Columba

As readers, we continued exploring Goodnight Mister Tom. We drafted a formal welfare report in role, using complex sentences and a range of punctuation, including question marks and exclamation marks. We then edited our writing for register, sentence boundaries and tone.

As mathematicians,  we began a unit on fractions. We found fractions equivalent to a unit fraction and to a non-unit fraction, recognised equivalent fractions, and converted improper fractions to mixed numbers.

Aquila

As writers we have planned and written our narrative stories. Putting ourselves in the shoes of evacuee children. We’ve explored the feelings and emotions of these characters and how that will impact their interactions with others through speech.

As mathematicians, we’ve learnt to divide fractions with integers, there were a lot of cake related analogies. We have also learnt to find a fraction of a whole. We’ve worked really hard this week to apply our multiplicative knowledge to fractions.

Both

As historians, we compared a story with real evidence about evacuees, investigated different children’s experiences of World War II, and learned about the impact of World War II on people in our local area.

For the next five weeks, Columba Class will be taking part in the Climate Ed programme every Tuesday. This is a brilliant programme that helps inspire children to take action on climate change. In our first workshop this week, we explored what climate change is and learned about the greenhouse effect. Each week, your child will bring home a worksheet with topics to discuss at home. Please do talk to your child about what they have learnt each week, and it would be great if you could have a go at some of the activities on the worksheet together.

Columba Class also enjoyed their first Latin lesson, learning about Latin and the Roman gods. On Monday, Aquila Class visited Junior Citizens at Rewley Road Fire Station, so they will start their Latin lessons next week. From next week, both classes will have Latin every Monday.

On Wednesday 11th November, Remembrance Day, both classes visited Botley Cemetery to see the Commonwealth war graves and pay their respects. Year 6 children led a prayer and reflection, and we held a two-minute silence. As a school, we were very impressed by the children's behaviour.

Next Week

As readers, we will analyse how a historical announcement affects different characters and ask the questions a reporter would ask, as we work towards writing a newspaper report. We will identify the structural features of a newspaper report, use direct speech and add relative clauses after the “who” to give extra description. Aquila class will begin reading the book Goodnight Mr Tom to set the scene for their newspaper report.

As mathematicians, Columba Class will convert improper fractions to mixed numbers and mixed numbers to improper fractions. We will then compare and order fractions less than 1, and compare and order fractions greater than 1. Aquila class will be exploring decimals before making links between decimals, fractions and percentages after our trip to France.

As historians, we will consider how significant the impact of World War II was on women. We will also explore what men did in the war and whether all men had to fight, when the most dangerous time to live was, and how different the Blitz was.

Home Learning

Please complete the Maths Practice Journal – Week 8 and return it to school on Monday.

Please also encourage your child to practise on Times Tables Rock Stars regularly. Let us know if you need their login details.

This week’s spelling focus for Columba Class: we use the prefix ir- instead of in- to mean “not” or “the opposite of” when the root word begins with the letter r. This makes the word easier and more natural to say.

Aquila class focused on the spelling rule -ible. We looked at adding a prefix to find the antonym of a word.

Important Information

Please could you make sure that children come to school with indoor and outdoor shoes. As the weather deteriorates, the field is likely to get muddier, making it essential that students have indoor shoes to change into after break and lunchtime.

The HSA AGM is on the 1st December at 8pm. This meeting will be held online, with a link below to the meeting. We warmly welcome as many parents as possible to hear about the amazing work of the HSA over the last year and the funds raised. HSA AGM Link.

We kindly ask for your help in reminding children that personal toys should stay at home. Bringing toys into school can cause unintended upset and disruption to learning, and school cannot take responsibility for lost or broken items. 

Items brought in specifically for Thought of the Day are still very welcome! These will be kept safe and put away once your child has finished sharing.

Thank you so much for your support and understanding.

Thank you for your continued support,

The Upper KS2 Team

Upcoming dates:

23rd - 27th November - Aquila French residential

10th December - Columba (Year 5) carol concert at Univ College Hall 5:30-6:30. More details to follow.

11th December -  HSA Christmas Bazaar 5pm- 7pm

11th December - Christmas Dinner Day - children can wear Christmas Jumpers

16th December - Annie in theater - details to follow

14th-18th December - Spirit Week - details to follow

17th December - Upper School (2-6) Christmas Service at St Peter and St Paul led by Aquila 10am

18th December - Term ends at 1pm

It has been great to welcome the children back after half-term and to see them settling back into their routines so well.

