All the Fun of the Fair!
Year 5 and Year 6
Autumn Term 2015
Our topic for the second part of the autumn term is all about fairgrounds. The
areas that we have planned to cover are outlined in this leaflet, but we have
allowed for considerable flexibility in what we have planned to cover each week,
to allow teachers the chance to spend more time on particular areas for
consolidation or extension, and for children to develop their own interests. If
you have any resources or expertise in this area, or think that you can help to
develop this topic in any way, then please let us know. We really value parental
involvement in our school and appreciate your support.
Housekeeping!
Please ensure that your child has the correct school uniform and P.E. kit; these should be labelled with your
child’s name. P.E. kit should be brought to school on a Monday morning and left in school until it is taken
home on a Friday to be washed. Please note that long hair should be tied back for school. Children may
wear a pair of small stud earrings to school, but these should be removed by your child for P.E. and
swimming lessons – sometimes it is a better idea for the children not to wear earrings to school on days
that they know they will have P.E. or swimming lessons. Additionally, please be aware that, with the
exception of one pair of plain gold studs, no other jewellery (e.g. bracelets, wrist bands, etc) is permitted in
school.
In Year 5 and Year 6, we try to encourage an even greater sense of independence in the children – please
help us to do this. Children should come into school on their own with the rest of their class. As we are sure
you will appreciate, the beginning of the school day is a busy time for class teachers and for the children. If
you need to speak to your child’s class teacher urgently, please ask at the office before going up to the
classroom, or if the matter is less urgent, make an appointment for after school. Thank you for your cooperation in this.
Week 1/2 – 26th October and 2nd November
Independent Learning Projects linked to our first topic of the Mayans.
The History of Chocolate
The children will work in small groups to complete a project about chocolate. Areas they could cover
include geography, history, science and D&T. Each group will design their own project based on each
child’s interests.
Week 3 – 9th November
Travelling Fairs and Historic Fairs
The children will learn about how travelling fairs have changed throughout history. They will also consider
what local fairs still happen today and will visit Loughborough fair to research fairground rides and designs.
The week will also be our ‘Other Faiths’ week when we will be studying Hinduism in our RE sessions. This
ties in nicely with Diwali, which is on the 11th this year.
Weeks 4/5 – 16th November and 23rd November
Fairground art
The children will research fairground art, using photographs taken on our trip to Loughborough fair. They
will look at different styles and then recreate their own versions of fairground art.
Week 6/7 – 30th November – 7th December
Investigating changes in fairground technology and exploring mechanisms
We will be investigating what similarities and differences there are between fairground rides today and
preparing for a themed day when we will look at different designs used in fairground rides. We will then
design and make our own Ferris Wheels using K’Nex, with a focus on construction with gears.
Week 8 – 14th December
Christmas activities
This week will see us doing lots of Christmas crafts and activities to prepare for the festive season!
Mathematics
Year 5
Over the course of the entire autumn term we will cover the following areas of the Mathematics curriculum:
- Addition and subtraction: children will cover formal written methods; place value and problem
solving. They will be expected to work with numbers larger than four digits and numbers with up two
decimal places.
- Multiplication and division: children will cover formal written methods, prime numbers, factors and
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multiples; and problem solving. They will be expected to complete calculations up to four digit x/÷
one or two digit numbers, and may work with numbers with one decimal place.
Geometry: children will cover areas such as identifying and classifying 2D and 3D shapes;
measuring angles and reflecting and translating shapes.
Measures: children will cover areas such as converting between different measures and calculating
the area and perimeter of rectangles.
Fractions: children will cover areas such as comparing and ordering fractions; identifying equivalent
fractions and adding fractions.
Statistics: children will work with line graphs and interpret information in tables and timetables.
Year 6
Over the course of the entire autumn term we will cover the following areas of the Mathematics curriculum:
- Integers: this will cover place value in numbers up to 10,000,000; addition and subtraction of
number and fractions; number sequences; practical problem solving; perimeter
- Multiplication and division: this will cover formal written methods, working with four digits x/÷ two
digit numbers; calculating with numbers with up to two decimals places; algebra; factors, prime
numbers and multiples; area; and problem solving.
- Geometry and coordinates: this will cover comparing and classifying 2D and 3D shapes; drawing
and translating shapes; reflecting shapes in a coordinate grid; identifying and naming the parts of a
circle; identifying and calculating missing angles in shapes; algebra; practical problem solving.
- Calculation problems and algebra - this will cover using knowledge of the order of operations to
carry out calculations involving the four operations; expressing missing number problems
algebraically and solving problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to an
appropriate degree of accuracy.
