Year 5 are taught by Mrs Bateman and Mr Merrifield and Miss Tuckley teaches 5BT on a Thursday.
Mrs Draper, Miss Mason and Mrs Lethbridge are our Year 5 Teaching Assistants and Mrs Arnold is our linked Learning Mentor (LAPS Team).
Home Learning is provided and to be returned via your child’s Google Classroom. If you need to contact the team please email: Y5@gomerjuniorschool.co.uk
Curriculum Overview for the year.
Y5-2023-2024-curriculum-overview-1Autumn Term 2023
The Year 5 team are thrilled to welcome the children back to school for the beginning of the new school year.
We will be starting off with an exciting exploration of the geography of South and North America. Our Guided Reading and Writing work will be based on the book “The Explorer” by Kathrine Rundell. In the first part of the term, we will learn about South America, including identifying countries, studying climate zones, mountain ranges, and conducting a detailed study of the Amazon rainforest. We will use this knowledge to inspire our own adventure story writing, focusing on setting and character descriptions. In the second part of the term, we will shift our focus to North America, exploring the similarities and differences between the two continents, learning about different time zones, and using digital mapping technology.
In Mathematics, we will begin by focusing on numbers and developing a true understanding of their meaning and representation. We will start with Place Value, exploring what each digit in a number represents. A strong understanding of Place Value will provide a solid foundation for our mathematical learning. We will then move on to strategies for the four operations. On Fridays, we will consolidate our knowledge through weekly arithmetic papers and times table challenges. After the first half of the term, we will study statistics, interpreting graphs and charts, representing data on line graphs, and extracting information from real-life scenarios such as bus or ferry timetables. We will also practise and reinforce our multiplication and division skills by revisiting our times tables and solving problems involving them. Throughout our maths lessons, we will strive to develop our problem-solving skills.
Our Science topic for this term is “Living Things and Habitats.” This will be closely linked to our learning about South America and the Rainforest. We will work collaboratively to explore various animal groups and life cycles, presenting our findings. Our collaborative work will continue with our next topic, “Properties and Changes of Material,” where we will investigate materials to understand which ones dissolve to form a solution and which ones are insoluble. Building on our knowledge of solids, liquids, and gases, we will also explore how mixtures can be separated through filtering, sieving, and evaporating, as well as learning about reversible and irreversible changes of state.
In Physical Education (PE), we will focus on collaboration, teamwork, and fair play. These skills will be developed through striking and fielding activities and team invasion games like hockey.
In music, we will explore the genre of Rock, looking at major turning points and influences. Our main focus song will be “Livin on a Prayer.” We will also enhance our pitch skills, learn to sing more complex songs, and create a Year 5 band using the music support platform Charanga.
During our computing lessons, we will embark on a cinematic journey into the heart of South America and the enchanting Amazon Rainforest. We will unleash our creativity as we explore the rich biodiversity, vibrant cultures, and pressing environmental issues of this incredible region. Through hands-on projects, we will learn cutting-edge software tools to create our own movies. We will capture breathtaking footage, edit like professionals, and add special effects to transport our audience to the lush rainforest canopy. We will also delve into storytelling and learn how to create compelling narratives that emphasise the importance of preserving this vital ecosystem.
In art, we will study the Mexican surrealist artist Frida Kahlo. We will apply her style to create our own self-portraits, focusing on proportions, tones, textures, and incorporating bold representations of our lives in the background, in the style of Kahlo.
During our religious education (RE) sessions, we will explore the concept of “faith” and how it is communicated to Christians through the Bible. Following this, we will revisit the Christian story of the birth of Jesus, focusing on the concept of “prophecy” and how it was fulfilled with the gifts of the Magi.
Personal development (PD) in the first half of the term will centre around family and relationships. We will reflect on the meaning of friendship and discuss the importance of self-respect. Respecting ourselves and others is crucial for setting boundaries and maintaining healthy relationships. We will also explore terms such as bullying, stereotyping, and discrimination, promoting good behaviour towards others. This learning will be complemented by our Diversity and Equality curriculum, which examines the protected characteristics of the Equality Act in our diverse society.
The Year 5 team are excited for a successful term ahead, where we will all achieve and thrive.
Summer Term 2023
We cannot believe that we are in the summer term already! The Year 5 team is excited to welcome children back for another fun filled term!
Our Literacy in the first half term will remain closely linked with our learning in humanities. We will be exploring diary writing to consider different viewpoints. Throughout the unit we will compare the similarities and differences of dairies and narratives. We will also consider how the same events can be experienced differently and therefore reported differently which is why a lot of what we know about history is not exact but interpreted. For example, a great deal of information that we have about Saxon England was documented by the Saxons so will be from their point of view. As we develop our understanding of how the past can be interpreted in different ways and work with this new genre or writing, we will continue to practise our editing skills, improving our word choices, spelling and punctuation.
In Mathematics this term we will be looking at the relationship between, fractions, decimals and percentage, before moving on to learning how to multiply and divide by 2 digit numbers. The tail end of the term will see us revisiting decimals for a deeper understanding. During the second half of the summer term we will look at Geometry (Properties of Shape, Positions and Direction) and Measurement (time, converting units/volume). Our brain gyms will continue to revisit all concepts taught in year five, ranging from negative numbers to fractions.