This Week

In English, Columba we have begun exploring Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian, the story of a young evacuee who leaves London for the countryside as war approaches and goes to live with an elderly man. We explored a character’s inner conflict through drama and wrote an inner monologue. We also created contrasting atmospheres using sensory description and prepositional phrases.

In Aquila, we have used the opening scene from Narnia, the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe to explore writing our own evacuation story. We’ve explored using a range of clauses and ambitious vocabulary to set the scene in a train station.

In Maths, Columba Class focused on cube numbers, multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000, and multiplying and dividing by multiples of 10, 100 and 1,000. Aquila class has been continuing our work on fractions. We have been looking at multiplying fractions with integers and with fractions.

In History, both classes started a new unit exploring the key events of World War II and the major leaders involved, as we consider the question: Whose war was it? We learned about and explained who was involved in World War II. Later in the unit, we will examine the significance of the Blitz and World War II for people in our local area.

Next Week

In English, we will continue reading Goodnight Mister Tom. Columba will draft a formal welfare report in role, using complex sentences and a range of punctuation, including question marks and exclamation marks. We will then edit our writing for register, sentence boundaries and tone. Aquila will write an evacuation story, using speech you impact the reader and to move the story forward. We will edit for language choice and grammatical features.

In Maths, Columba Class will begin a unit on fractions. We will find fractions equivalent to a unit fraction and to a non-unit fraction, recognise equivalent fractions, and convert improper fractions to mixed numbers. Aquila class will be continuing working on fractions, looking at dividing fractions and finding a whole of a fraction.

In History, we will compare a story with real evidence about evacuees, investigate different children’s experiences of World War II, and understand the impact of World War II on people in our local area.

On the 11th November, Columba and Aquila class will be gathering at the Commonwealth War Graves at Botley Cemetery at 10:45am for an Act of Remembrance. We welcome all families and members of the wider community to join us.

Open morning

As part of our Open Day on Saturday 7th November, we are delighted to welcome a local community artist who will help us begin a journey of capturing and celebrating the legacy of North Hinksey CE Primary School as we move forward with our building works.

Throughout this academic year, we will be working alongside Amy, our artist, to co-create a special art installation that honours the school's rich history and heritage while celebrating its future. We know that North Hinksey holds a very special place in the hearts of our community, and we want this project to reflect the memories, stories and experiences of the many people who have been part of its journey.

The first stage of this community art project begins on Saturday, when Amy will be supporting members of the community to create small pieces of collage artwork and share their memories of North Hinksey. We warmly invite everyone to take part – whether you are a current pupil or family member, a former pupil who attended North Hinksey at any point in its history, or another member of our wider community.

We would love to see as many people as possible joining us for this first stage and contributing to something that will become a lasting celebration of our school's story.

If you are unable to attend on Saturday but would like to be involved, there will be further opportunities to contribute throughout the academic year. We will share details of these in due course.

Home Learning

Please complete the Maths Practice Journal – Week 7 and return it to school on Monday.

Please also encourage your child to practise on Times Tables Rock Stars regularly. Let us know if you need their login details.

This week’s spelling focus for Columba Class: the c sound can be spelt -que and the g sound can be spelt -gue at the end of a word. Many of these words come from French.

This week’s spelling focus for Aquila class: the silent b sound.

Aquila class have been given new log books. Please ensure that these are kept safe and are in children's bags. We will use them in spelling and our English lessons to note down words we are frequently spelling incorrectly.

On Monday Aquila class will be visiting Rewley Road fire station to participate in Junior Citizens. This visit takes place within the school day and children will be back before the end of school. Please ensure children have a warm coat and appropriate shoes for the day. At the fire station, children will be presented with scenarios that require them to think about how to keep themselves safe.

Our PE days this term are a Tuesday (gymnastics) and Friday (fitness).

Upcoming dates:

7th November - Open Day 10am-12pm

9th November - Aquila (Y6) Junior Citizens trip to Rewley Road. 

10th November - Aquila (Y6) SATs meeting 5pm online. Link will be shared on WhatsApp.

13th November - Flu Vaccinations

10th December - Columba (Y5) Carol Concert at UNIV college hall. More information to follow next week. 

11th December -  HSA Christmas Bazaar 5pm- 7pm

11th December - Christmas Dinner Day - children can wear Christmas Jumpers

14th-18th December - Spirit Week - details to follow

17th December - Upper School (2-6) Christmas Service at St Peter and St Paul led by Aquila 10am

18th December - Term ends at 1pm

Thank you for your continued support,

The Upper KS2 Team

Dear Parents and Carers,
It was lovely to see so many of you on Wednesday and to talk about how we can work together to best support your children. Our next parents' evening is on Wednesday 21st October.