Spring 2

English - Spring 2

We looked at a range of traditional tales; myths, fables, legends, folk tales and fairy tales. We began by looking at Aztec myths such as - How Music Came to the World and focussed on the traditional story telling styles in these.

We then looked at the Mexican version of Cinderella 'Adelita'. We thought about the story from each other characters perspectives and wrote our own version of the story. 

We finished the term by looking at Robert MacFarlane's 'The Lost Words' acrostic poetry book and wrote our own poems about British native species of plants and animals.

Maths - Spring 2

In maths this half term we looked at fractions, decimals and percentages. We converted between them and did operations involving all three representations. We finished the unit off with an investigation connected to our Mexico Food Day in which the children had to work out proportions for ingredients to buy.

Science - Spring 2

In science we looked at life cycles of plants and animals. We took live flowers and dissected them and labelled the male and female parts of the plants necessary for reproduction. 

We looked at different types of seed dispersal and annotated diagrams of how a seed makes it's journey to produce a new plant.

Computing - Spring 2

Our computing unit this half term is 'Flat File Databases. We learnt about the pros and cons of paper base databases and online databases. We learnt how to sort and order databases online. Then, we learnt how to narrow down our search to find specific results. Finally, we searched a real online database (Experian) using all of the skills we learnt to search for a specific round-trip flight.

Geography - Spring 2

Our geography topic this term is Mexico and North America. We learnt about the 23 countries that make up the continent of North America. We located all 52 states in the United States of America and identified the 4 that border Mexico. We then contrasted two North American megacities: Los Angeles and Mexico City. We learnt about the positive and negative aspects of a megacity and how these effect the people living in them. We will use lots of this knowledge to inform our Future Cities Project next half term!

Art - Spring 2

In art this half term we have been looking at the Mexican festival 'Dia De Los Muertos' (Day of the Dead). During this festival vibrant skulls are hung or worn as masks. We designed our own Day of the Dead skull and then used clay to bring it to life. We leant many techniques for working with clay including; wedging, cutting, scoring, score and slip and shaping. Finally, we painted our skulls in vibrant colours in honour of the celebration. 

Spanish - Spring 2

In Spanish this half term we have been learning 'La Ropa' We learnt how to say items of clothing and use our prior knowledge of colours to describe them. 

PE - Spring 2

Our focusses in PE last half term were tennis and dance. In groups, we created our own version of the Haka and used movement and imagery that represents respect and honour. 

Spring 1

English - Spring 1

In English this term we read 'The London Eye Mystery' by Siobhan Dowd. We focused on setting and character description using a variety of clauses to add detail. We finished the unit off with a trip to the London Eye- which everyone enjoyed. 

Maths 

In maths we continued with Fractions and then moved on to formal methods of Multiplication and Division and choosing efficient methods when problem solving and reasoning.

COMPUTING

This half term we have been learning about video production. We have learnt about how to make camera angles, story boards and video editing. 

History

Our history topic has been focused on the arrival and settlement of the Anglo Saxons in Britain. We looked at social hierarchy, religion, settlement types and artefacts of the Anglo Saxons.

Science

Our topic this half term has been - Forces. We have investigated a range of forces including: gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction. We have conducted experiments for each of these forces and developed our skills in observation, methodology and the recording and interpretation of data. 

PE

Our units of work for Spring 1 have been 'Invasion Games' and 'Gymnastics', using equipment with a focus on movement and transitions. 

Spanish

Art

We have looked at sketching and careful observation to improve our drawing skills which we then used to draw images of the famous Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo burial site in Suffolk. 

Music

In February we had our trip to the O2 Arena where we sang with the Young Voices choir! It was a fantastic trip and a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the world's largest choir!

Autumn 2

Christmas Party

And to round off the Year we all had our Christmas Parties - thank you to all parents and carers for their generosity. 

ENGLISH

In English we began the half term looking at Hans Christian Andersons's tale The Little Match Girl. We followed this with  two weeks of formal writing looking at the use of child labour in Victorian Britain and the work of the Reformers such as Lord Shaftesbury and Dr Barnardo in improving the lives of the Victorian poor.

We finish the term with Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol - and have been lucky enough again this year to have immersed the children in Dickens world with help from Liz Fost at Teach It Through Drama - who started us off with an interactive performance of the story.  

MATHS 

In maths we have been expanding our understanding of fractions. Including equivalent fractions, multiplying and dividing to find common denominators, four operations with different denominators and daily reasoning and problem solving.

Computing

In computing our unit is: Programming using code-selection in physical computing. The children have been using the 'crumble kits' to learn about input and output. They have been using code to instruct the micro-controller to generate light and motion. They have been learning to write conditions in code.

History

This half term's topic is 'Victorian Britain'. We have thought about how Britain changed during the Victorian Era both social and technological change. The children have learnt about the industrial revolution focussing on the work undertaken by children in textile mills and the roll of reformers in improving conditions for the poorest in society. 

Science

In science this half term we have been leaning about 'Animals Including Humans'. We made a life cycle of a human, learnt about gestation periods of different mammals, and how our bodies and minds change over the course of our life.

PE

This half term the children have been learning how to play hockey. They have learnt how to dribble, tackle and pass during a game. The children have had the opportunity to put these new skills in to action by playing in our lunchtime hockey tournament.

spanish

This half term we have been learning how to say the date including: days of the week, numbers and the month. 

art

This term we have been learning about the Victorian wallpaper designer William Morris. We practiced drawing images of bird and flowers and how to incorporate symmetry in to our work. 

The theme of this years Big Draw was 'Line in Motion'.

music

This half term we have continued to practice for the 'Young Voices' concert.

Autumn 1

Welcome to year 5 24/25 look below to see what we have been up to this term!

Art

We started the year with Art Week. Our theme was 'Magic Me' and we looked at the work of the British artists Julian Opie and Chris Ofilli to inspire our own portraits.

English

In English we began the term by looking at the book 'Julius Zebra'. The story of a young zebra who was taken to Ancient Rome and forced to fight for his freedom in the Colosseum. In this unit we wrote formal letters, newspaper reports and practiced writing direct and reported speech. 

We learnt the ancient art of gladitorial fighting and wrote a set of instructions. Look at us using rulers as swords to act out our instructions. 

We then did formal historical recounts of the Boudiccan Rebellion. We had to use formal linking language to ensure chronology and use historical language. We used various sources in order to gather information about the events and used them to make story maps which we then used to support our writing. 

Science

This term in science we have been looking at materials and their properties. We were lucky enough to be invited to Alleyns Secondary School to conduct experiments in their chemistry labs with their chemistry teachers, who were supported by the A-level chemistry students. 

Geography

Our Geography topic this term is 'The UK'. We have been learning about the countries that make up the UK and looking at them on a map. We used a digital mapping tool to look at the counties and major cities of the UK. We learnt about 4 areas of outstanding beauty across the UK and in groups made Powerpoint presentations about our given place. We then presented them to the class. We also created Powerpoint presentations for our topic write featuring all the information we have covered this half term.

In topic art we created London skylines in the style of Patrick Caufield. 

computing

This half term in computing our unit of work is - Selection in Physical Computing - Programming using code. 

We have used the 'Crumble'- program and kits to program moving parts including coloured series of lights and motors to carry out a variety of sequences and different actions.