English

This half term we have studied two different texts. At the start of the half term, we read Charlotte’s Web written by E.B White. The book is about Fern, a little girl who is horrified to find out that her papa was going to kill the runt pig because it was too small which in the end, she was able to keep as a pet. Wilbur then went to her uncle’s farm because he was getting too big and tells the story of Wilbur and a spider called Charlotte become friends.

We started by writing a predication of what we think would happen in the book based on the illustration. We also looked at inferencing how different characters are feeling. We also created a role on the wall for Fern and Wilbur.

At the end of the topic, the children watched a documentary about spiders. After that, the children wrote their own fact files about them.

Year 5 have enjoyed the book ‘Firebird’, which is based on the famous ballet composed by Stravinsky. The children have spent time thinking about the choices Prince Ivan had to make on his journey of self-discovery. His determination to prove himself to his Father and brothers led to a greater prize than catching the legendary Firebird.

We began by listening to the first part of the story and creating a class role on the wall about how other characters view him and what his actions reveal about his personality. We then read the description of the what the Firebird looks like and then drew their interpretations from the description. These drawings were absolutely fantastic!

In the story, Prince Ivan comes to a three-way path which he had to make a choice as to what path he went down. We then completed a conscience alley about what advice they would give to the Prince. We then wrote a note to King Vaslav as Prince Ivan about what he has done and why.

Maths

We have been working hard in Maths this half term! This half term, we have been looking at decimals. We have been looking at decimals that make 1 whole. We have also been looking at adding decimals with a variety of decimal places. After that, we looked at ordering decimals in which the children had to use their prior knowledge of place value, along with that, the children were then comparing decimals which the children used knowledge that they learnt in ordering decimals with which decimal was the bigger number.

We have started looking at percentages. We have focused on finding 10%, 20%, 30% and 50% of numbers. We have had to use our prior knowledge of our division and timetables in order for us to work these out.

Geography

This half term we have been answering the question ‘where in the world is the most valuable thing and who owns it?’. In this topic, we have looked at different maps such as political maps, relief maps. The children have been measuring distances from Birmingham to various towns and cities in the UK. We first looked at different resources of pictures and quotes about people living in Birmingham and the very deadly disease, cholera. The children had to put all the clues together to find out that the treasure that we were talking about was clean water. We then looked at different maps such as political and relief maps and we were measuring the distance from Birmingham to other cities within the UK. We also looked at what is meant by a scale on a map. We were then looking at the geography of Wales and why Thomas Barclay wanted to build reservoirs in Wales.

Science

This term we have been looking at Living Things and Their Habitats. This half term, we have particularly looking at habitats and classifying animals. Our key vocabulary for this was ‘organisms, classification, characteristics, forest, rainforests, ocean, artic and micro habitat’.  We started by using our prior knowledge of what they could remember about what a habitat is. We then made our own habitats for an insect where we left them in EYFS forest school and in our next science lesson, we loomed to see if any insects where inhabiting in our habitats. There were some creepy crawlies in our habitats! We have also looked at environmental changes and how that has an impact on animal habitats.

After that, we looked at classifying animals. We looked how different living things have different characteristics that are specific for that animal.

RE

In RE this half term, we investigated the idea of destiny and how significant it is for Christians to believe that God intended for Jesus to die. Children looked at the main events of Holy Week and drew their own conclusions from the evidence they had. They considered whether God intended Jesus to be crucified or whether Jesus’ crucifixion was the consequence of events during Holy Week.

PSHCE

This half term we have learnt about smoking and alcohol, why people smoke and drink, the effects on our bodies and our minds. They discovered what peer pressure is and how they can handle this. We discussed how each of us can make our own decisions based on facts and information that we have learnt. 

Computing

In computing, children used Purple Mash to look at what is a database, the different ways of searching it and how to create one. They enjoyed creating a collective class database, where they did their own avatars and records to input. They then practiced their skills to answer questions relating to that database.

Spanish

In Spanish, children learned how to say simple greetings and how to reply to greetings. They also learned how to say key phrases to introduce themselves and their likes and dislikes. They enjoyed learning through games and simple songs.