Welcome to Year 5

Year 5 Class Saint: St John Paul II

Mr Sayce, Mrs Fellows and Mrs Jones would like to welcome you to Year 5!

We are looking forward to working with you and hope that you enjoy your year with us. We cover a number of interesting and exciting curriculum themes that are supported by  unforgettable class trips and engaging learning experiences. 

We would like you to note the following information to help and support your child while they are in Year 5:-

Children are encouraged to read as much as possible; at least three times a week as well as hearing the children practise their times tables, number bonds and doubles and halves. Homework will be set out on a Friday to be completed by the following Wednesday. Often, in preparation for or as part of a topic being covered in class, we may ask children to complete some research.

On Tuesday mornings the children have P.E. The sports taught change each half-term and pupils will be informed what is going to be taught in advance to enable them to wear to school the appropriate kit (shin pads for football etc). During the autumn term, pupils will also have dance on a Thursday morning with Sandra. 

key ideas:

Teamwork – Here in Year Five we are a family. We spend so much time together that we must act in the way that families do and look after each other. Together, we can achieve great things.

"None of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful." – Mother Teresa

Resilience - the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Some things in Year Five you will find difficult, tricky and challenging. We need to challenge ourselves in order to grow and move forward. I am expecting you to make mistakes (this is an important part of learning) but I need you to be resilient.

We are here to make mistakes:

"The only mistake you will ever make in life is one that you do not learn from."

Homework

In Year 5 we will endeavour to hear each child read at least once a week. This will include individual, guided and whole class reading. Please continue to hear your child read at home. Reading at home is vital to develop your child’s fluency and understanding. Try to hear your child read daily where possible and encourage them to recall the story back to you.  Homework will  be set via ’Google Classroom’  (printed copies will also be available) on a Friday, it will usually consist of an English and a Mathematics activity. Homework will need to be submitted before the following Wednesday. 

Curriculum Information Summer term 

R.E

Easter-In this unit the children will learn about the Church’s Celebrations of Easter, particularly through the Easter Vigil. They will learn about the Church’s belief in eternal life through the Easter Story and the Story of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. 

Pentecost– This unit is designed to give children greater insight into the Church’s belief in the Holy Spirit. It will also explore the Holy Trinity and prayer and devotion to the Holy Spirit.

English:

In the summer term, pupils will explore a variety of texts including:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

During this half term the children will learn to:

Understand and interpret texts

Engage and respond to texts

Use a variety of sentence structures

Develop the use of more advanced punctuation within writing

Use paragraphs and cohesive devices within writing

Understand the features of all non-fiction text types

Plan and write fiction and non-fiction text types

Maths:  

Measurement- Converting Units

Convert between different units of metric measure e.g. km to m, cm and m, cm and mm, g and kg, l and ml.

Understand and use approximate equivalences between metric units and common imperial units such as inches, pounds and pints.

Solve problems involving converting between units of time.

Use all four operations to solve problems involving measure e.g. length, mass, volume, money using decimal notation, including scaling.

Geometry: Position and Direction

Identify, describe and represent the position of a shape following a reflection or translation, using the appropriate language, and know that the shape has not changed.

Geometry: Shapes

Identify 3D shapes, including cubes and other cuboids, from 2D representations.

Use the properties of rectangles to deduce related facts and find missing lengths and angles.

Distinguish between regular and irregular polygons based on reasoning about equal sides and angles.

History: The Aztecs

The Aztecs is a fascinating topic to study, full of exciting stories, amazing innovations and one or two more gory elements! In this unit of work, pupils will: find out who the Aztecs were and when they lived, find out how the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, investigate how Aztec society was organised, find out what the Aztecs believed and how this impacted on their lives., investigate what daily life was like for the Aztecs and find out about the fall of the Aztec empire.

Geography: North America

In the summer term, Y5 will Voyage across the Atlantic as they discover the continent of North America and all its amazing countries, cities and landscapes. Pupils will identify the 23 countries of North America, from the vast lands of the USA and Canada down through Central America and on to the Caribbean islands. On the way they will explore the various geographical features of different areas of North America and compare them with their own locality.

Art and Design: The Explosion of Pop Art!

Pupils will learn that op art began in the 1950s but increased in popularity during the 1960s. Although it started in the United Kingdom, Pop art became a huge art style in the USA and, in particular, New York City. They will know that Pop art used commercial items and cultural icons such as advertisements, film celebrities, product labels and logos and was seen as a reaction and challenge to the seriousness of art styles from the past. Pupils will explore different printing techniques and create their own full-colour prints in the pop art style.

