Highlights for Drake class of the weeks beginning  14^th July 2014:

• We finished our detective stories, complete with printed covers, and then read them to the Year 1/2 classes. It was a marvellous experience and a great way to finish this year’s literacy lessons: sharing our work with other pupils and sharing the joy of good storytelling. Java class then shared their PowerPoint of their trip to Cromer with us.
• In maths solved coded puzzles to make hundred squares.
• The Year 6 play nears completion and Year 5 have been creating props to support it. Busy times!
• In aid of rejuvenating our wildlife pond, Drake class created an astonishing book highlighting the many reasons why Aviva might want to come in and help us re-line and re-start our pond. Models, paintings, persuasive letters, annotated diagrams and photo stories all added to the document. A testament to the independence and abilities of the children of Drake class. Fantastic work guys, let’s hope thy come!
• And finally, a fond farewell to our wonderful Year 6’s. What a group of students! They did incredibly well in their SAT’s and have contributed so much to Dussindale Primary over the years. We will miss you all!

Mental Maths Homework:

Other Homework:

No homework this summer.

Have a good long rest.

You’ll need all your energies in year 6!

.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the two weeks beginning  30th June 2014:

• In literacy we have completed our own detective stories, edited them and printed them out in book format. We have also done some cold / warm / hot writing tasks using our very best descriptive language to write about a garden using our senses.
• In maths we completed or stocks and shares activity, totalling profit and loss.
• We used mono-printing to make book covers for our detective stories.
• Our logo designs are almost finished: we have used pencil crayon, pen, collage, paint, computer design and mono-printing to recreate the same image six times. These are mounted upon a folding screen to help us understand the impact that different mediums have upon an image and our artwork in general.
• Parent consultation evenings also took place last week and it was wonderful to discuss with you the progress the children have made this year.
• Our ‘The Year…’ projects were put on display and we were yet again amazed at the breadth and range of the learning that took place.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

This week the homework is a major challenge… can EVERY child in Drake score 20/20 for their spellings? It’s the last week and it would be amazing to end on such a high. So, practice them this week like you’ve never practiced before! Scores will be read out after the test, so go for it!

Individual spelling lists have been given to the children. Previous letters have given details about how these work and the children will be tested on a 1:1 basis over the course of a week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  23rd June 2014:

• In literacy we have begun typing up our detective stories, formatting them to print like mini books. Our illustrations are proceeding well and we are preparing stencils and ‘mirrored text’ for our own book covers.
• In maths we have continued investigating stocks and shares. We have used £1000 each to purchase stocks and we are tracing their value daily to see if the value rises or falls.
• We used mono-printing to create images, mainly to familiarise ourselves with the technique and to play with the medium so we will be able to subsequently print our own book covers.
• ‘Year 6 went to Strumpshaw Fen on Wednesday. We found so many amazing creatures, including a grass snake, frogs, baby newts (efts), dragonfly nymphs and birds of prey.
• Year 5 have been doing end of year assessment SAT’s papers all week.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

This week there is differentiated homework in your homework books.

Individual spelling lists have been given to the children. Previous letters have given details about how these work and the children will be tested on a 1:1 basis over the course of a week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  16th June 2014:

• In literacy we have written detective stories about our animals, using as many ‘up-levelling’ techniques as we can. Our intention is to turn our finished first chapters into books. We have typed them up and now need to illustrate them and make book covers.
• In maths we have been solving puzzles, looking at chance and probability and investigating stocks and shares. We have used £1000 each to purchase stocks and we are tracing their value daily to see if the value rises or falls (just pretend).
• Our logo designs are coming along brilliantly, with different medium being used to depict the logo several times. This week we used collage and watercolour paint.
• ‘Hackschooling’  (which is a style of learning concentrating upon ‘Happy & Healthy’ learners) has taken another leap forward. We have finished our own unique weekly timetables, researched the possibilities of actually doing our activities.
• Year 6 had ‘Zap’ training on Friday which is part of an anti-bullying programme.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

This week there is differentiated homework in your homework books.

Individual spelling lists have been given to the children. Previous letters have given details about how these work and the children will be tested on a 1:1 basis over the course of a week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  9th June 2014:

• In literacy we have been concentrating on our descriptive writing. We have been writing from a characters viewpoint, in this case a detective that we have made up. Some of us have chosen hedgehogs, others foxes, some skunks, but all are animals.
• The amazing Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc) has continued to be our inspiration in maths. We have looked into the golden ratio and searched for it in objects around us. We have also conducted rapid mental calculations using ICT games such as ‘Power Lines’.
• Our logo designs are coming along, with different medium being used to depict the logo several times.
• ‘Hackschooling’  (which is a style of learning concentrating upon ‘Happy & Healthy’ learners) has taken a leap forward. We have designed our own unique weekly timetables and are now researching the possibilities of actually participating in such a week’s education. Some are amazingly creative, with outdoor survival, swimming with sharks, hot air ballooning and beach bbq’s on the curriculum!
• On Wednesday Year 5 went to Strumpshaw Fen and conducted several wildlife searches in a variety of habitats. We were lucky to have such amazing weather and the creatures we found were amazing! It was a hugely enjoyable day.
• On the same day Year 6 got to go on their first transition day to the High School. It was quite a shock for some of them, but all came back in one piece with lots of stories and anecdotes to tell us. Well done Year 6!
• We also had ‘Zap’ training, which is part of an anti-bullying programme.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

This week we want you all to concentrate upon your projects ‘The Year…’ for your homework

Individual spelling lists have been given to the children. Previous letters have given details about how these work and the children will be tested on a 1:1 basis over the course of a week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  2nd June 2014:

• In literacy we have been concentrating on our descriptive writing, using the book Bug Muldoon and the Garden of Fear as a text to study and using gardens and character studies as subjects. We have been looking closely at ‘up-levelling’ or improving our writing by trying to meet ‘next steps’, such using interesting sentence starters (not just pronouns) and metaphors.
• The amazing Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc) has been our inspiration in maths. We have learned how snails shells are formed using this amazing sequence and investigated the many hidden properties of this amazing set of numbers. We looked into real things, such as flowers, pineapples, artichokes and sunflowers to find the hidden Fibonacci sequence.
• We have initiated our own logo design, drawing upon existing logos for inspiration. The aim is to reproduce our own individual logos in many different mediums, such as paint, pen, print and collage.
• ‘Hackschooling’ has been another focus. It is inspired by an American school child who designed their own curriculum with the express purpose of helping him learn how to grow up a ‘happy’ and ‘healthy’ adult. We have begun to think about what this might mean, with the intention of designing our own weeks curriculum/lessons on a school time table.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

Year 5 have writing homework about using embedded clauses in sentences.

Year 6 have work to do for their new High school teachers! No pressure! Aaaah!

Individual spelling lists have been given to the children. Previous letters have given details about how these work and the children will be tested on a 1:1 basis over the course of a week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  19th May 2014:

• The previous week (12^th – 16^th) was consumed by SAT’s. A huge well done to Year 6 for battling through the exams with determination and spirit. When they were not taking place we built bridges from paper, they were designed to support as much weight as possible.
• This week we initiated our Snail survey on behalf of Evolution Megalab with the Open University. We collected as many Brown and White lipped Banded Snails in different locations and submitted our findings to Megalab for their Europe wide investigation into the declining Thrush populations. The birds eat banded snails and there is a corresponding link between the two species numbers and distributions.
• We used our data handling skills to convert our findings into pictograms, bar charts and pie charts. Many of us designed our own snails, looking closely at the adaptations that snails have to thrive in various habitats and inventing our own versions for snails that live in bizarre or highly imaginative places. Models were made and painted, fact files complied.
• The Drake assembly on Friday has provided an additional focus for our studies, and we aim to present an assembly on evolution, adaptation, our snail investigations and more to the whole school.
• Our marvellous bridges were tested to destruction. Two survived the ordeal of jumping, smashing and general destruction, proving to be almost indestructible. Well done the ‘Gold Brick’ and ‘Elmo II’!

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

There is a puzzle involving frogs and lilly pads to solve for mathematics. Do your best to unravel the conundrum!

