Newsletters

Year 5/6 Newsletter (September 2026)

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Year 5/6 Newsletter | September 2026

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Welcome back!

We hope you had a fantastic summer break and are ready for an exciting year ahead. We are really looking forward to welcoming children into our new Year 5/6 classes and can't wait to get started on all the great things we have planned.

This year will bring lots of opportunities for children to learn, grow and challenge themselves. Our Year 6 pupils will have the chance to be excellent role models for the younger children in the school, while also developing the confidence and independence they will need as they prepare for high school. For our Year 5 pupils, this year is an important step in their journey towards becoming the oldest children in the school.

In this newsletter, you'll find information about the term ahead, including what we'll be learning, our expectations and some useful day-to-day information. We are looking forward to working together to make this a happy, successful and memorable year for all the children.

The Year 5/6 team...

Hickling: Mr Reeds 

Salhouse: Mr Arthur and Mrs Harrison 

Wroxham: Mrs Ingham and Miss Clark 

Mr Walton, Mrs Blazer, Mrs Webb, Mrs Curtis, Mrs Phillips, Mrs Gillies, Miss Read and Mrs Bernotaviciene (Mrs B) will be working across Year 5/6 throughout the week.

Dates For Your Diary - Autumn 2022 — Dance First

Here are some of the things coming up this month...

September

Wed 16th: Norwich City FC CSF 'EFL Joy of Moving' lessons begin.

Thu 17th: Year 5/6 Parent/Carer welcome meeting (2:30pm).

Thu 17th: STEM Racing club begins after school - invite only.

Wed 23rd: School photographs.

October

Wed 7th: Year 6 Hilltop parent/carer drop in (2:30pm-3:00pm).

Fri 9th: First NPSAA cross-country of the season (held at Sprowston Junior).

We will let you know of any other dates as soon as we can.

Daily maths lessons in Year 5/6

As part of our mixed Year 5/6 class structure, children will join one of four maths groups each morning. These groups are organised by year group, allowing us to teach the Year 5 and Year 6 curriculum separately and ensure that learning is closely matched to each child's stage of development. As always, lessons will be adapted to meet individual needs and provide the appropriate level of support and challenge.

Mr Ingham and Mrs Blazer will teach the Year 5 maths groups, while Mr Arthur, Mrs Harrison and Mr Reeds will teach the Year 6 maths groups.

Times Tables Fluency

This year, we will be using the Number Sense Maths Times Tables Fluency Programme to help children recap, consolidate and learn their multiplication and division facts. Developing fluency with times tables is an important part of the maths curriculum and supports children's confidence and success across a wide range of mathematical topics.

Children will take part in short daily times tables lessons, taught within their class. These sessions are designed to be engaging, interactive and fast-paced, helping children build confidence and recall facts quickly and accurately. Lessons focus not only on remembering answers, but also on understanding number patterns and the relationships between multiplication and division facts.

A typical lesson may include:

  • Revisiting and practising previously learned facts.
  • Learning new multiplication and division facts in small, manageable steps.
  • Spotting patterns and making connections between facts.
  • Using visual representations and mathematical structures to deepen understanding.
  • Regular retrieval practice to strengthen long-term memory.
  • Opportunities to explain thinking and discuss strategies with others.

The programme supports children at different stages of learning, helping them develop a secure understanding of times tables while building fluency over time. Alongside these daily lessons, children will continue to use Times Tables Rock Stars and other classroom activities to practise and apply their knowledge.

By combining regular teaching, retrieval practice and opportunities to apply their learning, we aim to ensure that all children develop the confidence and fluency needed to succeed in mathematics.

Click here for more information about the Number Sense Maths Times Tables Fluency Programme.

Free number fact teaching resources | Number Sense Maths

A reminder that our uniform policy for PE kit is a plain white or navy T-shirt and navy or black shorts/jogging bottoms. No football kits or T-shirts with large branding please.

School jumpers can be worn. We are also suggesting that children who wear earrings do not wear them on PE days. 

PE days for each class are:

Hickling: Monday and Friday

Salhouse: Tuesday and Friday

Wroxham: Monday and Wednesday

Home/School Journal: 

This year, we will be encouraging children to use their journals to record homework and keep track of their reading. The Home/School Journals contain lots of useful information, so we ask that children bring them to school every day and keep them with them in class.

