Year 5

Welcome to Year 5!

Welcome back Year 5! I hope that you had a great summer break and that you are looking forward to a very busy year! Our first topic this year will be ‘Anglo Saxons and Vikings’. Below is a little bit about the things that we are going to learn.

English

In English, we will be studying the work of the author Jeremy Strong, exploring one of his short stories and other examples of his work.  We will examine the differences between biographies and autobiographies before writing our own.  After half term, we will study poetry, exploring imagery, vocabulary and personification.  We will explore persuasive writing and link it to our Geography work.  We will write persuasive presentations, which we will present to the class in role of residents at a public meeting to discuss plan for building a football stadium.  We will also be focusing on reading comprehension, spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Our English Targets for the term will be:

• I can indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs, e.g., perhaps, surely, etc.
• I can use modal verbs, e.g., might, should, could, will, must, etc.
• I can use brackets, dashes and commas to indicate parenthesis.
• I can create vivid images using similes, personification, alliteration or onomatopoeia.
• I can use expanded noun phrases.
• I can use inverted commas for speech.

Maths

In Maths, we will be revising place value and learning to round larger numbers. We will learn more about negative numbers. We will continue to develop the use of written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. We will practise using these methods to solve written problems. We will also have weekly times tables tests in class. We will also extend our knowledge of Roman Numerals.

Our Maths Targets for the term will be:

• I can read, write, order and compare numbers to at least 1,000,000 and determine the value of each digit.
• I can count forwards or backwards in steps of powers of 10 for any number up to 1,000,000.
• I can interpret negative numbers, counting forwards and backwards with positive and negative whole numbers, including through zero.
• I can round any number to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10000 and 100000.
• I can read Roman numerals up to 1000 and recognise years written in Roman numerals.
• I can add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits, including using formal written methods.
• I can use rounding to check my answers to calculations.

Science

In Science, we will learn about Forces.  We will learn about balanced and unbalanced forces, gravity, friction and the use of mechanisms such as levers, gears and pulleys.  We will identify forces and complete force diagrams.  We will find out about Isaac Newton and his discoveries about gravity, completing a comprehension about his life and his work.  We will look for patterns and links between the mass and weight of objects, using newton metres to measure the force of gravity.  Furthermore, we will work collaboratively to investigate air and water resistance, participating in challenges to design the best parachute and boat. Finally, we will find out about different mechanisms, including levers, gears and pulleys, and will design our own marvellous machine.

Before we finish for Christmas, we will compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties, including their hardness, solubility, transparency, conductivity (electrical and thermal), and response to magnets.  We will find out that some materials will dissolve in liquid to form a solution, and describe how to recover a substance from a solution.  We will use our knowledge of solids, liquids and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated, including through filtering, sieving and evaporating.  We will demonstrate that dissolving, mixing and changes of state are reversible changes.  Finally we will learn that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda.

History

Who were the Vikings? Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from? Find out what happened in Britain after the Romans left in the 5th century.

We will learn all about the houses, religions, languages, daily lives, weapons and warfare of these two civilisations.  We will take a fascinating journey of back in time to find out about the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the kingdom of England and how England became a unified country.  We will explore where the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings came from, how they fought for territory and power, and how their fighting ultimately led to the kingdom of England we know today. Along the way, we will also find out what life was like for everyday people living in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Britain, exploring things such as Viking runes and Anglo-Saxon stories like Beowulf.  Using the mysterious burial ship at Sutton Hoo as a basis, we will explore where the Anglo-Saxons came from, how they came to settle in Britain, along with the Picts and Scots of the north, how Christianity became the predominant religion and much, much more.

Geography

In Geography, we will learn all about the fascinating country we live in.  We will learn all about how the UK is organised into countries, counties and cities, as well as learning about the human and physical features of Great Britain, such as population, life expectancy, tallest mountains, longest rivers, coastlines and much more.

PE

Year 5 will have PE on a Friday with SuperStars.  After half-term, we will be visiting the Five Acres Gymnasium.  There will be plenty of opportunities for sport during the Autumn Term, so PE kits should be brought to school on a Monday and remain here until Friday each week.

Homework

Homework is set on a Thursday and should be returned every Monday.  Homework will be linked to the work that we are covering in class.  Remember that you can always upload your homework to Showbie.  Your blue Homework Diaries should be in school every day.  Please continue to read daily at home and record this in your blue dairy for extra dojos!

Talk Homework will help you to prepare for your Big Write each week. Please spend 5-10 minutes chatting with a family member at home in order to feel more confident about your written task the following day.

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday, 3^rd September 2019: First day of Autumn Term

Wednesday, 4^th September 2019: Meet the Teacher ~ 2pm

Thursday, 5thSeptember 2019: Meet the Teacher ~ 2pm

Friday, 18^th October 2019: NSPCC: Speak Out, Stay Safe Assembly

Friday, 25^th October 2019: NSPCC: Speak Out, Stay Safe Workshop

Monday, 28^th October 2019 – Friday, 1^st November 2019: HALF TERM

Thursday, 7^th November 2019: Year 5 Five Acres Gymnastics Centre

Friday, 20^th December 2019:  LAST DAY OF TERM

To support your learning at home, you will be able to find lots of English and Maths activities on Education City.

You should also encourage your child to explore www.bbc.co.uk/ks2bitesize.

For photographs of class and school activities, please click on ‘CHILDREN’ and then ‘GALLERY’.  Also, remember to keep checking Twitter @WalfordPrimary for regular updates too.

All letters and class reminders will be sent via emails.  Please ensure that the school office have your preferred email address.  Let us know if you think you are not receiving any updates.

My door is always open and I am happy to chat with parents about our topics and any work that we are covering in class. Please don’t hesitate to come and find me if you wish to discuss anything!

Many thanks!

Mrs Hanham