The final project for this academic year has also been set: The Year.

Children should choose a year in history and investigate the amazing things that happened for their project/display/ presentation.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  5^th May 2014:

• In literacy the focus has continued to be Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG). Tenses, adverbial phrases, commas, embedded clauses, capitals and more. Phew!
• Year 6 have been having intensive SAT’s maths revision lessons, while Year 5 have been investigating pattern, property of number and visualization.
• Reading test revision on Tuesday highlighted the importance of providing evidence from the text we have read for our answers.
• On the Friday we tried to build bridges that would take our own weight, building them only out of paper because it was fun.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

1. Year 6 have no homework. They need to be relaxed (no pressure please) and well rested (lots of sleep) and well fed (blueberries are supposed to be good).
2. Year 5 have an animal passport to fill in, linked to forthcoming work after SAT’s.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  28th April 2014:

• In literacy the focus has been upon Spelling Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG). As much work as we can on adverbs, commas, past/present tenses, word classes and much, much more.
• Year 6 have been having intensive SAT’s maths revision lessons, while Year 5 have been investigating pattern, property of number and visualization.
• In science we have been investigating pulleys, gears and magnets. Playing with boxes of these resources led to some very bizarre creations, our demonstrations with large pulleys raised a few eyebrows and our understanding of these mechanisms is improving.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

1. Year 6 have some important revision homework about number puzzles and SPaG practice.
2. Year 5 have work to help them use capital letters and full stops in speech. This should be written out into their homework books.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  31st March 2014:

• In literacy we completed our King Kong News reports, typing them up using 2Simple or Word to make them look like newspaper stories. They look fantastic and are a great culmination of effort and hard work to celebrate the end of the spring term.
• In numeracy we have been solving puzzles, practising our mental maths and revising our calculation strategies.
• We have been finishing our Greek shields and painting our models of Greek gods, monsters and heroes.
• We had our family learning day on e-safety, looked at how we use the internet, which sites we go on, the ways to keep ourselves safe on-line and the types of problems that arise when texting, e-mailing, using social network sites and searching the internet. Thank you to all the family members who were able to support us!
• We have also been practising our reading tests, and I am pleased to say that the majority of Drake did well, however, more practise is needed to really get those fabulous scores for everyone.
• When we return after Easter break we will be doing some dedicated maths revision to help the Year 6 children with their imminent SAT’s.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

1. Year 6 have some important revision notes for the Easter holidays covering spellings and numeracy.
2. Year 5’s get a homework free holiday, although we cannot stress enough the importance of reading with them! Read, read, read!

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  24th March 2014:

• In literacy we have begun writing our newspaper reports about King Kong’s escape from a New York theatre and his subsequent rampage through the city. We are drafting, editing and re-drafting our piece with the intention of typing it up to look like a newspaper report next week.
• In numeracy we have been solving puzzles, playing with nets for 2D shapes and improving our mental math test skills.
• We have been finishing our Greek shields and painting our models of Greek gods, monsters and heroes.
• We have been recovering from our Kingswood residential trip, an amazing three days that we are still chatting about, sharing photographs and reflecting upon.
• We have been concentrating upon e-safety all week, looking at how we use the internet, which sites we go on, the ways to keep ourselves safe on-line and the types of problems that can arise when texting, e-mailing, using social network sites and searching the internet.
• To assist with the e-safety Drake class are having a Family Learning activity on Monday 31^st March at 2.30pm. All parents, carers or family members are welcome. We will be showing you the websites your children are using, what they do when on-line, how they can be kept safer and the key topics to raise when discussing internet access or use with them. It is a very important subject, especially with high-school just around the corner, and your involvement in the afternoons activities would be greatly appreciated.   

