As we start the last week of term, we just wanted to update you with a couple of items and send out important information regarding next half-term.

Book Fortnight- Protecting our earth and environment
Monday 23rd February- Friday 6th March 2026

Please see Mrs Adnett’s previous email about book fortnight on the newsletter section of our website.

Home Learning - Story Stones
For home learning we would like the children to create their own story stones or pebbles to represent their favourite stories. Once these are completed, we will then display these in school, and we will award prizes for each class. They will then be used as part of our OPAL project and be used in the school grounds. We would like the children to complete their creation and bring it into school for the week beginning Monday 2nd March where they will be shared and discussed in class and prizes will be given for creativity.

Book Character Dressing up day - Wednesday 4th March

Read Dating
The children will also be asked to bring in their favourite book. This is so that the children can participate in an activity where they share these books with each other, promoting them to their classmates. The children need to be able to discuss their book and why they really enjoyed it. The idea is that during this session the children will hear about at least 30 different books that they might also potentially enjoy.

• Year 5- Wednesday 25th February
• Year 6- Thursday 26th February
  
  

OPAL
We would like to thank all the parents and carers who have so generously donated items and their time to our Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) project. The parent volunteer day was a great success and we achieved so much! We will be in touch with another date, later on in the year. Your contributions, have been greatly received and are already sparking excitement across the school grounds! This will directly help us transform our playtimes and lunchtimes, making opportunities for children to explore, problem-solve, and most importantly, have fun. We truly couldn't do this without your incredible support. The OPAL project will launch after the half term holiday so please make sure your child has an appropriate waterproof coat and wellies so that they can access all areas! During book fortnight, children will have play sessions in each of the new areas, where teachers will model how to safely use the different zones. 

Thank you also for the donations that you sent in for the OPAL project.  A group of our Year 5 children were an excellent help sorting them and getting them into the new storage.  We are still wanting a few items so if you have any of the following, please send them into school at your convenience:
· Lego
· Sheets
· Rolls of wallpaper
· Small world – small people figures, animals, wooden dolls house/figures
· Construction resources
· Guttering

P.E Spring 2
There a few changes in days and activities for Year 5 and 6 for the next half term.
Year 5
On Monday afternoons, Year 5 will be working with Stockport County so they will need to come in their PE kits. This will replace their Thursday afternoon session so they no longer need to wear their PE kits on a Thursday.
Fridays will stay the same, where Mrs Manfredi’s class will be going swimming and Miss Carter’s will have their PE session in school.
Year 6
Year 6 PE days for the next half term will be Tuesdays and Fridays. Please can children come in their PE kits, with all jewellery removed and hair tied back.

RSE
Please see Mrs Matthew’s newsletter about the upcoming RSE lessons. Any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to get in contact with your child’s class teacher.

Parent Teacher Meetings
Year 6 and 5N
Meetings will take place on Tuesday 24th February (3:30pm-7:00pm) and Thursday 26th February (3:30pm-6pm).
5H
Parent/Teacher meetings for 5H (in person, by phone or online)
These will take place on:
Tuesday 24th February – morning only
Thursday 26th February – morning only
The online book platform is now open for you to book your appointment. This will close on Friday 20th February.
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Best wishes,
The Year 5 and 6 Team

Welcome back!

We hope you have had a fun festive break and have also managed to get some rest! Thank you so much for the lovely Christmas gifts, thoughtful cards, and warm wishes we all received. 

A huge thank you to all our helpers who helped us to walk with us to Hazel Grove Baptist Church and Norbury Church during the last few weeks of the Autumn Term. We really appreciate your support and these events couldn’t happen without your help.

Are You Ready to Travel The World?
Last year, we had a great start to the academic year and saw the children thrive, whilst building their scientific knowledge. This term our whole school Quest focus will be linked to our history and geography objectives.

On the first day back we held a whole school assembly to introduce the new quest – Are You Ready to Travel The World? We were presented with different items of luggage containing clues as to our chosen destinations and people.

In Year 5, the children will start their career as travel agents by voyaging all the way to South America, specifically Manaus, a city in Brazil, which is right in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. We will be discovering key information about the River Amazon, the journey it takes and which countries it flows through as well as comparing this river with the largest river in Europe, the Volga and our local river, the River Mersey. We will be exploring similarities and differences between human and physical features in Manaus and Stockport as well as looking at the history of Stockport and how transport has evolved over time.

In Year 6, the children will begin their journey in Africa, where they will be enlisted as a slave. We will then travel to travelling to the Caribbean to work on a cotton farm.  After that, we will travel from the cotton farm to the UK to look at how the cotton was turned into thread and how children were used a labour; discussing the advantages and disadvantages of this. At this point we will visit Helmshore Mill in Lancashire to experience what life was like for children working in the mills and why the geography of the location helped the mill. Finally, we dive into the inspiring history of the Suffragettes, exploring their courageous "Deeds not Words" campaign and the pivotal role they played in securing the right to vote for women. This topic allows us to examine the struggle for equality, the difference between the peaceful Suffragists and the militant Suffragettes, and how these historic figures shaped the democratic society we live in today.
 
OPAL Bingo

The OPAL project is starting to take shape. The Working Party has met with our school mentor three times across this term.  We plan to introduce new areas for play after the February half term holiday.  Mrs Adnett and Miss Garrett have written to you to explain some next steps including a bingo style collection event after Christmas and a working party day where we would appreciate parental help to help us get organised for our February launch. 
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The working party team day is Friday 23rd January, where we would appreciate any volunteers to offer help to come into school to build and prepare items for the project. The date for any donated items to be brought into school is Wednesday 28th January. Thank you again for your continued support.

P.E Spring 1

In Year 5, Miss Manfredi’s class will start their swimming lessons on a Friday Morning, whilst the other class do Gymnastics.  On Thursdays, both classes will do basketball outside.  
In Year 6, we are very fortunate to be working with Stockport County on Monday afternoons. On Fridays, both classes will do hockey outside.

Home Learning

New home learning grids will be given out the first week back and the children will continue to receive weekly maths activities. If there is something more specific you would like your child to work on at home, please get in touch with your child’s teacher and we can arrange this for you.

Thank you as always for your continued support.
 
Best wishes, 
The Year 5 and 6 Team