Spring synopsis for Year 5
Dear All,
Welcome back!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. Below is a summary of what we’ll be learning about this term. If you have any questions or concerns that are not answered below, please feel free to come along and ask me. I will be at the Key Stage 2 door most days at hometime.
Homework and Reading
Just a reminder…Homework will usually be provided on a Wednesday, to be completed by the following Monday. This may be in our homework books, on a separate sheet or online. This term spelling and times tables will be different. We will not be completing weekly spelling and times tables tests on a Monday. Instead, children will bring home 6 spellings in their reading journal each week that they find tricky (usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday), from the unit we’re studying in school. The expectation is that the children will work on these spellings at home with an adult and then the adult will put their initials next to each word when it is spelled correctly at home. This may be through writing it down or saying it aloud. Times tables tests will happen within maths lessons as and when it is appropriate. It is still very important to practise tables regularly to sharpen those maths skills. It is expected that your child will read for at least 15 minutes every night. The books chosen can be school books or books from home. If your child comes across unfamiliar words they should be encouraged to use a dictionary to find the meaning. Children are responsible for bringing their reading record to school each day and for changing books.
English
In class, we will be building upon what the children learned last term and extending their skills of reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, spelling, handwriting and writing composition. Our first English unit this term will be based on the classic poem ‘The Highwayman’. We will decipher the text, then use drama to explore it before finally writing narrative and a persuasive piece of writing based on the text. It is a difficult text but I’m sure the children will love the storyline and will produce some excellent writing! Later in the term we will write tourism brochures linked to our topic before moving on to study Macbeth. I know the class will enjoy this tale of intrigue, with perfect timing for the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death.
Maths
This term we will begin by completing some maths investigations. After this we will cover angles, fractions, decimals, percentages, area, perimeter, negative numbers, roman numerals, time, reflection, translation, length and mass. It would be helpful if you could discuss any real life examples you come across showing fractions, decimals and percentages, for example in shop sales, recipes, and so on, to give this tricky topic a context.
Topic
Our topic for this term is ‘South America’. Having spent time in this amazing continent, it is a topic close to my heart and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with the class. Our studies will include drama, written work, art, design technology and music (Samba music and traditional songs). We will learn about the physical and human geography of South America and then focus in on one of the countries, Peru. We will explore landmarks, culture, customs (including music, food, clothing etc) as well as the rich history of the area. After that, we will move on to study rainforests and deforestation. Finally we will study one of the products of the rainforest – chocolate! Yum.
Science
Our first two science units of year 5 are called ‘Materials’ and ‘Earth and Space’. Both units allow lots of practical exploration as well as improving our written investigation skills and promise to be lots of fun.
Other Subjects
We will also find time to enjoy lots of Art and Design work, music, RE, PSHE, British Values, Computing and French!
PE
Our PE lessons have changed this term and will take place on a Monday and a Friday. Please provide your child with a water bottle, indoor kit and outdoor kit in a suitable bag. PE bags can be left on your child’s peg all week and washed at weekends, ensuring that your child has their kit if any changes in schedule need to be made.
Thank you for your continued support,
Mrs N Faulkner
