Our Year 5 Class       

A very warm welcome to our Year 5 class page. In Year 5  we look forward to the challenges and responsibilities of being in the upper juniors. During the year the children continue to develop their independent learning, research and team work skills. 

Our Year 5 Class 2024-2025

Class Information

Who's who?

Mrs Monaghan - Year 5 Class Teacher

Mrs Bent - HLTA 

Miss German - Teaching Assistant

 Things to remember:

• Please remember that homework is due in by WEDNESDAY each week.
• PE lessons for Autumn 2 will be on a Tuesday (indoor) and Friday (outdoor). Please remember to write your child's name on all of their uniform and sports kits to avoid confusion.
• Reading is encouraged both in school but also at home. Reading for enjoyment is as important as reading to learn. It is important that the children read a range of books/comics/newspapers at home and develop their comprehension skills and vocabulary. This will help consolidate the reading work we will be doing in class. In Year 5, we feel it is important for the children to develop a love of reading as this gives their 'imagination wings'.
• We will be following the RWI spelling scheme this year and supplementing this with Spelling Shed. The children will be encouraged to use this at home as well as in school. The children will also be bringing home a list of the key words that they are currently working on. Please practise these at home(little and often).
• It is important that the children still continue to practise their times tables regularly at home. TTRockstars is a fantastic tool for this as well as 'Hit the Button'.

This half term.... Spring Term 1 (January - February 2025)

English 

We will start the half term by focusing on the purpose of writing to persuade. We will do this by writing a persuasive letter based on 'The Day the Crayons Quit' After this we will take inspiration from our class reader 'The Explorer' to write a narrative (writing to entertain). We will then finish the half term by creating a non-fiction double page spread report on rainforests (writing to inform). This will link nicely with our rainforest work in Geography.

We will use the Writing Rainbow to help support our writing again this half term and continue to develop our stamina and overall presentation. We will continue to challenge ourselves with our vocabulary choices, use a range of punctuation and vary our sentence structure. It is crucial that the children continue to proof-read their work carefully and check carefully for the basics and that their sentences make sense.

We will start our new class reader 'The Explorer' by Katherine Rundell. This will support some of our writing this half term and links nicely with our rainforests work in Geography.

'Fred, Con, Lila and little Max's plane is on the way to Manaus when it falls put of the sky. Now, lost in the Amazon rainforest, they must figure out the basics of survival: water, shelter, food. Do they wait for rescue, or find a way to rescue themselves?

Throughout the term we will develop our comprehension skills and think carefully about our reading VIPERS (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence or summarise) We will be using the wonderful book 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' to support our VIPERS work this half term. It is important that the children read a range of books/comics/newspapers at home and develop their comprehension skills and vocabulary. This will help consolidate the reading work we will be doing in class. In Year 5, we feel it is important for the children to develop a love of reading as this gives their 'imagination wings'.

In our spelling lessons we will focus on the following spelling rules:

• Words ending in shus spelt cious
• Words ending in shus spelt tious 

In the Autumn term the children were struggling with the spelling of silent letters and homophones so we are going to do some consolidation work around these this half term. We are going to finish the half term by doing focusing on our challenge words.

The children will be re-tested on their 'challenge words' the week after February half term. Please continue to practise these regularly at home.

We will be doing lots of sticky learning around our grammar consolidating our understanding of: 

• adverbials and pronouns
• determiners and apostrophes

We will also have a different grammar focus each week. For this half term these will be:

• relative clauses
• parenthesis
• present progressive tense
• modal verbs
• semi colons

Maths 

This half term we will be focusing again on fractions and then moving on to multiplication and division. It is crucial that the children continue to practise their times tables regularly as this benefits them greatly in their maths lessons.

Fractions:

• comparing fractions
• ordering fractions
• adding and subtracting fractions
• adding and subtracting fractions within 1 and greater than 1. We will also be adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. 
• adding mixed numbers
• adding mixed numbers by breaking the whole
• solving fraction problems

Multiplication/Division:

• multiplying a 4-digit number by 1-digit number
• multiplying 2-digit numbers
• multiplying 3-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers
• multiplying 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers
• dividing 4-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers
• dividing with remainders
• efficient division
• solve problems with multiplication and division
• multiply unit fractions by integer
• multiply non unit fractions by an integer
• multiply mixed numbers by integers

All of these activities will give the children the opportunity to develop their reasoning and problem solving skills. We will also continue with our daily reasoning questions with our partner and counting activities. These help the children to develop their mathematical thinking.

At home, it would fantastic if you could keep some of the children's previously learning 'bubbling':

• times tables
• written methods for addition and subtraction
• converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and visa versa

Science

Our topic for this half term is 'Life Cycles'. During this topic the children will improve their knowledge and understanding and continue to develop their working scientifically skills. they will:

• describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird. Draw a life cycle of an animal.
• record the growth of a living thing.
• learn about metamorphosis.
• describe the changes as humans develop into old age. Describe the life cycles of humans.
• describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals.

Computing

This half term our topic is 'Computing Systems Networks - Search Engines'. The children will be learning to:

• understand what a search engine is and how to use it.
• be aware that not everything online is true.
• search effectively.
• create an information poster.
• understand how search engines work.

HEARTSMART - 

Heartsmart/PATHS- 

Visit the website www.heartsmartprimary.com for more information on what Heartsmart is all about.

There are 7.6 billion other people on the earth, you might have noticed that there’s a few other people in our classrooms, houses, maybe even in our bedroom!  Often we’re encouraged to think about our needs, our rights and the things that we can have. None of which is necessarily bad but it’s just that it can squeeze others out of frame and all that’s left is us, looming large. Sometimes we need to lift our eyes from our phones and look up at the world around us which is full of different people with different values and different beliefs. It’s a vibrant and wonderful place where everyone is different. It’s not that we have to agree with everyone but everyone is worthy of our attention, love and empathy.  

Too Much Selfie isn’t Healthy is about working well with others, about being a good listener and understanding that life is more about we than me. Love without action isn’t love, it’s a thought. Love requires an out; love does. By contributing to the lives of others we find fulfilment for ourselves and learn that Too Much Selfie isn’t Healthy!

We will also continue with our PATHS lessons this half term. These lessons support the children in developing their social emotional skills.

Music

Mel, from Wigan Music Service will come into Year 5 on a Thursday afternoon to teach the children music. This half term the children will be focusing on  vocal rounds and partner songs. During this topic the children will learn to understand:

• the structure of songs (rounds, partner songs and songs with verse/chorus)
• the correct posture for singing

They will also have the opportunity to:

• sing in a group
• sing with accurate dictation   
• pitch match
• follow a conductor
• perform confidently

Geography

Our topic for this half term is 'Rainforests' During this topic the children will:

• recognise what a rainforest is and locate the world's rainforests on a map.
• recognise the different layers and the life of the rainforest.
• describe the key characteristics of the Congo.
• describe and explain the impact of deforestation to the rainforests.
• explain the importance of the Amazon rainforest.

French 

Mrs Bent will be teaching the children French again this half term. In a unit called 'Shopping in France', the children will learn how to construct high numbers in French, develop food related vocabulary through games, stories and role-play. They will build on their understanding of sentence structures, questions and phrases, equipping themselves with language they could use when shopping in France. In this unit they will also develop their language detective skills, facing an entirely unfamiliar authentic French text.                                                                    

       
Art

Our topic this half term is 'Painting and mixed media portraits.' During this topic the children will be learning to:

• explore how a drawing can be developed.
• combine materials for effect.
• identify the features of self-portraits.
• develop ideas towards an outcome by experimenting with materials and techniques.
• apply knowledge and skills to create a mixed media self-portrait.

R.E

Our key question this half term is 'Why is the Torah so important to Jewish people?' During this topic the children will be thinking about:

• What do Jewish people look like, and where do we find Jewish people in the UK?
• What is the Torah? What is the Sefer Torah?
• Why are there different types of synagogue in the UK?
• How does the Torah influence what Jewish people might eat?
• How are Jewish people adapting festivals in the UK?
• What do we know about the British Jewish community?

PE

Our indoor P.E is on a Tuesday afternoon. This half-term our unit is 'Gymnastics'. During this unit the children will be focusing on a range of key skills:

• Physical: symmetrical and asymmetrical balances, rotation jumps, straight roll, forward roll, straddle roll, backward roll, cartwheel, bridge and shoulder stand.
• Social: work safely, support others, collaboration
• Emotional: confidence, perseverance, resilience, determination
• Thinking: observe and provide feedback, creativity, reflection, select and apply actions, evaluate and improve sequences.

 Our outdoor P.E is on a Friday morning. This half-term our unit is Hockey. During this unit the children will be focusing on a range of key skills:

• Physical: run, dribble, pass, receive, tackle, intercept, shoot
• Social: communication, collaboration, respect
• Emotional: honesty, perseverance 
• Thinking: identify areas of strength and areas for development, select and apply, decision making, comprehension, reflection.

Our sporting value for this half term is Teamwork

Autumn Term 2 NEWS! (October-December 2024)

Wow! Another busy half term in Year 5. The children have once again worked their socks off, showed their resilience, grown in confidence and had lots of fun. 

The children have worked hard in English and are really improving both their vocabulary choices and sentence types. We are also getting better at checking the basics and making sure that our work is well presented. It is crucial that they continue to do this. They created some wonderful non-chronological reports on a variety of unusual creatures and wrote some great thought. 

They worked hard their Maths lessons, especially when we moved onto Fractions. They have pleased me with their continued progress on their times tables and their willingness to practise at home. They are continuing to develop their reasoning skills and use prior mathematical knowledge to help them to problem solve. 

They all worked hard during our forces unit in Science and enjoyed working scientifically when investigating, friction, air and water resistance. It was great to see them build on the Mars Rover work they did in Autumn 1 again this half- term with our second computing unit on the Mars Rover. Their pixels work was fantastic along with their 3D CAD designs of their own rover.

It has been lovely again to see the maturity and sensitivity the children continue to show during our RE, Heartsmart and wellbeing lessons. They are always willing to listen to others, encourage and share their own thoughts. The children gain a great deal from these lessons and it is heart-warming to see it put into action!

The children continued to develop their French language skills and enjoyed the topic greatly as it linked back to their space work in Autumn 1.  In Music they showcased their growing music skills with Mel. P.E was lots of fun this half-term and gave us a great opportunity to show our resilience and team work skills during our dodgeball and in our OAA lessons.

As you can see we haven't stopped in Year 5 this half-term and the children have shone brightly both in their learning and attitude. The term finished with a super Christmas party and our beautiful KS2 Christmas Carol service in church. It was lovely to have a packed church and for the children to perform and talk about the meaning of HOPE at Christmas.  A lovely end to a lovely half-term.

Autumn Term 1 NEWS!  (September-October 2024)

Wow! It has been a very busy first half term in Year 5. It has been lovely to get to know the children better. The highlights for me this half term are our Science work on Earth and Space and to see the children working really hard on their presentation and handwriting. I absolutely loved seeing their amazing Space projects. They had worked so hard on them and I proudly watched them share them with you all!

The children have started to grow in confidence and show their maturity and 'kind hearts' through our R.E discussions, Heartsmart and PATHs lessons, Picture News and  puberty lessons with HHKids. They are always willing to share their thoughts and feelings and are very respectful of each others opinions and views.  They have developed their historical thinking during our topic on the Mayans and thought carefully about how we know so much about a civilisation that were around over 1000 years ago. They have tackled the challenging job of reading binary code in Computing with resilience and patience and have enjoyed finding out more about the Mars Rovers. The children's spoken French has continued to improve along with their sewing skills in D.T. They have enjoyed learning to play the clave sticks in Music.

The children worked hard during our Place Value units in Maths and have shown a good understanding, especially when faced with larger numbers. Their reasoning and problem solving skills continue to develop. I am also pleased with their continued practise on their times tables. In English we have focused on narrative writing this half term with the purpose of entertaining. The children produced some excellent short stories and are really challenging themselves with their vocabulary and sentence choices. In P.E they continued to develop their dance and tennis skills. The thing that pleased me most during these lessons was the children's perseverance, encouragement of each other and their growing ability to self assess their skills. It was great to see them put their tennis skills to practise at Pennington Park. Their behaviour outside of school was exemplary.

As you can see it has been a busy start to Year 5 and as we head into another busy half term I know that the children will continue to make me proud as they grown in confidence, resilience, work together as a team and challenge themselves.