Staff
Mrs Kate McDonald
Teacher 5ML
Miss Alison Scott
Teacher 5S
Dear Parents and Carers,
We hope that you had a wonderful holiday. We are looking forward to continuing to work with you and your child this term.
Reading
Our goal is to create confident, fluent, independent readers. We prioritise reading at Nelson School and have very carefully chosen the texts your child will study. We focus on developing automaticity, fluency, vocabulary development and comprehension, explicitly teaching a range of skills to support children in becoming competent and enthusiastic readers.
Our class reader this term will be Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans. In English we will be reading The Highwayman and Macbeth and in our guided reading sessions, we will be looking at a variety of texts including Adventures of Isabel, The Island at the End of Everything and The Way Past Winter.
Reading for pleasure is actively encouraged in school, and children enjoy daily opportunities to read books they have chosen themselves. We also visit the school library where children can select a book of interest to them. We recommend that children read for at least 15 minutes each night, and you and your child can record what they have read in their reading records. Discussing your child’s reading with them is important, and comprehension continues to be a focus in Year 5.
Timetable
We have a busy and exciting term ahead of us with a Greek Workshop, Sports Day, Arts Week and so much more! We are going to be reading Who Let the Gods Out as our class text and exploring Macbeth in our English sessions.
Please note that our P.E. days are Mondays and Thursdays. Children should come to school wearing their P.E. kit and trainers on these days. For your reference, P.E. kit should consist of school logo P.E. top or a plain white T-shirt, black or navy tracksuit bottoms/shorts, school P.E. hoodie, and trainers.
Stud earrings will be covered with tape during PE lessons for safety. Long hair must be tied up at all times, including during PE. In case children need to change out of their PE shoes due to wet weather, we would like them to bring a spare pair of shoes (these do not need to be school shoes) and socks in a labelled bag. These may be kept at school or brought in on PE days only.
Home Learning
Reading confidently helps children to access all areas of the curriculum and we encourage them to read for at least 15 minutes per day. Please note what your child has read throughout the week and send their reading records into school on Fridays.
Every week, the children will be issued with 10 spelling words to learn at home. These will revise statutory words from Year 3/4 and introduce those from Year 5/6.
For mathematics, we will be using Century. Each week, the children will be assigned two ‘nuggets’ as homework. The site will tailor any additional nuggets to the child’s independent learning journey. We encourage that they complete additional nuggets over and above the two set by their class teacher.
If your child is unable to access the internet at home, please let me know and we will provide paper versions.
Morning Routine
The school gates open at 8.35am and we expect all children to be in their classrooms by 8.40am. Children can come straight into the classroom and we request that adults leave the site promptly. Please remind your children to place their packed lunch on the trolley by the Year 5 door.
Snacks
Children may bring their own fruit/vegetable snack which can be eaten in class after morning break whilst watching Newsround. Please remember that we are a healthy and nut free school.
Medication
Please ensure that your child’s teacher has any relevant medication and that this medication is up-to-date.
We hope your child will have an exciting summer term. If you have any issues or concerns about your child do not hesitate to contact us.
Miss Scott and Mrs McDonald