Years 5 & 6 – Herons Class
Welcome to Herons Class page:
On this page you will be able to find information about the work which Year 5 and Year 6 pupils are undertaking. You will also find information of ways in which you can help and encourage pupils in their learning to enable them to fulfil the school values ‘To Nurture, To Grow and To Flourish’.
To enable you to be fully involved with your child’s learning we hold half termly consultation meetings which provide an opportunity for pupils and parents to meet with the class teacher to discuss progress, celebrate achievements and discuss the next steps.
Our topics this term are as follows:
Spring Term- Herons Class
English
Our class text this term is the ‘Boy in the Tower’ by Polly Ho Yen. This text will be the basis of our all our English work. First, the children will be writing a short report based on the author. This will be followed by a balanced argument, a short story and an essay. Spelling, punctuation and grammar will be woven in between and make up the rest of the lessons.
Maths
In Year 5 we will continue to understand fractions using the White Rose Maths scheme. First we will look at equivalent fractions, then we will compare and order fractions. The children will convert improper fractions to mixed numbers and back again, as well as adding and subtracting. After this topic, we will move on to multiplication and division.
Science
This half term’s topic is Electricity. We are learning about simple series circuits, voltage and switches. We will also be planning, designing and making an electrical device or toy, using a simple circuit.
History / Geography
In History we are learning about the rise and fall of Hitler. Children will learn how the terms of the Armistice Agreement after World War 1, led to the outbreak of World War 2. In Geography, the children will be learning about Geographical Issues in Britain. We will start with air pollution, look at climate change and how this impacts rising sea levels, then consider more local issues, such as flooding.
Art/DT
In Art, children are finding out about Victorian architecture and the architects of The Houses of Parliament (Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin). After studying the architecture of other famous buildings in London, children will be moving on to watercolours and flowers.
RE
Herons are learning about Judaism in R.E. They will be comparing Jewish acts of worship, to Christian acts of worship.
PHSE
This half term’s topic is Diversity and Communities. We are learning and talking about different forms of prejudice. Children will understand what stereotyping means and how this can impact themselves as well as local and national communities.
PE
The children will be doing Gymnastics with Mrs Ayres on a Tuesday and on Wednesday’s they will be doing Hockey with Mr Rogers.
Computing
Herons are learning about physical computing using a device called a Crumble and programming using buzzers.
MFL
Herons will be writing to their penfreinds at Little Thetford telling them about their homes. They will also be reading sentences which describe different parts of a house.
Music
In Music, children are learning about the four different families of the orchestra (Brass, Woodwind, Strings, Percussion) and the instruments that make up each family. Herons will find out about each instrument, hear their sound and music, and locate them within the orchestra.
Summer Term- Herons Class
English
Our English lessons will be linked to the texts The water tower by Gary Crew, The adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Wolf brother by Michelle Paver and a selection of Greek Myths. We will have a focus on descriptive writing, information texts and adventure stories. The children will be learning new words through Mrs Wordsmith and they will have weekly spellings set through Spelling Shed.
Year 6 pupils will have a mixture of half hour spelling and grammar sessions run by Mrs Lomax.
Year 5 will have four half hour spelling sessions a week following the Sounds Write programme.
Year 6 pupils will have a mixture of half hour spelling and grammar sessions run by Mrs Lomax.
Year 5 will have four half hour spelling sessions a week following the Sounds Write programme.
Maths
In Maths
Year 5 will be focusing on the following topics:
● Decimals and percentages
● Geometry of shapes
● angles
● measures
● volume and capacity
Year 6 will be focusing on the following topics:
● Area of triangles
● Geometry of shapes
● angles
● statistics
● Maths projects
Year 5 will be focusing on the following topics:
● Decimals and percentages
● Geometry of shapes
● angles
● measures
● volume and capacity
Year 6 will be focusing on the following topics:
● Area of triangles
● Geometry of shapes
● angles
● statistics
● Maths projects
Science
In Science, our topics will be :
Astronomy The Big Bang theory, gravity, the Universe, our Solar System, the moon and our galactic neighbourhood.
Meteorology Weather and climate, the atmosphere, the Ozone layer, air movement and wind direction, cold and warm fronts, thunder and lightning.
Astronomy The Big Bang theory, gravity, the Universe, our Solar System, the moon and our galactic neighbourhood.
Meteorology Weather and climate, the atmosphere, the Ozone layer, air movement and wind direction, cold and warm fronts, thunder and lightning.
History / Geography
In History we will be learning about World War I ,the Causes of World War , how it was fought on land, at sea and in the air, what life was like on the Western Front, The Home Front and the consequences of the War.
In the second half of the term we will be learning about The Suffragettes Democracy in the 19th Century, The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, Emmeline Pankhurst and the WSPU, The Anti-Suffrage Campaign 5 and World War I and the Representation of the People Act.In Geography we will be learning about New Zealand and the South Pacific, the location and physical geography ,The history of New Zealand- The Maori , Earthquakes, Climate and the South Pacific Islands.
In the second half of the term we will complete a local geographical study, studying maps,looking at local issues, collecting data and presenting data.
