Year 5 summer curriculum letter 2014

Urban Base Dear Parents/Guardians, Welcome back to the summer term! I still can’t quite believe we’re in the last term already, and that we are talking about sports day and Year 5 camp! Hopefully, the weather will follow us into the summer term.

Below is an overview of what we will be learning about this term and as always keep an eye on the blog as well as the Literacy and Numeracy blog for games, activities and photographs of what we have been up to.

Literacy: We have made a start already with exploring and comparing different types of instructions, especially thinking about how they are laid out and structured. We will be linking this with our topic work. We will then move onto looking at stories from other cultures. We will explore a range of stories and learn how they are structured for effect as well as thinking about how the language is used for effect. To end the unit of work, we will of course be creating our own stories based on a specific culture.

Numeracy: Division has been our starting point this term, as we learn how to develop and improve our written methods. We will also be focusing on coordinates as well as angle work, which will include measuring and drawing angles and calculating missing angles in shapes. We will also be continuing to develop our understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages as well as measures. There will be more of a focus on word problems and solving problems as we move towards the end of the term, as this will enable the children to apply the skills that they have learnt throughout the year.

RE: In RE we will be looking at how different religions show their commitment to their God and focusing on the questions, ‘Does participating in worship help people to feel closer to their God or their faith community?’ and ‘Do all religious beliefs influence people to behave well towards others?’

Topic: We have already begun our mini topic about Earth and Space. The children have been using their researching skills to put together information books about different aspects of space. We will focus on looking at the Earths movements, day and night and also the different moon phases. I’m really looking forward to our Science fair on Monday 19th May. Any projects can come into school before then if you would like but as with our WW2 shelters, the idea is the children spend an extended period of time on a piece of work, maybe doing a little bit each week before the hand in day. We will then move onto looking at our immediate environment of Blandford, focusing on map skills and how the area has developed which will take us up to May half term.

SEAL: We are moving onto look at relationships. This unit considers the different types of relationships the children have as well as looking at the loss of a relationship, either through death or through moving away for some reason. We will be discussing the different strategies of coping with these losses and considering how it affects ourselves and others. We will then move onto a unit called Changes as we move towards this end of Year 5. This will encourage children to consider changes that are going to happen to them, how they might make you feel and how they can cope with them. We will also be thinking about changes in their bodies as they mature.

PE: PE is now on a Thursday and Friday. We are finishing off our tennis to begin with and then moving onto focus on athletics. For this we are following the NASA space training program! This will not only help us to improve our speed and endurance but will also help us prepare for Sports day, developing our skills in throwing, running and jumping.

Home learning will continue be set on a Thursday and be due in the following Tuesday. I will also continue to run a home learning club on a Friday lunchtime where the children can come and ask for help, complete their homework or to add extra bits to it. There are also weekly spellings and tables given.

Feedback from parents evening has shown that some children are still unsure about what tables they should be focusing on, so to help I will make sure that practice sheets are given out with the times table to focus on labeled. The idea behind the practice sheets is that the children practice their tables and spellings for 5-10mins every day, recording it, as this helps to transfer the facts and patterns into the long term memory. We would appreciate your support with this, as it is crucial that the children know as many of their tables as possible before moving into Year 6. It will help them to multiply decimals and multiples of numbers.

Our library time is now Monday afternoon. This is the time that children can return their library books and choose a new one for the week. We have talked about choosing books of an appropriate challenging level, as well as a wide range of books – not just stories or nonfiction books. This is supported by their green Reading Revolutions card, which should be in the back of their reading record. We have also discussed how to record what they are reading to achieve their Reading Revolutions stamp. We are expecting a comment - they could comment on what they like/don’t like, the characters and their actions, their opinion, a prediction of what is going to happen or questions that they might want answered – and a signature from a parent. The important part is that they are explaining their ideas when recording and discussing them with you.

As always, if you have any questions then please do come in and ask as we always have an open door.

Many thanks for your help and support.

Sarah Walton and Sarah Thornton