Oak Class 2023 - 2024

WELCOME TO OAK

Class teacher - Mr M Thomas

Mrs Shapland teaches E-Safety and Computing every Tuesday afternoon, Mr Parish teachers PE every Thursday afternoon and Miss Graves teaches English and MfL every Friday morning.

Learning Support Assistant - Mrs K Shapland

Follow us on Twitter  @WhitegateOak

As role models for the rest of the school, Oak class embody the values and vision that we have for our school community.  In the courtesy and gratitude we demonstrate around school, we model how our faith that making wise choices and always striving to do the right thing by ourselves and others allows us to grow in confidence and maturity.  The wisdom that comes from always striving to make these wise choices allows us to thrive as we take advantage of the many opportunities we have to shine in Oak class, from whole school dramatic performances to residentials and projects to support our local area.  

Our current learning takes us on a sweeping tour of history from the past 100 years covering World Wars One and Two as well as the Cold War as we explore the theme of Conflict. We will learn about conditions in the trenches for the soldiers in WW1, using some of Wilfred Owen's powerful poetry to support our learning and to inspire our writing as we pen letters home from the trenches. We'll also learn about the role the RAF played during the battle of Britain and the Blitz. Our Courageous Advocate is Anne Frank and through her story we will learn about the horrors suffered by the Jews at the hands of the Nazis. 

We will also learn about the Cold War and the partitioning of Germany and Berlin after WW2, as well as the role the RAF played in the Cold War. Our class text will be Flight for Freedom – a stunningly illustrated book which details the attempted escape of a family from East Germany during the Cold War which we will use as the inspiration for an escape narrative.

Our Residential trip will see us head to The Quinta Christian Centre, Chester’s Military Museum, Chirk Castle and the RAF Museum at Cosford. We will write nature poetry and a recount linked to the woodland walk we will make to Chirk Castle in addition to a competition narrative inspired by the story of the Red Hand of Chirk.

In Art, our driver will be Conflict and Activism as we create posters and mixed-media zines promoting peace and an end to war. We will explore the work of Andy Warhol and Pop Art within the context of the Cold War around themes of capitalism and Communism. This will link to our learning in Music as we explore themes and variations through Pop Art, using music notation to create visual representations of TIKI-TIKI, TI-TIKI and TIKI-TI rhythms inspired by Andy Warhol's seminal works. Music appreciation will also feature as we explore our reactions to a range of musical genres and artists across the Cold War era.

In Science, our focus will on the properties of materials which links to our DT learning as we will make stuffed teddies for our Reception buddies! In Science, we will also explore the changes in humans as we age which also links to our PSHE focus of puberty. In PSHE, we will also continue our regular work about staying safe online and exploring different themes through our No Outsiders lessons. 

In Computing, inspired by the work of Alan Turing and the code breaking cryptographers of Bletchley Park in World War Two, we will take our coding skills to the next level as we use BBC Microbits to create and solve our own ciphers which will also develop our mathematical logical reasoning skills.

In RE, after learning about how Jesus is understood by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists, we will learn about Ascension and Pentecost, ending with questions to ask a Christian about how the Holy Spirit is at work today. We will also explore Christian art, including art from a range of cultures, learning how art can be an expression of worship and prayer before the children create a piece of artwork inspired by a Bible passage they have underlined or written about during their time at Whitegate 

Reading is at the heart of successful learning and we will immerse ourselves in a range of quality texts over the course of the year. As Reading is a priority across all subjects, we regularly use a range of fiction and non-fiction texts in our guided and whole-class Reading lessons to help inform richer learning across the curriculum. In addition to this cross-curricular learning, a single day might also see us exploring the motivations of characters in our gripping class novels or simply allowing children time to develop a love of reading through our provision of high-quality fiction books. Wherever and whenever possible, we will prioritise developing the skills and positive attitudes towards Reading that will enable Oak class to become confident, informed and engaged learners. 

Home Reading expectations are detailed below, but should your child express an interest in a particular author, series or genre, please let us know and we would be delighted to order books from our library partners free of charge.  Visits to your local library are also encouraged!

PE and Forest School

PE will be on Thursday afternoons.  Please can children come into school on those days already dressed in their PE kits. Forest school will be on Wednesday mornings: pleasure ensure that children are dressed appropriately for the weather.

Homework

Please ensure your child reads at home at least 4 times per week for 15-20 minutes.  In Years 5 and 6, they are expected to record their own reading in their Home – School contact books; parents just need to sign each time. 

TT Rockstars should be practised at least 3 times per week also for a minimum of 5 minutes each time.

For Year 6, Mental Maths will be sent home twice per week; both sheets will be given out on Mondays. The first sheet will be due on Wednesday and the second on Friday.

Both Year 5 and Year 6 will also have a weekly SPaG sheet. This will be given out on Mondays and is to be returned the following Monday.

All Oak children will be given their own personal spelling lists to practise at home.  These are linked to the statutory spelling lists for each year group available at the bottom of this page. There will also be a statutory spelling list for each half term: these will be different for Year 5 and Year 6.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using the Home-School book  We love to celebrate any out of school learning or achievements by our children so please email to the office or send in anything your child would like to share with us. 

Oak’s Introduction Meeting for parents took place on Monday 22th September at 5pm in Oak's classroom. A copy of the presentation is available to download in the links below.