Welcome to Year 5 with Miss Donaghy
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- Miss Donaghy, Class Teacher
| Subject Area | Learning | How you can help at home |
| English | The children will be writing linked to the term’s topics and as such they will build upon the grammatical conventions taught last term, as well as applying their knowledge of ‘good writing techniques’ across a range of genres. Being able to punctuate extended sentences correctly is imperative, as is ensuring the dreaded ‘comma splice’, becomes a thing of the past!
They will follow the correct conventions of writing an explanation text – using passive voice to strengthen the content. They will research and write a report, ensuring it contains their own personal stamp. There will be an opportunity to create a descriptive piece of writing based on an extract from The Secret Garden. The children will participate in writing a poem. The second half term will allow us to use a short film to explore our learning – the children will write a character profile, develop setting and a create a story ending. In addition we will exploring persuasive writing to create adverts |
Encourage your child to look at the local paper or even invest in First News – a newspaper specifically for children. Discuss articles with them, taking time to look at the organisation of both the paper itself and the individual articles.
When reading aloud I have already suggested to the children that they record themselves and then listen back – this will help to improve the experience for the listener, as your child can analyse their own delivery. Encourage your child to keep a diary. Does your child ever write a letter to a member of your extended family or to friends who live elsewhere? By setting up a writing relationship your child can look forward to receiving their very own post! Your child should be reading every day for a minimum of 30 mins. Encourage your child to get cosy and comfortable when reading. Do you set a good example? Could you set aside 30 mins of family reading time where the house is nice and quiet? Read the books they are reading so then you can engage in exciting dialogue, discussing character, setting, storyline as well as making predictions and inferring why certain events may occur as well as why characters behave in the recorded manner. How does the author take you on this exciting journey? Talk about any new, interesting or difficult vocabulary that they meet. Do they need to use a dictionary to gain a better understanding? |
| Phonics/Spelling | There will also be daily Spelling, Grammar or Handwriting lesson to develop technical skills that must be applied to writing.
Your children are beginning to compile lists of their own spelling words, picked up upon in their Learning Journeys. |
Test them with the words in the context of a complete sentence, as they have been given spelling lists per term.
The children have created their own personal lists from their Learning Journeys – these are words often from lower year groups and there has been an element of laziness. Now is the time to get them right! |
| Creative Curriculum | Allotment!
Geography – looking at land features and a range of maps Art – observational drawings (Georgia O’Keefe) Science – parts of a plant, planting and growing Computing – research Scream Machine Computing – research, PicCollage, Scratch D&T – simple fairground rides, fairground foods Science – centripetal force, exploration of pulleys PSHE – assessing problems in relation to their size and thinking about appropriate reactions Music – Rollercoaster song |
Could you visit a place of interest? Do you have a family member of friend with an allotment?
Encourage your child to read more widely to gain more information about the topics. Plant a bulb or a seed in a pot/planter – who will come to visit? Create a sensory trail! Find flowers or leaves with a fragrant scent, or plants with interesting textures. Take an adult on yout trail, perhaps blindfold them to test their sensory perception! Attract birds to your garden by making them a delicious bird cake. Combine melted lard with seeds, nuts and dried fruit. There a lots of recipes online. |
| Maths | Number: Decimals
Solving problems involving numbers with up to 3 decimal places Multiplying and Dividing whole numbers and those involving decimals by 10, 100 and 1000 Using all 4 operations to solve problems involving measure, using decimal notation, including scaling Geometry: Properties of Shapes and Angles Identifying 3D shapes, from 2D representations Using the properties of rectangles to deduce related facts and find missing lengths and angles. Using knowledge of length of sides and angles to distinguish between regular and irregular polygons To be aware of the terms acute, obtuse and reflex when measuring and dealing with angles To be able to draw given angles Geometry: Position and Direction Identify, describe, and represent the position of a shape following a reflection or translation Measurement – converting units Converting between different units of metric measure (km and m; cm and m: cm and mm: g and kg; l and ml Understand and use equivalences between metric and imperial measurements Solve problems involving converting between units of time Measures: Volume Estimate volume and capacity Use all 4 operations to solve problems involving measure |
The children will need to know their times tables inside out and back to front. For example:
7 x 8 = 56 8 x 7 = 56 56 ¸ 8 = 7 56 ¸ 7 = 8 and then the related facts: 0.7 x 8 = 5.6 0.8 x 7 = 5.6 5.6 ¸ 8 = 0.7 5.6 ¸ 7 = 0.8 The children will continue to work their way through the mental maths tests. Google Topmarks Fractions KS2 to find more games to consolidate this concept I will use www.mymaths.co.uk to set homework sometimes, however the children can use it anytime to practise something we have learnt or test to make sure they that they can remember. |
| PE | All for Sport on Thursdays | Please ensure your kit is in school at alltimes. It MUST be clearly labelled!
Have you checked your child’s trainer size? |
| Spanish/Music | The children will receive a 5-week block of music this half term with our specialist teacher Mrs Folen.
Your child will continue to broaden their Spanish experience with weekly lessons |
Encourage your children to listen to a wide range of different music styles.
Have you thought about joining the wonderful Monkfrith choir – who meet on Thurs 8:15am? Ask your child what their learning has been. Can they recite the days of the week and months of the year? Are their counting skills up to scratch? Can they encourage you to hold a simple conversation about how you are? |
Boxes of tissues would be greatly appreciated! This is especially important in the season of hay fever….We would also benefit from used newspapers, as we need these for art lessons.
If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to write a note or make an appointment via the office to see me during the drop in time. This is still Wednesday between 3:40 and 4:10.