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

1. Your child has been given some literacy homework this week to consolidate the learning in class.

2. Spellings have been provided to practice over the next couple of weeks.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  10th March 2014:

• In literacy we have been studying ‘direct’ speech and ‘indirect’ or ‘recorded’ speech and identifying examples from the BBC news. We have also looked at news stories and classified the various key components, such as quotes, commentary, the four w’s and the h, headlines, etc…
• In numeracy we have been converting our data collected from the Archimedes displacement experiments into graphs and charts. We have been looking closely at different types of data handling, from Venn diagrams to scatter diagrams.
• We have been constructing models of Greek mythological creatures/gods from air-drying clay, using wire armatures to give them structural strength.
• Our Greek Hoplite soldiers have been completed, with the final additions of transfers/decals, varnish and powdered grass on the bases. They make an awesome army!
• The pond has produced a mass of frogs and frogspawn, so naturally some of that has made its way into the classroom! Rib-bit!
• As it’s our assembly this Friday, Drake has been preparing all sorts of presentations, ranging from our documentaries, our model making, Trireme boat ramming games, extracts from our King Kong writing, Greek Gods and our ‘rote’ learning through ‘text-acting’ of King Kong being captured.

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 homework book.

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

e.g. 3 x 4 = 12, so 3 x 40 =?  

      12 ÷ 4 = 3, so 120 ÷ 4 =?

Other Homework:

1. Your child has been not been given homework this week due to the Kingswood residential trip next week.

2. Spellings have been provided to practice over the next couple of weeks.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  3rd March 2014:

• In literacy we finished signing our extract from King Kong, learned it off by heart and then filmed a pupil performing the signs. This was then captured as a series of images to use as a photo-text-acting storyboard. We evaluated the new method and unanimously agreed we preferred it to drawing every action. We also read to the end of King Kong and are preparing to do some journalistic writing about Kong on the empire States Building. 
• In numeracy we have been looking at probability and the language associated with it. We have been working out odds of outcomes and determining the relationships between chance, fraction and percentages. Some of us have been looking at tessellation with 2D shapes to create repetitive patterns.
• Furthering our Ancient Greeks topic we investigated Archimedes displacement discoveries, immersing objects into a pre-measure volume of water and recording the increase in volume. Some of us went on to determine the density of an object by weighing the object and dividing the weight by the amount of liquid displaced. Density = Mass ÷ Volume.
• On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day, decorating our doors to look like book covers and swapping old books with each other. We looked at Tintin books in both English and French and listened to stories being read aloud.
• On Tuesday many of us went to St. Andrews Hall to sing in the yearly choral competition. The singers of Dussindale were fantastic and performed wonderfully.

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 literacy homework to reinforce the work we have been doing in school. Practicing correcting punctuation is great for the children.
2. Spellings have been provided to practice over the week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  24^th February 2014:

• In literacy we have returned to handwriting, reflecting upon our targets and recognizing our achievements so far. We have been learning off by heart a section of King Kong; using actions top help us and recording the sequence using cameras.  
• In numeracy we have been working with fractions, using fractions of number, shapes, patterns and models to solve difficult questions. We have also looked into rounding up or down after division depending upon context and using water tanks and containers to learn about capacity.
• Furthering our Ancient Greeks topic we had an ‘integrated day’ on Tuesday, where children could choose when they participated in activities and for how long. There were opportunities to play with capacity and water, make and paint model Greek Hoplite soldiers, fraction games, Greek Myth Top Trumps, puzzles and word searches, play scripts and costumes to make, story writing and a competition to build a tower from one sheet of A3.
• On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning we have open classrooms; thank you if you attended and saw what Drake class have been doing. The children do love to share their work.
• To celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 6^th March Drake class is inviting parents, careers, brothers or sisters and grandparents to come in at 8.40am until just after 9.00am to read stories to small groups of children. Nothing too long, so an extract of a favourite book is probably more appropriate or a short story. The more the merrier!

