Highlights of the week beginning : 20^th May

• In literacy this week we have all completed a short auto-biography of our lives. We focused on using a range of difference sentence openers to make our writing interesting, and on showing use of a wider range of punctuation marks.
• We have also spent a lot of this week working on an enquiry about our perfect land. We had to design our own perfect natural environment which we drew and coloured using water-colours. After this, we were told that our family and friends had to move to this environment for a while, and we were asked to consider what we would need to survive. The main points we discussed were food, water and shelter. We drew what we needed and stuck these onto our environment. Finally, we were told that we had to live in this place for 50 years – which is a long time! We had to carefully consider what else we might need for this extended period of time. Ask your child what their world was like, and what their necessities were.
• We have completed a few mathematical investigations in class this week, and the children showed how much their reasoning and justifying skills have developed, which was pleasing to see.
• As you will know from the letter your child brought home yesterday, Mr Clark will be teaching Drake Class after half-term as I will be on maternity leave. I have had a super year teaching Drake – they are a wonderful bunch and have all worked so hard! So thank you for a very enjoyable year everyone! Keep working hard.

As we have had such a busy half term with assessments and SATs we are not setting any homework the next week. After the holidays Mr Barber and Mr Clark will be setting a homework project, and maths homework will continue as normal. So take this time to enjoy your half term! Remember to read regularly throughout the holidays, and you can of course make use of the activities on interactive essentials.

Highlights of the week beginning Monday 13th May:

• Our Year 6’s have been working extremely hard this week completing their SATs tests. They all put in 100% effort and tried their very best – well done to you all.
• Year 5 have enjoyed some extra PE this week, and in our Year 5 only sessions we have focused on developing our writing skills.
• We have spent some time this week revising and learning some key French vocabulary, which we shall be continuing with next week. See if your child can share any of this vocabulary with you!
• In our enquiry work this week most of us have finished our information poster explaining how micro-organisms are used in food and drink production.
• We have also started working on gathering information for us to write our own autobiographies. We had a lovely sharing session where some of us shared some funny memories we have – which made us all laugh!

As we have had such a ‘different’ week this week, and both year groups have worked extremely hard so we have not set any homework this week. We are hoping that as many of you as possible will be able to come and support the school by attending the Spring into Summer Fete this weekend (Saturday 11am – 2pm). Our class are running the ‘Balloons in a Car’ stall, so please come and support us! Thank you to all of those who have returned their slips saying they can help with running the stall for a time. If anyone else is able to, please just come to our stall tomorrow- the more the merrier!

Please do ensure that you are reading regularly, as always, and don’t forget that there are maths activities on Interactive Resources for you to look at if you have time.

Highlights of the week beginning Tuesday 7^th May:

• In literacy, we have revised similes and metaphors and created a simile alphabet which is on display in our classroom. We have also spent some time revising key grammatical terms.
• In our enquiry work this week we have used the computers to produce an information poster explaining how micro-organisms are used in food and drink production.
• We listened to the last few books reviews this week which continued to be of a very high standard. Our feedback certificates have been sent home with us today (Friday)
• Next week both Year 5 and Year 6 will be having some extra physical activity, so everyone needs to have their PE kit in school EVERYDAY next week, otherwise they may not be able to take part.
• Homework this week is different for each Year group:

Year 5

This week your child has been given two pieces of homework to complete by next Thursday.

1. Spellings. A new set of words can be found in your child’s spelling book.
2. A piece of maths homework. Please note that no mental maths homework has been set this week.

Year 6

As you will be aware next week is SATs week so in order to help our Year 6’s be as prepared and as calm as possible, we have not set the Year 6’s any homework this week. Instead, we would like them to ensure they are prepared for next week by:

• Getting enough sleep!
• Making sure you have a good breakfast each morning, and most importantly
• DO NOT WORRY!

You have all been working very hard and have made great progress. Next week is a super opportunity to show how marvellous you are! So have a restful weekend, and do not worry- all we ask is that you do your best, the same as every other day in school.

Highlights of the week beginning 29th April:

• In literacy, we have all produced our neat copies of our original stories. We created a front cover on the computer and have backed our work ourselves. We shared our stories with Da Gama class on Friday morning, and they enjoyed listening to them.
• In our enquiry work this week we have continued learning about micro-organisms. We carried out some research about how micro-organisms are useful in food and drink production, and we found out some very interesting facts! We have discovered that micro-organisms play a very important role in helping to produce many of the foods that we enjoy eating.
• We also planned and carried out an experiment which helped us to see micro-organisms in action. The experiment included use of sugar, yeast, a balloon and a plastic bottle. Ask your child if they can explain the experiment, and describe the reaction that took place.
• On Friday we also listened to each other’s book reviews. Our presentation skills have developed well since our last presentation, and we are all becoming more confident in speaking in front of the whole class. It was a pleasure to listen to the children’s favourite books and to see how much effort some people had put into their homework.
• Finally, we spent an afternoon begin creative as we invented our own imaginary creatures. We had some criteria that we had to follow and each of us created a truly imaginative and individual creature! Ask your child what their creation was called and what characteristics it had.

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Our scores have improved this week as we are back into school mode! Keep practicing!

Other Homework:

1. You will find a piece of maths homework in your child’s homework folder which consolidates some of the learning we have been doing in class.
2. Literacy homework for this week is a new set of spellings, which can be found in your child’s spelling book.

Highlights of the week beginning 22nd April:

• In literacy, we have all written an original story which we have self-edited, and are now working on producing a neat copy which we can share with other children. We have enjoyed writing these, and the stories show how well our writing skills have developed this year! We are very proud of our writing.
• We have all visited the chicks over the last week, and have had a chance to hold them if we wanted to. Some of us were ‘risk takers’ as we were a little uncertain about handling a chick, but we gave it a try! They have grown considerably over the last week, and they are now trying to fly! We will put some photographs of this up on our class page on the website.
• In our enquiry work this week we have started learning about micro-organisms, a truly fascinating subject! So far we have learnt about what micro-organisms are, how quickly they multiply, and we have investigated four famous scientists who studied micro-organisms, which led to the modern day vaccinations that we receive today. In coming weeks we will be carrying out some experiments ourselves in the classroom to see micro-organisms in action.
• This week, Year 5 began their music lessons with Mrs Spears which they will have over the next 4 weeks. In this time the Year 6’s met with a couple of teachers from the High School to discuss transition, and then spent some time preparing for the SATs.

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

We all struggled to get our brains back into mental maths test mode this week! But we are sure that scores will improve next week.

Other Homework:

1. You will find a piece of maths homework in your child’s homework folder which consolidates some of the learning we have been doing in class.
2. Literacy homework for this week is to continue working on the book review task which is due in next week.

Highlights of the week beginning 15^th April:

• We have had a very productive first week back and are all feeling refreshed after the lovely holidays!
• In literacy, we have started a new unit of work based on developing our creative writing skills. We have looked at some traditional stories, and have started the process of planning our own original story. We have created a story picture map to help us to formulate ideas, and we have all designed the characters and setting for our story. We will continue working on this next week.
• On Tuesday we had the excitement of seeing one of our chicks hatch whilst we were at school! We have learnt about the development of chicks, and the long and tiring job they have of pecking their way out of their eggs. We have had 6 chicks hatch, and they are now all fluffy and cute looking, and are growing by the day! We will have a chance to hold them next week when they are a little stronger.
• We have continued our enquiry work based on global issues this week, and learnt some facts which made us think ethically. Some of the issues we discussed were the number of people who do not have access to clean water, or electricity, and we were surprised to find that only a quarter of the world’s population would have a television. It made us reflect on how fortunate we are and how much we have living in Norwich.
• We have also learnt about St George, as St George’s day is coming up next week. Ask your child if they can tell you the legend of St George and the Dragon.

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

We all struggled to get our brains back into mental maths test mode this week! But we are sure that scores will improve next week.

Other Homework:

1. You will find a piece of maths homework in your child’s homework folder which consolidates some of the learning we have been doing in class.
2. Literacy homework for this week and next week is to produce a detailed book review. More details of this have been glued into your child’s homework book.

Highlights of the week beginning 18^th March:

• In literacy this week we completed our neat copies of our newspaper articles which are on display outside our classroom. Lots of children and adults have stopped to read our work and have commented on our lovely presentation- so it was worth all the effort!
• We have started to record our shadow puppet plays too which look fantastic! We are going to show these to the other children next week.
• We have continued with our enquiry work on global issues this week too. We have been looking at statistics about religion, age and food and we were all quite shocked by some of the statistics- especially food. It has made us realise how fortunate we are to live in this country and have everything we need. We will be continuing with this work next week.
• We have also started working on writing an explanation text all about the Christian festival of Easter. We have used the internet and some books to find information, and next week we will be putting our facts into a written text to help teach others about Easter.
• We are setting homework for the Easter holidays today, as we will not be in school next Friday- all details are in your child’s homework folder.
• Have a lovely Easter break!

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Maths homework over the holidays is different for each year group. Please see the information in your child’s homework folder.
2. We have given out a literacy booklet for the children to look at over the holidays, which includes a piece of writing. Again, details of this can be found in your child’s homework folder.

Highlights of the week beginning 11^th March:

• In literacy this week we have continued with our learning about journalistic writing. We have written a newspaper report detailing the new lunchtime routine at Dussindale Primary School. We have written in a journalistic style and next week we will make our neat copies to share with other children.
• We have been developing our shadow puppets further, and after some inspiration from Norwich Puppet Theatre, we are evaluating our current puppets and looking at what we can do to improve them before we perform them.
• We listened to the rest of the presentations this week, and continued to be impressed with the high quality and interesting content! Our presentation skills have improved dramatically since the start of the year, and we are now much more articulate and concise when speaking.
• As part of our enquiry about Space, we have started a project which we will be sharing with other Key Stage 2 children. The purpose of this project is to help to educate both ourselves and others about global issues, so we gain a better understanding of the world we live in. Linked in with this, we have been exploring the different learning styles of children and thinking carefully about how we can appeal to these different learning styles.
• Finally, as I’m sure you have been told, our performance at the Norfolk County Music Festival was on Tuesday and Drake class were quite simply amazing! They performed with confidence and received high praise from the adjudicator as a result. They should all feel extremely proud of the ‘outstanding’ grade that their performance was given. Well done Drake Class!

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Your child has a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. This week’s literacy homework is another spelling activity. Please see the information sheet in your child’s spelling book.

Highlights of the week beginning 4^th March:

• In literacy this week we have continued with our learning about journalistic writing. We spent some time exploring www.firstnews.co.uk , where we chose an article that interested us and tried to identify the key features of newspaper articles. We have also been exploring and collating a bank of useful words and phrases, so that we are well prepared for our independent writing next week.
• In enquiry time this week we have created our own short shadow puppet playscript, and we have started to create our shadow puppets. Next week we will be recording our shadow puppet performance ready to show to the rest of the school in assembly.
• We are fully ready for our performance at the music festival on Tuesday- and are looking forward to ‘showing off’ our wonderful story telling skills. We are very proud of ourselves for learning it off by heart, as it is a long story with some complicated phrases in it.
• We have also spent some time in class listening to our presentations. We have been so very impressed with the high quality of these and have learnt so much from each other. After each presentation we have been awarding ‘2 stars and a wish’. The 2 stars reflect the positive points about the presentation, and the wish shows a piece of advice we have given to help the person to improve their presentation skills next time. These certificates will be sent home next week, once everyone has given their presentation.
• Finally, quite a few children from our class took part in the KS2 singing at the Norfolk County Music Festival on Thursday and they represented our school wonderfully. Well done to all the singers!

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Your child has a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. This week’s literacy homework is spellings. Please see the information sheet in your child’s spelling book.
3. Please practice the Pedlar of Swaffham at home over the weekend ready for our performance on Tuesday.

Highlights of the week beginning 25^th February:

• After a well-deserved break at half term we have had a very productive week!
• In literacy we have started a new unit of work on journalistic writing. So far we have looked at examples of interviews, magazine articles and newspaper articles and have highlighted key features. We have revised the difference between direct and indirect/
• reported speech, which we found rather challenging. We have also started to gather information for our own newspaper report which we will be working on next week.
• We have continued with our enquiry on space, and have focused on learning about how night and day are created, and how shadows are formed. These are quite difficult concepts to grasp, but we have shown very clear understanding. Linking in with this, we have started work on making our own shadow puppets. Our first attempts were of varying degrees of success! We discovered that making a shadow puppet is harder than we first thought. We have decided upon a short, simple story which we will narrate whilst performing our puppet show. The next step for us next week will be to design our puppets.
• Our performance story is improving daily, and we are going to perform it to the rest of the school next week in preparation for our performance at the Norfolk County Music Festival.
• We have also spent our community time this week thinking about how amazing our world is. We have looked at some amazing animals who survive in very difficult environments, and we have all been astounded by how wonderful penguins are! Ask your child what new facts they have found out this week.

Mental Maths Homework:

The mental maths test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Your child has a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. There is a piece of grammar homework to complete, which should show their improving grammar skills! Details are in the spelling book.
3. We will be starting to listen to the children’s presentations from Monday, so please make sure they bring them in on Monday. Thank you!

Highlights of the week beginning 11^th February:

• This week we have had a focus on racism. We have carried out a unit of work in which we examined what is meant by the terms ‘race’ and ‘racism’. We have read through and discussed some information about a racist event, and then we have answered some questions about it. We have used our literacy skills to explain the differences in language used in a diary account and a police statement. We have also revised the difference between direct and reported speech, and have changed examples from direct into reported speech, and vice versa.
• We also spent some time learning about the history of Pancake Day, and why we have it as a lot of us were not sure. We carried out our own research, shared this with the rest of the class and then wrote a piece of independent writing to ‘show off’ our writing skills.
• We have performed our story ‘off by heart’ within our 4 minute time allowance, and now we are working on making this performance word perfect. We have been given a copy of the story so we can practice over the holiday.

• We have been developing our knowledge and understanding of the world around us by familiarising ourselves more with the location of places around the globe. We also spent some time exploring our planet and we all had feelings of awe and wonder as we looked at some of the plants and creatures that live on earth. Wow!
• Happy half-term!

Mental Maths Homework:

We are continuing to work hard to develop our mental maths skills. The latest test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Your child has been given a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The other piece of homework that your child has been given is a presentation homework to prepare. Please see the separate information sheet for further details.

Highlights of the week beginning 4^th February:

• In literacy we have been working very hard on our independent writing which instructs the reader on ‘how to teach your baby dragon to fly’. We have produced some writing of a very high standard, and we are proud of our work. We can see the progress that we have made in our writing which is very encouraging.
• Linking in with our dragon work in literacy, we each designed our own dragon for our dragon school display. Each of our drawing represents us- and we make quite a scary looking class! Our art work is on display outside our classroom for others to enjoy.
• We are still working hard on learning our story off by heart, with actions- which is not an easy task! But we are becoming more and more confident in this each day and are looking forward to performing it.
• On Tuesday afternoons with Mrs Bailey we have been discussing how we can keep ourselves safe, especially with regard to the internet, computer games and other media. We have been asked to have a look at a couple of websites if we have time this week, and share these with someone at home. The website are:

• http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/
• http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/8_10/cybercafe/

Mental Maths Homework:

We are continuing to work hard to develop our mental maths skills. The latest test and practice sheet can be found in your child’s maths folder.

Please also encourage them to regularly practice their times table facts, and the corresponding division facts.

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, 12 ÷ 4 = 3

Other Homework:

1. Your child has been given a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. Spelling homework this week focuses again on words that the children are expected to know by the end of year 6. There is separate homework for years 5 and 6. They will be tested on these words in class next week.

Highlights of the week beginning 28th January:

• We have had a very productive week and have made the most of our first full week back since the Christmas holidays.
• In literacy we completed our text map based on our original text ‘How to Look After a Baby Dragon’. This has helped us to understand and remember the ley features of an instructional text, and has taught us some useful phrases. We moved onto the next stage in our writing process which involves imitating the original text. Together through shared writing, we wrote a short instructional text based on our ideas about ‘How to Find a Lost Baby Dragon’. Next week we shall be moving onto some independent writing so we can demonstrate the skills that we have learnt through this topic.
• We are working hard in our groups to complete our space projects. We have spent an awful lot of time on these, and we are proud of what we have achieved. We have presented our projects to the rest of our class, and our posters will be put up on display throughout the school.
• We have finished creating actions to go along with our story that we are learning by heart. We will be performing this to the rest of the school after half term, so we still have lots of time to practice! We are looking forward to sharing this with you too.
• We also spent some time discussing Holocaust Memorial Day which is held every year on January 27^th. Ask your child if they can remember what this important day is about.

Mental Maths Homework:

We are back to normal with our homework this week- hooray! So your child has been tested on the number skills they practiced for homework last week. The completed test and the new sheet is in their homework folder.

Other Homework:

1. Your child has been given a separate piece of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. Grammar homework this week is an activity to identify nouns and verbs in a short piece of text. Hopefully they will find this easier as we have focused on this heavily in class since September. We will go through this in class next week.