Black History Month : Honouring Our Communities - Inviting Parents

Black History Month 2026 – Honouring Our Communities 

As part of this year’s theme, we would love to celebrate some of the Black parents and carers in our school community and the ways they contribute, support and make a difference to others.

We’re inviting parents/carers to come into school and briefly share their experiences — this could be through your job, volunteering, coaching, mentoring, supporting a community group, caring for others, or simply something you do to help those around you.

This is an opportunity to shine a light on Black voices and experiences as part of our BHM celebrations, while recognising that every member of our diverse school community has something valuable to contribute.

If you’d be interested in taking part, please complete the form via the link below:

https://forms.gle/ncEpdJwq44mBmqhQ9

 

 

Year 5 Weekly Update: Outdoor Skills, Mathematical Challenges & Descriptive Writing Steps!

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 blog! It has been an incredibly busy and productive week both inside and outside the classroom. Here is a look at what we have been up to:

Wild Passport: Mastering Tools 🪵

This week, Year 5 took their learning outdoors for our Wild Passport session! Our strand this week focused on Tools, where the children learned how to handle equipment responsibly and safely.

Under close supervision, the children practiced using a manual rotary drill and secateurs, as well as mastering how to tie a sturdy reef knot. To put these new skills into practice, the class was split into two dynamic craft activities:

• Mini Bound Notebooks: Children created their own custom notebooks, binding the pages together using string and a natural stick.

• Spinning Disc Toys: Using carefully drilled wood and string, children created classic spinning toys that tested both their craft skills and patience!

It was fantastic to see everyone showing such maturity, patience, and respect for safety guidelines while working with real tools.

Maths: Addition, Subtraction & Multi-Step Problems ➕➖

In Maths, we have been working hard through our unit on addition and subtraction. This week, we focused on:

• Rounding for Estimation: Using estimation beforehand to predict what an answer should be close to.

• The Inverse Operation: Checking our calculations using inverse operations to catch any sneaky mistakes.

• Multi-Step Word Problems: Pulling together multiple operations to tackle complex, real-world scenario problems.

Looking Ahead: Next week, we will be wrapping up this unit with a final review before completing our End of Unit Assessment. Please encourage your child to review their addition and subtraction strategies at home over the weekend!

Literacy: Descriptive Writing & Hacker 💻📚

In Literacy, we have officially wrapped up our balanced argument unit! The children did a brilliant job presenting both sides of a topic using formal language, conjunctions, and clear evidence.

We have now moved on to preparing for our descriptive writing, drawing inspiration from our class novel, Hacker by Malorie Blackman. The children are honing their skills in crafting vivid imagery, using rich vocabulary, sensory details, and figurative language to bring key settings and atmospheric moments from the story to life.

Key Reminders for Next Week:

• Maths Assessment: Mid-week review of addition and subtraction.

• Reading Books & Reading Logs: Please continue reading with your child at home for 10–15 minutes each evening.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support!

The Year 5 Team

Year 6 Reminders!

 Dear Parents & Carers,

We have a jam packed next few weeks, so we thought some reminders would be useful!

Next week: Wild Passport week

Redwood: Tuesday

Larch: Wednesday

Birch: Thursday

Please ensure your child brings in the appropriate clothing: trousers, change of shoes, waterproof coat. Without these, they will not be able to take part.

Larch school trip to Ben Kinsella Trust: Thursday 15th October
Birch school trip to Ben Kinsella Turst: Monday 19th October

Please be advised children may be back later than school finish time. 

Food bank donations! 

Please bring in and give to class teacher: tinned items, pasta, cereal.

Black History Month Art

We are looking for recyclable materials that we can use to create art with! Big or small! Cardboard, tissue, any material. We will be creating this before the end of half term. 

Parents Evening appointments 

These are being organised this week and your appointment time will be allocated by Friday. Please communicate with class teacher if you have a preferred time, if you have not completed the form already.

Year 5 Black history month artwork

 

Artwork by Matthew Small - ‘Seeing Potential’

Found Materials Art – Please Collect!

We are going to create artwork inspired by the idea of using everyday and found materials to tell stories about our community.

