Wonderful Willows Teacher: Miss G Steven

 

Wonderful Willows TA: Mr E Richardson

 

Splendid Spruces Teacher: Mrs D Twist

 

Splendid Spruces TA: Miss S McCallum

 

Our classrooms

 

Our classrooms are organised to ensure the best from all of the children in our classes, they are bright and engaging and provide learning support through working walls and other useful resources.

Wonderful Willows:

Splendid Spruces:

School Council Members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Dojo Masters:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Book

Every Friday two children from each class are put into the ‘Golden Book’ where they will then receive a sticker and a certificate. One child is chosen for showing one of our ‘Firsy Values’ and the other is chosen for completing a fantastic piece of work. It really is a prestigious award!

Topics

 

Our topics for this year are:

• Off with her head!
  • The children will learn about the Tudor Period of time and why Henry VIII was so famous. The children will also look at William Shakespeare’s story, Romeo and Juliet.
• Stargazers
  • We shall be learning all about space which will be accompanied with an exciting visit to the Space Centre.
• Alchemy Island
  • In this fictional topic, children will be creating their own fictional island as well as learning about separating and grouping materials including insulators and conductors.
• Pharaohs
  • The children will be learning all about how Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb as well as the different beliefs of the Egyptians. They will also be finding out about the significance that the River Nile plays to the people of Egypt.
• Peasants, Princes and Pestilence
  • This topic will transport people back to London 1665, as well as local Eyam and look at the detrimental effect that the plague had on Britain. Children will learn about how the plague was carried around the country (and world) and how people lived during that era.
• Time Traveller
  • Children will be comparing how lives have changed over time, including comparing geographical changes. In English, children will also be reading “Tom’s Midnight Garden” by Phillipa Pearce.

Click here to see the detailed 2 year topic cycle

https://firsprimary.derby.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Year-5-6-Curriculum-Overview.pdf

 

 

 

Spring 2 2020

Our topic for this half term is Pharaohs, where children will travel back in time 5000 years to the dusty realms of ancient Egypt.

They will cruise along the river Nile and enter a world of mysteries and curses, mummies and kings.

Children will use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe the features of Egypt.

In History, children will learn how archaeologists have found out about life during Ancient Egypt. They will focus on daily life, including jobs, education, sanitation, clothing and leisure and discover the importance of                                                         farming to the Ancient Egyptians

 

Our quality text for this half term is: 

For our ‘hook’ we looked at lots of pictures of shoes, including some from around the world. We predicted what kind of character might wear each shoe. We then discussed the story of Cinderella and how it is told in different forms right across the globe.

Spring 1 2020

This half term the children’s learning will all stem from a fantasy island! Children will learn about different mixtures, including the scientific name for solids that dissolve. They will also learn about separating mixtures and irreversible reactions. The children will also get a chance to learn about electric circuits and how different volts effect the brightness of bulbs.

In geography children will continue to embed their understanding of ordnance survey maps as they begin to plan routes, learn the symbols and design their own for their own fantasy island!

In English children will be reading ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ which will inspire them to write their own journey story with the help of ‘Talk for Writing.’

 

 

 

Our quality text for this half term is: 

For our ‘hook’ we had a sneaky peak at a few pages from the story. We used identified clues about the story and discussed what an ‘unlikely hero is’. We then created our own unlikely heroes.

We also learnt about writing instructions. For our hook we really enjoyed making chocolate mug cakes!

Autumn 2 2019

This half term our topic is ‘Stargazers’ where children will take a journey through space and travel beyond the sun: the magnificent blazing star at the centre of our Solar System. Children will investigate the eight planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and will take a look at the moon, a celestial body that orbits Earth. In science, children will investigate gravity, and what happens where there is none! They will compare the time of day at different places on Earth and use GPS satellite navigation systems to track hidden treasure. Finally, children will build and launch a rocket for an important test mission

Our quality text for this half term is: 

Autumn 2 2019

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We became inventors as our hook for this topic. In groups, we were given three random objects which we had to turn into a machine to help others or make their lives easier. We then explained our amazing inventions to the rest of the class.

Autumn 1 2019

This half term our topic is “Off With Her Head.” The children will be learning about Henry VIII, why he had so many wives and why the reformation of the Church of England was significant for the Tudor period. Children will also learn about other significant people of the Tudor era such as Mary I and how she got her nickname. In design and technology children will be using their knowledge of the Tudor period to understand how food was preserved in history and learn about seasonality and food trade today. Children will also make their own Tudor foods. In science children shall be learning all about light including how it is created, what light is made up of, how it travels and how we see

Our quality text for this half term is: 

We had a fantastic activity to ‘hook’ us into our new text. We worked in groups, looking at clues about the story and making predictions.

Memorable Experiences 

For every topic we have memorable experiences and hooks. These can include trips and exciting events in school! For 2019-2020 we have planned:

• Off with her head!
  • A visit to Wollaton hall to learn all about Tudor living. Click here

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• Stargazers

A trip to Space Centre including a planetarium session! Click here

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•  Alchemy island

Our parents came into school for the afternoon. We showed them our presentations of our own Alchemy Islands and enjoyed the chance to share our work with them

 

•  Pharaohs
  • A walk into Derby City Centre to Derby Museum which includes seeing a mummified body. Click here

Home learning

It is essential that all children continue to practise their learning at home to remember and embed what they have learnt in school that week. For Splendid Spruces and Wonderful Willows home learning will be given to the children on a Friday and must be returned by the following Friday. Children will be asked to attend home learning club during their lunchtime if they do not complete their homework. Children will get both maths and English home learning that relates to their learning that week therefore all children should be able too complete it. If children are struggling they can also choose to attend home learning club for extra support.

Children will also have the option of completing topic related homework, which can be chosen off of the grid below.

homeworkgrid (1)
P.E

Y-3-and-4-spellings
Y-5-and-6-spellings

 

Our class book:

Each day we will be exploring a class book to develop a love of reading.

Splendid Spruces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reminders

P.E

P.E for Splendid Spruces and Wonderful Willows is on Wednesday and Thursday

Key Dates

Thursday 10th or Friday 11th October: Wollaton Hall Trip

Friday 6th December: Space Centre TripPreview Changes (opens in a new tab)

Tuesday 31st March or Wednesday 1st or Thursday 2nd or Friday 3rd April: Derby Museum Trip (AM)

W/C 11th May: Year 6 SATs Week

SATs

The dates for Year 6 SATs 2020 are:

Monday 11 May	English grammar, punctuation and spelling papers 1 and 2
Tuesday 12 May	English reading
Wednesday 13 May	Mathematics papers 1 and 2
Thursday 14 May	Mathematics paper 3

It is essential that all year 6 children have 100% attendance and are punctual throughout SATs week.

 

Useful websites:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/topics/zhrrd2p

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html