Welcome to Year 5 – Summer 2022.
Welcome back to all the children, parents and staff – we hope you have had a lovely Easter break and are ready for our return to school. We can hardly believe it’s the summer term already (especially after the snow on the last day of term); it is even harder to think that they are very close to starting their last year in Bethersden.
Last term, we were very lucky to have both Tiger Troop and Charlton Athletic community engagement team, which focussed on healthy living, teamwork and personal development. We will be building on this over the next two terms with swimming, team orienteering and other activities. Many of the children will also be attending the bushcraft residential trip at the end of June, which promises to be an exciting, if challenging, experience the children will always remember.
New theme for Spring
We will begin term 5 by completing our studies of Beowulf and then will start our new theme for English writing, which will be Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’ which is not only a fun subject but provides a great opportunity to link all areas of the curriculum, particularly history, geography, maths, literacy, science, diversity and British Values. Our class book will be ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, which itself provides a treasure of rich language from a different era. The subject is also very relevant to our local area, as the Kent and Sussex area was a hotbed of smuggling in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in and around the Romney Marsh area. We hope to go on a field trip to Hastings and Rye to walk in the footsteps of the famous smugglers and visit the museums there – I will be writing to parents with further details in due course.
Maths and Times Tables
We will be progressing our maths work using Power Maths, based on the maths mastery principles of developing mathematical fluency, and which is already seeing the benefits of increased confidence and competence across all the children. We are continuing to fill the gaps left by the prolonged school closure. Please encouraged your child to supplement this with times tables practise at home using TT Rockstars. All children in Years 5 and 6 should be proficient in all their tables up to the 12 times table. .
Reading
We continue to focus on raising literacy standards. Reading is one of the most important activities that We continue to focus on raising literacy standards. Reading is one of the most important activities that can increase the comprehension and writing skills of children, as it introduces them to a wide range of vocabulary and techniques. The whole school has introduced a ‘reading for pleasure’ half hour on a Wednesday, and there will be a focus on reading skills each day in the classroom. In Badger Class, we will be using Charlotte’s Web as a vehicle for this.
PE
This term, children will be swimming at Ashford School on a Wednesday so please ensure that your child brings their kit into school first thing that morning. Mr Clark will be teaching different outdoor activities on a Thursday. PE kits should include: a plain top, shorts, jogging bottoms, a ‘hoody’/fleece and trainers/plimsolls. If your child wears earrings, please ensure he/she can remove them or have micropore tape to cover them.
Water Bottles
Please bring a water bottle to school every day, regardless of the weather. We have access to drinking water in the classroom but do not have communal cups etc for the children to use.
Bushcraft Residential Trip – 21-23 June 2022
Despite current Covid restrictions, we are still planning to run a joint Year 5/6 bushcraft residential experience at Penshurst, West Kent, from 21st-23rd June 2022. We will be holding an optional awareness briefing before the May half-term to answer any questions parents may have.
Our Learning Environment:
