Curriculum News Spring Term Y5
Topic: Calon Lân
This term Year 5 will be undertaking work on a topic based around the theme of Calon Lân. During the topic the children will have the opportunity to celebrate Wales and the Welsh culture. The theme will clearly have a strong Geography focus yet will allow many opportunities to explore all other curriculum areas within our work.
LITERACY
Some work will be based on the class topic, however, other areas covered will include:-
Fiction – We will continue to look at stories by a significant authors as well as Myths and Legends.
Non-Fiction – The majority of the literacy work will be non-fiction based. We will be writing non-chronological reports, procedure and explanation texts.
Spellings – Weekly spelling lists will be sent out and the children will be reinforcing key words and correcting spelling mistakes in their written work. The spellings will be sent out on a Thursday for a spelling test on the following Wednesday.
Handwriting – We will be continuing to develop our handwriting and presentation skills through daily lessons which focus on letter formation, joins and pattern including spelling patterns.
How can you help? Please continue to encourage your child to talk about what they are learning in class and look for examples of the different genres. The children can use the skills that they have learnt in school and write their very own explanation texts or non-chronological reports. The Big Write homework will continue to be set on a Thursday please discuss this with your child in order to help them with their class work. Please remember this is talking homework to give your child inspiration to use in the written work in class.
MATHS
As in the previous term, number work will continue to be taught in sets. The Year 5 set will be taught by Mr Jones. During daily mathematics sessions work will focus on the four operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division as well as fractions, decimals, place value and the properties of number. In addition, children will continue to learn their multiplication tables and there will be a focus on investigational/problem-solving mathematics. We will be looking at co-ordinates, position and direction, again linking to our topic by using maps. We will also be learning about distance and time. These links to our topic will make the mathematics ‘real’ and ‘relevant’ for the pupils. Work in Shape, Data and Measure lessons will focus on line graphs, rotation and measurement including area and perimeter.
How can you help? Times tables are essential to most aspects of Mathematics and it is vital that the children have good knowledge of them to apply them to the different aspects of Mathematics and can recall the facts rapidly. Play some maths games with your child to encourage their mental arithmetic skills. Encourage them to look at distances when travelling in the car e.g. How far away is Cardiff/Newport/Bristol/London?
SCIENCE
Interdependence of Organisms – This term the children will be developing their skills, knowledge and understanding by investigating how animals and plants are independent yet rely on each other for survival.
Scientific Enquiry – The children will be carrying out investigations into the environmental factors that affect what grows and lives in two environments.
We will be carrying out fieldwork to compare the plants and animals in two contrasting local environments by visiting Dunraven Woods and the beach at Southerndown.
How can you help?
Talk to your child about the work they are completing in class. Talk about the different plants that grow in the garden and how some plants are better adapted for wetter climates and seasons of the year. You could look at the types of plants and animals that live in the jungle or the rainforest through researching these areas on the internet.
GEOGRAPHY
Through the topic Calon Lân the children will be studying Wales. They will be developing their geography skills, knowledge and understanding through learning about places, the environment and issues related to Wales. We will be investigating the human and physical features of Wales and considering patterns related to where people live in Wales.
How can you help?
Look at a variety of maps and atlases and discuss how to read maps and use keys.
RE
Christian Life and Values – The children will be learning how moral values are connected with each other and with God. They will be continuing to understand that God accepts us for what we are and how important love and forgiveness is in our daily lives. We will be reflecting on how our lives are journeys where we might find challenges and temptations.
Jesus and the Bible – During the second half of the term we will be studying the trial of Christ and how this is detailed in the gospels. As part of this work I am hoping to arrange a visit to a local magistrate’s court to compare the trail of Christ with our present day legal system. I think you will agree that this will be a very interesting and enlightening experience. From the studying of the Gospels we will then look at the events of Holy week and how the last supper is connected with Holy Communion.
ART
The focus of our Art work this term is Landscapes in particular the work by the Welsh artist Sir Kyffin Williams. We will be investigating different art techniques to create our own landscape pictures of the local area to link in with the topic of Calon Lân. The children will also have the opportunity to explore environmental art during one of our two visits to the Heritage Coast Centre at Southerdown.
How can you help?
Look together at different pictures of landscapes and talk about the different techniques arts have used to create these pictures. If you are out and about exploring the Welsh scenery please take photographs of the landscape so we can use these to recreate pictures using a variety of art techniques.
DT
As part of the topic work, during the second half of the term the children will be looking at Welsh food. They will learn about the importance of a balanced diet and which foods contribute to this. The children will be researching typical Welsh foods including local produce. The designing and making aspects of the subject will involve the children designing and making a typically Welsh dish. They will then consider how to package this product.
How can you help?
Talk about food groups and nutritional needs when you are preparing meals together. This is a great excuse for you to ask the children to help you in the kitchen preparing food so they can learn about food hygiene and especially WASHING UP!
ICT
During ICT skills lessons the pupils will be continuing to develop their knowledge of Spreadsheets by creating spreadsheets which include functions such as sum and average. We will be continuing to encourage the children to use their Epals accounts to email each other as well as to develop their word processing skills. The pupils will also be learning about Graphic Modelling and how computers can be used to imitate life. They will be using ICT based models and simulations to explore patterns and relationships, predicting how changing one variable affects another.
How can you help?
Please continue to encourage your child to consolidate the skills they have learnt in school at home particularly by using Epals.
PE
Our P.E. days are Wednesdays and Fridays. Our Wednesday sessions for the first half of the term will be Welsh Folk Dancing linked to the topic of Calon Lân. During the second half of the term the children will be taught gymnastics which will continue to develop the children’s balance and coordination through the P.E and School Sports (P.E.S.S) body schooling actions. On a Friday the children will be taught ball and games skills by Coach Chris. It is extremely important that every pupil takes part in as much PE as possible. It is therefore essential that they have the correct kit with them. Due to our changeable weather, pupils will need to ensure they have kit that can be used indoors on a Wednesday and outdoors or indoors on a Friday.
MUSIC
The children will be continuing to explore rounds and pitch to create a class performance. We will also be learning about sound textures and how to use different sounds to create different effects.
WELSH
The Welsh topics this term are Bwyd (Food) and Canu yn y Côr (sining in the choir). The children will be taught Welsh on a Friday afternoon by Mrs Davies. They will learn topic specific vocabulary as well as how to ask and respond to questions about food and music using familiar sentence patterns and expressing opinions.
How can you help? Ask your child what they have been learning in Welsh and maybe they could teach you a few phrases!
GENERAL INFORMATION
Homework Diary - Pupils will use this diary for their homework. It is also there for you to use as a way of contact with myself and will therefore need to be in school every day! If you write in the diary PLEASE remind your child that they will need to get it out of their bag and give it to me!
Homework - This will be sent home on a THURSDAY and pupils will, in the majority of cases, have a week to complete this work. Pupils are expected to bring their homework in ON the due date!
Spellings - Pupils will have their spelling lesson and test on a Wednesday. Spellings will be sent home on a Thursday for the following week. Spellings and homework will be posted on the school website on a Thursday. (www.stbridesprimary.org.uk)
Home Readers - Please check the inside cover of your child’s Reading Record for the day your child’s book will need to be returned to school. We will endeavour to send a new book home on the same day, so as to ensure that your child always has a book to read. Pupils who fail to return their books on the correct day may not have a reading book to take home until the following week!
I think you will agree that this is going to be yet another busy term. I am especially looking forward to sampling the Welsh themed food for our Design Technology work! Please remember my door is always open and feel free to come and discuss your child’s progress.
Miss M Hoggarth