Forces (Continued) 

In this unit of work, pupils will learn to:

1. explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object
2. identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces

iii. recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect

 Design and Technology: Pulleys and Gears (Summer 2) 

Pupils will learn that Pulleys and gears are types of mechanisms. They will identify the elements of a simple gear train system and explain their mechanical advantages, apply their understanding of simple gear trains and pulley systems through model building (finger fluency) apply their understanding of simple pulley systems to solve a problem and take inspiration from existing products to eventually design and make their own prototype of a cable cart for a new ski and snowboarding resort.

PE Information:

Pupils will continue to have outdoor PE lessons taught by West-Midlands Sports Development on a Tuesday morning. Please make sure your child has full school P.E. kit and additional warm clothing and footwear, as appropriate for outdoor sports. Pupils will also have a PE session on Tuesday afternoons with Mr Sayce which will take place either outside (weather dependent) or in the school hall. 

Music:

Children will be taught  music  on a Friday afternoon as usual. They will learn maintain a part whilst others are preforming, use notation to record groups of pitches (chords), explain why they think music is successful or unsuccessful and suggest improvement their own work and that of others.  Pupils will also be continuing their singing  with Miss Cooper on alternate Thursday afternoons.

Recommended reads!!! 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

Curriculum Information spring term 

R.E

Christmas: In this unit the children will hear about the story of Christmas from St. Matthew’s Gospel. They will explore the difficulties faced by Mary and Joseph and the tensions that arose in King Herod.

Baptism: This unit explores the role of John the Baptist in Baptism of Jesus and provides an opportunity for an in depth study of the signs, symbols and prayers associated with the Sacrament of Baptism.

English: This term, the children will explore a variety of texts linked to our curriculum journey theme,.  Modern Classic Fiction will include, ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ by Michael Morpurgo and our Classic Fiction text will be “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne.

During this half term the children will learn to:

Understand and interpret texts

Engage and respond to texts

Use a variety of sentence structures

Develop the use of more advanced punctuation within writing

Use cohesive devices to link paragraphs within writing

Understand the features of non-fiction text types

Plan and write fiction and non-fiction text types

Maths: Fractions, Decimals and Percentages:

Pupils will learn to:

Compare and order fractions whose denominators are all multiples of the same number.

Identify, name and write equivalent fractions, represented visually, including tenths and hundredths.

Recognise mixed numbers and improper fractions and convert from one for to the other and write mathematical statements >1 as a mixed number e.g. 4/5 + 2/5 = 6/5= 1 1/5.

Add and subtract fractions with the same denominator and denominators that are multiples of the same number.

Multiply proper fractions and mixed numbers by whole numbers, supported by materials and diagrams.

Read and write decimal numbers as fractions e.g. 0.71=71/100.

Recognise and use thousandths and relate them to tenths, hundredths and decimal

Science - Earth, Sun and Moon:

In this unit of work, children are introduced to the facts that the Earth, Sun and Moon are spherical, that they differ in size and are a great distance apart. They learn that although the Sun appears to move across the sky during the day, it is, in fact, the Earth that moves and spins and that we experience day and night as a consequence.  Sunrise and sunset are discussed along with the variation in length of day.

Scientific enquiry is planned into the unit and it focuses on obtaining and interpreting evidence using tables and graphs, drawing and comparing conclusions.

Forces

In this unit of work, pupils will learn to:

1. explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object
2. identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces

iii. recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect

History—The Kingdom of Benin

In this unit of work, pupils will know and understand significant aspects of the history of the wider world: the nature of ancient civilisations; the expansion and dissolution of empires; characteristic features of past non-European societies; achievements and follies of mankind. They will understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed.

Geography—Marine Biomes

In Georgraphy, pupils will explore the marine biome—the biggest biome in the world! They will learn that It covers about 70 per cent of the Earth and contains millions of species of plants and animals. Pupils will develop contextual knowledge of the location of places, seas and oceans, including their defining characteristics.

Geography - Using maps: features (Spring 2) 

Pupils will learn that maps contain several features that help us to better understand the information presented about a specific place. They will learn to locate and label the: title, compass rose, key, lines of longitude and latitude and scale. Pupils will also earn to describe the purpose of each of these features.

Art and Design : Exploring expressionism

Pupils will learn that ‘Expressionism’ in art relates to how real images are distorted and exaggerated in order to express the inner feelings or ideas of the artist. Pupils will produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences. They will become proficient in art, craft and design techniques and be able to evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design . They will know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

PE Information:

Pupils will have outdoor PE lessons taught by West-Midlands Sports Development on a Tuesday morning. Please make sure your child has full school P.E. kit and additional warm clothing and footwear, as appropriate for outdoor sports. Pupils will also have a PE session on Tuesday afternoons with Mr Sayce which will take place either outside (weather dependent) or in the school hall. 

