Year 5 Spring Term
English
This term, the children will be preparing to write their own narrative based on the story/poem ‘Beowulf’. We will also be writing a narrative from ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’. The children will build on previous skills by practising their oral skills by retelling stories and completing drama activities. They will be immersed in a wealth of vocabulary and apply existing skills whilst developing their writing and deepening their ideas by using a range of styles to really enhance the reader’s experience. We will then learn the features of a balanced argument with a focus on animals in captivity, namely zoos.
Shared reading
This term, we will complete our reading of ‘The Explorer’ by Katherine Rundell and then shared reading will be based on the text ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'. During the week, we will focus on developing their ability to draw inferences, find evidence to support their answers and to summarise. Where possible, please listen to your child read at home, to encourage them to gain confidence when reading and develop their fluency and pace. This can start conversations which can enable the children to better understand the characters they are reading about further understand the plot and authorial intentions. Inference and deduction are difficult concepts and these conversations can really aid your child to dive deeper in to the book they are reading. Additionally, a huge focus is on vocabulary; its meaning and alternatives. It is imperative that your child build their vocabulary to aid them with reading and the demands of being an UKS2 reader.
Mathematics
The children will have a huge focus on factions, decimals and percentages this half term. This includes finding fractions of a number and shape, multiplying whole numbers by fractions, ordering fractions with a common denominator and understanding how to convert between mixed and improper fractions,
Times Table Rockstars is a program that we follow in school. The children have their username and password so that they can practice regularly. We are encouraging the children to 'Beat the Teacher' where they have the opportunity to beat a teacher and be celebrated for it. It is imperative that children have instant recall of all the times table and related division facts in order to complete more complex mathematical calculations.
As always, we encourage the children to know how to tell the time as in Year 5, children are expected to be able to read the time using analogue and digital to the nearest minute, 12 and 24hr clocks and to be able to work between the two. Please spend time with your child ensuring they are able to tell the time so that in the lessons, they are able to approach them confidently.
Science
In Science we are looking at materials. The children will conduct experiments to investigate why products are made out of certain materials and how different materials react together.
History
Our History learning will focus on the Tudors. We will look at different areas within this unit: Henry the VIII and make inferences about his leadership, life in Tudor times and looking in more detail about why Henry VIII had so many wives and why were some beheaded. We will also visit Tatton Park as part of this unit.
Geography
Our work this half term will be focused on population and how and why it changes. We will begin by researching global population and the terminology ‘global density’. This will then move focus to the UK and how the population has diversified over time.
Computing
We will be learning how to appraise and create podcasts as well as developing our own computer game looking at algorithms and different programmes. .
RE
This half term, we will be learning about different religions and pose the question: ‘If God is all around, do we need a place of worship?’ This will enable the children to look in more detail about the religions and reflect on their own and others’ belief systems.
PSHRE
During our lessons, we will continue with ‘My Happy Mind’ whilst also looking at money and the decisions people make and can make about money. We will also look at health and how drugs, common to everyday life (nicotine, some medicines, alcohol) can affect health.
Games / PE
EdStart will continue the PE sessions for the children and this half term they will focus on dance.
DT
The children will be looking at mechanisms in DT and create a pop up book for a younger audience. They will appraise a range of styles before designing and then creating their own based on a famous nursery rhyme.
Music
Our music lessons will be focussed on composition for the festival of colour. This will be very exciting and will give the children a chance to explore different rhythms and listen to and appraise their own and others’ work.
Spanish
We will love on from learning about important dates and the calendar to learning how to pronounce new sounds relating to talking about pets. Our Spanish lessons are very much enjoyed in Year 5.