I can’t imagine that this is our final term already. This academic year is absolutely flying by!
Miss Donaghy
The Guardian:
10th Oct Year 5 travelled to Kings Cross to participate in a workshop organised by the ‘guardian’. This was the first time this particular workshop has been rolled out to such a large group. The children made mini clips, just like those available to view on the online version of the newspaper. Many thanks to the parents who supported us, your help was invaluable.
KINGSWOOD:
3rd – 5th Oct, we were fortunate enough to spend time at the Kingswood Activity Centre in Kent. The class mascot, Ramsey, was also able to join us – participating in a few of the activities! It was an interesting time affording the children opportunities to challenge themselves; work collaboratively; encourage their peers and simply have lots of fun. The children were also impressed by the food!
Here is a little bit about what we will be learning in the Autumn Term and how you can support your child.
| Subject Area | Learning | How you can help at home |
| English | The children will be writing linked to the term’s topics and as such they will assume the roles of a variety of characters both from history and later from an imaginary world.
They will follow the correct conventions of writing a formal persuasive letter. They will write a heart-felt diary entry and also become reporters to write up a factual newspaper article. There will be an opportunity to write a story, as well as write a review for games. The children will be writing a poem. |
Encourage your child to look at the local paper or even invest in First News – a newspaper specifically for children. Discuss articles with them, taking time to look at the organisation of both the paper itself and the individual articles.
Encourage your child to keep a diary. Does your child ever write a letter to a member of your extended family or to friends who live elsewhere? By setting up a writing relationship your child can look forward to receiving their very own post! Your child should be reading every day for a minimum of 30 mins. Encourage your child to get cosy and comfortable when reading. Do you set a good example? Could you set aside 30 mins of family reading time where the house is nice and quiet? Read the books they are reading so then you can engage in exciting dialogue, discussing character, setting, storyline as well as making predictions and inferring why certain events may occur as well as why characters behave in the recorded manner. How does the author take you on this exciting journey? Talk about any new, interesting or difficult vocabulary that they meet. Do they need to use a dictionary to gain a better understanding? |
| Phonics/Spelling | There will also be daily Spelling, Grammar or Handwriting lesson to develop technical skills that they can apply to their writing. | |
| Creative Curriculum | Off with her head!
Tudor England – Henry VIII and his 6 wives Portraits – sketching and collage Computing – research Geography – historical maps PSHE – rules and consequence
Alchemy Island Computing – coding D&T – designing a board game Geography – map reading, using co-ordinates, human and physical features Science – circuits, properties and changes of materials. Working scientifically |
Could you visit a place of interest? A portrait gallery?
Encourage your child to read more widely to gain more information about the topics. Participate in some good old-fashioned board games – you’ll be surprised how much conversation you will be able to generate! What makes them so much fun? Is there a theme? How do they work? Do they include questions or clues? Do you need to follow instructions or a route? What sort of language is used? |
| Maths | Number
Place Value – knowing numbers to a million, being able to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000, knowing negative numbers Addition and Subtraction – using the column method to add/subtract more than 4 digit numbers, recognise the importance of inverse operations, multi-step problems Multiplication and Division – to be able to x and ÷ by 10, 100 and 1000, to know multiples, factors, common factors, prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers Statistics Graphs – to be able to draw, read and interpret line graphs Timetables – to be able to read and interpret tables Area and Perimeter To be able to find unknown lengths, to be able to work out the area of rectangles and compound shapes, to be able to make estimations, to be able to measure perimeter and to be able to calculate perimeter |
The children will need to know their times tables inside out and back to front. For example:
7 x 8 = 56 8 x 7 = 56 56 ¸ 8 = 7 56 ¸ 7 = 8 and then the related facts: 0.7 x 8 = 5.6 0.8 x 7 = 5.6 5.6 ¸ 8 = 0.7 5.6 ¸ 7 = 0.8 The mental maths tests have been revised for this year and the aim is they will ensure a more secure understanding in order to achieve and progress through the levels I will use www.mymaths.co.uk to set homework sometimes, however the children can use it anytime to practise something we have learnt or test to make sure they that they can remember. |
| RE | The children will be taught RE by Mrs Powell – Pilgrimages and Holy Places | By being respectful about all religions when discussion around religion occurs. This may be through reading/watching the news or other programmes on the tv.
If you share a religion in your home make your child aware of any particularly important/significant places. If you would like to come in and share your knowledge it would much appreciated. Children learn best from those in a place of personal knowledge |
| PE | All for Sport on Thursdays
Swimming on Fridays |
Please ensure your kit is in school at all times. Have you checked your child’s trainer size?
Where you deem your child to be well enough to be in school there is an expectation that they will swim – we have spare swim wear and towels in school, although children do feel more comfortable in their own. |
| KS2 – Spanish/Music | The children will receive a 6-week block of music each half term with our specialist teacher Mrs Folen.
Your child will continue to broaden their Spanish experience with weekly lessons. |
Encourage your children to listen to a wide range of different music styles.
Have you thought about joining the wonderful Monkfrith choir – who meet on Thurs 8:15am Ask your child what their learning has been. Can they recite the days of the week and months of the year? Are their counting skills up to scratch? Can they encourage you to hold a simple conversation about how you are? |
Boxes of tissues would be greatly appreciated! We would also benefit from used newspapers, as we use these frequently during art lessons.
If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to write a note or make an appointment via the office to see me during the drop in time. This is still Wednesday between 3:40 and 4:10.
I’m looking forward to an exciting first term and would like to thank you in advance for your support.
Miss Donaghy