Year 5

Welcome to Year 5! As the children progress through Upper Key Stage Two, Year 5 is a super year for the children to build on their independence and self-motivation – their learning voices and personalities really developing and being heard. Whilst still having the chance to be elected as a Collective Worship Councillor or School Councillor, Our Year 5 pupils have the opportunity to take on more responsibility around the school, such as helping with the younger years at lunchtime and becoming Sports Ambassadors. These duties are valuable, and it shows through their increasing independence and confidence.

What We Are Learning:

Maths:

Maths is a journey from which many start at different places. At St George’s, we aim for our children to confidently use and apply mathematical concepts across a variety of situations. We proudly follow the White Rose Maths curriculum, which allows opportunities for children to clearly articulate their ideas and reasoning processes, enabling deeper learning. We expect children to make mistakes, analyse them and learn from them, justifying and explaining as they do this.

English:

Reading
We use a whole-class approach when teaching reading, using activities from Reading Explorers. Children are explicitly taught reading skills including skimming, scanning, text retrieval, inferring, deducing, analysing, and evaluating. As part of their learning, children are provided with opportunities to respond to the texts that they read through a range of question types. They are encouraged to text-mark and identify evidence from the text to justify their ideas and answers. Children are consistently encouraged to apply these skills when reading independently and reading across the curriculum.

We also enjoy a class text together. This is a well-loved and enjoyable part of our day as the children cannot wait for the next instalment of the book. We try to select texts that appeal to all of the members of the class so that they can all experience that wonderful feeling of reading together.

Writing

The Year 5 Curriculum for writing builds on prior learning, developing their skills from past year groups. We also introduce new ways of advancing their writing, such as introducing relative clauses, linking paragraphs using cohesive devices and punctuation to avoid ambiguity. We ensure to plan lots of opportunities for writing across a range of genres, increasing their opportunities to apply these skills.

Spelling
We follow the Active English Spelling approach. Children enjoy the activities and the repetitive and consistent nature of the learning. They enjoy exploring the morphology and etymology of the new words that they are being taught. They are encouraged to apply these skills and words in their writing and other areas of the curriculum.

History:

Our history topics pose questions such as ‘what does the census tell us?’. This dives into the creation of the census, where we will study life in the Victorian era and compare and contrast between then and modern day Britain. We will also be asking ‘what did the Ancient Greeks ever do for us?’

Geography:

Our key questions throughout the year are ‘what is life like in the Alps?’, ‘would you like to live in the desert?’ and ‘why do oceans matter?’

Children enjoy active lessons where they are encouraged to ask questions and suggest ways in which they can find the answers. We ensure that they take part in fieldwork activities, both in the local area and further afield. We want them to develop their understanding of the world around them and to take on responsibility in taking care of our world in the future. Mapwork is a key part of our learning, with children making regular use of Digimaps, where they are able to access a map of any part of the world and investigate the area further.

Science:

Our science topics are:

Forces
Space
Animals, including humans.
Global Warming
Properties of materials
Life Cycles
Reproduction
Reversible and irreversible changes
Plastic pollution.

We plan opportunities for hands-on investigations and experiments, giving our Year 5’s opportunity to explore and learn more about the world around them.

R.E

It is the intent of our Religious Education Curriculum for children to learn about the Christian Faith and that of Other World Faiths so that they have a good understanding, appreciation and respect of the principles, practices and lifestyles within these faiths. In Year 5, we explore multiple faiths such as Hinduism and Islam and also pose questions such as ‘what difference does the resurrection make to Christians’ and ‘was Jesus the Messiah?’. These learning questions give children the opportunity to think deeper, drawing on their learning as well as their own experiences and values.

Computing

In Year 5, we continue to build on our prior learning and develop new skills within computing. Our topics include:

Computing systems and networks: sharing information

(Develop understanding of computer systems and how information is transferred between systems and devices

Creating media – vector drawings

(Learn that vector images are made up of shapes. Learn how to use the different drawing tools and how images are created in layers. Explore ways which images can be grouped and duplicated to support them in creating more complex pieces of work)

Creating media – video editing

(Learn how to create short videos in groups. As they progress through this unit, they will be exposed to topic-based language and develop the skills of capturing, editing, and manipulating video)

Data and information – Flatfile databases

(Looks at how a flat-file database can be used to organise data in records. Pupils use tools within a database to order and answer questions about data. They create graphs and charts from their data to help solve problems)

Programming– Selection in physical computing

(Use physical computing to explore the concept of selection in programming through the use of the Crumble. Introduced to a microcontroller (Crumble controller) and learn how to connect and program components (including output devices- LEDs and motors) through the application of their existing programming knowledge.)