Year 5 have made a fantastic start to the new academic year! The children have settled in brilliantly and have shown great enthusiasm across all subjects and have worked hard on their learning.

In Maths, we’ve been focusing on place value and developing our understanding of addition and subtraction. The children have been working hard to solve problems, explain their reasoning, and apply their skills in different contexts and with challenging questions. 

During our English lessons, we began the term by reading There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar. The class have really engaged with the story, exploring the characters in depth and even writing diary entries from the perspective of the main characters. More recently, we’ve turned our attention to non-fiction texts, researching and planning our own information reports about mythical creatures we’ve imagined and created!

In Geography, we’ve been learning about our place in the world. Starting with maps of our local area, we located historical and significant places within Street (such as Greenbank and Clark’s Headquarters). We’ve zoomed out to explore the United Kingdom, identifying and naming the countries, capital cities and flags. Finally, we have zoomed out further to look at Europe, focusing on the different places, flags and climate. This is helping us to understand where we are located globally.

Our science topic has been the properties of materials this term. We’ve investigated characteristics such as flammability and permeability, conducting hands-on experiments with different materials found in everyday life. We recently tested materials for flexibility, permeability, hardness and magnetism. We have been able to use our newly learnt vocabulary to think like scientists and have discussed the best materials for different objects and scenarios. Now we are using this knowledge to learn how to best separate mixtures.

Year 5 have been enjoying singing and playing the glockenspiel to the classic rock anthem Livin’ on a Prayer. It’s been wonderful to see their confidence and musicality grow as we have recapped key vocabulary such as pulse, rhythm, dynamics and tempo. 

In Computing, we’ve explored what a system is and how computers communicate within a system. We learnt about different systems in our everyday life such as washing machines, traffic lights and parcel lockers. The children are now learning about networks and how different devices work together to share information.

This term, in RE, we have been learning about Sanatana Dharma and how Sanatani show commitment to God and their beliefs. We have learnt more about their worship, pilgrimage to the river Ganges and their gods and goddesses. 

It’s been a busy and exciting term so far, and we’re proud of all the hard work and creativity Year 5 have shown. We’re looking forward to seeing what the rest of the term brings!