Solar – Mrs F Khatun / Mrs S Ayres

Solar Summer Term

Welcome to Year 5 Solar Class.

We continue our Year 5 Maths journey by following the White Rose Maths curriculum. This term we will begin by building upon our understanding of geometry focussing on shape, position and direction. We will continue to work on decimals and negative numbers as well as converting units and looking at volume.

As we move into the Summer term, we are now building upon our learning through our Talk for Writing English project. We will continue to work on our understanding of narrative, building our own story writing toolkits, story mapping texts, orally rehearsing stories and writing our own narratives based on a range of genres. We will also begin to write a variety of non-fiction texts, using the Talk for Writing model that we have been practising and rehearsing.

Children will learn about ‘Earth and Space’, In this project, your child will learn the names of the planets in the Solar System before creating a model outdoors to describe its scale, movement and features. They will learn how scientists throughout history used different methods to study the Solar System and came to understand how the planets orbited the Sun. They will make a model and use it to explain the orbits of the Moon around the Earth and the Earth around the Sun. They will identify the spherical shape of the Sun, Earth and Moon. They will learn how people in ancient civilisations believed the Earth was flat and how evidence proved the Earth was a sphere. They will know that the Earth's rotation creates a range of phenomena, including day and night and the appearance of the Sun rising above the horizon in the east at sunrise, moving across the sky and then setting below the horizon in the west at sunset, and use equipment to model these phenomena. They will make and use sundials to learn how people in the past used the Earth's rotation, the angle of the sunlight, and the length and direction of shadows to tell the time. They will learn that the Earth's tilt and rotation as it orbits the Sun creates different seasons and day lengths in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and the effect of similar amounts of direct sunlight all year round in the tropics. They will learn about the Moon's orbit and name and explain the eight phases of the Moon. They will research how solar and lunar eclipses occur and create labelled diagrams to show their findings. Children will complete their learning by conducting an in-depth study

This term, our main thematic focus is 'Ground breaking Greeks.' Your child will learn about different periods of Greek history, exploring the earliest civilisations, the devastation of the Dark Age and the breakthroughs and developments of the Archaic and Classical periods. They will understand how the geography of Greece affected the development of city states and explore Athens, learning about the structure of the government and society. They will get to know some of the most significant Athenians and understand why Greek art, culture, architecture, philosophy, medicine and mathematics were so significant. Your child will learn about the leadership of Alexander the Great and discover how ancient Greece became part of the Roman Empire after the Hellenistic period. They will explore how the Romans respected and developed Greek ideas, making them their own and spreading them throughout the Roman Empire. To end the project, your child will decide which was the ancient Greeks' greatest idea, and explore how the legacy of ancient Greece affects their lives today.

In art, the children hone their skills in 'Mixed Media.' This project is linked to Ground breaking Greeks. This project teaches children about paper crafts, papermaking and collage techniques, including paper, fabric, mixed media and photo collage. They use their learning to create a final piece of small-scale, mixed media collage.

In design and Technology, children will explore 'Architecture.' This project teaches children about how architectural style and technology has developed over time and then use this knowledge to design a building with specific features.

Our PE focus this term is 'Striking and Fielding' and 'Athletics.' The children will be taught a range of skills such as coordination, developing the skills to pass and field a ball and return it accurately. They will use these skills in a number of different ball games. Children will also learn about various athletic skills including running, jumping and throwing.

R.E is taught for one hour a week and over the summer term and we will be learning about two different religions. In the first half term we will be looking at the religion of Christianity where we will focus on 'People of God.' We will explore on how following the word of God can bring freedom and justice. In the second half term we be looking at the religion of Islam where the main focus will be 'Revelation.' We will explore the Quran and what it reveals about Allah and his guidance.

In Music, children will have the opportunity to extend their musical knowledge through a mixture of 'Music Technology' and 'Percussion' lessons. In Music Technology, the children will create their own spooky sounding loop and then record a short story over the top. In percussion lessons, they will learn how to hold the instrument, strum and pluck. This will allow them to demonstrate how to identify pulse in simple and compound rhythms, compose and improvise freely using syncopation and cross rhythms, also incorporating the use of ICT and build confidence in performing/composing rhythms from different cultures and traditions. Children will participate in at least one performance to showcase their achievements.

Useful information

Our class PE days are with Mr McGregor on Wednesdays and Mrs Khatun on Fridays. Please ensure your child wears their named, correct school PE kit on these days, that earrings are not worn and long hair is tied up.
The children have access to their water bottles in the classroom during the day. Please ensure that your child has a named water bottle in school which is taken home regularly to be washed.
Your child is welcome to bring in a snack of fruit or vegetables each day.
Reading books is your child's responsibility and they will be responsible for changing their own book. Please ensure they record the date and title of the book that they have chosen in their reading record.

Weekly Home Learning (Approximately 45 minutes a day)

Each week your child will be set:

Daily reading
Daily Times Tables Rockstars
Spelling practice
Regular Lexia practice
Pick and Mix Grid

Spellings and Phonics: It is expected that in Year 5, all the Year 3/4 words and Year 5/6 list of spellings are known. Please practise these and use these words in your writing. Remember to use some of our Spelling strategies!

Times Tables: This is still vitally important!! Most of the Year 5/6 Maths curriculum links to pupil knowledge of timestables so it is extremely important to keep those skills sharp! Keep practising - with TTRS!

Lexia: Lexia is proven to help children make accelerated progress when reading, writing and speaking. Regular access of this will help children make good progress with their spelling and reading comprehension skills!

Pick and Mix Grid: These grids allow pupils to choose a few activities which particularly interest them and spend the term working on them before bringing them in to share with the class.