Year 5/6 2017 - 2018

Mrs Taylor

This is my 4th year working at Westminster Community Primary School, and I am proud to be a part of our school family. During my time here, I have worked in years 3, 4, 5 and 6, and have run various clubs (including dance clubs, pet party, drama club, SATS Study groups and Glee club). In school, I am part of the maths and science leadership team, and I'm also currently helping our school to work towards gaining The Artsmark Award. My favourite school events are our Y6 visit to The Conway Centre and our KS2 end of year production. I also thoroughly enjoy helping prepare our oldest pupils for their transition to high school. I feel very privileged to be able to work with year 5 and 6 again this year.

I gained my teaching degree with English literature and Q.T.S. in 2014, at Liverpool Hope University, where I had trained for four years before qualifying. Whilst studying and prior to working at Westminster, I taught dance on the Wirral (Hoylake School of Dance) which gave me seven years of dance teaching experience. I hold my teaching certificates in ballet, tap and modern (P.T.D.).

Feel free to seek me out before or after school if you have any questions or if there is something you want to discuss - I'll be happy to speak with you! LT

Mrs Morris

Miss Tappin

Welcome!

Welcome to the year five and six web page! The Summer Term is upon us, and we have a very exciting last term planned ahead!

Our current topic this term is

'Going Over The Falls'

This topic is based on the book 'Queen of the Falls' by Chris Van Allsburg. The book is a true story about the adventurous Annie Taylor, who was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive! We will be using this topic to help us improve our skills in history and geography, as well as enhance what we are doing in our reading, writing and maths lessons. Ask us what we know about the story so far!

Keep checking back throughout the term to see important information and to see our achievements.

Core Subjects

Maths: At Westminster, we all follow the 'Maths No Problem' approach, which means that all our maths lessons begin with a challenge/puzzle/word problem. This enables us to gain a deep understanding of the objective being taught through peer and adult led discussion. All maths lessons are based on the following areas: numbers and the number system, calculations, solving problems, measuring (including time), geometry (shape, space and measure), algebra, ration and proportion. Here's the link to one of the maths game websites we find useful if anyone wants to practise their mental fluency at home: http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=SpeedChallenge

English: We will be improving our skills in both reading and writing throughout the year, including work on decoding, comprehending, responding to a wide variety of question types, handwriting, spelling, word types, grammar and punctuation. This half term, a lot of our writing will be based on our current theme book 'Queen of the Falls'. We will also be working hard to improve our speaking and listening skills; we do this in all lessons, but this term we also have an extra exciting opportunity to excel: our production (Peter Pan).

Science: Throughout the year, we will be looking to use all 5 ways of being a scientist: research, observing over time, pattern seeking, identifying, grouping and classifying and fair and comparative testing. Our topics for the Summer Term are living things, electricity and evolution.

Homework

Our Summer Term Project is underway (see attached letter if you are unsure) - good luck to you all! Don't forget, your projects are due in the first week after half term.

During the Summer Term, your child should pick something from our 'Homework Menu' (see document attached) to complete each week. These need to be handed in each Wednesday, and they will be displayed with our theme work in class.

Notices/Reminders

Reading books and records need to be in school every day.

Pupils should be listened to by an adult at home at least 3 times a week

P.E. kits need to be worn all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays=

Punctuality and attendance: It is crucial that your child is punctual for school and has 100% attendance in order to be a Good Learner.

A few celebrations

Well done to our Heads of School who carried out their role by shopping for the local Foodbank.

Well done to everyone who took part in our rail-safety trip! Check out what they have written about us by clicking here.

Well done to everyone for representing our school well during our trip to watch the performance of The Jungle Book!

Wow! You all amazed us during the science fair! You made excellent teachers, and the younger children learnt lots of new skills and information - well done! Thank you to everyone who came to support this event.

Well done to Ruby, Molly, Kacey & Logan for winning our latest Spelling Bee!

Well done everyone for our drama workshop with Action Transport Theatre! The soundscapes sound great!

Fantastic Awards

Each week, we select some children from each year group to receive an award in our celebration assembly (Fridays). If your child is chosen for an award, you will receive a notification (via text) on a Thursday, inviting you to join us in the hall the following day. Thank you to all the parents who have already joined us to celebrate!

Useful/interesting Links:

Our Twitter account name: @WestminsterCPS

Click here to play some French matching games!

Our pupils at Westminster have a real interest in the real world around them, which is great! We watch Newsround every day in school, but here's the link for anyone who's really keen, and would like to continue learning at home: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround