This term in RE the children will be learning about Gospels and Incarnation:

Gospels

In our Gospels topic the children will be learning:

• To identify features of Gospel texts
• To suggest meanings of Gospels, and compare their ideas with ways in which Christians interpret biblical texts
• To make connections between Gospel texts. Jesus’ Good News and how Christians live in the community.
• To relate biblical ideas, teachings or beliefs (peace, forgiveness, healing) to issues and opportunities of their own lives and the life of their community.

Incarnation

In our Incarnation topic the children will be learning:

• To understand that Jesus was Jewish
• To explain that Christians believe Jesus is God in the Flesh
• To explain that Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the expectations as a rescuer and that he is the Messiah.
• To understand that Christians see Jesus as their Saviour.

This term we will to work on building up the children's vocabulary which can always be further extended by the children reading a wide range of texts. Specifically, we will we focusing on two texts this term: War Horse by Michael Morpurgo alongside War Game by Michael Foremann in Autumn 1 and How to train your dragon by Cressida Cowell in Autumn 2, these texts provide a fabulous link between our topics in Science, Humanities and DT.

Grammar

During our English lessons everyday we dedicate time to reinforce the children's SPAG, this term we will be teaching and reinforcing the following:

• Adverbial and prepositional phrases
• Relative pronouns
• Modal verbs and adverbs
• Determiners
• Relative clauses
• Subordinating and coordinating conjunctions
• Subordinate clauses
• Use of commas, hyphens, brackets and dashes for parenthesis.

Spelling

This term we will be revising the year 3/4 list of spellings and introducing the children to the year 5/6 list. Each child has a copy of their spellings and these are also available on our class page incase the list is misplaced. I will also attach practice strategies to support the children in learning their spellings on our class page each week. If your child is struggling with their Spellings please do let me know.

This term in Maths the children will be learning:

• To read, write, order and compare numbers to at least 1,000,000 and determine the value of each digit.
• To interpret negative numbers in context, count forwards and backwards.
• To read, write, order and compare numbers with up to 3 decimal places.
• To multiply and divide whole numbers and those involving decimals by 10, 100 and 1000.
• To identify multiples and factors, including finding all factor pairs of a number, and common factors of two numbers.
• To know and use the vocabulary of prime numbers, prime factors and composite (non-prime) numbers.
• To establish whether a number up to 100 is prime and recall prime numbers up to 19.
• To multiply and divide numbers mentally drawing upon known facts.
• To solve problems using knowledge of factors and multiples.
• To add and subtract numbers mentally with increasingly large numbers.
• To add and subtract whole numbers with more than 4 digits, including using formal written methods (columnar addition and subtraction)
• To add and subtract fractions with the same denominator and multiples of the same number.

In Science this term the children will be learning about Materials and Changing materials:

Properties of materials

In our Materials topic the children will be learning:

• To understand the properties of a range of materials and explain their uses.
• To compare and group together everyday materials on the basis of their properties.

Changing materials

In our changing materials topic the children will be learning:

• To explore making and separating mixtures.
• To classify changes as reversible or irreversible.
• To use relevant scientific language to explain ideas.
• To plan comparative or fair tests.
• To report and present findings from enquiries.

Despite the horrid weather, Year 5 had an amazing time at Forest School. It was wonderful to see the children compare their own soggy experiences to the conditions experienced by the soldiers inside the Trenches during WW1. The children thoroughly enjoyed using natural materials to build dens, climbing trees, and we were even delighted by an amazing musical performance inspired by our class drumming lessons. It truly was a highly enjoyable and unforgettable experience for all.  

Our Remembrance Service:

On 11th November, Year 5 put on a lovely Remembrance service to honour and remember all those who have fought and died in conflict around the world since the beginning of World War One. I would like to say a huge thank you to all those who attended Year 5’s Remembrance Service. As I’m sure you’ll agree the service was a huge success, the children worked so hard learning their lines, songs and creating beautiful art pieces and writing moving, heart-felt poems and prayers for fallen soldiers as a thank you for their service.