Times Tables and Mental Maths for Year 5 and Year 6
The children will be expected to learn by heart multiplication facts up to 12 × 12 and derive associated division
facts. They will apply this knowledge to the multiplication of decimals e.g. 0.6 x 0.4 = 0.24. They will use the
vocabulary ‘multiple’, ‘factor’ and ‘prime factor’ when describing relationships between numbers, eg. ‘24 is a
multiple of 6’ and ‘6 is a factor of 24’. The children will also be expected to be able to identify square and
prime numbers up to 100. All children in Years 5 and 6 will be regularly tested on their multiplication and
division facts, so please can you support your children at home by helping them practise and learn their facts.
The children also have access to Mathletics, an online tool to support the maths they are learning in
school. The children can only access work and content that is appropriate for what they are studying in
lessons and the children will be given tasks to complete at various times throughout the term. We would
strongly recommend that all children use this resource as much as possible in order to consolidate their
learning in school.
English - Over the whole autumn term, the children will complete work in the following areas:
Year 5
Fiction Writing – short stories and historical narrative
Non-fiction writing – information texts, letter writing and magazine articles
Poetry – Classical narrative poetry based on the poem The Highwayman
Year 6
Fiction writing – short stories and other creative writing activities based around the novel Kensuke’s
Kingdom
Non-Fiction writing – journalistic writing and discussion texts
Poetry – Free verse poetry based around the poem The Dream Catcher and Classical narrative poetry
based on The Listeners
Grammar – general grammar work each week within the English lessons and some additional grammar
revision weeks to look at more challenging concepts in more depth. Please see the grammar information at
the end of this newsletter for more details.
Spelling
Children will complete spelling sessions between 3-5 times each week. Sometimes the children will work in
ability groups whilst other times they will stay in their class groups; this will depend on the children’s needs
and the spelling focus for that week. They will be tested weekly on either a Friday or a Monday, depending
on their class timetable. It is very important that the children practise their spellings each day in preparation
for their spelling test and to consolidate the rules and patterns we are learning in school. We will continue to
investigate spelling patterns, rules and strategies throughout the term. The children need to be able to
apply their spellings in their writing in class and in their homework, as well as scoring well on their weekly
spelling tests. The children also have access to Spellodrome, an online tool to support their spellings at
home. Each child can only access the spellings set by their class teacher. We would recommend that all
children use this as many times a week as possible. Please ask your child’s teacher if their username and
password are not working.
Reading
All children have a reading book from school that they are encouraged to take home and read. As reading
is so important, we ask that parents try and encourage children to read each day, ideally for approximately
20-30mins.
Handwriting
This year, we have a big focus on handwriting, as new curriculum requirements state that the children’s
handwriting should be ‘neat, joined and legible’ by the end of year 6. With this in mind, we would really
appreciate your support with this and encourage your child to use neat handwriting at all times in their
written work. Any work in books which is not presented to an acceptable standard for your child will need to
be re-done in the child’s own time until it is presented neatly.
Homework
In addition to their daily spelling, times tables/number facts and reading practice, the children are also
expected to complete regular topic based homework. In Year 5 and 6, we would like the children to
become more independent with their home learning and so we are sending home a ‘grid’ of topic based
activities for your child to choose from. Each week they should choose an activity to complete and cross it
off the grid. The homework books will then be collected in regularly and shared in class. The children will
be expected to discuss what they have learnt with their peers and their work will be celebrated as a class.
The recommended time to be spent on this work is 60 minutes per week. This may vary according to your
child’s particular needs or circumstances and there may be occasions when the class teacher sets
additional homework, depending on individual needs.
Grammar
With the increasing focus on grammar found in the new National Curriculum for key stage 2, it is important
that children are able to use and understand a wide range of grammatical terminology; this will help them
when they complete their end of year tests and also supports their creative writing. Below is a list of the
key grammatical terms that the children will be expected to know and use, both in grammar tests and in
their independent writing. We would really appreciate any support you can give to your children with
learning and using this terminology. If any parents are unsure of any of the terms and would like some
guidance with how best to support your children please contact your child’s class teacher, who will be more
than happy to help.
Year 5 new terminology for pupils:
Year 6 new terminology for pupils
modal verb
subject, object
relative pronoun
active, passive
relative clause
synonym, antonym
parenthesis, bracket, dash
ellipsis, hyphen, colon, semi-colon, bullet points
cohesion, ambiguity
Additional grammatical terminology the children will have learnt throughout key stage 1 and 2:
Noun, noun phrase, statement, question, exclamation, command, compound, suffix, adjective, adverb,
verb, tense (past, present), apostrophe, comma, preposition, conjunction, word family, prefix, clause,
subordinate clause, direct speech, consonant, vowel, inverted commas (or ‘speech marks’) determiner,
pronoun, possessive pronoun, adverbial.
We hope you have found this information useful. If you have any questions or comments about the
information on this sheet, then please contact your child’s teacher, who will do her best to help.
Kind regards,
The Upper Key Stage 2 Team