Year 5/6 Blog- 30th January 2026

 Dear Parents,

We hope you have had a lovely week. It certainly has been a busy one here in Year 5 and 6. 

Please check the newsletter for our photos and updated news.

This term, we getting stuck into our new project - The Anglo Saxons. We will be learning all about the history of the the Anglo Saxons and their impact on our society today. We are also looking forward to our school trip to West Stow Village in next week. 

WEST STOW ANGLO-SAXON VILLAGE

Please make sure you have read the letter in regards to the trip. We are very excited for what should be a brilliant day!

SCHOOL UNIFORM

It has become apparent that some of the children are beginning to wear items of clothing that are not within our school uniform policy. Could you please make sure that the children are dressed in the correct clothing (including shoes), labelled if possible. 

**Please bring spare boots or trainers for cross country in PE in Wednesdays**

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday 6th February - West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village Visit (Year 5/6)

Friday 13th February – Last day of term

Friday 13th February – Wellbeing day

Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February- Half Term Holiday

Monday 23rd February - INSET Day (school closed)

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 36 + 37

Year 6 Pg 46 +47

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 32

Year 6 Pg 13 + 14

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened so as to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading record to take home. Please make sure this comes into school every day.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 54 - Word List 

• Times table practice - next week we are back to multiplying and dividing 8’s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/ Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Hurley, Mr. Greenfield and Miss Harvey

Year 5/6 Blogpost Friday 23rd January 2026

 

Year 5/6 Blogpost Friday 23rd January 2026

Dear Parents,

We hope you have had a lovely week. It certainly has been a busy one here in Year 5 and 6. We all had a great Forest School sessions and we have enjoyed learning about the Bayeux Tapestry. If you are looking for somewhere for a family meal, the new Wetherspoons in Basildon town has beautiful artwork all around that was inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry so definitely worth a look.

Please check the newsletter for our photos and updated news.

This term, we getting stuck into our new project - The Anglo Saxons. We will be learning all about the history of the the Anglo Saxons and their impact on our society today. We are also looking forward to our school trip to West Stow Village in February. 

WEST STOW ANGLO-SAXON VILLAGE

We are very much looking forward to the trip to West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. Thank you to all the parents who have signed and returned the slips. We can't wait for such an exciting trip.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

It has become apparent that some of the children are beginning to wear items of clothing that are not within our school uniform policy. Could you please make sure that the children are dressed in the correct clothing (including shoes), labelled if possible. 

**Please bring spare boots or trainers for cross country in PE in Wednesdays**

WHOLE SCHOOL SUMDOG COMPETITION

Calling all of you amazing mathematicians! 

You have been entered into the East of England Sumdog Competition. It starts on 26 Jan, 8:00am and ends on 30 Jan, 12:00pm

Why not have a go and get your class on the school leaderboard?

I will be monitoring how well each class is doing. The winning class will get extra playtime!

Let's show our school what great mathematicians we are!

Good luck.

Mrs Hurley 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Friday 6th February - West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village Visit (Year 5/6)

Friday 13th February – Last day of term

Friday 13th February – Wellbeing day

Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February- Half Term Holiday

Monday 23rd February - INSET Day (school closed)

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 25

Year 6 Pg 36+37

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 28+29

Year 6 Pg 92+93

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened so as to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading record to take home. Please make sure this comes into school every day.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 52 - Homophones and other words that are often confused.

• Times table practice - next week we are back to multiplying and dividing 12’s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/ Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Hurley, Mr. Greenfield and Miss Harvey

Year 5/6 Blogpost Friday 16th January '26

Dear Parents,

Happy Friday! We have successfully week two of the Spring term at Down Hall Primary School. We hope that you all had a wonderful week and are now ready for the weekend ahead!

This term, we are all looking forward to getting stuck in to our new project, The Anglo Saxons. We will be learning all about the history of the the Anglo Saxons and their impact on our society today. We are also looking forward to our school trip to West Stow Village in February. 

WEST STOW ANGLO-SAXON VILLAGE

We are very much looking forward to the trip to West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. Thank you to all the parents who have signed and returned the slips. If you have not yet returned it, please make sure that you have returned your signed slip to give permission for your child attending the trip by the end of next week. If you need a copy, please send a dojo and we will get a copy for you.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

It has become apparent that some of the children are beginning to wear items of clothing that are not within our school uniform policy. Could you please make sure that the children are dressed in the correct clothing (including shoes), labelled if possible. 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday 21st January – SATs Booster Club begins (Year 6)

Thursday 22nd January – Dance festival

Friday 6th February - West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village Visit (Year 5/6)

Friday 13th February – Last day of term

Friday 13th February – Wellbeing day

Monday 16th February - Friday 20th February- Half Term Holiday

Monday 23rd February - INSET Day (school closed)

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 6-7

Year 6 Pg 34-35

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 38

Year 6 Pg 49

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened so as to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading record to take home.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 52- Homophones

• Times table practise - next week we are back to multiplying and dividing 7’s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Hurley, Mr Greenfield and Mrs Witherall 

Year 5/6 Blog- Friday 9th January 2026

 Dear Parents,

Welcome to 2026 and a new term at Down Hall Primary School. We hope that you all had a wonderful festive break and are now ready to settle in to the Spring term.

