Welcome to Year 5

Autumn Term 2023

Areas of study for Year 5*

Literacy

The children will be writing narratives based on the Greek myth ‘Theseus and the Minotaur’; this links to our history topic on the Ancient Greeks. Further cross-curricular links will be made when the children write non-fiction texts about Greek gods. The children will have opportunities to write persuasive letters and news reports linked to our science topic, ‘Space’, and through our literacy unit based on the book, ‘Cosmic’. They will also write a diary recount and develop their descriptive writing skills when we study the poem ‘The Highwayman’.   

Numeracy

This term, the children will be taught about the place value of digits in numbers up to one million, and will start to order and compare numbers; this will include Roman numerals. They will re-visit column methods to add and subtract numbers to one million, including carrying and exchanging, and be encouraged to check their answers by using an inverse calculation. They will also recap using a grid method of multiplication before moving onto a shorter written method; they will continue to practise using the ‘bus stop’ method of division. They will practise to compare and sort fractions and find equivalent fractions. 

Reading

During guided reading lessons, the children will have the opportunity to read aloud, discuss and answer questions across a range of genres, including narratives, non-fiction texts, poetry and play scripts. Using our whole school approach of ‘VIPERS’, they will practise how to interpret a text, retrieve information and prove their answers. They will also have opportunities to discuss the authors’ choices of words and phrases. Children will be reading ‘Cosmic’ as part of our studies.

MFL

In French lessons, the focus will be on the children being able to talk about themselves. This will include them being confident in counting to 20; saying their name and age in French; using greetings; asking and responding to the question, ‘How are you feeling?’ and being able to say where they live.

PSHE/RSHE

The children will begin the term talking about ‘Growth Mindset’ and how they can maintain a positive approach to learning. They will then go on to learn about managing friendships and dealing with peer influence. Later in the term, they will have opportunities to talk about how they can respond respectfully to a wide range of people. They will look at what discrimination means and the impact of discrimination on groups and the wider society.
In RSHE lessons, we will be talking about physical contact and considering when physical contact is acceptable, unacceptable, wanted or unwanted in a range of situations.

RE

The children will be considering a key question this term, ‘To what extent do religious beliefs influence and encourage good behaviour?’ Children will begin by looking at role models, rules and what they think is good behaviour. They will then move onto look at each religion’s rules and beliefs and how these encourage good behaviour. For example, the children will look at the ten commandments and how these can encourage good behaviour.

PE

In PE lessons this term, the children will be developing their ball skills, including throwing, catching and dribbling a ball. Children will also be encouraged to develop personal and team strategies when playing games such as basketball, throw tennis and bench ball. In our gym lessons, the children will continue to build on the principals of balancing, travelling and sequencing movements as well as applying their knowledge to creating single and group performances. 

Geography

This term, geography will be taught as a cross curricular link to our history topic on the ancient Greeks. The children will use atlases and online maps to discover where Greece is – they will find out which continent it belongs to, its neighbouring countries, the seas that the surround Greece and key geographical features.

History

As part of our topic on the ancient Greeks, the children will find out where the ancient Greek civilisation appears on a historical timeline. They will use laptops and iPads to research life in ancient Greece, including what the homes were like, what they ate and how children were educated. The children will find out about Greek gods and goddesses so they can write a factual report. They will also learn about the Athenians and the Spartans; and how hostilities between Greece and Persia led to the Battle of Marathon. Towards the end of the term, the children will be taught about the Trojan war and how archaeology has turned myth into fact. We will also discuss the ancient Olympic games and compare it to the modern games. Finally, we will consider the impact that the ancient Greek civilisation has had on the modern world. 

Science

For the first half of the Autumn term, the children will be building on their previous knowledge of forces; they will find out about different forces such as gravity, air resistance, water resistance, buoyancy and friction. They will carry out scientific investigations to explore the effects of air resistance and friction.
After half term, they will be learning about Earth and space, identifying the planets of our solar system and describing the movement of planets relative to the Sun. They will use the idea of the earth’s rotation to explain day and night and find out about the phases of the moon as it rotates around the Earth.

Music

In music lessons, children will listen to a wide range of quality music drawn from different traditions and great composers. They will also learn to improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using interrelated dimensions of music (pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and musical notations) through the Sing-Up platform and scheme. This term, some of the children will be taking part in brass lessons where they will be learning to play a real musical instrument. As part of our harvest celebrations, the children will perform a number of harvest songs.

Computing

The children will start the term learning about forms of communication, including sending information using semaphore and Morse code. They will then find out how to protect private information online and begin to appreciate the need to create complex passwords to keep information secure. They will discuss the need for private information to be encrypted and learn to decrypt and encrypt messages using simple cyphers. After half term, the children will use PowerPoint to plan and create an interactive story with branching options. They will find out how to insert hyperlinks and use object animation to enhance their stories.

Art, Design and Technology

The children begin the term by exploring the work of Hansjorg Meyer, an artist famous for using printing techniques to create pieces of abstract art. They will be shown how to create prints using ‘mono printing’ techniques and by scoring lines into polystyrene tiles. They will then design and create their own piece of art using a printing technique.  In DT lessons, the children will design and build a pulley system.

*If you require additional information relating to our school curriculum, please ask at the school office or the class teacher.