Year Five - Classes Andromeda and Centaurus

Teacher welcome

Hello and welcome to Year 5: classes Andromeda and Centaurus.

Andromeda is the closest galaxy to the Milky Way and is one of the few galaxies that can be seen unaided from the Earth. Centaurus is one of the largest constellations of the sky and contains 2 of the top 10 brightest stars; Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri.

Adults working in Year 5 include:

MrsChaus/Mrs Daji (M-T) & Mrs Hussain (W-F) for Class Centaurus. Mrs Daji will be leaving at the end of September to have a baby.
Miss Daji for Class Andromeda
Ms Badat (M-W)– Teaching Assistant across both classes
Mrs Seedat, Miss Hossain-Khaled and Mrs Harrison will be helping out in Year 5 until Mrs Aswat returns from maternity leave.
Miss Gora and Mrs Basar will teach Music to both Y5 classes on a Tuesday
Miss Gora and Mrs Dadhiwala will teach RE and French to both classes on a Wednesday

In Year 5, children receive a holistic educational experience that involves enjoying all parts of the curriculum. We encourage children to use their Growth Mindset in every subject and above all, to have fun with their learning.

Parent Information

The school day will begin at 8.45am and finish at 3.15pm. Your child must be lined up and ready to enter school at 8:40am. Children should be registered and ready to learn by no later than 8:50am. Please drop off and pick up your child promptly using the grass area at the front of school. Children will use the hall door as an entry/exit point.
PE for Year 5 is on a Thursday. Please ensure your child comes to school wearing their PE kit for this day. It is important that your child does not come to school wearing jewellery or earrings on this day as they will not be able to participate.
Spellings will be uploaded onto the website and on ParentHub every half-term. The children will be tested on their weekly spellings every Tuesday. Please ensure your child has practised their spellings and come prepared for their test.
Homework will be uploaded weekly onto the following online platforms: Mathletics, TT Rockstars and Serial Mash. Children should have their logins from previous years. If you are having trouble accessing these sites, please speak to a member of staff.

Every class in school has a library slot. Year 5's reading slot will be on a Thursday. Please ensure that children have brought their books in on these days. Reading is embedded into our English sessions, and we have one whole class and one group guided reading session per week. It is important that children continue with their good reading habits at home.

Our class rules and rewards

Our class rules are:

To be respectful.
Always be honest.
To have FUN!
To contribute to class discussions.
To look after the environment.
Never give up!

In Year 5, we also utilise the ‘Going for Gold’ scheme which provides a consistent and fair approach to behaviour management; clear systems to reward good behaviour and sanctions for inappropriate behaviour; a system that allows children to take ownership of their behaviour and their rewards.

Upcoming and EXCITING EVENTS

We are incredibly passionate about maximising opportunities to take the children on trips and visits to enhance their learning. We believe that the broader range of experiences that the children have and places that the children visit, the more they increase in confidence and self-belief. Every visit that the children enjoy is utilised as an opportunity to further develop social skills, cultural understanding and language development, alongside the key academic aims of the visit. Class Teachers are always looking for new and exciting opportunities to enrich the curriculum.

Our visits this year include Oakwell Hall to study the Mayan and Anglo-Saxon Civilizations, the Sealife Centre to learn about the importance of oceans and Leeds City Museum to take part in an animal workshop, linking to our science unit of work. In addition to this, we will be visited by an artist and by some bollywood dances!

how PARENTS CAN HELP AT HOME

READING

Reading with your child is vital. Research shows that it's the single most important thing you can do to help your child's education. It's best to read little and often, so try to put aside some time for it every day. Think of ways to make reading fun - you want your child to learn how pleasurable books can be. If you're both enjoying talking about the content of a particular page, linger over it for as long as you like. Books aren't just about reading the words on the page, they can also present new ideas and topics for you and your child to discuss.

Tips for helping your child develop reading skills:

Visit the library as often as possible - take out CDs and DVDs as well as books.
Schedule a regular time for reading - perhaps when you get home from school or just before bed.
Ask probing questions in order to check understanding and enhance inference skills.

Maths

As with reading, try to make maths as much fun as possible - games, puzzles and jigsaws are a great way to start. It's also important to show how we use maths skills in our everyday lives and to involve your child in this. Identifying problems and solving them can also help your child develop maths skills. If you see him or her thinking over something, talk about the problem and try to work out the solution together.