Croeso i Flwyddyn 5/6
🦅 Welcome to the Magpies Class 🦅

Magpies Year 5/6

Welcome to Magpies!

A very warm welcome to the Magpies class page. We are a Year 5/6 class full of curiosity, creativity, and ambition. This year, our focus is on becoming independent, resilient learners who are ready to take on new challenges and set an excellent example to the rest of the school.

We are excited about the opportunities ahead—whether it’s developing our skills in maths and literacy, embracing our roles of responsibility across the school, or sharing our learning journeys on Seesaw. Together, we will work hard, support one another, and celebrate our achievements along the way.

Year 5/6 Expectations

Year 5/6 is a key transitional period, as the children reach their final years in Primary Education and begin preparing for the next stage of their learning journey. As the oldest pupils in the school, they are expected to set a positive example to others in their appearance, behaviour, and attitude to school life.

Each morning, children are expected to arrive on time, in full school uniform, and ready for the day ahead. This should now become their responsibility (not yours!)—so please encourage them to organise themselves, even if mistakes are made along the way.

The Year 5/6 curriculum is both busy and exciting. Children are encouraged to develop resilience and a Growth Mindset in order to achieve their goals. They are expected to take ownership of their learning, presenting work clearly and in line with the school’s expectations for pace, presentation, and performance.

As role models within the school, pupils are also encouraged to embrace roles of responsibility. Many have applied for key jobs around the school and are expected to carry these out independently and to the best of their abilities.

Language, Literacy and Communication

Writing

When completing homework tasks, please encourage your child to use the school’s adopted cursive handwriting style. Pupils should also consider layout and presentation carefully, ensuring that their writing is appropriate for the genre they are working on.

Spelling

Weekly spellings are based on the Year 5/6 spelling patterns, focusing on letter blends and sounds. Pupils complete a variety of activities to reinforce these patterns and are tested weekly. To make learning spellings fun, pupils can use the class spelling menu ideas (shared weekly on Seesaw) as inspiration.

Reading

Daily reading at home (10–15 minutes minimum) is essential to develop fluency and comprehension. Pupils should read a wide range of texts, including those linked to real-life contexts. Even confident readers benefit from being heard aloud regularly—discussing books helps expand vocabulary and supports writing.

Pupils will read in focus groups at least once a week and complete daily tasks to develop their reading skills. In addition, they are responsible for liaising with parents to complete their weekly Home School Reading comment on Seesaw.

Numeracy and Mathematics

Pupils are grouped for maths within the classroom so that teaching is appropriately paced to meet their needs.

We use White Rose Maths as a framework to support teaching and learning. Children are encouraged to make use of White Rose learning videos and free downloadable workbooks at home to reinforce key concepts.

At home, please support your child in:

• Rapid recall of number bonds to multiples of 10, 100, and 1000

• Quick recall of all multiplication facts up to 12 × 12

To support this, pupils take part in weekly TT Rock Stars battles, where House Points are awarded for effort and participation. Pob Lwc!

Seesaw

We continue to use Seesaw to showcase learning and communicate with families. Seesaw is a secure online learning journal where pupils upload photos, videos, worksheets, drawings, and voice recordings to document their learning journey.

Parents can access their child’s journal via the free Seesaw Family App. Journals are private and only accessible to the teacher, the individual child, and their parents.

Seesaw has a robust privacy policy and does not share pupil information. More information can be found at Seesaw’s website.

We look forward to another exciting year of learning and sharing with Seesaw!

Autumn Term 2026 – What Lies Beneath?

Our topic this half term is ‘What Lies Beneath?’

We will be exploring our BIG QUESTION:

‘How did ‘black gold’ influence community life in Wales?’

Throughout the topic, the children will investigate the history of coal mining, with a particular focus on Wales and our local area, including Elba Colliery in Gowerton, as well as considering mining on a national and global scale.

The children have already begun generating their own questions about what they would like to discover and will use these to help shape their learning and mission work across the six Areas of Learning and Experience.

During Literacy sessions, pupils will develop their research and creative writing skills, including exploring what life was like for children living and working during the Victorian mining era.

As part of our learning journey, we are very excited to visit Big Pit National Coal Museum, where the children will have the opportunity to experience first-hand what life underground was like for miners.

Through this topic, we hope the children will develop a deeper understanding of how coal mining shaped Welsh communities, industry and everyday life, while making important connections with the history of their own local area.

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