Welcome to Class Five
We are pleased to welcome you to the Class 5 page. The main need-to-know information can be found here including up to date information about the curriculum your child will be taught, as the year progresses.
If you have a query, you can email at admin.grange@schools.sefton.gov.uk where your email will be forwarded to the appropriate staff member.
Your teaching team this year will be:
Teacher - Miss Higgins
Teaching Assistant - Miss Furlong (Mon-Thurs)
Teaching Assistant - Miss Faragher (Mon-Weds)
Spring Term Learning
Class 5 trip to Tatton Park will take place on Wednesday 8th February 2023. Further details will be provided closer to the time.
During the Spring term, our class topic will be 'Anglo-Saxons and Vikings’ as part of our History curriculum. We will learn to compare sources of information available for the study of this period of history and make comparisons between aspects of history and the present day. As a class, we will learn to understand that the type of information available depends on the period of time and the how we can evaluate the usefulness of a variety of sources. We will develop our ability to organise and communicate our knowledge in different ways.
In English, for the first half term we will be using the text 'Beowulf’ by Michael Morpurgo which links to the History curriculum with our study of Anglo Saxons. Through the understanding of the text, we will produce several pieces of short writing including dialogue, letters of advice and descriptions. Longer writing opportunities will include a missing chapter and our own version of an epic. In the second half of the term, will be using the novel ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ written by Cressida Cowell. We will hold discussions in class about whether dragons ever existed and write a set of instructions for how to trap a dragon.
In Maths, we will be carrying on developing our knowledge of fractions from the autumn term with a focus on adding and subtracting fractions including where the denominators are different. We will also be learning to multiply numbers up to 4 digits by 1 or 2-digit numbers using a formal written method, and using a formal written method to divide numbers up to 4 digits by 1 digit and explaining remainders. Then we shall increase our knowledge of fractions by learning to multiply fractions and calculating fractions of amounts. We will then explore the relationship between decimals and percentage by relating them to our place value knowledge and learn fraction equivalents. We will end the term by learning to measure and calculate perimeter and area of composite rectilinear shapes before using line graphs and interpreting data from tables including time tables.
In Science, we will continue own learning from the autumn term by finishing our topic of ‘Living Things and their Habitats’. We will look in more detail about how flowering plants reproduce before comparing the life cycles of different animal groups. Our next Science topic will be ‘Earth and Space’ where we will learn to describe the movement of the Earth in relation to the Sun and of the moon relative to Earth. We will complete practical activities to use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and why it appears that the Sun moves across the sky.
PE this half term will happen twice a week which they will need a Grange PE kit which comprises of a red t-shirt, black shorts and trainers (for outdoor PE) and black pumps (for indoor PE). On a Monday, children will learn the skills of netball with Miss Turpin and on a Thursday children will have the privilege of developing their gymnastics skills with the help of the coaches at Beth Tweddle gymnastics.
In Computing, children will have 2 components to their lessons. A Digital Literacy (e-Safety) starter and a main unit. The e-Safety unit children will learn about in the first half of this term is ‘Online Bullying’ followed by ‘Self-Image and Identity’. In the main unit of learning, children will complete a branch of Computer Science called Coding. They will learn to use numbers to set or change an object’s properties including its position on screen, the direction in which it moves and the speed. They will go on to apply their knowledge of randomised code by making conditional events to make a game.
In Music, children will be taught through the platform 'Charanga'. All the learning is focused around one song: Blackbird by The Beetles. Charanga presents an integrated approach to music where games, the dimensions of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch etc), singing and playing instruments are all linked. They will also learn to compose rhythms from an increasing aural memory and be exposed to many pieces from the ABRSM 100 list.
In Art, children will be focusing on 3D skills including the use of clay slabs. Our artist study this term will be Van Gogh and we will create our own pieces of art work in the style of him.
In RE, children will be exploring the question ‘What does it mean to be a Muslim in Britain today?’ This unit enables the children to learn in depth from different religious and spiritual ways of life about being a follower of the Muslim religion. We will explore the five pillars of Islam and the importance of these to Muslim believers. We will gain a greater understanding of Islam and what we can learn from its beliefs, values and ideas.
In DT, children will take part in an outdoor cookery session on our class trip to Tatton Park. This will be a part of our DT topic of ‘Food culture and seasonality’.
In PSCHE, the two units we will cover this term are ‘Healthy bodies, healthy minds’ and ‘Caring and responsibility’.
Children will still continue their learning of the foreign language 'Spanish' including learning about the weather.
Homework
At the Grange we believe that it is crucial to work in partnership with parents and carers. There is an expectation that you will support us by ensuring that your child completes the tasks we set as homework.
Obviously the level of engagement will depend on your child's age but we expect you take an active part in all aspects of homework and, where necessary, indicate that you have monitored the completion of it (e.g signing the Home/School Reading Record Book.) The routines of reading every day, learning spellings and multiplication tables etc. can be great fun and very reading for all concerned. best results are achieved when homework is not done at the last minute but has a fixed time in a child's established routine. Short, sharp periods of activity are preferable to prolonged periods of study where concentration can be lost.
Effective learning and consolidation of learning cannot happen in an environment with lots of distractions (e.g. television etc.) Please give some thought to where your child works at home.