Magical Masterminds
Summer 2 Newsletter
Welcome back to school and our final half-term together! It’s been a busy but fun year and we still have so much to look forward to! We will be learning all about mining in the local area in our new topic ‘Down, down, deeper and down’ as well as practising for the Year 5 & 6 musical production. Oh yes, and DEARNE VALLEY! Preparations are well under way for our Year 5 residential and it won’t be long until we are setting off for 3 fun-filled days. Please remember to send in any medication to the office in a clear sandwich bag with the child’s name on and instructions inside before Thursday 14th June. If you have any further questions about our trip then please ask!
Targets
Reading |
I can prepare and read aloud a wide range of poetry and books with increasing accuracy and intonation. |
I can infer a character’s thoughts, feelings or motives from their actions. |
I can use ‘point, evidence, explain’ when answering reading comprehension questions. |
Science |
I can classify living things into broad groups according to observable characteristics and based on similarities & differences. |
I can describe how living things have been classified. |
I can give reasons for classifying plants and animals in a specific way. |
I can record data and results using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs. |
I can relate the outcome from an enquiry to scientific knowledge in order to state whether evidence supports or refutes an argument or theory. |
I can report findings from enquiries in a range of ways. |
PSHE – Passport Targets |
To show a good understanding and commitment to e-safety. |
To stand up against views and opinions that go against the school’s values. |
Homework
Your child will receive homework every Friday to be handed in the following Wednesday.
Date homework is sent home |
Homework |
Friday 8th June |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths – Schoolbo Daily Challenge |
Friday 15th June |
English - Write a bullet point list of the equipment you need for Dearne Valley and use it to help you pack! Maths – Increase your score on Times Tables Rock Stars |
Friday 22nd June |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths – Schoolbo Daily Challenge |
Friday 29th June |
Writing/SP&G activity Maths - Homework Book |
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Homework for the remainder of the term to be confirmed.
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Spellings will be handed out on a Wednesday to be tested the following Monday. We will aim to test pupils on all of the Y5 & 6 Word List during the final week in June, please help your child to practise these words (they’ll be very helpful in Year 6 too!).
Dates for the diary
- Tuesday 12th June – Class Photos
- Monday 18th – Wednesday 20th June – Dearne Valley!
- Thursday 28th June – Sports Day
- Thursday 5th July – Leavers’ Play for Year 5 Parents
- Friday 6th July – Leavers’ Play for Year 6 Parents
If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help, please get in touch!
Mrs Caballero
Summer 2 Topic Web
Click to download and view our topic web, with all the exciting things we'll be learning this term:
World Book Day!
The Magical Masterminds had fun playing drama games, designing a book token for a competition and reading to Year 1 pupils!
Spring 2 Newsletter
Welcome back! This will be a short but exciting half term as we build on our WWII topic and begin preparations for our class assembly. Thanks to all the pupils who worked hard on their Propaganda Posters during the holidays, they look wonderful on our walls!
During our topic, we will use eye-witness accounts of ‘Life in the Blitz’ to learn more about this period in history, including those from the grandparents of our teachers! Throughout this topic, we encourage you to investigate your own family history and their lives during the war.
In science we will be learning about life cycles, moving onto SRE later in the half-term. You will shortly receive letters to give consent for your child to be part of these sessions. We also have a ‘Polar Exploration Day’ to look forward tou2026 more details to be revealed soon!
Targets
Reading |
I can predict what might happen from details in the text. |
I can ask questions to improve my understanding of a text. |
I can summarise and present a familiar story in my own words. |
Thank you to all of the parents who are supporting our reading rewards system. It was lovely to see the children presented with their bronze medals last half term. There are still some children who aren’t getting their Reading Records signed so haven’t been able to work towards their medals. It is so important that children are reading at home to develop their vocabulary, comprehension skillsu2026 and just to enjoy it!
Science |
Animals, including humans |
I can describe how humans change over their life cycle |
These science targets link very closely with the PSHE work we will be doing on Sex and Relationship Education. If you haven’t returned the SRE permission slip, please do so as soon as possible. We don’t require permission slips for the Science lessons as it is a statutory part of the curriculum. If you have any questions about what is covered in each of the lessons, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
PSHE – Passport Targets |
To show a good understanding and commitment to e-safety. |
To stand up against views and opinions that go against the school’s values. |
Homework
Your child will receive homework every Friday to be handed in the following Wednesday.