Music:

Children will be taught  music  on a Friday afternoon as usual. They will learn maintain a part whilst others are preforming, use notation to record groups of pitches (chords), explain why they think music is successful or unsuccessful and suggest improvement their own work and that of others.  Pupils will also be continuing their singing  with Miss Cooper on alternate Thursday afternoons.

Recommended Reads!

  ‘Kensuke's Kingdom’ by Michael Morpurgo

  ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ by Jules Verne

Curriculum Information autumn term 

R.E

Creation: In this unit the children will learn key beliefs about the creation of human beings and the creation of the world. It introduces the children to the story of creation as a way of explaining that God is creator, rather than a re-telling of the order of the created world.

Miracles and the Sacrament of the Sick: During this unit the children will learn about some of the miracles of Jesus and the work of the church to heal and care for the sick in Christ’s name.

Advent: This unit links the Old Testament and the New Testament in term of preparing for the coming of Christ during the Season of Advent.

History: Driven by the history topic of the Victorians pupils will have the opportunity to explore Victorian Britain  and develop a chronological timeline for British history.  They will compare life in Victorian Britain to modern day life and explore areas such as education, the impact of the industrial revolution, the British Empire and experience Victorian life for themselves during our class trip to the Black Country Living Museum. 

Geography will focus on ocean currents. Pupils will learn that an ocean current is a continuous movement of ocean water from one place to another. Ocean currents are created by wind, water temperature, salt content and the gravity of the moon. Pupils will learn that ocean currents affect weather patterns around the world: they transport warm water to colder areas and cold water to warmer ones. Plastic pollution is also transported by ocean currents and pupils will take this opportunity to explore the affects of plastic pollution on our environment.  

Pupils will learn, in art lessons, that Surrealism began as a philosophical movement that said the way to find truth in the world was through the subconscious mind and dreams, rather than through logical thought. The movement included many artists, poets, and writers who expressed their theories in their work. As a class we will compare and contrast the works of various surrealist painters and sculptures ending with an in-depth study of the artist Salvador Dali.

In Design and Technology we will be exploring arch structures and Pupils will learn that designers take inspiration from existing products. They think about a product’s purpose, its users and how it is designed. pupils will learn that the Romans perfected the true arch, which is made of wedge-shaped blocks called voussoirs, with a keystone in the centre holding them in place.

In ICT, we will start by looking at existing code, asking the children to ‘read’ it and make Predictions to what they think will happen when the code is run. Pupils will Investigate a variety of code, looking at how different parts work . Once children have an understanding of how the code works, they will be encouraged to Modify it - changing and adding code and re-running the program to view the impact of their changes.

English: English lessons will focus on literature inspired by  Victorian Britain including an in-depth study of ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty , giving pupils the chance to explore a variety of writing styles. Character profiles, short stories and creative writing tasks will allow pupils to explore the compelling story of Jim Jarvis. Whole class reading will allow pupils to the opportunity to develop reading skills linked to the VIPER skills framework and ‘close reads’ will allow pupils regular practise of closely examining short extracts; developing a broader vocabulary base and drawing meaning from the text.   

Maths: Taught in line with the  National Curriculum with the use of the White Rose schemes of work, pupils will develop their mathematical skills with the use of mental maths, arithmetic, problem solving and reasoning. The children will learn to:

multiply and divide numbers mentally drawing upon known facts, multiply and divide whole numbers by 10, 100 and 1000 , multiply numbers up to 4 digits by a one or two digit number using a formal written method, including long multiplication for 2 digit numbers , divide numbers up to 4 digits by a one digit number using the formal written method of short division and interpret remainders appropriately for the context, identify multiples and factors  including finding all factor pairs of a number, and common factors of two numbers. 

Science - Properties of Materials

Building on earlier programmes of study on 'Everyday Materials,' this unit expands on learners' knowledge of different materials and their uses. There is a sharper focus on where natural resources come from, such as crude oil. Moving away from fossil fuels, children are asked to consider how useful substances can be extracted from natural resources, and how these can be re-used.  Further to this, learners can study modern environmental technologies to consider how energy efficiency can be improved.

PE Information: Pupils will have outdoor PE lessons taught by West-Midlands Sports Development on a Tuesdays. Please make sure your child has full school P.E. kit and additional warm clothing and footwear, as appropriate for outdoor sports. Year 5 will also be taught dance on a Thursday morning and will be required to wear usual indoor PE kit (black pumps, black shorts and blue/white polo t-shirt.)

Music: Children will continue to be taught  music  on a Friday morning They will learn maintain a part whilst others are performing, use notation to record groups of pitches (chords), explain why they think music is successful or unsuccessful and suggest improvement their own work and that of others.  In the lead up to Christmas, pupils will also be preparing for Christingle, which will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes, with Ms Cooper.