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 literacy homework to reinforce the work we have been doing in school. Practicing this kind of information is of great assistance to the children.
2. Spellings have been provided to practice over the week.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  3^rd February 2014:

• In literacy we have been writing short, descriptive stories based upon the events in King Kong. Emphasis was placed upon using interesting adjectives, referring to our senses (smell, hearing, touch, etc.), conjunctions (connectives) to make compound sentences, the correct punctuation for speech, advanced punctuation ( colons, semi-colons, dashes) and trying to show characters feelings by what they say to each other. The end results are fantastic and everyone seems especially keen to read theirs aloud!
• In numeracy we have been measuring angles, calculating the missing angles with triangles or shapes, translating shapes around four coordinates and practicing our four operations. We have also been taking past SATs tests to check our progress.
• Our continued focus upon the times tables has been fantastic. Many children have moved on to silver (division) and many children have now passed the very tricky gold sheet. Brilliant times tables talents!
• Furthering our Ancient Greeks topic we have built and annotated a huge trireme (a Greek fighting ship), the play is nearing completion (with costumes now the priority), the coil pots have been decorated in the Greek tradition and now will be glazed and written about, the Hoplite Greek soldier is being fitted with his Velcro™ armour and the documentaries about the Spartans have been filmed.

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 literacy homework to reinforce the work we have been doing in school. Practicing this kind of information is of great assistance to the children.
2. The new projects should be drawing to a finish. Closing date February the 12^th.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  27^th January 2014:

• In literacy we have been writing imaginative phrases about the King Kong story, trying to create atmosphere and tension through our choice of language. We have also been learning to use verbs, nouns, adjectives and conjunctions in our writing and to recognise them in text.
• In numeracy we have been practicing our four operations to solve calculation and looked in detail at symmetry, parallel lines and perpendicular lines. We have also addressed the presentation of our maths books, drawing up a checklist and taking care in what we do. We want to be proud of our maths!
• Our continued focus upon the times tables has been given a further boost with success in the bronze, silver and gold timed tests. Some children have actually passed the very tricky gold sheet and this is an amazing achievement!
• In light of our Ancient Greeks topic we have been learning about Themistocles and his defence of ancient Athens. We have also identified key areas of interest that excite us and are working on some major projects: one group is building a trireme (a Greek Battle Boat), another is producing a play (with costumes and scripts), a third have been making coil pots from clay which will be decorated in the Greek tradition, a fourth has been recreating a Hoplite Greek soldier and the fifth group have been preparing a ‘documentary’ about the Spartans.
• We also had the opportunity to cook quiches, identify trees in the school ground, learn about Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem and philosophise about the brain and how it changes as we age.

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 maths homework to reinforce the calculation we have been doing in school. Practicing this kind of information is of great assistance to the children.
2. The new projects should be underway. Closing date February the 12^th.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  20^th January 2014:

• We have been learning all about the amazing inventions of the Ancient Greeks, such as the fact they had the first computers, automatic doors, vending machines, fire engines, rail tracks and much more.
• In Literacy we have been writing effective descriptions of 1920’s New York, focusing upon interesting openers, adjectives and the senses. These are linked to the book King Kong.
• We have finished our paintings, titles them and they are now on display outside the school hall.
• Our continued focus upon the times tables has been given a further boost with success in the bronze, silver and gold timed tests. Some children have got onto the very tricky gold sheet and this is a considerable achievement!
• In numeracy we have been concentrating upon solving problems, handling money, showing our working out and efficient methods for calculation.

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 maths sheet this week that reflects the core knowledge needed in years 5 and 6. Practicing this kind of information is of great assistance to the children. Please look on both sides!
2. The new projects have been given the thumbs up and they should be underway.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  14^th January 2014:

• We have been learning all about modern Greece, looking at maps, the flags, currency, population and much more through independent research.
• To complement our Greek study’s, we examined recipes in maths, scaling the ingredients to cater for more or less people and examined receipts for the real shopping that we did.
• We used the recipes to have a Greek cooking morning, making tzatziki, hummus, Greek salad and pitta breads. It was a great morning of amazing smells, chopping, tasting, trying and learning.
• In the afternoons we have continued to develop our abilities to paint with powder paints, using Greek landscapes as our inspiration. Mixing the colours from the three primaries, controlling the consistencies, sketching and scaling our drawings and then painting to make our own impressionistic art was challenging.
• Our continued focus upon the times tables has been given a further boost with the introduction of the bronze, silver and gold timed tests which we will do twice a week. We are competing against ourselves, trying to score more each subsequent time.