In the second half of the term we will be learning about The Suffragettes Democracy in the 19th Century, The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, Emmeline Pankhurst and the WSPU, The Anti-Suffrage Campaign 5 and World War I and the Representation of the People Act.In Geography we will be learning about New Zealand and the South Pacific, the location and physical geography ,The history of New Zealand- The Maori , Earthquakes, Climate and the South Pacific Islands.
In the second half of the term we will complete a local geographical study, studying maps,looking at local issues, collecting data and presenting data.
Art/DT
In Art the children will be learning about Print Making they will look at work from the Artists : Rembrandt, Hogarth, Hokusai and Warhol . They will find out about the different ways of making a print and create their own mono print and screen print. In the second half of the term the children will complete an extended study inspired by the Take one Picture scheme run by the National Gallery.
In DT we will be constructing bird houses!
In DT we will be constructing bird houses!
RE
In R.E. we will be looking at what Jesus did to save Human beings and in the second half of the term we will be thinking about Creation and The Fall.
PHSE
In PSHE our topic is managing safety and risk.
They will learn about the benefits and consequences of taking risks, in familiar and unfamiliar contexts and discuss how their levels of responsibility are changing. They will learn about different strategies for getting help from known and unknown adults, even when this is difficult.describe . The children will complete their cycling proficiency training and learn strategies for staying safer on the roads when using them independently, as a cyclist or pedestrian. They will also learn about keeping safe in the sun and receive some simple first aid training.
They will learn about the benefits and consequences of taking risks, in familiar and unfamiliar contexts and discuss how their levels of responsibility are changing. They will learn about different strategies for getting help from known and unknown adults, even when this is difficult.describe . The children will complete their cycling proficiency training and learn strategies for staying safer on the roads when using them independently, as a cyclist or pedestrian. They will also learn about keeping safe in the sun and receive some simple first aid training.
PE
Our PE lessons will be taught by Premier Sport and KICK. The children will be developing skills in swimming, cricket and athletics.
Computing
The children will be working with TWENTY 20 on STEM activities involving programming
MFL
The children will be focusing on French in the first part of the term and learning about the future – using the future tense and anticipating secondary education and the future (some fun with exaggerated future plans etc!). We will learn about the French education system and learn to compare as well – longer sentences and comparatives.
In the second half of the term the children will learn Italian and write to their penpals at Little Thetford School to show off their new knowledge!
In the second half of the term the children will learn Italian and write to their penpals at Little Thetford School to show off their new knowledge!
Music
The children will be working with Twenty 20 productions to put together their end of year play which will be based around Shakespeare this year.
Autumn Term- Herons Class
English
For the whole of the Autumn term, our class-text will be The Thousand-Year-Old Boy, by Ross Welford. Through close reading of this and non-fiction texts, we will consider sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary. Our focus will be on writing and understanding Biographies, explanation text and narrative. The children will have weekly spellings in their Homework Books that are linked to our knowledge-rich curriculum topics and the Statutory Year 5/6 words.
Maths
In Maths we will be working through White Rose Maths. We will be focussing on place value followed by addition and subtraction up to (10,000,000) then multiplication and division up to four digits long. The children will also complete work on fractions, geometry, decimals and percentages. The children will be set challenges through TT Rock stars and Prodigy. Homework will consolidate their learning in class.
Science
In Science we will be studying the Human Body looking at how we grow and how different organs work. There will be a focus on the circulatory system.
History / Geography
The children will be studying Baghdad, 900 C.E. in History. This world History topic will cover the rise of Islam, look at the location of Baghdad as a crossing point for traders, the importance of the river Tigris as well as consider Islamic art. It will allow children to build on concepts of power, religion, civilisation, and conflict. This unit will be followed by a study on The French Revolution.
Children will be learning about ‘Spatial Sense’ in Geography. The aim of this unit is to teach geographical language as well as skills such as locating places using coordinates and identifying elevation on relief maps. After half term, Geography will move on to the geography of North America.
Art/DT
In Art we are studying the Renaissance period, looking at Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists and architects. We will study some of the techniques that they used.
RE
In R.E. we will look at connections between the story of Moses and the concepts of freedom and salvation. We will make clear connections between the Bible texts studied and what Christians believe about being the People of God and how they should behave.
PHSE
Children will build on their prior knowledge of Rights and Responsibilities. They will understand and be able to describe some of the basic rights of children and adults. They will consider how ground rules can prevent problems in school, recognise their right to feel respected and their responsibility to show respect to all whether they are on or offline.
PE
With Mrs Ayres on Tuesday’s, children are working on team building activities and team games. Children will practise good sportsmanship, communication skills and teamwork.
With Premier Sport on Wednesday’s, children are working with KICK to develop their Tag Rugby skills.
Computing
In Computing the children are learning about computer systems, how computers work and how different devices connect together to make a network.
MFL
This term the children will be learning French, focussing on their hobbies and pastimes.
Music
In our Music lessons, we will consider different musical genres and directly compare two pieces of modern music. This half term we will listen and practise Pharrell Williams’, Happy and consider what made it so popular. We will compare this to The Carpenters’, Rainy Days and Mondays. We will then consider how these pieces of music make us react and feel and why this is. We will also practise close listening skills to distinguish different instruments and practise the pulse using different percussion instruments. In addition, we will introduce a wide variety of classical music from different eras when children arrive in the mornings.
