Milky Way 2022 - 2023

It has been lovely to welcome the children back after the Easter holidays and to hear their news.

Mrs Walker, Mrs Coleman, and Mr Thomas continue to support the children.

We would like to give you a brief outline of what your child will be learning during the Spring Term in the Milky Way to help you to support your child at home.

We are covering a lot of revision in Maths and SPAG to prepare the Year 6 children as much as possible for their STATS papers in May as well as lots of varied reading comprehensions to strengthen their skills. All of the children are responding well and have a very positive attitude to the assessments.

Reading

Please encourage your child to read to you each night from a variety of books such as stories, information books and poetry. In Year 4/5 please hear them read each day and sign their reading diary. For Y6 please hear your child read at least twice a week and sign their diary. As well as checking the accuracy of their reading please discuss the text with questions such as “What may happen next?”, “Who is your favourite character and why?”, “Why do you think the character reacted in that way?”, “Where is the story set and is the description of it good and why?”, “Did you enjoy the book and why?”

English Topic

We have begun the new half term with a look at how our brains work and what makes us neuro-diverse from each other to include our super powers! The children are keen to present their work to Mrs McEniff and Miss Davies in a few weeks time. Our new topic is Scotland and the children have enjoyed researching and creating a joint brochure to attract visitors to Scotland. Why not ask them what they have learnt about famous Scottish landmarks, natural features, Scottish food and culture and its wildlife? Linked to wildlife, this week we have begun to learn about whales ready to write a persuasive letter and hold a debate as to whether whales should be protected. We will share The Puffin Keeper by Michael Morpurgo and discuss the themes it discusses of friendship and loneliness. Our Instructional writing will be based on Scottish themes as will our diary writing and newspaper reports will be based on actual events from Scottish history.  We will also look at Scottish myths, fables and poetry. We continue to encourage the children to be more adventurous and descriptive in their writing and especially to use their newly learnt vocabulary.

Maths Topic

Whilst some children will access mainstream maths, in the Milky Way we will focus on place value within 50, 2D and 3D shapes and fractions depending on which level your child is working at.

At home please continue to focus the children on learning their times tables, telling the time, money and shape through practical activities and sites such as Top Marks Maths, Hit the Button and Maths

Playground.

Homework

Homework will be given out for both maths and English on a Wednesday and is due back on a Monday morning or before if completed.  It should take 20 minutes per subject in Yrs 4/5and 30 minutes in Y6. The topics will reinforce the lessons so it is imperative that it is completed and presented to the best of your child’s ability in pen or pencil for English and pencil only for maths please. Any concerns about homework can be recorded on the sheet, in your child’s diary or by phone.

Spellings

The children receive their spellings on a Friday and are tested on them the following Friday. Again, please support your child to learn these and the rule related to the spelling pattern by adding additional spellings when the list is secure.

PSHE

We will continue to “Meet and Greet” the children on the playground in the morning and to run sensory circuits groups and a lunchtime club three times a week to ensure the children are in a good place to engage in their learning each day.

Each week your child will complete a variety of tasks working on their feelings, memory, meditation, team work, yoga to build their self-esteem and resilience and fine and gross motor activities. All activities emphasise respect, good listening, understanding, equality, tolerance and fairness.

How you can help at home?

Please ensure your child has a clear routine at home on school nights and advise the MW staff of any issues which may affect your child in school on any day so that we can accommodate any difficulties.

Please keep us advised of appointments as far as possible in advance.

Hopefully we can look forward in the Summer Term to a return to Share the Learning sessions in school as the children are very proud of their work.

Many thanks

Miss Davies– SENCO

Tracey Smith