Welcome to our class page.

This term we will be studying rivers and asking the question 'What is a river and are they all the same?' In order to answer our key question we will study a range of different topics to further our understanding of these mighty water sources. For example: 

-How are rivers formed?

-What is the water cycle?

-What impact do rivers have on us and what impact do we have on them?

-What famous rivers are there around the world?

-Why do rivers flood?

-What can we do to manage flooding?

Along the way we will write a biography of a person who used the force of a river to try and become famous, conduct a local study of our nearest river and meet some experts from the Environment Agency to talk about it and produce river related art work.

The River Mersey is on our doorstep here in Sale. It would be fantastic if you and your child could visit it at some point to discuss the features that can be seen along its banks.

Here are some ideas for extra work you could do together at home to help your child have a deeper understanding of rivers and local geography.

1. Explain how the water cycle gives the River Mersey its water.
2. Compare the River Mersey to another famous river.
3. Describe all of the things you see at the river. Are they man made? Are they natural? Why are they there?
4. Keep a log of the plants and wildlife you see at the river. Can you identify the birds you’ve seen? What types of trees can you find? Can you report your findings?

Also, please watch the mindset video we created as a class. We've had a big focus on growth mindsets at The Firs and it's been great to see the children challenging themselves, growing in confidence and believing in their own abilities. We hope you enjoy it.

Mr Silk and Mrs Reynolds Smith

In English we will be writing a  news reports, a biography, fables, poetry, narratives using a novel as a theme and other fictional creations.

Pupils will be taught to:

Plan their writing by:

• discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
• discussing and recording idea

​Draft and write by

• composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structure
• organising paragraphs around a theme
• in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
• in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]

Evaluate and edit by:

• assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvement
• proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
• proofread for spelling and punctuation errors
• read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear

Grammar will also be an important focus this year. Children will be learning how to use conjunctions such as, when, if, because, although. They will also be learning about pronouns, commas, apostrophes, and, speech marks.

Handwriting expectations remain high, for further information please see our Penpals support for handwriting, on this page.

Children are expected to listen to and discuss a range of texts including, fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks. They will be using dictionaries to check the meaning of words. Additionally, children will be preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action. We will be discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination.

We expect children to read daily and record which pages and books in their reading logs.

We understand that going into the juniors can be big transition for children, our aim is to ‘Inspire, Believe, Achieve!’ we wish for all children to feel happy and safe in school, please,  if there is anything that you need to know or you have any worries or concerns about your child, or school life in general then please don't hesitate to contact me.

.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Silk (Class Teacher) and Mrs Reynolds-Smith (Teaching Assistant)

Do you have any ideas for this page? Why not let your teacher know!