WELCOME TO YEAR 5 2023-24!

This year is going to be fabulous! Moving up to Year 5, children have many experiences to look forward to as expectations for developing maturity coincides with their transition from Lower Key Stage 2 to Upper Key Stage 2.

 

Curriculum

This term, we have a jam-packed curriculum of exciting learning opportunities including:

English: Narrative, Non-fiction and Poetry. We will be writing stories from other cultures and a persuasive leaflet linked to our history topic Dynamic Dynasties. We will also be learning how to write a non-chronological report linked to our science Earth and Space topic and also writing Senyyu poetry. In addition to daily English lessons, we will learn phonic and spelling strategies through daily 'Read, Write, Inc' lessons and develop reading skills during daily Whole Class Guided Reading lessons and story time.

Maths: Number. We will be learning about Place Value, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division and Fractions. Alongside daily maths lessons, we will improve our recall of prior learning by completing daily 'Flashback 4' questions.

RE: God. In religious education, we will be learning how to make connections between biblical texts and Christian ideas about God using theological terms. We will show how Christians put their beliefs into practice in worship.

Creation and Fall. We will learn about the importance of creation on the timeline of the Bible and explore how science and faith go together.

People Skills: The GREAT Project. This term, we will be visited by The GREAT Project Team, who will deliver a series of lessons to teach children that Good Relationships are Equal and Trusting. Over four afternoons, Year 5 children will learn to recognise what constitutes a positive, healthy relationship and develop skills to carry these out. They will learn about ways in which a relationship can be unhealthy and whom to talk to if support is needed. They will be able to judge what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable and how to respond and to recognise bullying and abuse in all its forms.

Science: Forces and Mechanisms. We will gain knowledge about forces of gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction, exploring their effects. We will learn about mechanisms, their uses and how they allow a smaller effort to have a greater effect.                                                                 

Earth and Space. In this project, we will learn about our Solar System and its spherical celestial bodies. We will describe the movements of the Earth and the other planets relative to the Sun, the Moon relative to Earth, and the Earth's rotation to explain day and night.

Computing: We will develop understanding of computer systems and how information is transferred between systems and devices. We will explain the input, output, and process aspects of a variety of different real-world systems. We will also discover how information is found on the World Wide Web, through learning how search engines work (including how they select and rank results) and what influences searching, and through comparing different search engines.

History: Dynamic Dynasties. We will be learning about the history of ancient China, focusing primarily on the Shang Dynasty, and exploring the lasting legacy of the first five Chinese dynasties, some of which can still be seen in the world today.

Geography: Investigating Our World. We will be gaining the essential skills and knowledge to locate map features using a range of methods. We will learn about the Prime Meridian, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and worldwide time zones and study interconnected climate zones, vegetation belts and biomes. We will learn about human geography and capital cities worldwide before looking at the UK motorway network and settlements. Finally, we will carry out an enquiry to identify local settlement types.

Art: Tints, Tones and Shades. We will learn about colour theory by studying the colour wheel and exploring mixing tints, shades and tones. We will learn about significant landscape artworks and features of landscapes before using this knowledge to create landscape paintings.

Taotie. In this project, we will learn about the significance and art of the taotie motif, including ancient and contemporary casting methods.

D&T: Moving Mechanisms. We will be learning about pneumatic systems, experimenting with pneumatics before designing, making and evaluating a pneumatic machine that performs a useful function.

P.E. We will be learning fitness skills and lacrosse in the first half term and dance, hockey and long distance running in the second half term. P.E. will be taught on a Tuesday and Wednesday and therefore children will need to wear P.E. kits on these days.

Music: Livin' On a Prayer, Classroom Jazz 1.  We will be listening to and appraising rock and jazz themed music, singing, improvising and composing before performing musical ensembles.

French: Bonjour, En Classe, Mon Corps, Les Animaux, Ma Famile We will be gaining further knowledge of the French language and developing skills in communicating based on greeting people, my body, animals and my family.

 

Staffing

Alongside myself (Miss Bewick), Mr Mazzotti will be teaching English, maths, science and music on a Monday and ICT on a Tuesday and Miss Jackson, a fabulous Teaching Assistant, who knows the children well from working with them in previous years, will be working alongside us to support with our learning and teaching PE to the class on a Tuesday afternoon. 

 

Behaviour

The ‘Good to be Green’ behaviour system will continue as usual across the school with children starting each morning and afternoon on a green card. Class Dojos can be earnt by children for doing what is expected throughout the day, with Class Dojos of the Week being displayed in the class and earning privileges throughout the following week. Gold cards can be earnt by going above and beyond what is expected in work, behaviour or attitude and in Class 5, when a Gold Card is given, a raffle ticket can be put into the cat (of course) box. Each Friday the raffle will be drawn for the chance to win a prize.

Platinum Cards are awarded for going way above and beyond and for really wowing! A prize can be chosen on receipt of a Platinum and a certificate and prize will be presented in Thursday’s Celebration Assembly in front of the whole school. House points are also awarded for Platinum Cards and they will be displayed on the website Platinum page.

I also award my famous ‘Smarty Pants of the Week’ that I have been doing every week since my first year of teaching. A Smarty Pants certificate and box of Smarties is given to whoever stands out to staff over the course of the week for being fabulous!

Yellow cards serve as a warning for not behaving as expected and red cards will be given if this warning is not heeded. If your child receives a red card, you will be informed, a break time will be missed to reflect on the behaviour, the incident will be logged and house points will be deducted.

 

Homework

For information on homework, please go to the Homework link at the top of the page.

 

Weekly Timetable

Please see below for 'Welcome Letter to Class 5'.