Turquoise | Tonacliffe Primary School

Welcome to Turquoise Class

Welcome back to the summer term!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the glorious weather from last summer returns although admittedly it isn't looking hopeful at the moment! Please ensure that water bottles are in school just in case!

This term is always a busy one so keep an eye on the calendar and ensure that permission slips for various events are returned to school so that your child does not miss out.

This term we will be learning:

English - We are currently studying a unit on classic poetry based around Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. Keep a look out for videos of the children reciting the poem here on this page!
Maths - We will continue to practise times tables - this really needs to happen at home as well as in school please! The term begins with the volume and area of shapes before looking at place value (including decimals), fractions, time and geometry, along with calculation methods.
Science - Our learning will be focused on 'animals in their environments' which will involve lots of exploration of our local environment - keep your fingers crossed that the weather helps us out! We will also be looking at a short unit on 'Light'.
Geography - This term we focus on fieldwork; we will be reading maps of our local area and be venturing out into Whitworth to test our map reading (and designing!) skills.
Computing - We will be using Purple Mash this half term to design our own games. Part of this learning will involve tasks that children can complete at home to help. All aspects of this website can be accessed at home as well as in school - your child has been given their password and knows how to log on.
RE - We will be learning about Hinduism.
Music - This half term the choir will be learning the songs for the year 6 production.
PE - This term we will be playing team games: cricket and rounders.

PE days: We will not have any swimming lessons this half term. Indoor and outdoor PE lessons are subject to change and as such, you MUST have indoor and outdoor PE kits in school at all times.

Homework and spellings:

Each week, children will be given a piece of mathematics or English homework. This homework includes learning spellings.

Learning logs have been given out for this half term. Please note that you are expected to complete two of these as a minimum but that you can choose to do more if you wish. These tasks are intended to be broad so that you can interpret them as creatively as you wish. We had some super ones last half term and would love to be able to take some photographs of the ones completed this half term to show you all!

Reading remains a key priority and we expect to see reading diaries signed at least four times each week. The reading challenge remains the key part of the homework.

Have a browse of the photographs below to see what we have been learning!

The Strawpion!

In our science lessons, we have been learning about animals and how they adapt to their habitat. The children have then been given a creature, the strawpion, to design, considering the features it would need in order to survive in their chosen habitat.

Take a look at the photographs below to see their amazing creations!

The Strawpion!

We had a brilliant time today completing our fieldwork!

Learning Log Homework

The Jabberwocky

Thank you to all parents, friends and family who came to watch our class assembly - we hope you enjoyed it! The children enjoyed writing, rehearsing and performing this science fiction extravaganza and we are sure that you will agree that they were all stars!

We love our French lessons!

We have been learning new vocabulary for different items of clothing recently. Here we are matching the garment to the correct word.

Safer Internet Day

This week we have discussed how we act online and how this can differ to the way we act in person. We made posters about how to be a good friend online and what to do if people are not being a good friend to us. We found out that over two thirds of the class have been upset by images they have seen online or comments that have been made. Please talk to your children about what to do in this situation. Take a look at the newsletter for some information about an app that explores online safety - all of the children said that they would like to look at this at home in order to help them.

Here is a sample of the learning logs we have completed this year. We love sharing these in class and getting chance to discuss what the children have found out!

Science Investigations

In our science lessons, we have been learning all about the human body. Ask your children about how we made blood using household ingredients!

We have also been learning about the heart and its functions. We found it very difficult to find our pulse! We tested our heart rate before and after exercise and found that the beats per minute increased when we had been active.

This term we have been learning about electricity. We hope you enjoy the photographs below of us investigating how to change the brightness of a bulb!

Thank you to all parents who attended our science fiction stimulus this afternoon. It was lovely to see the children interacting with the items they had brought in and we hope that it will result in high quality writing from this English unit.

Science Fiction Stimulus

Autumn term:

We have started learning the legend 'Beowulf' in our history lessons. Here a few photographs of us retelling the opening to the legend with actions.

Learning Beowulf

We are learning the poem Beowulf in our history lessons. We hope you enjoy this video of us reciting the first two verses!

Wake and Shake

Analysing a biography

We have started our 'Biography' unit in our English lessons this week. We have been reading about Mary Seacole (and learning part of her biography off by heart) and also about Usain Bolt. As we read about these two people, we have found the different features of this genre.