Year 5 News
Autumn 1 Term
Following a busy and productive five weeks back, we have settled in and the children are working hard.
This half term in maths, we’ve been consolidating our understanding of place value, developing our mental maths skills and are currently re-capping the distributive law to solve trickier multiplication questions mentally. We’ve also been asking the children to explain how they are able to solve mathematical problems, helping them strengthen their reasoning and mathematical communication.
In we have written a narrative inspired by the picture book Leon and the Place between. For this we focused on enhancing our description using expanded noun phrases. Currently we are exploring the text Seasons of Splendour by Madhur Jaffrey; in particular focusing on the story ‘How Ganesh got his Elephant Head.’. Again, we have looked at developing our descriptive writing skills by creating expanded noun phrases to enhance their character descriptions. Alongside this, we have begun to look at how we can use prepositions of time and place to make our writing more cohesive. Using this traditional Hindi tale also helps the children explore themes of wisdom, respect, and understanding.
In Science, we have found out about the fossilization process and created scientific drawings of trilobites and ammonites. Our current topic involves exploring Space and our Solar system. We have learnt the names of all the planets and have used the knowledge we have gained so far to make predictions about the temperature of each in relation to the others.
Our history topic for this half term has been about World War 2 and finding out about the impact of this on the people of Britain; specifically looking at how The Blitz affected the people of London, how women’s roles changed during the war and the Windrush generation post-World War 2.
For PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education), we have explored the emotion of anger and identified appropriate strategies to use when we feel this emotion. In our new theme we have been exploring the important topic of First Aid, including what to do in an emergency, how to prioritise and how to get help when people need it.
In PE we have developed our football skills, focusing on using space effectively and how to defend. We have recently begun a new series of lessons and are now learning how to play hockey with real hockey sticks. So far we have been working on our dribbling and passing.
Your ongoing support and active involvement in your child’s learning journey are vital to their growth and success. When parents and teachers work hand in hand, we build a strong foundation that not only supports academic achievement but also nurtures confidence, curiosity, and a lifelong love of learning.
Your encouragement at home—whether through talking about their school day, sharing reading time, or celebrating their accomplishments—has a powerful impact on their motivation and progress.
By continuing this partnership, we can help every child fulfil potential, overcome challenges, and embrace new opportunities with enthusiasm. Your engagement makes their educational experience not only productive but also enriching, enjoyable, and memorable.
We deeply appreciate your continued dedication and support.
Thank you for being such an important part of their journey!
The Year 5 Team