Date homework is sent home |
Homework |
Friday 2nd March |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths - iamlearning |
Friday 9th March |
Writing/SP&G activity Maths - Homework Book |
Friday 16th March |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths - iamlearning |
Friday 23rd March |
Topic-based homework |
Spellings will be handed out on a Wednesday to be tested the following Monday.
While most children practise their spellings each week, there are still some pupils who are consistently scoring less than 5 in their weekly test. Please remember that there used to be 10 spellings to learn and we reduced it to make learning spellings more manageable! Please help your child avoid falling behind by practising their 6 spellings with them.
Dates for the diary
- Thursday 1st March – World Book Day
- Monday 5th March – Online Safety Day
- Tuesday 13th March – Polar Exploration Day
- Thursday 15th March – 1st Parents’ Evening
- Monday 19th March – 2nd Parents’ Evening
- Tuesday 20th March – SRE Day
- Thursday 22nd March at 2:30 – Y5C Class Assembly
If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help, please get in touch!
Mrs Caballero
Spring 2 Topic Web
Click to download and view our topic web, with all the exciting things we'll be learning this term:
Magical Masterminds' Evacuation Day!
We learned all about how children were evacuated to the countryside to avoid the risks of bombing in major cities. Thanks to everyone who made such a wonderful effort!
Spring 1 Newsletter
We hope that you have had a fun and festive Christmas holiday and are recharged and ready for the new term!
We would like to begin by welcoming Mr Commander to our classroom. He will be with us for his final teaching placement and we are looking forward to working with him.
This new term will start with a 4-week geography topic on Florida, where we will learn about the tourism and travel industry in Orlando, as well as seeing how it compares to the UK. After this, we will go back in time to study WWII and investigate how it affected life in Britain.
Targets
Reading |
I can identify themes and conventions across a range of texts. |
I can distinguish between fact and fiction. |
I can read books that are structured in different ways and for a range of purposes. |
Science: Evolution and Inheritance |
I can describe how the earth and living things have changed over time. |
I can explain how fossils can be used to find out about the past. |
I can explain about reproduction and offspring (recognising that offspring normally vary and are not identical to their parents). |
I can explain how animals and plants are adapted to suit their environment. |
I can link adaptation over time to evolution. |
I can explain evolution. |
PSHE – Passport Targets |
To show a good understanding and commitment to e-safety. |
To stand up against views and opinions that go against the school’s values. |
Homework
Your child will receive homework every Friday to be handed in the following Wednesday.
Date homework is sent home |
Homework |
Friday 5th January |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths - iamlearning |
Friday 12th January |
Writing/SP&G activity Maths - Homework Book |
Friday 19th January |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths - iamlearning |
Friday 26th January |
Writing/SP&G activity Maths - Homework Book |
Friday 2nd February |
English - Reading Comprehension Homework Book Maths - iamlearning |
Friday 9th February |
Writing/SP&G activity Maths - Homework Book |
Friday 16th February |
Topic based homework
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Spellings will be handed out on a Wednesday to be tested the following Monday. Children can then take their books home so that you can see their results but they must have their book in school every Monday. Please support your child by asking them to practise their spellings as these are revisited at the end of each half-term, at the end of the year and eventually in the SATs!
Dates for the diary
- Tuesday 6th February – Safer Internet Day
- Wednesday 14th February 2:30pm – KS2 Maths Fair! This will a celebration of our hard work in maths and will also be a valuable opportunity for parents to learn about the methods that we use!
- Thursday 8th February – WWII Day! A list of ideas for the day will be sent home soonu2026
If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to help, please get in touch!
Mrs Caballero
Spring 1 Topic Web
Click to download and view our topic web, with all the exciting things we'll be learning this term:
All Different, All Equal!
The Magical Masterminds had a fun day of celebrating our uniqueness as part of Anti-Bullying Week. We dressed up in blue, wore odd socks and took part in an Anti-Bullying workshop!
Autumn 2 Topic Web
Click to download and view our topic web, with all the exciting things we'll be learning this term:
Trip to the Derby Open Centre and Mosque
The Magical Masterminds learned how to write their names in Arabic, dress ready for a Hajj pilgrimage and visited a Mosque!