Our Remembrance inspired work:

In preparation for our Remembrance service, the children created a wealth of Remembrance inspired work. They thoroughly enjoyed learning about the war this term and gaining an understanding of soldiers' experiences. 

Visiting our local War Memorial:

Following our wonderful Remembrance service, Year 5 paid a visit to our local war memorial located outside the Holy Trinity Church and paid their respects to all those who have fought and died during conflict since the beginning of WW1. The children did a wonderful job laying the wreath and honouring soldiers from our local area on behalf of our school.

During Viking Day Year 4 & 5 were visited by a real-life Viking - the mighty and ferocious Erik Leifson. Erik brought the children some of his magnificent battle weapons to examine. Some children were even given the opportunity to play fight using real weapons with Erik and make short work of him.

Year 4 & 5 got to be real-life Saxons and Vikings and take part in a shield wall, it was so much fun. The children immensely enjoyed practising real Viking formations, testing out their own battle cry and war faces and most of all clashing into each other. It was truly a magical experience and I know I would not want to face any of them on the battlefield.

After our amazing shield wall, Erik taught us about the Saxon and Viking gods by playing a game of higher and lower. Ultimately, Year 4 managed to champion a quick victory over Year 5. 

After break time, we split into two groups and took turns playing archaeologists and craftsmen. Year 5 began crafting their own rune stones, they greatly enjoyed translating their own names into runes and making their own rune stones as a keep’s sake. Erik taught us about the history of runes and how the Viking alphabet shares some similarities with our own alphabet.

Year 4 began their activity playing archaeologists before we swapped over. Playing archaeologists, the children had to examine the Saxon and Viking artefacts and use their detective and team work skills to identify no only the origin of these artefacts but to infer their use in Saxon and Viking times. The children came up with some truly unique ideas for the purpose of the artefacts and took great care handling and examining even the most minute details. I definitely think we might have a future Indiana Jones at Hazlemere School.

After lunch, we came back together and played a marvellous game of dress up. The children were able to handle and investigate the similarities and differences between Viking and Saxon clothing, before delighting in a wonderful game of dress up. The thoroughly enjoyed dressing Mrs Farmer and Mrs Woodstock up as Viking and Saxon slaves and learning how the Saxons and Viking used urine to dye their clothes.

We ended our fantastic day learning about the history and significance of burial mounds specifically those discovered at Sutton Hoo and how these provide a wealth historical evidence about life in Saxon and Viking times. All the children were fascinated to discover how the Vikings buried kings like King Raegwald along with his ship, slaves, horses, dogs and wardrobe under the earth. As a treat for being such good listeners and historians all day long, the children finished the day constructing their own burial mound for a new Queen. As a final treat, Erik even surprised a few of the children by burying them alongside their new Queen before it was time to say goodbye. A massive well done to all the children for being such inquisitive and well-behaved learners, the day was truly a wonderful and enjoyed experience by all.  

This term in RE the children will be learning about Islam and Salvation.

Islam

In our Islam topic, the children will be learning:

• Different ways of showing belief
• Sacred Muslim texts
• How the Quran helps Muslims in their daily lives.
• How Muslims worship.
• To make links between the way the Qur’an is used in a mosque and Muslim beliefs.
• To identify the impact of the Qur’an on the lives of believers.
• To ask important questions about their own and Muslim beliefs about sacred texts.

Salvation

In our Salvation topic the children will be learning:

• To understand the term 'Salvation' and how it relates to incarnation.
• To explain what Christians mean when they say that Jesus' death was a sacrifice.
• To show how Christians put their beliefs into practice.
• To make connections between Jesus' death and how Christians celebrate holy communion/last supper.
• To explain what Christians mean when they say that Jesus' death was a sacrifice
• To suggest meanings for Jesus' death.

