ambitious, capable learners who are ready to learn throughout their lives.

Enterprising, creative contributors who are ready to play a full part in life and work.

Ethical, informed citizens who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world.

Healthy, confident individuals who are ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.

Our Christian Value

We follow the ‘Values for life’ scheme this term and our value is ‘Responsibility’.

Responsibility means being dependable, making good choices, and taking accountability for your actions. A responsible citizen looks out for the well being of others and understands we all have a part to play in making the world a better place.

Please discuss our termly value with your child at home and encourage them to share how they have been ‘living out’ the value in their daily life.

"We are to be responsible for the way we act towards others" Luke 10:30-37

Click HERE for the home school value information leaflet.

Literacy, languages and communication

In Year 5 our Literacy sessions will develop a range of skills including: Reading, Writing and Oracy. Each session will feature the following:

- An engaging warm up (Consolidating past skills or developing new skills)

- Concrete learning (Development of Literacy skills)

We will be working on developing our reading, writing and oracy through a range of genres.

We read every day in Guided Group Reading sessions.

Our reading for pleasure book this half term is The Explorer.

We will be exploring the life of Sir David Attenborough and will write a biography to celebrate his achievments. Alongside focusing on our grammar skills we will also be learning the skills needed to write a persuasive letter, we will be writing to a food manufacturer to persuade them not to use unsustainable palm oil in their products.

Maths

Practice maths for 10 minutes a day on Doodle Maths to make great progress.

Each maths session will have:

- Engaging warm-ups (Range of Number work or introduction of new skills)

- Concrete learning (Development of Numeracy skills)

Times tables games - Learn them all here!

Times Tables Games for 7 to 11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

Times tables games and songs 1-12 - BBC Bitesize

In maths this term we will be learning about place value and addition and subtraction methods. We will explore factors and prime numbers. We will learn about angles and how to calculate missing angles. As well as looking at measurement, area and perimeter. We will be answering problem solving questions linked to each area to consolidate our learning.

Welsh

The Welsh language is very important to us. We encourage both staff and children to use incidental Welsh both inside and outside of the classroom. We enjoy our daily Helpwr Heddiw sessions to support children in learning new phrases by playing fun Welsh games.

Modern Foreign Languages

MFL is under review at the moment. It is a section of the 'Languages Connect Us' in our Literacy Curriculum.

Internet Safety

At St Mellons, we promote the use of 'SMART' rules, as we know how important it is to stay safe online.

Please encourage your children to use these 'SMART' rules at home too.

For more information please visit https://hwb.gov.wales/zones/online-safety/key-information/primary-learners/

Jigsaw and PHSE

The Curriculum for Wales is now a statutory requirement since September 2022 for all schools in Wales. It has a key role to play in helping children and young people navigate the world safely. Welsh Government wants education to help our children to develop as healthy, confident individuals, ready for the next chapter in their life after school. Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) encompasses the knowledge, skills, dispositions and values that will empower learners to:

• support their health and well-being

• develop healthy, safe and fulfilling relationships of all kinds, including those with family and friends, and in time, romantic and sexual relationships

• navigate and make sense of how relationships, sex, gender and sexuality shape their own and other people’s identities and lives

• understand and support their rights and those of others to enjoy equitable, safe, healthy and fulfilling relationships throughout their lives.

Please click here for more information curriculum-for-wales-relationships-sexuality-education-code.pdf (gov.wales)

Healthy Schools

We are very proud to be promoting a healthy school. We encourage all children to eat healthy during snack and lunch times.

We are able to provide snack for your children in school at a daily cost of £2 per week / £14 per term. Please pay via ParentPay.

Please ensure that your child has a labelled bottle in school daily, containing water only. We have fresh drinking water fountains, where the children can refill their bottles.

For advice on how to make a healthy packed lunch, please visit: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/healthier-lunchboxes/

Active Travel

WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that easy!

Please support us on our Active Travel mission by encouraging your child to walk, cycle or scoot to school, or use Park and Stride. This will help keep our bodies healthy and help reduce our carbon footprint!

Picture News

Picture News turns news stories into engaging weekly talking points and activities for our assemblies and classroom sessions. We discuss current affairs during worship time on Mondays and relate them to our Christian values.