This Week

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.

Root word	New word	Meaning
resistible	irresistible	not able to be resisted
relevant	irrelevant	not connected or important to the subject
regular	irregular	not even, balanced or usual
responsible	irresponsible	not showing proper care or duty
rational	irrational	not based on reason or logic
reversible	irreversible	cannot be undone or changed
replaceable	irreplaceable	too special to be replaced

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