This term in Maths the children will be learning:

• To identify, name and write equivalent fractions of a given fraction
• To compare and order fractions
• To add and subtract fractions
• To solve problems using all four operations
• To multiply fractions by whole numbers
• To solve problems involving fractions
• To convert between different units of metric measure 
• To solve problems involving converting between units of time
• To calculate and compare the area of rectangles (including squares)
• To estimate the area of irregular shapes 
• To estimate volume and capacity
• To recognise, name and solve problems involving percentages.
• To identify 3-D shapes, including cubes and other cuboids, from 2-D representations 
• To identify, describe and represent the position of a shape following a reflection or translation
• To measure and calculate the perimeter of composite rectilinear shapes in cm and m
• To estimate, compare, measure and draw angles, and to identify unknown angles.

This term we will continue to work on building up the children's vocabulary, which can always be further extended by the children reading a wide range of texts. Specifically, we will be focusing on two texts this half-term, Curiosity by Markus Motom and Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, followed by Everest by Alexandra Stewart and Joe Todd-Stanton next half-term. These texts provide a fabulous link between our topics in Science and Humanities.

Grammar

During our English lessons every day, we dedicate time to reinforcing the children's SPAG. This term we will be teaching and reinforcing the following:

• Relative pronouns
• Determiners
• Relative clauses
• Subordinating and coordinating conjunctions
• Commas
• Bracket
• Dashes
• Parenthesis

Spelling

This term Year 5 will continue to investigate the use of different suffixes and their spelling rules alongside learning homophones and words from the Year 5/6 spelling list.

• ably
• ibly
• ious
• homophones
• ant
• ent
• ance
• ence

In Science this term, the children will be learning about Space and Forces:

Space

In our Space topic the children will be learning:

• To identify, name and order the planets of our Solar System.
• To describe the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the Sun in the Solar System.
• To describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth.
• To describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as spherical bodies.
• To use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky.
• To describe the Geocentric and Heliocentric models.
• To name and describe the shape and size of celestial bodies.
• To describe the orbits of celestial in our solar system and name and investigate the force that keeps them in orbit.
• To explain how and why the seasons occur.
• To list the uses of some satellites and explain why space junk poses a problem for them.

Forces

In our Forces topic the children will be learning:

• To identify forces as pushes and pulls.
• To describe gravity, friction, air resistance, water resistance and their effects on moving objects.
• To describe the relationship between mass and gravity.
• To describe the relationship between surface area and air and water resistance.
• To identify Isaac Newton's discoveries.
• To explain how to make an object aerodynamic and streamlined.
• To describe the effects of of levers, pulleys and simple machines
• To explain gravity as a force that pulls objects down.
• To identify balanced and unbalanced forces.

This term Year 5 have been fascinated by and thoroughly enjoyed learning everything there is to know about Space. In English, we have followed the incredible adventures of NASA’s Curiosity – a robotic rover that travelled 140 million miles to our closest neighbour, Mars. Through the use of our class text Curiosity – the story of a Mars Rover, the children thoroughly enjoyed writing some amazing explanations of Curiosity’s journey to Mars and documenting Curiosity’s treacherous decent by writing and performing their very own breaking news reports detailing the events in real time. Similarly, the children immensely enjoyed learning about the history of NASA and the challenges faced by some of NASA’s most prominent and revolutionary employees: Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Christine Darden whilst reading Hidden Figures.

Engagement with this topic was absolutely amazing. It was wonderful to see each and every child take on such a passionate and curious approach to their learning this term. From explaining how the universe was formed and ordering the planets of the solar system to using Oreos to learn about the different phases of the Moon. It has been truly wonderful to see the children thoroughly each and every aspect of this topic.

At the end of this topic, the children put on a truly phenomenal assembly to show everything that they have learnt. Thank you again to all those who came to our class assembly, as I am sure you will agree the assembly was a huge success and the children profoundly enjoyed sharing some of the amazing learning and work that they have completed this term. 

