Skip to content ↓

Spring 1

Earth and Space

In Spring, we will look at Earth’s place within our solar system, and learn about Earth's place in space. We will travel into the observable universe from the safety of our classroom! 

Guided Reading - Reading for Inference 

We will use a variety to texts - both fiction and non-fiction texts about the solar system and earthquakes - to enable us to apply our learning to a range of question types, and to make links between different books and our own growing general knowledge. We will continue to use text annotation as a method of exploring a text, and will build on our retrieval and inference reading skills. In order to support your child with both their grammar and reading at home, please use the following links: 

https://app.bedrocklearning.org/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

https://gb.education.com/games/grammar/

http://www.eslgamesworld.com/members/games/grammar/index.html

Maths 

We will continue to focus on honing our times table knowledge and recall skills as we continue learning about, multiplication and division, and fractions before moving on to learn about decimals and percentages. Times tables and generating new facts from those known will be a focus within the classroom and during our morning task time. It is imperative that pupils are able to recall these facts in order to access the Year 5 curriculum thoroughly. We will be using Number and Lightning as the basis of our knowledge to support our arithmetic skills. Pupils will be taught operations in depth and will be tasked with using these in a variety of different contexts. 

Vocabulary: multiplication, multiply, division, divide, multiples, fraction, numerator, denominator, equivalent, improper, mixed, sequence, integers, decimal, decimal place, decimal point, round, percentage.

Homework will continue to be set via the MyMaths Website in conjunction with Seesaw.  In order to support your child with their times table knowledge at home and with arithmetic in general, please use the following links:

https://timestable.pixl.org.uk/Timestables.html

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

http://mathszone.co.uk/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z826n39

https://www.mathsisfun.com/

https://nrich.maths.org/prima

Science 

Our Science exploration in Spring 1 will be on Earth and Space. We will learn about the movement of the Earth and other planets relative to the sun in our solar system, understanding how they orbit the sun and are kept in order by gravity, thereby drawing on our previous learning about forces. We will also focus our attention on the movement of the moon relative to the Earth. Finally, we will learn how the Earth's tilt causes day and night, and investigate the sun's apparent movement across the sky.

Vocabulary:  planet, solar system, star, sun, moon, lunar, forces, gravity, orbit, tilt.

Some interesting websites that will support learning and fascination about Earth and Space include:

https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/space/

https://www.esa.int/kids/en/home

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/overview/

RSE and PSHE: Citizenship

In PSHE, we will be exploring laws, the role of the police, our justice system, and how parliament works.

Vocabulary: rule, consequence, law, magistrates court, crown court, police, trial, fair, judge, jury, government, parliament, monarch, Prime Minister.

History: Arabia and early Islam

We will continue our journey through Ancient history as our learning takes us to Arabia including the sacred city of Makkah, a city in the desert. We will learn about the places and people of Arabia, and early Islam.

Vocabulary: dominated, Arabia desert, Arabs, Islam, Makkah, pilgrimage, pilgrims, Bedouin, campfires, recite, Kaaba, shrines, idols, pagan, spirits, Quraysh, Aminah, Muhammad, pastoral, nomads, widows, orphans, warrior, pastures, clansmen, clans, blood feud, in praise of, ancestors, heritage, Petra, reared, oases, fragrant, Khadijah, matchmaker, turning point, followers, revelations, submission, submitting, paradise, preach, scorned, betraying, disapproved, refugees, tragedy, jeering, plunge, grove, mosque, Prophet, Medina, Arabic, negotiate, truce

Geography: Earthquakes

In Geography this term, we will be learning about earthquakes. We will investigate the causes and effects of earthquakes, as well as how they are measured.

Vocabulary: earthquake, tremors, aftershocks, visible, tectonic plates, plate boundary, fault line, San Andreas, fault, seven major plates, friction, epicentre, tsunami, focus, seismic waves, seismograph, seismogram, magnitude, Richter scale

R.E.

Our R.E. learning this term will focus on exploring a new Big Question: What does it mean to be Humanist today? A member of Humanists UK will visit our class to talk to us about Humanism and what being a Humanist today means to her.

Vocabulary: Humanism, Humanist, equality, golden rule, society, philosophy.

P.E.

Our indoor PE will develop our knowledge and ability in dance. We will be creating movements and linking these together to perform a choreographed dance routine on the theme of space, using space-themed music. Our outdoor PE will be Multi-Skills.

Vocabulary: dance, choreograph, movement, link, rhythm, co-ordination, interpretation, balance, static, pattern, dynamic, agile, agility.

Computing: Data Handling - Mars Rover 1

In Computing, our Space-themed learning continues as we meet the Mars Rover automated vehicle. We will explore how and why the Mars Rover transfers data. We will understand how messages can be sent using binary code. 

Vocabulary: binary, code, communicate, construction, data, design, transmission, discovery, distance, input, output, Mars Rover, Moon, numerical, radio signal, sequence,  technology, numerical, 8-bit binary, instruction.

D & T

In DT, we will be learning about different shapes and how to combine them in fabric, as well as investigating how mechanical systems work.

Vocabulary: shapes, hexagon, diamond, triangle, circle, square, rectangle, fabrics, combine, sew, attach, stitch, mechanism, mechanical system, direction, speed, pulley, gear, lever, input, process, output

Art and Design

This term, we will be exploring painting and mixed media art to create portraits.

Vocabulary: portrait, collage, identity, mixed media, multi-media.

Music

Our music learning this term will focus on composition to represent the festival of colour - our theme will be Holi - the Hindu festival of colour. We will explore links between music, sounds and colour, building up to composing and performing our own musical composition to represent Holi.

Vocabulary: composition, Holi, celebration, graphic score, synaesthesia, major, minor, layering, pitch, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure, tempo, duration.

French

This term, we will be counting in French and recognising the written number words, talking about ages, comparing sentence structures in French and English, and practising vocabulary by playing counting and traditional French games.

Vocabulary: plus – plus, moins – minus, fait – equals, égale – equals, combien? - how many? /how much? , à toi - your turn, à moi - my turn, j’ai gagné ! - I’ve won!

Important dates for this term: 

Term begins: Thursday 5th January, 2023 

Sports Ambassador event: 17th January, 2023

Lucky Plate Special menu:  19th January, 2023

Visit from Humanists UK: 20th January, 2023

Table Tennis event: 31st January, 2023 

PiXL Y5 assessments: between 30th January and 7th February, 2023

Internet Safety Day: 8th February, 2023

Valentine Disco: 9th February, 2023

Term ends:  Friday 10th February, 2023