Home Classes Welcome to year 5 - hazel & hornbeam classes

Welcome to Year 5 - Hazel & Hornbeam Classes

Alongside the learning that takes place in Year 5, our main aim for all of the children is for them to enjoy themselves, to continue to develop good social skills and to develop an independence that will stand them in good stead for Year 6 and beyond. We deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways to make learning interesting and fun for the children. For example, we try to be creative and flexible in our use of ICT and Art to enhance learning in other subjects.

Other activities that Year 5 children will be involved in during the year include:

A trip to the Science Observatory as part of our science unit – Earth and Space
A Greek Olympics Day
A Farmer’s Market – as part of our Geography unit Sow, Grow and Farm
Visitors throughout the year

Communication between home and school is crucial throughout your child’s time at school. Though we appreciate that, as your child gets older, you may not pick them up from the classroom door, you can still easily stay in contact with us through Class Dojo.

Our door is always open!

Please remember:

Your child needs a clear, reusable plastic water bottle for classroom use.
PE kit must be named with appropriate footwear and worn on class PE days.
School dinners are now cashless for non free school meal children. Please speak to the office for further information if you have not set this up.
Book bags must be brought to school daily.

Year 5 are already reaching for the stars!

This term, the children have taken a step back in time and have been learning all about Ancient China in our Dynamic Dynasties unit. We have explored many artefacts and have carried out enquiries to discover what life was like during the Shang Dynasty. The children were able to step into the shoes of a warrior, recreating their experiences through dance, and they also became podcast presenters, recording episode 1, ‘The Silk Road’, which educated others about the changes that occurred following the Shang Dynasty.

In English, the children have read The Firework Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman and have developed their inferencing skills through ‘reading’ picture books. One of their particular favourites was The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Many of the children have gone on to recommend these books to others or are now reading books written by the same author! In writing, we have focused on setting descriptions, explanation texts, characterisation and informative texts – in which they had to describe their own fictional planet.

In Maths, Year 5 started the term working with numbers up to 1,000,000, securing their addition and subtraction knowledge and applying their multiplication and division skills. In the second half of the term, we developed strategies to solve word problems and used tables and graphs to analyse data.

During science lessons, Year 5 have enjoyed conducting many experiments as part of our first unit - Forces and Mechanisms. Children led their own investigations into gravity, friction, water resistance, and air resistance, using the data they collected to draw their own conclusions. In term 2, Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed their Earth and Space topic. They made a simple model to help them understand how the moon orbits the Earth and how the Earth orbits the Sun, and recreated the phases of the moon in the classroom. They also explored how Earth’s rotation creates a range of phenomena, including day and night, and the appearance of the sun rising in the east at sunrise and setting in the west at sunset. Earth and Space is ALWAYS a fascinating topic!

Our Geography unit – Investigating our World – enabled the children to develop their map skills. They enjoyed exploring Ordnance Survey maps of the local area and learning how to use 4 and 6-figure grid references. We have also learnt about climate zones, vegetation belts, biomes, time zones, transport networks and world cities.

We particularly enjoyed DT this term, in which children designed, created and evaluated their own pneumatic systems, using compressed air to exert a force. They had to use all their essential skills, especially teamwork, problem-solving, and staying positive, as they encountered hurdles along the way.

A highlight of our term has been seeing the children achieve their bronze and silver stars for completing 25 or 50 quality pieces of work in their star books! Well done to everyone who has earned theirs so far!

In French, we now know how to talk about our pets, and in Computing, we have completed units about computer systems, networks and video production. In this unit, children were tasked with creating their own advertisement for a board game, selecting the most appropriate filming techniques, and carefully editing their video.

In RE, we have considered Christian’s beliefs about God and what it means to be a Muslim in Britain today. In music, we have looked at rhythm and pulse, structure and tempo, and listened to, sung, and performed a range of songs. In PSHE, we have been celebrating difference and understanding what culture means.

As we come to the end of a busy term, the children are looking forward to ‘wrap a gift’, the Christmas grotto, Christmas jumper day and Christmas lunch! We look forward to seeing what Term 3 and 4 have in store for us all!

We have been extremely busy since Christmas!

In English this term, the children have read ‘Wreck of the Zanzibar’ by Michael Morpurgo and ‘Looking for Emily’ by Fiona Longmuir. The children have really enjoyed being detectives, piecing clues together to try and work out what happened to Emily, a missing girl, in the town of Edge. World Book Day was a real highlight with a full day of book-related activities including a class swap, Parent Story Time and creating a lollipop stick book character.

In Maths, Year 5 have been working hard learning about Fractions and Decimals. The children have learnt about mixed number and improper fractions and have been securing their knowledge on how to multiply, convert and simplify fractions. We have been using physical resources to represent decimals and using our place value knowledge to compare numbers.

In our Science lessons, Year 5 have enjoyed exploring how the human body is affected by ageing. They also learnt about Human Reproduction. The children carried out an experiment to answer the question ‘Do reaction times slow down with age?’ The Year 5 children tested the reaction of a range of adults in school and at home and presented their results on a scatter graph.

In Term 3 and 4, our overarching topic in year 5 has been ‘Sow, Grow and Farm’. The children have enjoyed learning about farming, both in the UK and around the world; they even had the opportunity to speak to farmer Humphrey via a video call to hear about his experience of farming and the challenges he faces. To end the term, the children used their knowledge on seasonal fruits and vegetables to design their own soup. The children then made the soup in DT – they were very tasty!

In Art, the children have been learning about land art and the natural materials that can be used for creations. They did a fantastic job creating their own pieces of land art!

In Music this term the children have been singing, playing instruments and improvising with the songs Eerie Canal and Heroes. In French we have been learning how to say the date and in RE we have been investigating why Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah.

Lots of children have now achieved their bronze, silver and even their gold star for completing work in their star book. We are so proud of the children who have aimed high. I wonder if we will have some children achieve their super star next term.

As we come to the end of term 4, we look forward to all that next term has to offer, particularly our residential trip to Mallydams!

In English this term, we carried on reading Looking for Emily by Fiona Longmuir. We have enjoyed lots of reading and writing activities based around the story of three children on the hunt for a missing diamond!

In Maths, Year 5 have been working hard learning about decimals, percentages, angles and coordinates! They have shown that they are ready for Year 6 with all their brilliant Maths knowledge!

During Science, Year 5 have enjoyed learning about the properties of materials. They have undertaken lots of activities to test the properties including dissolving, testing electrical conductivity and solubility.

In Term 5 and 6, our overarching topic has been ‘The Groundbreaking Greeks’. Learning about the Fathers of philosophy, the start of democracy, the beginning of the Olympics and so much more has given the children an interesting insight into the impact that the Greeks have on us today. This linked with Our DT topic in which the children studies Greek architecture and could see how it is used in some architecture today!

In Art, the children have enjoyed working with ‘Mixed Materials’. They have used a range of techniques including marbling, collaging, paper making, decopaching and paper folding and their hard work resulted in a superb final collage piece with materials of their choice. A big thank you to parents who were able to provide some materials to support us with this topic.

The children have continued working hard to earn their Bronze, Silver, Gold AND Superstars! We certainly have a group of children who are ready to go to Year 6 and start working towards their Silver Jumpers!