Dear Parents and Carers,

We are looking forward to working with you and your child this spring 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 this term. We focus on word reading to develop fluency, and comprehension skills to develop children’s ability to infer, predict, explain an author’s intention, retrieve information, sequence events, summarise a text and develop a wide vocabulary.

In our daily whole-class guided reading sessions, children will have the opportunity to read a variety of high-quality texts across a range of genres to nurture their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum and the wider world.  We will continue to read “The Last Bear” in class.

Children read independently in class every day for at least 15 minutes and should always have a book to read in school.

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. 

Writing

Street Child by Berlie Doherty is our class novel this half-term.  We will use it to inspire our creative writing and to support the children’s understanding of the Victorian era. 

We will continue to focus on securing children’s understanding of sentence structure and punctuation and ensuring that their handwriting is fluent and legible.   Handwriting practice is part of our weekly homework route

 Timetable

Please note that our P.E. days are Monday and Thursday. 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, school P.E. hoodie, and trainers.

Stud earrings will be covered with tape during PE lessons for safety. Long hair must always be tied up, 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.

Your child needs to have a pair of wellies boots and a raincoat to keep in school so that they can always take part in OPAL play.    

Home Learning

Reading confidently helps children to access all areas of the curriculum, and, as mentioned,  we expect them to read for at least 15 minutes per day at home. 

For mathematics and English, homework is set either on Century or as a task which is sent home on a sheet.  It is worth mentioning that Century 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. Children should also be practising times tables and handwriting practice regularly.

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 during morning break. 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 that your child will have an exciting spring term. If you have any issues or concerns about your child do not hesitate to contact the school.

 Thank you Mrs McDonald