Celebrating Black History Month
We learned about famous historical figures and how they changed the world we live in today. We also had great fun in our African dance and drumming workshop!
A monster invasion
We arrived at school on Monday 16th October to discover a scene of madness and mayhem - what had happened? Luckily, the Magical Masterminds were there to investigate...
Autumn 1 Newsletter
Welcome back Magical Masterminds! I hope that you have had a lovely Summer holiday and are now refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of Year 5!
We have had a busy start to the week, learning our new model text – ‘Find Me’, which you can hear by following the link below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00rx3hm
This will give us the techniques, language and grammar skills needed to write our own spooky adventure stories, which we hope to display in our local area (details coming soon!). To help fuel our imaginations, we are reading ‘The Witches’ by Roald Dahl – we’re already hooked!
To help us develop our reading skills, we would like to ask you to hear your child read for at least 10 minutes, 3 times a week and sign their reading record. This can be their class book or a book from their Lexiled reading list, which can be found by logging into Reading Pro. We appreciate your support with this, we know how busy life can be but those extra reading sessions will help your children to achieve their highest potential. As a reward for reading regularly, each child will be awarded a sticker each week that they read 3 times to an adult (not including this week!). If they get 12 stickers, then they will achieve the Bronze Reading Medal! You can do it Magical Masterminds!
This year, our class will be taking part in ‘Mindfulness’ training, which aims to help our pupils be more aware of their emotions and reactions. The lessons should enable our children to improve their decisions when under pressure or angry and to help them to recognise when they are feeling these emotions so that they can begin to regulate them. Look out for the meditation diary which we will be sending home soonu2026
Finally, I hope that our children have a wonderful year and it is a pleasure to be working with you all again!
Targets
Reading
I can actively discuss a wide range of texts, justifying my ideas with evidence. |
I can discuss how authors use figurative language. |
I can explore the meaning of words in context. |
Science
Properties and changes in materials |
I can compare and group materials based on their properties (e.g. hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity, [electrical & thermal], and response to magnets). |
I can describe how a material dissolves to form a solution; explaining the process of dissolving. |
I can describe and show how to recover a substance from a solution. |
I can describe how some materials can be separated. |
I can demonstrate how materials can be separated (e.g. through filtering, sieving and evaporating). |
I know and can demonstrate that some changes are reversible and some are not. |
I can explain how some changes result in the formation of a new material and that this is usually irreversible. |
I can discuss reversible and irreversible changes. |
I can give evidenced reasons why materials should be used for specific purposes. |
Passport
Understand why we have rules and laws in England and always follow these |
Show an understanding and commitment to democracy |
Homework
Your child will receive homework every Friday to be handed in the following Wednesday.
Week beginning |
|
4.9 |
Maths – iamlearning English Spellings |
11.9 |
Maths – books English Spellings |
18.9 |
Maths – iamlearning English Spellings |
25.9 |
Maths – books English Spellings |
2.10 |
Maths – iamlearning English Spellings |
9.10 |
Maths – books English Spellings |
16.10 |
Topic based homework Spellings |
Spellings will be handed out on a Wednesday to be tested the following Monday. Children can then take their books home so that you can see their results but they must have their book back in school every Monday. As you will have seen from the Spellings letter, children are now having 6 spellings a week with the expectation that they will get 5 or 6 correct every week.
With this letter, we are sending home a copy of the words that children need to spell correctly in Years 5 & 6. Some of these will be sent home for the spelling tests but you may want to work through them with your child as they will need to use them in their writing during Years 5 and 6.
Water Bottles & PE Kit
Children are encouraged to bring drinks bottles to school with water so they can have a drink in class.
This half term, indoor PE will be on a Wednesday afternoon and outdoor on a Friday afternoon. Please ensure your child has appropriate kit in school on these days. Long hair must be tied back and earrings should be removed.
Parent Helpers
We now have a volunteer to hear readers on our class however we still need more help to give our children as many opportunities to read as possible. We would also be grateful if anyone would be able to test pupils on their times tables – we will give you a sheet with the answers on so don’t worry if you’re rusty! Even 20 minutes would be appreciated so please get in touch.
If you have any questions or if there is anything I can do to help then please do not hesitate to ask!
Mrs Caballero
Autumn 1 Topic Web:
Click to download and view our topic web, with all the exciting things we'll be learning this term: