Children in Year 5 are encouraged to take an active role in their own learning and to be ‘lifelong learners’, taking their learning beyond the school walls.

Independence is highly encouraged, where children take active ownership of their next steps in learning, enabling them to be articulate about their own learning and goals to accomplish. Children thrive knowing that they are making excellent progress and have the capacity to master our curriculum over time. Our children are encouraged to further their learning at home through purposeful homework. Children are encouraged to be good role models to other students through our in-depth teaching of the PDW curriculum and develop a respect for each other’s differences as they grow and mature. Through the study of discrimination and prejudice, children are able to reflect upon wider societal values and comment on the consequences and outcomes of their own and other’s actions.

In Mathematics, through our committeemen to CanDo Maths children in Year 5 extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger numbers. Stronger connections are made between multiplication, division, fractions and percentages, and children will apply their knowledge to creative problem solving tasks in order to reach a mastery level in each area through the teaching of reasoning, fluency and problem solving skills across a range of progressively challenging concepts.

English in Year 5 involves children being able to distinguish between, and write in, formal and informal styles. They will begin to develop cohesion throughout paragraphs and ultimately their whole piece of writing, using a range of sentence structures. Children will practise using the three tiers of vocabulary to enhance their understanding and written text and will continue to explore prefixes, suffixes and homophones. New punctuation will be introduced that can be applied through writing character descriptions, descriptive writing, narratives, balanced arguments, persuasive arguments, explanation texts, non-chronological reports, biographies, essays, recounts (diary, newspaper article) and a variety of poetry (Kennings, Narrative, Free-verse and Shape, Dub).

When reading, children develop their familiarity with a range of different text types. Children are encouraged to reflect upon their reading; would they recommend the book? How does it compare to other books that they have read? Did they predict the outcome of the book? Can they summarise a section of the book? Children continue to develop their ability to infer, using evidence to support their point, and a range of new vocabulary is explored within different contexts.

Science captures the interest of the Year 5 children through learning centred on; materials, forces, and Earth and Space. Children explore these areas through a range of exciting investigations and observations! By the end of the year, children are developing their confidence in designing, planning and conducting an experiment as well as reporting and presenting their findings, alongside developing their understanding of the different types of scientific enquiry and when to use these appropriately. Children are then able to comment on the reliability of their results, which often use more complex methods of data presentation. 

To ensure breadth of curriculum knowledge, understanding and skill, pupils in Year 5 are taught the full curriculum offer including French where they being to discuss sports and their hobbies and name animals and discuss their pets. By Year 5 their French mastery conversation is well established and children are confident to speak to each other in French, holding a basic conversation. In Music the children delve deeply into the genre of Rock (Bon Jovi; Queen), Bossa Nova and Swing (Woody Herman; Ian Gray), Old School Hip Hop (Fugees; RUN DMC) and Mowtown (Four Tops; Marvin Gaye). In Computing the children build on their skills taught in lower Key Stage Two and use their individual ipads to edit videos, create data bases and use sensing software. In Geography, linked to their personal development and well-being children learn about South America, the plight of the Orangutan, and essential trade routes.

Key Questions to drive learning and progress

• How did they put a man on the moon?
• Can a duck and a lion be friends?
• Did Tim the Ostler regret his actions?
• How can you prove that the Earth turns?
• How does Charles Keeping create vivid imagery?
• How should the Highwayman meet his end? 
• Why did the Anglo-Saxons come to Britain?
• What happened between Beowulf and Grendel?

Exciting events in Year 5

• Visit to Big Bang Fair, a science exhibition held at the NIA.
• Visit Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
• Residential trip to the Outward Bound Centre in Aberdovey, Wales.
• Visit Birmingham Hippodrome – Pantomime

Class Novels include

Clockwork by Phillip Pullman, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf, Shakespeare Stories by Leon Garfield, Holes by Louis Sachar