Welcome to the Year 5 class page!

SPRING TERM 2 – What will we be learning?

English – English this half term will be based around the whole school text of “Mavis the Bravest” by Lu Fraser and Sarah Warburton. It tells the story of scaredy-bird Mavis who needs to find her inner spark of braveness to save her friend. We will use this text to stimulate writing opportunities including character and setting descriptions, persuasive writing and explanations.

In addition to this, children will have handwriting practice and complete discrete grammar and spelling lessons.

Reading - Reading takes place every day in school, in a variety of ways: whole-class guided sessions, individual reading, and during the class text. Vocabulary, retrieval and improving inference are all of high priority, but ensuring your child enjoys reading is the main thing that matters!
Please encourage your child to read as often as possible outside of school. If you need any recommendations, please ask. Lovereading4kids.co.uk is a wonderful website for recommendations but we have a vast selection in school. Remember, comprehension and an appreciation of what you have read is of equal importance to speed and fluency. It is so important that every child has an enjoyment of reading. There is a book for everyone! If you're not sure what your child should be reading next, please come and ask.

Maths - The children will begin this half term by deepening their knowledge of fractions, including multiplying fractions and mixed numbers by an integer, and finding fractions of amounts. We will be using a range of concrete resources and pictorial models to help the children embed this learning before progressing on to reasoning and problem-solving style questions. Following this will be a topic introducing decimals and percentages.

Keep learning the multiplication tables outside of school; this is very much appreciated. By the end of Year 5, children should be able to recite all (and linked division facts) within 3 seconds. Times Tables Rock Stars will help with this, so ask for your child's login details if you do not already have them.

In addition to this, children will complete a daily 5-a-day recap of various areas of maths that will embed previous learning.

Science – Our science topic this half term is Forces. We will study different types of forces including gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction.

History - Our next history topic will be next half term.

Geography – We will be studying Eastern Europe, starting with a continent level view, and gradually focusing in on a particular country and region of the chosen country. The children will explore physical and human geographic features and then use these to present them as a tourist information pamphlet.

Art & Design – Our D&T topic this half term in “World Food.” The children will be learning about and preparing various foods from around the globe.

Computing - Our computing topic this term is Databases.

RE - In RE we will be exploring the topic: How significant is it for Christians to believe that God intended Jesus to die?

PSHE - In PSHE we will be following the Jigsaw scheme of work, and our topic is called “Healthy Me.”

P.E - This is every Thursday, so don't forget to bring the correct kit, ready for this day. This is a white T-Shirt, black shorts and a pair of black pumps. It would be ideal if this kit was clearly labelled and kept securely in a labelled P.E. bag, so that any misplaced items can be returned quickly. Have a pair of track pants and something warmer available as we will be outside as often as possible.

Year 5 will also have Life Skills each Thursday afternoon.

Homework
Reading will be the children's main activity that is expected outside of the classroom. If the right book is found, this should not seem like hard work!

Weekly spellings will be provided every Monday and tested every Friday.
In addition, optional Maths & English homework will be set each Monday and this will be due in the following Monday.

If you have any questions or queries, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment.

Mr Kulyn, Mrs Thornton and the Year 5 Team :)