Our classroom is situated within the original school building and is over 600 years old! In fact, it is the oldest classroom in the whole of the UK which is still in use! We are really fortunate to have a large, open work space as well as a mezzanine library!

This term, our topic is World War II! We are going to be gaining an overview of significant people, places and events from World War II and considering the impact that the War had on Britain – particularly our local area.

Our English units this term link to World War II. We are going to be watching a short animated film entitled ‘The Piano’ and will be writing a re-telling of the film, including flashbacks from the point of view of the main character to reflect on both positive and tragic events of the past. Later in the term, we will be reading and analysing classic World War II poetry before having a go at drafting, editing and writing our own poems, using effective figurative language and vivid description to bring World War II images to life. 

After half term, we are going to focus on persuasive writing linked to our whole-class text, ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ by Michelle Magorian. We will be writing letters from the character of Tom to William’s mother, persuading her not to have William sent back home to war-torn London during the Blitz, and instead allow him to remain safe in the countryside where he has been evacuated. 

In Maths, we are currently working hard on a unit based on Position and Direction before moving on to revisit and revise aspects of all maths units from KS2 in preparation for Year 6’s SATs. After half term, we will be focusing on problem solving and investigations linked to all of the maths learning we have done this year. As well as this, we will be practising our Arithmetic skills every Friday in class and will be challenging ourselves to improve our scores on weekly arithmetic challenges.

Our wider curriculum learning will be topic-based across all subjects and will consequently be linked to World War II. 

Below is an outline of curriculum coverage:

In History, we will be learning about the causes of World War II, the war effort, rationing, the Blitz, evacuation and the holocaust, using historical enquiry skills to research and draw conclusions about the past.

In Geography, we will be using maps to find out how the alliances of World War II changed over time and will describe the geography of key battlegrounds.

In Art, we will be designing and making propaganda posters before learning about the artist Paul Nash and using oil pastel to recreate some of his World War II artwork.

In DT, we will be researching, planning and designing a space or item to commemorate World War II.

In Computing, we will be creating and using ciphers and creating ciphered code using formulae on spreadsheets.

In Music, we will be continuing our weekly ukulele lessons with Mr. Golec but will also be recognising the importance of music during World War II.

PE and PSHE will continue to be taught separately.

In PE, we will be learning golf skills with Mrs. Seymour on Mondays and developing skills required to play successful games of rounders with Mrs. Lawrence on Wednesdays. This will be in preparation for our House Rounders Tournament just before half term!  We need to remember to wear PE kits to school on Mondays and Wednesdays so that we can join in with these lessons. Year 6 will be participating in weekly cycling proficiency lessons on Wednesday mornings after half term.

In PSHE, we will be continuing to follow the Jigsaw curriculum and will be focusing on how to stay healthy both as children and adults when we grow up.

Forest School:

We are very fortunate to have access to Forest School here at Ewelme! De La Pole will be spending Tuesday afternoons in Forest School with Rachael, our Forest School Leader. We should come to school in a long-sleeved top or jumper, trousers and old shoes, ready to head to Forest School.

Homework:

Year 6: SATs Boot Camp (they have each been provided with log-in details for this) – 4x tests per week minimum.

Year 5: Continuing to complete homework in homework books which need to be handed in every Thursday. New homework (a maths task, a SPaG task and weekly spellings – or a special topic-based project) is then handed out every Friday.