Welcome to Year 5

Ant and Mayfly are our Year 5 classes at the Isle of Ely Primary School. From this page you will be able to read about our curriculum each half term and all the work we get up to in and out of the classroom.

Who works in our classroom?

 

Mrs Jo Branson                 Mrs Berrill                          Mrs Kiss

  

Our curriculum

In Year 5 this term, we will be learning:

Subject

Unit of Work

English

This half term, we will be focusing on the fictional story, Floodland, by Marcus Sedgwick. This text focuses on overcoming obstacles, friendships and going on a journey with a purpose. It explores how characters interact, their actions and their reactions.

We will also be looking at a suspense story and explanation text and using the following toolkits to enhance our writing:

  • Inject action into the setting, creating atmosphere through personification and similes – The bushes seemed like they were holding their breath. The trees lined the streets like an army.
  • Use repetition to build tension whilst advancing the action – Towards the lake ... towards the bowl ... towards my fish!

We will also be filling spelling gaps that became evident as a result of our last half term assessments, along with a focus on spelling and ambitious vocabulary and using our imagination affectively.

In grammar we will be focusing on: Using commas in lists, adverbials and clauses; recognising commas to avoid ambiguity; pronouns to avoid repetition; relative clauses with parenthesis for clarity.

Maths

This term, the children will be covering many different areas of maths, including:

  • Geometry - properties of shape
  • Geometry - position and direction
  • Decimals
  • Negative numbers
  • Measure - converting units
  • Measure - volume

Please use White Rose alongside our lessons if you want to go deeper or further with each topic.

Science

This term, we will be looking at astronomy, the theory of the Big Bang and the expanding universe, gravity, the moon and our galactic neighbourhood.

History

This term, the children will be learning about the origins of the transatlantic slave trade, what life was like for a slave, resistance and rebellion, abolition, and the experiences of Olaudah Equiano.

Geography

This term, the children will continue looking at the continent and countries of Africa from the perspective of physical geography, natural resources, biomes and food security, along with looking at the ancient African Empires and what South Africa was like from 1400 - 1900.

Physical Education

Swimming forms half of our PE this term, along with tennis. Swimming will be on Tuesday afternoon and tennis on Thursday mornings. Please ensure your child has the appropriate swimming kit including swim hat and goggles where necessary, swim trunks or a one piece swimsuit for the girls. No jewellery is to be worn on a Tuesday for Mayfly and Thursday for Ant.

Religious Education

This term, the children will be focussing on religion in the local area.

Spanish

This term we will be continuing with Spanish as a new language to the children.

Personal, Social and Health Education

This term, the children will be focusing on Healthy Me.

Design & Technology

This term in DT the children will be researching, designing, and sewing a stuffed toy monster.  

Art

This term Art will take place across a couple of focus days and will be linked with DT. The children will be looking at Islamic Art, both 2D and 3D, and using this to create images for their pop up books.

Computing

This term computing will look at Mars Rover.

Music

This term children will be learning about Musical Traditions: We are travelling around the world to learn about different musical traditions. Our first stop is Brazil and Samba music, then learning about the British folk tradition of Sea Shanties. How were these work songs used to pass on stories from generation to generation? Then we will travel to Indonesia to discover Gamelan music before having a look at the music and traditions of Tango. Our last two weeks of Musical Traditions will be spent in Africa. We will learn about the Nigerian drumming tradition from West Africa. Ladysmith Black Mambazo are an exceptional example of South African choral music, which we will be exploring in the final week.

 

Our Class Text is:

Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick

 

Knowledge Organisers

At the Isle of Ely Primary School, we use knowledge organisers as a tool to help our children learn more and remember more and to allow parents and carers to support their children's learning. In our knowledge organisers, you will find essential knowledge, key dates, important vocabulary and key figures. The knowledge organisers can also be used as a fun assessment tool which will help children to see the progress they have made.

 

Art

History

Geography

Science

Music

DT

Spanish

PSHE

RE

 

What have we been up to?

 

WB 22.04.24

What a busy week in Year 5! We started the week with a bang (the Big Bang!) with a trip to the Space Museum.  We were really impressed with the pupil's behaviour and the wealth of knowledge and activities in the museum.  We learnt about the beginning of the universe, the planets, space travel, the gross things about being an astronaut and watched an amazing show in the planetarium.  The continued with our second swimming lessons, and tennis for PE. In RE we recapped the first religion in Ely, and in History we learnt about life as an enslaved person.  In Maths, we explored the angles and length in shapes.  In English, we wrote a class innovation of a suspense tale about Zoe from Floodlands.  The children included fronted adverbials for time, all the senses, personification and rhetorical questions. They thought about how to link paragraphs and how repeating a short phrase or words can be powerful.

 

 

WB 15.04.24

It has been lovely to welcome the children back this week and hearing all about their Easter holiday adventures. We have kick started our suspense writing unit in English, experimenting with how we can build suspense using our senses to describe unknown threats. In Maths, the children have been honing their protractor skills in our geometry unit, measuring and drawing angles with accuracy. Our Foundation Subjects have all be started, with the children learning about the origins of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Big Bang Theory and Africa, among others. We have also begun swimming this half term. Both classes impressed with how sensibly they behaved on our walk to and from the swimming pool and with how they conducted themselves in the actual lessons.