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 maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The new project has been stuck into the homework books, based on the title: ‘I think everybody should know all about…’

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning  7^th January 2014:

• Happy New Year! Since returning to school Drake class have been busy looking at the topic that will be the focus of the coming term. We will be studying the Ancient Greeks, ranging from their myths and gods, geographic points of interest, culinary delights, historical events, discoveries, famous Greeks and much, much more.
• In literacy we will be reading ‘King Kong’, studying Anthony Browne’s adaption of this famous story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper. This week we have been looking at our new targets, practising our handwriting and learning to identify compound sentences.
• In maths we have been problem solving using money and cubes, the focus being placed upon presenting our ideas and discoveries.
• Some year 6 children went to the University of East Anglia and participated in a role-play exercise to assist training doctors how to treat child patients. The children we given roles to play and they were absolutely fantastic in their performances in this important and difficult task. Well done!
• We had a visit for a local MP to discuss democracy, the Houses of Parliament and the voting system. We hope the children will learn something about the responsibilities of being an MP and the role they play.

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 maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The six week project related to Kings and Queens were fantastic! They were so good we had a whole year group exhibition and then showed them to the whole school in assembly. A new project is coming soon, based on the title: ‘I think everybody should know all about…’ (Except Minecraft™!)
3.  

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 2^nd December:

• In literacy we have started reading The Snow Dragon. Through it we have performed a lot of exciting drama, written tales, drawn maps and made a huge (really huge) map of the dragons world as a whole class with 3D mountains, forests, roaring fire dragons, chilly snow dragons and tea-stained scroll-work for labels. It looks fantastic!
• In maths we have been studying time, both analogue and 24 hour, looking at calendars and multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, and 1000 mentally.
• We made a great start upon our own model boats, using clay as a plug and casting moulds over them in plaster using modroc. The cast hulls then had all sorts of decking, cabins, rigging or sails added. They need a little more work, but everyone enjoyed using saws (safely!) to cut up the wood, polystyrene and thick card.
• The Year 6’s had a spelling, grammar & punctuation test, which we all went through afterwards to see how we could improve.

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 maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The six week project related to Kings and Queens continues. Projects in on Wednesday 11^th December please.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 25th November:

• In literacy we finished reading Stormbreaker, using drama to enact scenes. We also completed or dream/Nightmare Jar Poetry written upon marbled paper for mystical effect.
• In maths we have continued handling data, finishing amazing charts for display and learning how to calculate the perimeter and area of 2D and compound shapes.
• We looked at five huge model boats brought into the classroom by Mr Clark Senior, studying the different features and collecting ideas and examples for our own boat models to be built next week.
• We had a visit from the Dogs Trust where we learned how to look after dogs, the huge responsibility that owning a dog is and the amazing work the dogs Trust does.
• The Year 6’s had a mini-graduation day at the University of East Anglia.
• The Year 5’s studied code-breaking and The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan, making a collective mural for the library.

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 maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The six week project related to Kings and Queens continues.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 18th November:

• In literacy we completed our stories demonstrating how our spy gadgets might be used. We made sure to make them pacey, experimented with dialogue and used interesting sentence openers. When complete we Rainbow marked our own work to show we knew where the different features of a successful story were positioned in our text.
• In maths we have been handling data, building complex graphs, Venn diagrams, collecting our own data and working in groups to produce graphs for display.
• We prepared our scripts for MI6 Dragons Den, practised our pitches, polished our performances and checked our props. The four Dragons arrived on Friday morning, there to decide which of our teenage spy gadgets should be used operationally and was the culmination of many weeks of learning!
• We wrote Dream Jar poems, using paper we had marbled to create magical effects. These will be revisited next week to complete.

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 pieces of maths homework this week to consolidate the learning that we have done in class.
2. The six week project related to Kings and Queens continues.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 11th November:

• In literacy we described in detail our gadgets for a teenage spy. We focused upon how they worked and how to pitch them to an audience. We then wrote narrative scenes showing our gadgets being used in action, paying close attention to how to write dialogue, use interesting openers and keeping our stories pacey.
• In maths we have completed mid-term assessment tests (which take a long time) and we have been learning about finding the mean, mode, median and range from a set of data.
• We finished our Remembrance Day pictures, putting them in our books and preparing some for a display which will include our poetry.
• We investigated floating using tanks of water and modelling clay, exploring what shapes provide enough surface area to remain buoyant.
• In RE we had a visiting pastor explain their relationship to Jesus as a practising Christian.
• We also did some outdoor learning, collaborating with KS1 Java class build homes and dens from clay, twigs, sticks, string and by digging little holes. 