Music this half term will see the children exploring two other genres of music as well as consolidating their musical learning from Year 5 through musical activities, considering a context for the History of Music and the beginnings of the Language of Music.
The children will be completing their vector drawing unit before moving onto learning and practising some coding skills on Scratch. This will build upon skills they have learnt previously, and will entail them using various skills to create games. These programming skills will then be applied away from scratch, when we will be programming the LEGO Spikes.
During the first part of the summer term, through Science and PDL and RSE, we will be learning about animals, including humans. Children will investigate the differences in the life cycles of mammals, amphibians, insects and birds as well as the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals. From this we will move on to learning about puberty and how the body changes during this time. Children will also be learning about menstruation and emotional changes that come with puberty. A letter has been sent home with further details about these lessons.
Personal Development Learning and Relationships and Sex Education (PDL and RSE) this term, sees us building on our current understanding of diversity and acceptance. Discussion will be prompted and aided by using texts that challenge stereotypes such as “And Tango Makes Three’ and ‘Princess Boy’. Art will be closely linked with our reading and discussion around this as we consider emotions that are brought up when we are stereotyped and what emotions we feel when we are able to be ourselves. We will be considering how to use colour to portray these varying emotions.
In science, in the second half of the term, we will be investigating forces, which will include an exciting visit to Paultons Park where we can put this learning into a real life context. Linking with our gSTEM learning and encouraging those Engineering Habits Of Mind (EHOM), children will have the opportunity to design their own roller coaster and explore scale models.
Through our RE sessions we will learn about The Eucharist (a Christian Celebration), which is also called the Holy Communion, Mass, the Lord’s Supper or the Divine Liturgy, is a sacrament accepted by almost all Christians. We will then develop our understanding of VWesak (Enlightenment). Vesak is one of the most important Buddhist festivals. It is also known as Wesak or Buddha Day. It is a celebration of Buddha’s birthday and, for some Buddhists, marks his enlightenment (when he discovered life’s meaning).
PE this term will see the children developing their Striking and Fielding and Athletics skills.
In Humanities, we continue with our history focusing on the Anglo Saxons and Vikings, and learning about how they lived. We will be bringing this learning to life during our trip to the Weald and Downland Living Museum. We will consider what life would have been like for an Anglo Saxon and how events during these times have shaped the course of history and the country we live in today.
Spring Term 2023
After a wonderful Autumn term, the Year 5 team is excited to welcome children back ready for the start of the Spring term!
In Humanities this term, we will be learning about the Ancient Greeks, exploring Ancient Greek life and how history has affected life today: education, architecture and sports. Our Literacy will be closely linked with this topic as we will be exploring myths and legends; writing and performing playscripts. Through art, we will find out about the Gorgon Medusa, producing line and watercolour depictions of her, before using our clay modelling skills to create sculptures of this mythological creature.
In the second half of the term, our history focus will move forward in time to the Vikings and Anglo Saxon period, where we will learn about their way of life through studying clues from different artefacts, and learn about the impact the feud between the two had on our lives today.
Our Mathematics focus begins with fractions. We will be using previous learning to explain what a fraction is, including the use of mathematical vocabulary such as denominator and numerator. We will revisit and build on our understanding of equivalent fractions while also exploring fractions that are bigger than 1 (mixed numbers and improper fractions). As we develop our understanding of fractions we will carry out operations so that we are able to add, subtract and multiply fractions as well as find fractions of an amount. We will then look at fractions as decimals and percentages as we move into our second unit of maths. In this unit we will explore the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages. In the second part of the Spring term we will spend time refining our multiplication and division skills and building on our understanding of area and perimeter.
Science this term begins with the topic, space. Children will explore the movement of the Earth in relation to the Moon and Sun and use this to explain day and night. We will use scientific evidence to explain how we know that Earth and other planets are spherical shapes and look at the different characteristics of each of the planets. We will link this topic to history and find out what part the Ancient Greeks had to play in our knowledge of astronomy today.
In our Personal Development Learning and Relationships and Sex Education this term we will be learning about different ways to effectively comunicate with others, including learning some basic sign language. We will be reading ‘What the Jackdaw Saw’ by Julia Donaldson as part of this. We will continue to learn about healthy relationships and take time to reflect on why it is important to have respect for ourselves as well as others. Children will discuss who they can talk to and get support from if they are unhappy in any of their relationships.
Through our RE sessions we will learn about the significance of the Buddha to Buddhists when trying to achieve a sense of peace and then in the second half of the Spring term we will explore what ‘The Empty Cross’ symbolises for Christians.
Musically this term, children will be accessing the electronic music learning provided by the Hampshire Music Service.
Indoor PE in the Spring term will include a street dance unit with Synergy dance. Then in the second half of the term they will have their rhythmic gymnastics unit of learning. Outdoor PE will continue to develop children’s knowledge and skills in invasion games.
In Computing during Spring 1, we will be using the Crumbles to code our own ‘star’ to flash. Then in the second half of the term, we will focus on Vector Drawings, where we will use Google Drawing to create our own Vector Drawings based around our Viking and Anglo Saxon history topic. We will gain an understanding of how images on screen are different from those on paper, and how we can build drawings up in layers that can be manipulated.