Badger Class
Years 5/6
The Summer Term of 2025 will see Badger class learn about various natural disasters and extreme weather phenomena that occur around the world. From rumbling volcanoes and mighty earthquakes, to icy blizzards and swirling tornadoes, this topic will see our class journey to the most dangerous and fascinating corners of the world. We will be finding out how these natural events happen, how people survive and adapt, and what we can do to stay safe. We will also be looking closer to home at coastal erosion that is happening here in Norfolk and the impact that has on our local community.
Badger Dates for the Diary!
- Monday 21st - Northgate + Neatherd Transition Days
- Monday 21st July - Whole School Transition
- Tuesday 22nd July - Back to normal classes for last day
- Tuesday 22nd July - Leavers service at St Nicholas Church 9:30am
- Wednesday 23rd July - SCHOOL CLOSED FOR SUMMER
Useful Information
PE
PE will only be on a Tuesday
each week for Badger class and this will be led by Mrs Grigg. Please note the first PE lesson for Summer will be TUESDAY 29th APRIL 2025.
Please ensure your child arrives to school already dressed in their kit on this day, and that they are dressed suitably for the outdoor weather forecast. Earrings should be removed by the child before P.E (please note that adults in school are not permitted to remove earrings for your children). Children who, for whatever reason, cannot remove their own earrings should (ideally) be sent to school with some tape so that they can cover these themselves. In the event that you don't have any tape at home, we will provide some micropore tape so that they can do this before taking part in PE lessons.
Swimming
After the Easter holidays, Years 5 and 6 will be attending Dereham Pool for swimming lessons during the summer term. The slot is Friday mornings and will begin on Friday 25th April 2025
(please note this is the first Friday when we are back at school) when children will be put into groups appropriate to their ability.
This year we have decided to split Year 5 and Year 6, in order to reduce the impact on learning in the classroom but equally smaller, more focused groups for swimming. We’ve also found that with teaching swimming in Year 3 and 4 as well, the children are generally very competent swimmers by this stage. So the sessions will be as follows:
Year 5:
25th April, 2nd May, 9th May, 16th May, 23rd May (5 sessions)
Year 6:
6th June, 13th June*, 20th June, 27th June, 4th July, 11th July (5 sessions) *the session on the 13th June will be for anyone in Year 5 and 6, who is not attending the residential.
The swimming sessions will be taken by staff from Dereham Leisure Centre, as well as Mr Gooch and Mrs Broadbear.
When the children are in school, instead of swimming, Year 6 will be taught by Mrs Thornhill and Mr Creasey, in readiness for their SATs. After half term, Mr Creasey will be teaching Year 5.
A few things to remember for swimming:
- Please ensure children bring their swimming kit, towel and underwear in a bag.
- Any school based inhalers will be taken by staff.
- Like in previous years, the normal rules apply in that girls must wear a one-piece costume and boys can wear either trunks or sensible swimming shorts.
- The children must not wear jewellery of any description and should not bring talcum powder.
- We would also remind parents that children should not bring any aerosol sprays, such as antiperspirant, as these can be dangerous in a crowded changing room.
- Transport will be paid for by school.
- Please note that if your child has a verruca this does not prevent them from going swimming. You can, if you so wish, provide them with a verruca sock to wear but this is not essential.
- Earrings are not allowed and should be removed before swimming or not worn at all.
- If your child wishes to wear goggles, please can you fill in the attached slip that was on the letter that was sent before Easter and we will pass this onto the swimming instructor.
Homework
Homework will be set on Monday and will be expected in by the following Monday in order for it to be marked. Your child will receive revision booklets which they will work through in preparation for end of year assessments. Marking will usually take place during a focused session, whereby we can discuss the questions, look at ways of responding and address any that posed difficulty. They are only required to do 1 test
in each booklet per week. Weekly spellings
will also be given out on a Monday, and a test will be given the following Monday.
Reading
Reading Records
are checked regularly. We aim for children to read at least twice each week to an adult, but children should be encouraged to read every day. Please sign reading records to indicate this and send them back with your child on a Monday & Thursday
so we can monitor their number of reads. There will be a reading track in class for your child to complete.
In the first half of the Summer term, we will be reading 'Everest - The remarkable story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay' by Alexandra Stewart. This is the breathtaking story of how two very different, yet equally determined, men battled below-freezing temperatures, tumbling ice rocks, powerful winds and death-defying ridges to reach the top of the world's highest mountain. Badger class will find out how the coming together of a small-town beekeeper and former yak herder turned them into two global heroes, as well as the impact made by hundreds of men and women who helped them achieve their goal. Badger class will be reading through this story with the intent to write their own narrative that builds suspense and tension, a fact-file about Everest, a diary entry in the role of Hillary or Tenzing amongst other types of writing.
We will continue our writing journey in the Summer term by focusing on setting descriptions based on Everest as well as settings around volcano eruptions before writing a non-chronological report about Pandora and using part of the film clip to support this.
Please find a range of external links to support your child's learning at home.
Topic boosters and past papers with video tutorials to help target specific areas.
SATS
Handy tips and literacy and math activities that you and your child can work on together...