In Spring 2, we followed the adventures of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on their journey to climb the world’s tallest mountain whilst reading Everest by Alexandra Stewart. The children were fascinated and blown away by this text and the unwavering determination and perseverance these revolutionary individuals showed to achieve something that many believed impossible at the time. This topic inspired a wealth of cross-curricular writing. From writing biographies of world-renowned mountaineer Edmund Hillary, fact files, suspense-filled short narratives to Alpine travel brochures. The children have immensely enjoyed learning about this harsh yet breathtaking wonder of the world and the determination and skill it takes to conquer it. 

In Geography, the children have been studying the Alpine region in order to discover why people live in the Alps. Throughout the course of this topic, the children have enjoyed using a range of resources (Atlases and Google Maps) to locate and label the Alps and the eight countries the Alps spread through on a map, discovering what mountains are, how they are formed and where the world’s most famous mountain ranges are located as well as compare the human and physical geographical features of Innsbruck (a popular Alpine city) with those of our local area Hazlemere.

We finished off this topic with a wonderful Spring walk around Hazlemere to conduct some Geography fieldwork. This wonderful experience provided the children with the opportunity to observe and identify physical and human geographical features in our local area before conducting a comparison between Hazlemere and the Alps. The weather was amazing, and the children thoroughly enjoyed applying their geographic knowledge to their local area and making comparisons between Hazlemere and the Alps, and enabled the children to justify their explanations of why people visit the Alps.

After Christmas, the children dove straight into our sacred texts topic through which we paid particular attention to the Qu'ran. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about the origins of the Qu'ran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad as well as why the Qu'ran plays such a pivotal role in the live of 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.

In Spring 2, Year 5 learnt about all Salvation and what Jesus did to save human beings. During this topic, the children thoroughly enjoyed learning about and discussing the origins of Lent, the events leading to Jesus’ death and debating who was responsible for Jesus’ death.

In DT, the children have been learning all about bridges this term. They have learnt about different types of bridges and investigated how engineers and architects use their knowledge of shape and structure to reinforce and strengthen bridges across the world. All the children greatly enjoyed the practicality of this topic, particularly making lots of mess whilst building their own truss bridges out of spaghetti. Furthermore, the children were delighted to put their practical skills into action when using hacksaws to design and construct their own prototype bridges which could enable famous mountaineers like Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to safely cross crevasses on Everest.

World Book Day and Science Week were particular highlights for all the children. Year 5 embraced the storytelling theme of World Book Day and designed their comic strips retelling their favourite stories for children at the local children's hospitals. It was wonderful to see all the children put so much thought, love and detail into their work and for those less fortunate than themselves. 

British Science Week was a true highlight again for all. The children thoroughly enjoyed their visit from Professor Bubbleworks and loved participating in some awesome and out-of-the-box experiments. Similarly, the children were delighted and memorised to hear all about life on the ISS (The International Space Station) from Astronaut Tim Peake during the BBC live lesson, as well as learning about adaptation, inheritance and selective breeding during our Farm live lesson. 

Our school's Red Nose Day celebrations was a huge success. Year 5's efforts played a crucial role in the success of our Red-themed bake sale. The children were immensely helpful. They kindly gave up their own time to help decorate Red Nose biscuits, which were exceptionally popular and helped to raise funds for Comic Relief.    

Year 5 thoroughly enjoyed their Computing workshop hosted by STEM. All the children loved putting their programming skills into action when programming robotic trains to follow their instructions.

We finished off this half-term with a trip to Forest School, where the children thoroughly enjoyed using natural resources to make festive Easter decorations for our upcoming Easter Spiritual day as well as collecting rocks, building dens and making play equipment out of fall trees.

This term in RE the children will be learning about different places of worship and the role of charities:

Does the community benefit from their place of worship?

In this topic, the children will be learning:                                                                                

• The importance of communities.
• Where different religions go to worship.
• What these places of worship are called.
• What are the differences between each of these places of worship?
• What do these places mean to the communities around them.

What is best for our world?

