Year 5/6

We have three classes:

Beech Class Y5 - Mrs Tyrens
Sycamore Class Y5/6 - Mrs Dodds
Elm Class Y6 - Mrs Gardiner 

View Our Curriculum section for further details of our learning.

“A new school year means new beginnings, new adventure

 Year 5 2023-2024

Spring 

In Maths, we have applied our knowledge of place value to decimal numbers.  We can read, write, order and compare numbers with up to 3 decimal places.  We also measured and calculated the perimeter of composite rectilinear shapes in centimetres and metres and calculated and compared the area of rectangles (including squares), including using standard units, square centimetres (cm2) and square metres (m2), and estimate the area of irregular shapes. 

In Literacy we have been reading The Wizards Of Once by Cressida Cowell and Viking Boy by Tony Bradman to link in with our History drivers. The Wizards of Once is an exciting tale of a boy wizard and a girl warrior who were brought up as enemies.  They soon discover that while they have been fighting each other an ancient evil may have returned unnoticed!  First, we drew sketches of the characters as they were described. We went on to write beautifully descriptive pieces using figurative language.   

Next, we studied Viking Boy by Tony Bradman.  It follows the story of a Viking Boy named Gunnar who is the son of chieftain whose homestead is raided by Wolf Men. Gunnar swears an oath of vengeance only to find he has a destiny greater than his own story.  We were able to apply lots f the new vocabulary we had learned in our history lessons and this story really brought our learning to life.  We created non chronological reports with details of Viking life, beliefs and customs and used relative clauses and dialogue to create suspense and describe action.   

This term our history drivers were- Were the Saxons Really Smashing? and How Vicious were the Vikings? During these topics we looked at the Saxon Kings of England and their accomplishments, deciding which King we felt made the biggest impact on Britain.  While studying the Vikings, we looked at artefacts during lessons.  We enjoyed a Viking day in school, where we dressed like Vikings, tried their soda bread and took part in workshops in which we discovered more about their lives and beliefs and created our own shields used to create their famous battle formations! 

History Y5

In Science, we investigated Materials and their Properties in our topic - Could you be the next CSI Investigator? We identified the properties of materials and their uses.  Using our investigative skills, we identified materials which were magnetic, conducted electricity and were transparent.  We then investigated which material would be the best conductor of heat.

Summer 

In Art, we are exploring the work of Emma Majury, in particular collage. Our theme is 'Journeys' and we are creating our own collage to represent the journey our characters go on in our class text 'Journey to Jo'berg'. We explored the use of different textures and colours to create the transition from life in the countryside to life in the busy city of Johannesburg. 

Journey to Jo'Berg Collages

Autumn 2

This half term our topic is Earth and Space. We cannot wait to go delve into the world of space, planets and astroids and learn about key theories of our Solar System and how the Moon and Earth travel in orbit! Please take a look at out topic web below for our learning across the curriculum.

Autumn 1

This Autumn our topic is Fantastic Forests. Please read our topic web below to find out what we are learning about across the curriculum.

As part of our Fantastic Forests topic, we have identified deciduous and evergreen trees around the school grounds by looking for different types of leaves. We have also explored vital role of forests around the world including the Amazon and forests here in the UK such as Sherwood and Kielder. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the forest especially the Amazon Rainforest! We cannot believe the variety of species and plants that exist in the Amazon rainforest and so we researched animals that we wanted to know more about for our fact files. Finally, we have debated the impact of deforestation in the Amazon and how we can help through replanting trees and changing our own lifestyle choices.

In DT we learned about frame structure and explored through investigations what makes a sold frame structure and how frame structures are used in everyday life. We found that frame structures using triangles will always be stronger. We then focused on creating our own bird hides as part of our DT project. We researched and evaluated different styles of bird hides, practised joining techniques to make a frame structure, experimented with different 3D shapes before finally designing and making a small bird hide prototype.

Year 6 2023-2024

Autumn 1
In Literacy, we are reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief which is an adventurous quest story in which the Demi-God Percy Jackson needs to retrieve the missing lightning bolt. Firstly, we predicted what we thought the book might be about linked to genre and other books we have read. Throughout the term we focused on creating imagery through using ambitious vocabulary and figurative language to write different action scenes and end with inventing and creating our own quest instalment.  

In Art, we focused on sculpture, exploring the work of artists before creating out very own masterpiece from a range of materials. We have studied the work of Andy Goldsworthy, who uses natural materials to create sculptures. We created our own sculptures using natural materials from our school grounds and local area.   When looked at Alberto Giacometti and created our own version of the walking man out of wire.  We ended our topic with creating our own sculptures out of clay.