This term, we are all looking forward to getting stuck in to our new project, The Anglo Saxons.We will be learning all about the history of the the Anglo Saxons and their impact on our society today. We are also looking forward to our school trip to West Stow Village in February. 

West Stow Village Trip

We are very much looking forward to the trip to West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village. Thank you to all the parents who have signed and returned the slips. If you have not yet returned it, please make sure that you have returned your signed slip to give permission for your child attending the trip by the end of next week. If you need a copy, please send a dojo and we will get a copy for you.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Thursday 22nd January – Dance festival

Friday 6th February- West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village Visit (Year 5/6)

Friday 13th February – Last day of term

Friday 13th February – Wellbeing day

Monday 16th February- Friday 20th February- Half Term Holiday

Monday 23rd February INSET Day (school closed)

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 16

Year 6 Pg 56-57

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 65

Year 6 Pg 60

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened so as to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading record to take home.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 51- Homophones

• Times table practise - next week we are back to multiplying and dividing ’s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs Hurley, Mr Greenfield and Mrs Witherall

 Year 5/6 Blog Post 19.12.25

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas break. The children have worked very hard this term.

Thank you to those that have provided children with appropriate clothing for the change in weather and temperature. Could you please make sure that items are labelled so that they can find their way back to their owners should they become misplaced. 

YEAR 5/6 TRIP TO EAST STOW ANGLO-SAXON VILLAGE

Next term we will be going a school trip to the East Stow Anglo-Saxon village. The children should have bought a letter home last week. If they did not bring one home, please ask your child's class teacher for a copy.

A reminder that the trip needs to be paid for by the 15th January. If you are finding yourself in financial hardship, please come and talk to us. We are here to help and would hate for any child to miss out.

Thank you to those who have already paid.

Reminder : Winter Reading Challenge

Look out for the flyer in the newsletter to promote this winter's reading challenge.

​​

Miss Harvey :

Homework

There will be no homework set in their books. However, please encourage the children to partake in the following:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves as well as to an adult and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. Please record home reading in your child's reading record.
• TTRS/Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful holiday,

Mrs. Hurley, Mr. Greenfield and Miss Harvey

Year 5/6 Blogpost 12.12.25

 Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you have had a lovely week. 

Well done to all the children for the hard work they have put into their assessments this week. We have been very impressed with the results and can see great signs of improvement already. 

The children had a great time at the Christmas lunch and an even better time visiting Father Chritsmas and his reindeers. Thank you to the PTA for organising this.

UPCOMING DATES

Wednesday 17th December- KS1 Nativity (pm)

Thursday 18th December- KS1 Nativity (am)

Friday 19th December- Early Years Nativity (am)

Friday 19th December- Last Day of Term. Wellbeing Day. School finishes at 2pm.

Monday 22nd December- Friday 2nd January- Christmas Holidays

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS- FINAL HOMEWORK OF THE TERM

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 35
Year 6 Pg 25-26

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 24
Year 6 Pg 11

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading Record to take home.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 49

• Times table practise - next week we are continuing with multiplying 8s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Hurley, Mr. Greenfield and Miss Harvey

Year 5/6 Blogpost 05.12.25

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you have had a lovely week. 

Thank you to all the children for coming to the pantomime. We had such a wonderful time and it has definitely set us up for the Christmas season!

We had a visit from Mr Howard, a WWII veteran. Please see the newsletter for all the details.

UPCOMING DATES

Thursday 11th December – Christmas Dinner Day/ Christmas Jumper Day

Friday 12th December- PTA Father Christmas Grotto/ Christmas Shopping Day (during school

time)/ Christmas Bazaar (after school)

Wednesday 17th December- KS1 Nativity (pm)

Thursday 18th December- KS1 Nativity (am)

Friday 19th December- Early Years Nativity (am)

Friday 19th December- Last Day of Term. Wellbeing Day. School finishes at 2pm.

Monday 22nd December- Friday 2nd January- Christmas Holidays

YEAR 5/6 HOMEWORK TASKS

CGP BOOKS

MATHS
Year 5 Pg 23
Year 6 Pg 23

ENGLISH
Year 5 Pg 52
Year 6 Pg 36-37

Please also ensure that your child is regularly:

• Reading: Remember 15-20 minutes reading to an adult every day is the optimum and should be continuing into Year 6. Please also encourage your child to read by themselves and then discuss the text afterwards, sharing opinions, their favourite part or questioning what happened to ensure that your child is understanding the text as well as reading it. All children have a Reading Record to take home.

• Spelling words - please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down. This week we are up to Spelling rule 48

• Times table practise - next week we are continuing with multiplying 7s. Please practise these at home by revising them from your spelling and times table notebook and by writing them down.

• TTRS/Sumdog - lots of practice on these amazing programmes that complement what we learn at school. Please see your reading diaries for login details.

We hope that you have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs. Hurley, Mr. Greenfield and Miss Harvey