J5

Welcome to Year 5!

We are a class of 17 children taught by Mrs Thorneywork, supported by Mrs Amess as LSA.

Welcome back to Spring term! We hope you had a lovely break; we are looking forward to another exciting term.

This term, we will travel back to understand further the Mayan civilisation, who the ancient Maya people were, where and when they lived. We will use maps and atlases to locate Maya cities and identify countries in Mesoamerica. In addition to this we will learn about the religious beliefs and rituals of the ancient Maya people and find out more about some of the many gods they worshipped. We will also learn about the Maya number system and have the opportunity to read and write Maya numbers and solve number problems. Finally, whilst describing the foods the Maya ate, we will go a step further and make their delicious chilli hot chocolate to drink with some corn tortillas.

After half term, we will be moving swiftly onto ‘Enough for Everyone’ here we will think about the needs of a settlement, and the needs of the planet. We will find out where resources such as power and food come from and look at ways in which natural resources can be conserved. After discussing the idea of a carbon footprint, we will have the chance to consider how our actions impact on others around the world, and to think about the changes that we can make to try to ensure that natural resources are shared so there is enough for everyone.

In English, we’ll be using our topics and science units to inspire our writing, starting with writing a diary entry from someone who has landed in space. Moving onto writing explanations, instructions and persuasive letters based on our topics.The first half of the term we will be reading Space Detectives by Mark Powers, as a class reader, at the end of the day. The second half of the term we will be reading The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, this will tie in with our Geography unit.

In Maths, we will begin with multiplication and division and fractions, decimals and percentages in the first half of the term, followed by Perimeter, area and statistics in the second half of the term. Mrs. Adamson will continue to teach maths on a Monday and Tuesday. In Science, we will be exploring the amazing Earth and Space, followed by animals, including humans. Aswell as maths, Mrs. Adamson will be teaching religious studies, this term they will be learning about peace and forgiveness.

Outside of the J5 classroom the children will move around the school to enjoy French with Mrs. Gill, they will be counting on to 69 and talking about their family. Music with Mrs Izod, not forgetting choir, and programming and data handling with Mr. Bell in computing.

Games and PE will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays. Please ensure that your child has their full PE kit in school on these days.