Tuesday 4th November 2014 -Essential Information For Parents – Year 5 – Autumn 2
Dear Parents,
I would just like to take this opportunity to say how much I have enjoyed the first half term in Year 5
and I would like to extend my appreciation to both parents and the children for a very successful start
to the year. I would also like to thank those of you who attended the Parents’ Evenings. Year 5 has a
very exciting half term to look forward too. Our overarching theme for this half term is ‘The
Victorians’, this enables great opportunities for engaging cross-curricular work. Please see below the
curriculum details for the second half of the autumn term:
Year 5 Class Timetable – Autumn 2
Literacy: This half term in Literacy, children will be focusing on the modern day children’s classic –
Street Child by Berlie Doherty. The book is about Jim Jarvis, an orphan in Victorian London and his
struggle for survival; the book is based on the boy who inspired Dr Barnardo to found his children’s
homes. It is an excellent read and will not only enhance children’s historical knowledge and reading
comprehension, but will also provide qualitative opportunities for children to develop their writing skills
through empathic diary entries, historical biographies, letters, recounts and newspaper articles. This
topic will allow children to build upon their inferring and deducing skills and children will be able to
discuss the text from both the perspective of a reader and as a character.
Maths: This half term children will be completing work on the following mathematical topics: metric
units, time (specifically interpreting information from a calendar and converting between analogue and
digital time), co-ordinates (reading and plotting co-ordinates on a 4 quadrant co-ordinate plane),
fractions and percentages. As mentioned to many parents during the Parents’ Evening sessions,
percentages will be a relatively new concept and many children have targets specifically within this area
of maths. Children will be learning to identify fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents, find
percentages of amounts and solve word problems involving percentages. Children will also complete a
small unit of work based on Victorian money.
Science: Our new Science topic is ‘Properties and Changes of Materials’. Children will classify materials
based on scientific properties, investigate how materials can be separated by the processes of sieving,
filtration, dissolving and evaporating and distinguish between reversible and irreversible changes.
History: During our history topic, ‘The Victorians’, children will explore a specific theme of ‘industry’
through identifying Victorian inventions and the impact of coal. Children will also compare Victorian
schooling to modern schooling and investigate how Sutton Coldfield has changed in appearance since the
Victorian era by discussing Victorian architecture that is still around today.
**Note: As seen on the timetable, history will be taught all Friday morning. Please be aware that
even though Literacy is not an explicit lesson on Friday’s, it will be taught in a cross-curricular
way. Each History lesson will allow children opportunity to consolidate and extend their writing
skills. As our Literacy focus is a Victorian-themed novel it is an appropriate way for children to
combine both their historical and literary learning.
PE: I will be teaching dance on Monday’s and Mrs Petty will teach rugby on Wednesday’s.
RE: We will be exploring the themes of loyalty, steadfastness and hope across the 6 main religions and
children will explore the impact of modern religious leaders Martin Luther King and Gandhi. We will also
discuss Christmas traditions which originated during the Victorian era.
SEAL: Our whole-school SEAL topic this half term is ‘Getting On and Falling Out’; in class we will be
discussing different relationships, and the long-term and short-term consequences of behaviour.
Music: Children will be continuing to learn their songs and accompanying dance moves for the Young
Voices concert in January as well as learning their songs for the Christmas performances.
Art: Children will be learning how to cross- stitch and they will practice and refine this skill to produce
a Christmas make.
Computing: Our focus in Computing will be blogging, children will learn how to blog and write media
reviews. Children will also discuss e-safety and the ways in which they can stay safe online.
Ironbridge: A highlight of this half term is our trip to ‘Ironbridge’ on Tuesday 11th November. As stated
in the letter please make sure your child arrives at school at 8:30 on the day and children will return to
school at 4pm. If your child is bringing a packed lunch, please make sure they bring it in a plastic bag.
Spellings: The same homework arrangements will continue (Maths given on Tuesday, due in on Thursday
and Learning Log given on Thursday for submission the following Tuesday). Spellings are given every
Monday and put in spelling folders which children should then take home and return to school each
Friday so that their scores can be recorded and shared at home. I would be grateful if you would
reinforce this arrangement as some children are forgetting to bring their spelling folders back to school
or forgetting to take them home. To monitor incorrectly spelt words, children should have an ongoing
‘bank of words’ within their spelling folders, it would be beneficial if these could be practiced and
consolidated at home as the term progresses. Children are tested on spellings every Friday, though on
occasion this may have to be put back to the following Monday due to time constraints.
Kind regards,
Eve Richardson