We will be using Marvellous Me again this year as a way of communicating information about children's successes as well as important events and sending messages home.

Your log on details will be the same as last year, so if you are already signed up there's nothing to do.

If you haven't signed up, please ensure that you have signed up for the app. If you have any problems with this please come and speak to a member of the Year 5/6 team.

Here are links to a 'parent walkthrough guide' and also a 'how to use Marvellous Me' video to help get you started.

Every week, your child will be expected to complete one piece of Maths and one piece of Literacy homework which will be linked to the learning in classroom that week and will help to consolidate their understanding.

We also expect a minimum of 2 hours of hometime reading per week to be recorded in their home school journals.

Homework will be given on a Tuesday and will be expected back the following Tuesday. We will be going through the work as a class on Wednesday.

Children will be able to spend the first part of lunch on Tuesday in class completing homework if they wish - this is totally optional though.

We will also ensure that homework is written on Marvellous Me as well. 

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Our Autumn Curriculum

Literacy - we begin with a poetry unit 'In to the Lair of the Barron Jugular', followed by Marcus Sedgwick's 'Floodland' which is set in Norwich and the surrounding area. We will then move on to Darren Shan's 'Cirque du Freak' in the last part of the autumn term. 

Maths - we will begin by revisiting place value and the four main operations (addition, subtraction, division and multiplication). We will then be moving on to fractions before finishing the autumn term looking at statistics. 

Science - we will be looking at how living things have adapted over time and thinking about inheritance. As well as this, we will be investigating how light travels in a straight line, how it helps to form shadows and is reflected. 

Geography - We will be learning about how rivers change from source to the sea. 

History - In the second half of the term we will be learning all about the Tudors, who they were, how they shaped England and understand why they only reigned for just over 100 years. 

R.W.E - in Religious and Worldviews Education we cover three topics in year 5/6; alternating between Judaism, Humanism and Christianity for the entirety of the year. 

Art/DT - We will be looking at the work of Wassily Kandinsky.

Computing - We will begin by looking at E-Safety as this is a crucial aspect of the computing curriculum in today's technological society. We discuss how to stay safe online and look at how the Internet is used. Later on in the term we will begin to look at programming and coding. 

French - We will teach the children how to deliver greetings in French and discuss school life.

More info on our curriculum can be found on the school website. 

Naming items...

Please can all personal items be named wherever possible. Coats, schools jumpers and stationary all go missing throughout the year and it is so much easier to find if it is named. Thank you. 

Maths Mascots

This year, we are excited to introduce our class Maths Mascots! Each class will have its own special mascot, with Hickling, Salhouse and Wroxham classes each taking turns to bring their mascot home throughout the year.

When your class Maths Mascot comes to stay, we would love you to spend some time exploring maths together. Maths is all around us, and there are lots of fun ways to spot and use it in everyday life. You might help your mascot measure ingredients for baking, estimate how many spoonfuls of cereal are in a box, look for shapes and symmetry around your home, investigate number patterns, compare prices in the shops, or work out distances and timings on a journey.

There are no set rules and no right or wrong activities. The aim is simply to enjoy discovering maths in the world around us and to share these experiences with your class. Children can record what they have done with their Maths Mascot through photos, drawings, writing or anything else they would like to share.

We look forward to seeing all the exciting mathematical adventures that our Maths Mascots have throughout the year!

PG film permission (2026/27)

At certain times throughout the year, we will be watching films, either to supplement the curriculum or as a reward. 

Some of the films may be rated PG for parental guidance, and as such we need your permission to allow us to watch them in class. 

We assure you that we will watch only age-appropriate material and will make sure that it is suitable for the children in our class.

Please complete the online form to give permission for this.

If you have any questions about this, please speak to a member of the Year 6 team.

Walking to/from school permission (2026/27)

Children in Years 5 and 6 are allowed to walk to/from school if they permission to do so.

If your child is in Year 5 or Year 6, and you are happy for them to walk home by themselves, please complete the online form to indicate that they have permission to do so. 

If you have more than one child, you will need to complete a separate form for each child.

Please be aware that no child will be allowed to walk home without permission to do so.

If you have any questions about this, please contact Mr Walton or Mr Arthur.

We are really looking forward to working with you and your children again this year. As always, we will do our best to keep you informed at all times but please feel free to contact us whenever needed if you have any questions or concerns.  

The Year 5/6 Team