In our What is best for the world topic the children will be learning:

• About the needs of the world
• The ways in which charities seek to meet those needs. 
• They will identify and know some reasons why charities are set up.
• They will be able to link those to some of the key religious texts.

This term in Maths the children will be learning:

• To identify 3-D shapes, including cubes and other cuboids, from 2-D representations. 
• To identify, describe and represent the position of a shape following a reflection or translation
• To measure and calculate the perimeter of composite rectilinear shapes in cm and m
• To estimate, compare, measure and draw angles, and to identify unknown angles.
• To use formal division and multiplication methods.
• To solve problems involving multiplication and division including using their knowledge of factors and multiples, squares and cubes.  
• To solve problems involving scaling by simple fractions and rates.
• To convert imperial and metric units of measure.
• To solve problems involving fractions, decimals and percentages.  
• To complete, read and interpret in tables, including timetables.
• To solve problems involving the four operations.
• To distinguish between regular and irregular polygons
• To use the properties of rectangles to deduce related facts and find missing lengths and angles.
• To solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information from line graphs.
• To interpret and evaluate information presented in charts and tables.
• To read roman numerals to 1000 and recognise years written in roman numerals.

This term we will continue to work on building up the children's vocabulary which can always be further extended by the children reading a wide range of texts. Specifically, we will we focusing on three texts this term The Last Bear by Hannah Gold and Who let the Gods out by Maz Evans as well as extracts from Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief by Rick Riordan.

Grammar:

During our English lessons everyday we dedicate time to reinforce the children's SPAG, this term we will be teaching and reinforcing the following:                                                      

• Relative pronouns
• Determiners                                                                                         
• Relative clauses                    
• Subordinating and coordinating conjunctions                                                                   
• Subordinate clauses                                                                                         
• Cohesive devices
• Commas
• Brackets
• Dashes
• Using commas, dashes and brackets to indicate parenthesis
• Using commas to clarify meaning and avoid ambiguity                                
• Hyphenated compound adjectives

Spelling:

Our Spelling lessons take place every Friday, this term the children will continue to focus learning to spelling words from the Year 5/6 copies of which can be found on our class page. Similarly, we continue to develop and reinforce the children's understanding and knowledge of the wide range of spelling rules including:

• suffixes able and bile                                                     
• suffixes ibly and ably
• homophones and near homophones                            
• words containing silent letters
• suffixes ant and ent
• suffixes ance and ence
• suffixes ance, ence, ancy and ency
• topic vocabulary
• mis and dis prefix
• im and in prefix
• ir and il prefix
• ise, ify, en and ate suffixes

In Science this term the children will be learning about the circle of life and human development:

Circle of life:

In our circle of life topic the children will be learning:

• To describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird.
• To describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals.
• To dissect and understand the functions of a flower's reproductive organs.               
• To describe the life cycle of a plant, including the reproductive stage. 
• To describe the life cycle of a mammal.
• To describe the life cycle of a bird and compare it with that of a mammal. 
• To describe the life cycle of an amphibian. 
• To describe the life cycle of an insect. 
• To describe asexual reproduction in plants.
• To observe and compare equivalent parts in different flowers. 
• To research the life cycles of different mammals.
• To pose questions to compare the life cycles of different birds.                   
• To suggest how temperature may affect egg hatching.
• To use data to describe a relationship and make predictions.
• To represent root growth over time on a line graph. 

Human development:

In our human development topic the children will be learning:                               

• To describe the changes as humans develop to old age.
• To understand how a baby develops.
• To investigate the growth in height that occurs during childhood                    
• To consider what life might be like in old age.
• To order the stages in growth and development from birth to old age.
• To describe physical and developmental changes from a baby through to old age.
• To describe changes that occur in males and females during puberty.
• To suggest ways to manage the changes that occur during puberty.
• To recall what is meant by a gestation period.
• To describe how gestation varies across animals and compare this to humans.
• To use data to describe growth from baby to adult.
• To identify where on the graph the rate of growth changes.
• To use a line graph to make predictions about height.