Croeso i Dosbarth Sycamore
Welcome to Dosbarth Sycamore's class page. In Dosbarth Sycamore, Miss Ffoulkes is our class Teacher and we have the wonderful Mrs Lewis as our classroom Teaching Assistant. We are very lucky to have Miss Jones teaching Forest School providing the pupils with fantastic opportunities for learning outside the classroom. Miss Jones is supported by Mis Goodwin. Miss Jones will also be teaching class vital digital skills once a week as well.
General Information
Forest School: Forest School slot at the moment is changing on a weekly basis. Please make sure you check Seesaw messages on a Friday for the Forest School poster update. I will always remind children the day before and send a reminder Seesaw message the morning of at 8am.
PE: Dosbarth Sycamore will have P.E. every Tuesday afternoon. Children will need to wear a plain white t-shirt, black shorts or jogging bottoms and trainers/pumps for P.E.
Book bags: The children will be expected to return their book bags weekly so reading books can be changed regularly. It would be really helpful if you could write a little note each week in their reading record to let us know how they've got on.
Summer 1: The Gresford Mining Disaster
This half term, our topic is The Gresford Mining Disaster. This topic explores local history through the lens of the Gresford Mining Disaster, enabling learners to understand how industry shaped Wrexham’s identity, community and values. Through visits, expert visitors and creative outcomes, pupils will become historians, journalists and artists, creating legacy work that will be shared with our local high school, Rhosnesni. Literacy, digital competence and expressive arts will be woven together to deepen understanding, empathy and communication.
PE - In PE, we will be focusing on invasion games. We will be focussing on invasion games such as benchball, endball and small‑sided team games. Children will learn key skills such as passing, marking, dodging, teamwork and simple tactics through fun outdoor activities. We will also include weekly Welsh warm‑ups to promote the use of Welsh during PE.
Maths - This half term in Maths we will begin with a focus on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. Towards the end of the half term, we will begin our unit on Statistics collecting and interpreting data. As always, we follow a mastery approach, giving children opportunities to develop fluency, reasoning and problem‑solving skills. After half term we will be focussing on time so it will be helpful through May half term if you can work with your child to ensure they can tell the time on a digital and analogue clock.
English - In English, we will be following the Talk for Writing process to write diary entries. Our model text is linked to disasters which is our topic and this model text is on Titanic. Pupils will learn how diary entries can be used as an informal way to recount events. They will then innovate the text by creating their own diary entries on the Gresford Mining Disaster, before completing an independent hot task. This unit links beautifully with our Gresford Mining Disaster and will help prepare the children for creating posters, scripts and digital adverts.
Welsh - In Cymraeg, we will focus on developing oracy through simple patterned sentences. We will work on expressing opinions, giving reasons, asking and answering questions and describing objects.
Digital Learning - Each week, pupils will take part in a dedicated digital lesson following the Digital Learning Den unit Data, Data Everywhere!. They will collect, represent and analyse data using tools such as J2Graph and J2Data. The will take part is solving detective mysteries using data they have collected.
Homework
Here you will find our Homework grid which will usually be posted every second Friday of a fresh half term. There are 6 activities in total all differentiated so please choose which activities you think are most appropriate for your child and complete at least 3. All children should be able to upload to Seesaw from home but if you have any trouble with this, contact Miss Ffoulkes via Seesaw. We expect the children to be sending home via their own accounts and not through parent's messages as it encourages independence and ICT skills.
Please click on the link below for an electronic copy of our current homework grid:
Alongside the homework grids children also have logins for each of the following learning platforms. Child have log ins for all of the below websites. If they do not have a log in card at home you can request one from the class teacher via Seesaw.
Please click on the links below to take you directly to the websites:
https://hourofcode.com/uk/learn
https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student/16026
https://play.numbots.com/#/intro
https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
https:///appuk.idlsgroup.com/#/login
Helping At Home
Reading
It is so important the children continue to read at home as much as possible, either by themselves or to an adult. Books can be brought home from school, borrowed from the library or be your own but please encourage your child to try a variety of genres and authors. All children have a Reading Diary. The children or yourselves need to complete the diary when they read.
Spelling
There will be one piece of spelling homework a week and this will be sent out on a Wednesday. The spellings will be shared in class and posted on the children's Seesaw. Children will be tested on those spellings the following Wednesday. Please can you encourage your children to learn their spelling words as it will help them when completing their independent writing and help to improve the quality of their work.
Maths
All children have a login for Times Table Rockstars (TTRS). Accessing this at home is very important as we don’t often have the time in school to spend practicing our times table skills, but we do need to apply them daily. If anyone has any problems accessing TTRS, please let me know and I can sort this out straight away.
Below are all of the previous homework grids and half termly overviews from this Academic year:
Spring 2 - Cynefin
This half term, our topic is Cynefin, where we will explore out local environment. We will learn about St Giles' church and finding out what is important to us and people in our community. Throughout the topic, we will have opportunities to go out into our local community and we will end the half term with a whole school Eisteddfod.
Spring 1 - Our World and Beyond
This half term, our topic is Our World and Beyond, where we will explore Earth, space, and the conditions needed for life to exist. We will learn about our planet and what makes Earth a suitable place for living things, as well as consider why space and other planets can be much more challenging environments. Throughout the topic, we will develop our understanding of space exploration and the work of astronauts, thinking about how humans explore beyond Earth and adapt to survive in extreme conditions. We will also compare Earth with other planets, encouraging curiosity about the universe and our place within it.
Spring 1 - Our World and Beyond
This half term, our topic is Our World and Beyond, where we will explore Earth, space, and the conditions needed for life to exist. We will learn about our planet and what makes Earth a suitable place for living things, as well as consider why space and other planets can be much more challenging environments. Throughout the topic, we will develop our understanding of space exploration and the work of astronauts, thinking about how humans explore beyond Earth and adapt to survive in extreme conditions. We will also compare Earth with other planets, encouraging curiosity about the universe and our place within it.
Autumn 2 - Lessons from the Past
This half term, our topic is Lessons From the Past, where we will explore one of the most significant events in modern history — World War II. We will learn about when and why the war began, which countries were involved, and how it affected people’s lives across the world. Through historical enquiry, we’ll examine propaganda, rationing, and evacuation, discovering what life was like for children during this time. We will also explore the Holocaust sensitively, learning about their experiences and reflecting on the importance of remembrance and empathy. Finally, we’ll take part in practical activities such as baking with rationed ingredients, helping us to understand how people adapted and showed resilience during the war.
Autumn 1 - Dyma Fi
This half term, our project is Dyma Fi (This is me), where we will be celebrating our individuality. Through English and Welsh, we will be creating personal profiles about ourselves and others, exploring appearance, hobbies, families, and future aspirations, while also developing Welsh speaking skills. In Expressive Arts, we’ll take inspiration from local murals and street art in Wrexham, as well as the colourful work of artists such as Maya Hayuk, Kashink, and Keith Haring. We will experiment with graffiti, shape, colour, and pattern to express our own identity, and will also explore global cultural traditions such as masks and face painting.