What a fantastic half term we have had in Year 5. It has been lovely to get to know your children and we are delighted to say that everyone has settled in effortlessly.

In English this half term we began by looking at a journey narrative. We based this on a model text which was loosely related to the well-known story “Where the Wild Things are.” We completed a variety of lessons looking at different literary techniques as well as punctuation and grammar before combining our learning to create our own journey narrative themed as a “Race across Brazil”. We then moved on to a non-chronological report. For this we focused on the importance that introductions and conclusion have as well as the different punctuation and grammatical feature that make up a non-chronological report. We then once again linked this to our learning about South America in geography to create a non-chronological report about a South American Country.

In maths this half term we started off by looking at our place value starting with recognising numbers to 10,000 and gradually building up to numbers to 1,000,000. In this unit we also recapped previously learnt skills such as partitioning and rounding. We then moved onto addition and subtraction where we began by adding and subtracting numbers with more than four digits in formal column method. We then progressed into looking at inverse operations, multi-step word problems and finding missing numbers in calculations. We have ended this half term by starting our first of two multiplication and division units. So far we have looked at common multiples, factors, prime numbers and square numbers. We will continue with this after the half term break.

In science this half term we have learn all about forces. Examples of these are gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction. We carried a variety of different experiments such as testing whether heavier objects fall more quickly. We did this by dropping two items of different mass and seeing which one reached the ground first. We then carried out an experiment on air resistance by designing parachutes made from different materials to help us decide which material would make the best parachute. We then made paper helicopters to test how air resistance and weight are linked. Finally we designed our own boats out of a clay like material to test which shape allowed the boat to float the easiest.

In geography this half term we have been learning about the continent of South America.  We began by looking at where South America is in the world and locating it on a map before using atlases to discover the 12 independent countries that make it up. We then took part in a research lesson about a specific South America country (Brazil) looking at its characteristics such as: biomes, temperature, precipitation and population among others before comparing those to what they are like here in the UK. We finished the topic off by looking at the types of housing that are common across South America (see if your child can remember the name of the temporary communities in Brazil) and comparing and contrasting them with housing in the UK.

We have had a number of visitors also in Year 5 this half term. Our first was a fireman from the surrey fire service who taught the children about fire safety and then sent them home to test your fire alarms (sorry!). We then had father Andrew from St Mary’s Church in Sunbury come in for our annual harvest festival celebration. And finally we were also lucky enough to be able to participate in a drumming workshop.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our first half term and eagerly await to welcome you back after a lovely week of rest!

All the best,

The Year 5 Team