Year 5 is the beginning of the upper junior phase of primary school. As such, pupils are expected to set an example of behaviour and work to the lower junior and infant classes.
We have a system of rewards and sanctions to reinforce these very important areas of school life. To this end, we place a great emphasis on home/school co-operation. Year 5 is also an important year for pupils to prepare themselves for their final year in primary school and the start of their secondary school career. A weekly homework timetable is adhered to with days set for literacy, numeracy and science homework. In conjunction with year 6, we celebrate excellent pieces of work in monthly good work assemblies and highlight good behaviour with the rest of the school in ’lottery’ assemblies.
We have focus groups for literacy and numeracy integated into our timetable and select children for weekly ’Gifted and Talented’ sessions. We put a great emphasis on analysis of in-school literacy, numeracy and science tests which are sat three times in the year and inform the composition of three ability sets in those subjects.
As a year group we schedule three visits during the year. In connection with history work on Tudor exploration, we visit the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich and a local place of worship in connection with our R.E. work. As with the rest of the school, we organise a summer term visit connected with an aspect of work already done in the year or work that will be covered in year 6. Also, in April a group of year 5 children attend a weekend residential adventure course at the Arethusa Centre, Rochester. This is great fun both in educational terms and for building self confidence.
These are the themes studied according to subject:
Autumn Term
Literacy themes include: Instructions, Children’s novels, Poetry, Playscripts and Recounts. Numeracy themes cover; Shape & Space, Measures, Addition & Subtraction, Money & ‘real life’ problems, Number Patterns, Place Value, Multiplication & Division, Fractions, decimals & percentages and Handling Data. Science themes include; Keeping Healthy: food & the human body and Gases around us.
Spring Term
Literacy themes include: Myths, legends & fables, Longer poetry, Explanations, Reports, Popular fiction and Longer classic poetry. Numeracy themes include, Place value, Multiplication & Division, Fractions, decimals & percentages, Measuring angles, Measures, Handling Data, Mental and written addition & subtraction, Money & ‘real life’ problems and Number Sequences. Science themes cover; Changing State – changes of state that can be reversed, ‘Earth, Sun & Moon’ – the solar system.
Summer Term
Literacy themes include: Persuasive Writing, Novels from a variety of cultures, Performance poetry and Dictionaries & thesauruses. Numeracy themes include; Place value, Multiplication & division, Money & ‘real life’ problems, Fractions, decimals percentages, ratio & proportion, Handling data, Shape & Space, Measures, Addition & Subtraction, Money & ‘real life’ problems and Number Patterns. Science covers; Changing Sounds and Life Cycles.
Other Subjects
ICT: Spreadsheets, Searching large databases, Monitoring environmental conditions, Checking data for mistakes. Geography: Water, a contrasting U.K. locality - Sedburgh, Coasts.
Design Technology: Moving Toys, Torches, Biscuits.
R.E: Christian Signs & Symbols, Islam – beliefs & practices, Life & teaching of Jesus, Christian buildings, Islamic worship.
P.E: Gymnastics, Invasion Games, Net/wall Games, Striking & fielding games, Athletics.
Music: Exploring Rounds, Exploring sound sources, Exploring lyrics & melody, Performing together, musical processes.
P.S.H.E.C: Bullies & Bullying, Substance use/misuse, Growing up, Marriage & friendship.
History: What were the effects of Tudor Exploration?, The Aztecs.
Art: ‘Batik’ & print making, Textiles, Collage.