If you would like to contribute, please send in clean, dry and safe recyclable materials such as cardboard, paper, magazines, wool, ribbon, string or plastic lids.

Please do not send glass, metal, food, sharp objects, electrical items, batteries, broken objects or anything dirty/unknown. 

Children should only collect items with an adult's permission and supervision.

Many thanks,

The Year 5 Team

Year 6's Weekly Round Up!

This Week in Our Classroom

Literacy

This week in Literacy, the children have had the opportunity to plan and develop their own balanced arguments. They have been researching different viewpoints, finding reasons and evidence both for and against a particular issue, and considering which arguments are the most convincing. The children have then used their research to form their own conclusions, thinking carefully about the different perspectives before reaching a reasoned decision.

Maths

In Maths, the children have been developing their understanding of common factors and common multiples. They have been learning how to identify and use these mathematical relationships and, importantly, apply their knowledge to solve a range of problems. The children have been encouraged to explain their thinking and choose appropriate strategies when tackling increasingly challenging questions.

How to find common multiples 

How to find common factors 

Science

This week in Science, the children have been developing their understanding of the human circulatory system. They have been learning how blood is transported around the body through a network of blood vessels and discovering the important roles that different blood vessels play.

The children have learned that arteries carry blood away from the heart, while veins carry blood back towards the heart. They have also explored how blood travels around the body, delivering important substances that our cells need and carrying away waste products.

The children have enjoyed finding out more about how the heart and blood vessels work together to keep our bodies functioning and have developed a greater understanding of just how important the circulatory system is. We look forward to continuing our learning about the human body in our next Science lessons.

Art

This week in Art, the children have been exploring how positive and negative space can be used effectively within artwork. They have been learning about the difference between positive space, which is occupied by the main subject, and negative space, which surrounds it.

The children have applied their understanding by creating artwork using their own silhouettes, exploring how the same shape could be used as both positive and negative space. They have enjoyed experimenting with the arrangement of their silhouettes and seeing how changing the positive and negative spaces can create different effects within their artwork.

Life Skills

This week, the children have also completed the first unit of our Life Skills programme. Throughout the unit, they have developed a range of useful skills that they can apply in everyday life. The children can now tie a tie, read and understand a bus timetable, and have explored how to use a mobile phone sensibly and responsibly.

It has been fantastic to see the children developing their independence and confidence as they learn practical skills that will be valuable both now and in the future.

What's coming up?

Maths continues with more work on using written methods to solve complex multiplication and division problems and BIDMAS (BODMAS). 

Please use the following video to learn the written methods we use to solve calculations using the four operations. 

Four operations

In Literacy, we will be writing an explanation text and looking at how this differs from an instructional piece of wiritng.  

Over the next two weeks all classes will also be attending their workshop at The Ben Kinsella Trust. Please see the website for further information 

https://benkinsella.org.uk/bens-story/

    

Year 5 Spelling WB 5.10.26

 Please find below Year 5's spellings for this week. Please encourage your child to practise their spellings every evening, so they are prepared for their spelling test on Friday.

A	B	C
division	with	with
multiplication	there	there
addition	their	their
subtraction	they’re	they’re
difference	went	went
equipment	equipment	round
equipped	equipped	rounding
environment	environment	adding
embarrassed	embarrassed	subtract
embarrass	embarrass	group
dictionary
chronological
subheading
researching
rhetorical

Year 6 Food Drive: Helping Our Local Community!

Year 6 Food Drive: Helping Our Local Community!

As part of our exciting range of experiences and community initiatives this year, Year 6 is proud to be organising a food drive to support our local food bank.

We are calling on our school community to help us make a real difference to families who need it most. We are kindly asking for donations of non-perishable food items, including:

• Canned vegetables and fruits

• Dried pasta and rice

• Long-life milk and long-life fruit juices

• Canned soups, beans, and sauces

• Cereal and oat packets

Please send any food donations into school with your child on Monday 5th October and Tuesday 6th October. All collected items will then be hand-delivered directly to the local food bank by a group of Year 6 pupils on Friday 9th October.

This project is a wonderful opportunity for our Year 6 pupils to learn about community responsibility, empathy, and active citizenship while working together for a great cause.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and continued support!