Year 5

Our writing will link to our class texts, ‘The Egyptian Cinderella’ by Shirley Climo and ‘Who Let the Gods Out?’ by Maz Evans. We will be exploring the skills of writing varied sentence structures, using advanced punctuation and using a wide range of vocabulary. We will do this through the genres of narrative, newspaper report and poetry.
We will send home weekly spellings on a Friday for a dictation test the following week.

We will be covering the following objectives:

• Place value – numbers up to millions
• Addition and subtraction – mental and written methods for large numbers
• Statistics: line graphs, tables and timetables
• Multiplication and Division – factors, prime numbers, square and cube numbers and multiplying and dividing by 10,100 and 1000.
• Measurement – measuring and calculating perimeter and area of rectangles & irregular shapes

In Term 1, our topic is ‘Properties and changes of materials’. We will carry out a range of experiments, exploring how to keep these fair and analyse our results.

In Term 2, our topic is ‘Forces’. We will learn about different types of forces, including gravity and air resistance. We will apply this knowledge to understand how forces impact the world around us.

Our overarching topic is ‘Ancient Civilisations’, with a focus on Ancient Egypt in Term 1, which we will explore across a number of subjects. We also have a very exciting visit from an expert historian planned to bring our learning to life!
In Term 2, we move on to looking at Ancient Greece. For both eras, we will think about:

• What life was like for different groups of people in society
• Where people settled and why
• How we can gain an understanding of different time periods using a range of artefacts and evidence types
• Different beliefs and rituals
• How civilisations compare to one another and to today.

In Term 2, we will compare the human and physical features of South Gloucestershire with those of Greece. This will allow us to make links to our history work, where we will examine how things have changed over time.

In Jigsaw in Term 1 we will be exploring the topic ‘Being me in my world’. We will identify our goals for the year and discuss any fears and worries for the future. In Term 2, we will explore the topic of ‘Celebrating difference’. We will look at the differences between us and others.

In RE, we will focus on a ‘big question’. Our first question is “Why do some people believe God exists?” We will be discussing and exploring this across Term 1.

In Term 1, we will be doing a coding unit using Purple Mash. In term 2 we will be using the Microbits in a brand-new unit!

Year 5’s first DT project will be designing and creating our very own Egyptian ‘shaduf’! We will continue developing our measuring, sawing and hot glue gun skills.

In Term 1, we will be exploring the work of Pablo Picasso, focusing predominantly on his collage. We will be using our study of Ancient Egypt to inspire our own artwork using Picasso’s style.

We ask that you read with your child 5 times a week. This only needs to be a 10 minute session and you don’t have to finish a whole book every time. Make sure you record each read in their log-book as this will contribute to your child’s ‘Reading Challenge’

Reading does not have to be limited to the books children bring home from school. It can include any books they have at home, reads with siblings or reading books from the local library.

Children are given a list of spellings at the start of each term, which will be tested each week. These spellings are in their homework book.

Children are also expected – by the end of Y6 – to be confident in the Y5 and Y6 Statutory spellings. You may want to practise these at home with your child too. You can find these below:

Visit our curriculum pages for find out more information on our teaching strategies.

Click on the links below to find these useful documents: