Elangeni School

Year Group Termly Newsletters - Summer Term 2023

Year 3

Here we are at our final term of Year 3! All of the children have grown and accomplished so much so far this year and we are looking forward to our remaining time together.

This term we will be focusing on three different themes:

• Rise of the Robots will take up most of the first half term. It incorporates science around forces (specifically magnetism), computing and thinking about how we handle money.
• Fancy Plants & Tremendous Trees takes place for two to three weeks in between the Robots and Africa theme.   We will be exploring the life cycle of plants.
• Exploring Africa will finish us off for the year, taking up most of the second half of the term. It is one of our most beloved themes that involves everything from music to history with a focus on Africa (specifically the Ancient Egyptians).

You can find the curriculum maps for these themes on our school website.

Any books that you can find to read together about either of these themes will enhance your child’s learning. If you would like a list of books appropriate for year 3 children, you can find a suitable one at https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/reading-list-for-year-3-pupils-ks2-age-7-8/.

Please feel welcome to supplement or substitute these with alternative, appropriate books of your child’s own choice.

Some reminders for this term:

• We will be continuing to check organisers for any logged reading. If there is any time in your schedule to read with your child it is a great opportunity to enhance their comprehension skills.
• PE is on Monday and Wednesday so please continue to wear your full PE kit - including appropriate footwear.
• If you have not already done so please name any items such as PE jackets, cardigans, etc.
• Spellings are tested and new ones given out every Monday. Everyone will be receiving a paper copy of their spellings in their organiser.

Homework dates have not changed. We have left a table at the end of this letter to serve as a helpful reminder of all the different work being sent out and when it is due back in. Please remember that Elangeni uses spag.com and all the children have their own individual login. There will be a project this term but not until Summer 2. Additionally, English (SPaG) and theme homework will be sent out as a paper copy.

A reminder to everyone about home reading books - please bring them in! Your child will receive a home reading book from our list every time they hand their previous one in. They will all need to work their way up through the reading scheme so please continue to read these books at home and send them back when you can.

If you need to contact us, please write a note in the organiser or send an email via the school office and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Please ask your child to show us anything that requires our attention as we do not get around to looking at the organisers every day.

Here is a table to show when everything is set and due in:

Thank you,

Miss S. Mallard             Mrs R. Tillman           Mrs N. Dost-Muhammad

Year 4

Year 4 Summer Term Curriculum Newsletter

April 2023

Dear Parents,

We are delighted to welcome you back to Elangeni after the break. We are all looking forward to continuing our learning journey together this term. As per the previous terms, we will be teaching using a sequential and theme-based approach.

Our themes for the Summer term are:

• Austria
• Where my Wellies Take Me

 The curriculum maps are available on our website along with an audio PowerPoint presentation about the topics.

Any books that you can find to read together about any of these themes will enhance your child’s learning.  If you would like a list of books appropriate for Year 4 children, you can find a suitable one at https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-4-pupils-ks2-age-8-9/.  Please feel welcome to supplement or substitute these with alternative, appropriate books of your child’s own choice. 

This term, Year 4 will also be taking part in a number of exciting events this term:

• Coronation Celebration on Friday 5^th May
• Cooking strudels on Monday 22^nd and Tuesday 21^st May
• A tri golf festival will be taking place in the morning at Chiltern Hills Academy on Tuesday 13^th June
• Nature Walk around Amersham on Wednesday 21^st June

Our PE days will continue to be Monday and Wednesday. Please ensure that you children arrive in school wearing the correct uniform.

Please would you continue to check your child’s organiser each evening for any messages or notes initialling it in the space provided. You may also use the organiser to communicate. Please let your child know if you have written a message in the organiser and ask them to tell us.  We will try to respond to any messages as promptly as possible.

The organiser also includes a space to record daily reading at home. Your child will benefit enormously from reading aloud to an adult for approximately 15-20 minutes each day. Within this time, please encourage your child to talk about the story and its characters with you as this will help to develop their comprehension skills.  Year 4 offer an incentive scheme linked to house points for the children in order to encourage reading at home. There is also space to include details of the minutes your chid has been active at home.

If it is urgent, please contact the school office (office@elangeni.bucks.sch.uk) via email and they can forward emails to the appropriate teacher for a response.

We look forward to continuing to work alongside you and your children throughout this final term and are excited to observe all that your children achieve. 

Best wishes,

Mrs Ward and Mrs Carr

Year 5

We are excited to welcome back the children for one final term of Year 5.  Again, this term, we have an abundance of engaging learning opportunities for the group.  Our term consists of two new themes that will be outlined below as well as theme days and weeks. 

As always, we hope the following letter provides helpful information about the term but please contact your child’s teacher if you have further questions.

Firstly, we would like to remind and encourage all to dress appropriately for the weather.  We suggest a named reusable water bottle as well as any hats and sun cream as the temperatures rise.  Additionally, the Year 5 staff would like to remind families and the children about coming prepared with the proper equipment to school - this includes writing tools as well as dressing in the appropriate PE kit.

English, this term, focuses around two main texts that will be accompanied by various SPaG, comprehensions and guided reading sessions.  Our two focuses will be Cloud Tea Monkeys and a painting called The Lion Hunt - both of which will be used to focus primarily on narrative writing for the term.  Lexia will be changing slightly in that we will no longer be having timetabled lessons for it.  However, we will ask those who continue to have Lexia accounts to continue sessions at school with Mrs Bunce. Thank you for your commitment to Lexia this year!   

In maths, the children will continue to extend their learning by building skills in statistics, number skills and measurement as we start to revise our learnings from earlier in the year to prepare for the move into Year 6.  

We have two final themes this term that explore a number of different subjects:

 Dónde está

This geography-based topic will take Year 5 to South America where they will expand their locational knowledge, physical geography understanding and map skills.

The Fighting Temeraire

Our final theme of the year captures various subjects with this famous painting by J. M. W. Turner at the centre. Highlights of this theme will include a design day and the revisiting of essential Year 5 science.

You can find the curriculum maps for these themes on our school website.

Any books that you can find to read about either of these themes will enhance your child’s learning.  Moreover, there are many wonderful resources on educational websites/apps such as Google Earth.

Our PE days continue on Tuesday and Thursday. Children should come in on these days already in PE kit, which consists of: 

• White polo with house stripes 
• Red shorts
• Tracksuit bottoms 
• Tracksuit top
• Trainers in neutral or school colours.

Please note that earrings must be removed or taped over. 

Some other reminders for this term:

• Write down any logins at home so you have a spare copy (remember to also include any updated passwords)
• Any donations of tissue boxes for those lingering colds and hayfever days would be appreciated!
• Please add a name label to all items
• Fountain pens should be brought in to use in class
• Homework - must be submitted promptly on the appropriate day - see below for a reminder
• Any reading at home should be recorded in the organiser for a weekly check

Important Dates 

• 24^th-28^th April - Bikeability
• 1^st May - Bank Holiday
• 8^th May - Bank Holiday
• 16/18^th May - Year 5 Cookery
• 29^th May - 2^nd June Summer Half Term
• 5^th June - Inset Day
• 15^th June - Athletics Festival
• 16^th June - Class Photo Day
• 26^th-30^th - June Sports Week
• 5th July - 5B Rickmansworth Canal Trip
  
• 6^th July - 5H Rickmansworth Canal Trip
• 21^st July - Final Day of 2022-2023 Academic Year

Homework and projects will be going out as normal.  Here is a table to show when everything is set and due in:

*SPaG and Homework tasks are sent out together in the yellow homework books or will be done on Teams

Thank you,

Miss Hussey                Mrs Sperling               Mrs Stewart

Year 6

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the Summer Term.  We are pleased that the children are back and hope you enjoyed your Easter break. We are looking forward to a busy Summer Term.

We will continue with our theme-based learning which encompasses a number of topics and learning strategies.  

Our themes for the Summer Term are:

• Full Steam Ahead (a local history study and a geography theme)
• Titanic (a history study also focussing on social groups and equality)
• Bright Sparks (a science theme focussed on light and electricity)

The curriculum maps for these subjects can be found on the school website under the curriculum section.

Any books that you can find to read together about any of these themes will enhance your child’s learning.  If you would like a list of books appropriate for Year 6 children, you can find a suitable one at https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/reading-lists-for-ks2-school-pupils/suggested-reading-list-for-year-6-pupils-ks2-age-10-11/. Please feel welcome to supplement or substitute these with alternative, appropriate books of your child’s own choice. 

A reminder that your child’s organiser should be brought to school every day and that they should be reading and recording their home reading every day. Please would you check your child’s organiser for any messages or notes initialling it in the space provided. You may also use the organiser to communicate with any of your child’s teachers. Please let your child know if you have written a message in the organiser and ask them to tell their class teacher.  We will try to respond to any messages as promptly as possible. Your child’s class teacher will check each organiser on a weekly basis and sign it to let you know it has been looked at.

If it is urgent, please contact the school office (office@elangeni.bucks.sch.uk) via email and they can forward emails to the appropriate teacher for a response.

As we move closer to the end of the year, we will be completing transition sessions designed to ready the children for their move to secondary school. These will include practical sessions, focus on organisation and also discussions on relationships and social changes.

Our timetable for homework and PE lessons has not changed from the Spring Term, this can be found at the end of the letter.

We are looking forward to working with you and your children this term.

Thank you,

Teaching Staff:

Mr Showan                Mrs Rizzi          Mrs Benyon               Miss Pringle                Mrs Hamilton

Feedback from secondary pupils recognises that homework will increase and is one of their biggest challenges in adjusting to secondary school life. We will be maintaining the above homework timetable but will also be trialling additional homework tasks to aid with this adjustment.