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 six week project related to Kings and Queens continues.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 4th November:

• In literacy we returned to our target of being amazing at handwriting! We practised and practised, playing word games as well as looking closely at imaginative language and word meanings. We also looked at the two World Wars in relation to Remembrance Day and wrote poems based upon this.
• In maths we have been learning about division, using beads, cubes, numberlines and long division to workout difficult calculations and solve word problems.
• We have been thinking about Remembrance Day and making art related to Paul Nash, Henry Moore and other ‘war’ artists.
• We have continued to read Stormbreaker and our collection of gadgets is growing!
• We also did our termly reading tests and looked closely at our results, where and how we could improve and discussed what the results actually meant.

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. Some literacy based work has been provided. It is information about a six week project related to Kings and Queens.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 14th October:

• In literacy we have finished writing persuasive arguments for Alex Riders gadgets. We drafted them and then wrote them in our best handwriting. We finished by identifying the different persuasive devices we had used.
• In maths we have been studying shapes, both 2D and 3D, building models of them and finding properties of shapes in the flags of the world.
• Paddy came into class to talk about his life in South Africa. He discussed what it was like living in a regime that enforced apartheid. It was a very moving afternoon. Many children subsequently researched South Africa.
• We had our open classroom event, where our books and displays were available for parents to look at with their children. It was lovely to see so many of you!

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. Some literacy based work has been provided. This week there is a choice of two activities.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 7th October:

• In literacy we have been writing persuasive arguments, using Alex Riders gadgets as our focus. We have learnt about different persuasive devices, organised our work and written about the gadgets.
• In maths we have been doing multiplication using the grid method and solving division word problems.
• We made sculptures from wire and modroc plaster bandages. We then painted them. Learning about armatures and coverings was a bit messy and quite difficult to do but we all enjoyed it.
• Over the week we have done two science experiments; making Carbon Dioxide with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda to inflate a rubber glove and making ‘slime’ from PVA glue and borax (with a touch of food colouring).

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. Some literacy based work has been provided, focusing on narrative writing.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 30th September:

• In literacy we continued reading Stormbreaker. A study of Alex Rider, looking for evidence for our profiles, has led into writing a narrative chase scene from the film.
• In maths we have been using subtraction and solving word based problems, sifting for pertinent information.
• We have continued to research famous people in history, finishing our large display.
• We made colour wheels, mixing together the different colours from the three primary colours, red, blue and yellow.
• We learned how to use the schools internal e-mail system, and sent e-mails in the role of Alex Rider.

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. Some literacy based work has been provided, focusing on narrative writing.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 23rd September:

• In literacy we continued reading Stormbreaker. We examined what we could see, hear, smell and feel in chapter two, set in a breakers yard. We used art to draw and then annotate the scenes, informing ourselves through drama first of all.
• In maths we have been multiplying and adding numbers, including decimals and solving problems using multiplication squares.
• We have continued to research famous people in history, making a large display of our findings.
• Our handwriting has continued to be a major focus.
• We have been conducting experiments based on the work of Michael Faraday, looking at his famous candle and jar experiment. We have been learning about the gases in the air around us and the effects of heat and chemical processes upon the air.

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. Some literacy based work has been provided about famous people that your child needs to write out in best handwriting.

Parent/carer comments:

Highlights for Drake class of the week beginning 16^th September:

• In literacy we have begun to read our class novel Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. We have been writing diaries from the point of view of the main character, Alex Rider.
• In maths we have been looking at place value, multiplying by 10’s, 100’s, & 1000’s and rounding numbers.
•  We have researched famous people in history in preparation for our class assembly on Friday.
• Our handwriting has been another major focus and we have all noticed improvements.

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. Some grammar based work has been provided that your child needs to write out in best handwriting.

Parent/carer comments: