Years 5 & 6

Gallery Rebels

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term, we hope you had an enjoyable half term and a well-deserved rest. This half term, our topic is Gallery Rebels with a focus on the curriculum areas of Geography and Art.

In Geography, the children will recap the continents and oceans of the world, as well as learning the countries that make up Europe. They will be comparing the human and physical features of countries within Europe and understanding climate. Throughout this unit of work, we will also be learning about renewable and non-renewable energy with a focus on nuclear energy. We will be covering the sensitive topic of the Chernobyl disaster at an age appropriate level ensuring the children understand how this disaster impacted people’s lives at the time and continue to do so now from a geographical point of view. If you have any concerns around this content, please feel free to discuss these with your child’s class teacher in advance.

In Art, the children will be building on their sketching techniques to create different types of lines and shading. The children will also have the opportunity to observe the work of Henry Hudson, an artist who works with plasticine, and have a go at creating their own work using the same medium.

Our Science work will focus on understanding and using different techniques for separating materials and revising electrical circuits.

This term, we will continue with PE twice weekly, however the Y6 children in Dolphins and Sharks will have the opportunity to go swimming alongside some children from Stingrays. If your child is swimming this half term, you will have been notified via ParentMail last half term.

Here are some things you might want to do at home:

• Research different artists and create a scrapbook of work by different artists that inspire you, making notes on what it is that you particularly like
• Visit a local art gallery and observe the different pieces
• Find some images of the world map and look at how the location of continents has changed over time. What do you notice?
• Take a tour of your house and see which items require energy. What type of energy do they use? Is this a renewable or non-renewable source of energy?

Homework

We will be continuing to set homework this half term in line with the homework policy:

• In Year 5 and 6, maths homework is set every Thursday and is due in the following Tuesday.
• Spellings are set on a weekly basis and will cover National Curriculum spelling rules as well as the common exception words for the key stage.
• Children are expected to read a minimum of five times per week and this is to be recorded in their planners (Year 6) or reading records.
• Throughout the year, additional spelling, punctuation and grammar homework may also be set to support the learning taking place at school.
• Homework club is run every Thursday during lunch time if the children would prefer to complete this at school.