Twitter: @NewhallJuniors

Welcome to Year 5!

Welcome to Year 5 at Newhall Junior School.  We are delighted to see all of the children back in school and eager to learn. We look forward to working with them and helping them to have a successful year.

The Year 5 team is made up of Mrs Insley (5I), Mr Briggs (5B), Miss Simons (5S) we are supported in class by Mrs Brown and Miss Clarke. We are always happy to hear from parents about their child's learning and we are always here to help.

Spring 2

This term we will be learning about the The Alpine Region in Geography; Types of Change in Science; Animation in Computing; Healthy Me in PHSE and Easter in RE. In our PE sessions the pupils will be Swimming and focusing on netball.  During Maths we will be covering fractions and decimals and percentages; statistics; area and perimeter.  In writing we will be continuing with The Write Stuff approach and we will be completing non-fiction writing on Sir David Attenborough.  We also have lots of enrichment activities planned: world book day, cooking, bikeability and science week.

Spring 1 - Curriculum

This term we will be learning about the Vikings in History; Separating Mixtures in Science; Coding in Computing; Dreams and Goals in PHSE and Are Sikh stories important today? in RE. In our PE sessions, the pupils will be Swimming and taking part in dance. During Maths, we will be covering multiplication and division; fractions and decimals and percentages. In writing we will be continuing with The Write Stuff approach and we will be completing poetry, a fantasy story and a letter. This term we will be learning about the Vikings in History; Separating Mixtures in Science; Coding in Computing; Dreams and Goals in PHSE and Are Sikh stories important today? in RE. In our PE sessions, the pupils will be Swimming and taking part in Dance. During Maths, we will be covering multiplication and division; fractions and decimals and percentages. In writing we will be continuing with The Write Stuff approach and we will be completing a story based on Morris Lessmore's Flying books and another on The Nowhere Emporium.

Swimming will continue on a Tuesday for 5S & 5I and on a Friday for 5B.

Autumn 2 Curriculum

This term we will be learning about the UK and our locality in Geography; Earth and Space in Science; Word Processing in Computing; Celebrating difference in PHSE and Is the Christmas story real? in RE. In our PE sessions the pupils will be Swimming and taking part in Gymnastics.  During Maths, we will be covering multiplication, division and fractions.  In writing we will be writing a non-chronological report on the planets and we will also be writing our own versions of the Christmas classic The Snowman.  We will also be having a visit from author Darren Simpson in week two so will be exploring his book Memory Thieves.

Autumn Curriculum

This term we will be learning about Anglo-Saxons in History; Life Cycles in Science; E-Safety in Computing; Being me in my world in PHSE and How far would a Sikh go for his or her religion? in RE. In our PE sessions the pupils will be swimming and taking part in Outdoor and adventurous activity.  During Maths we will be covering place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division and fractions.  We will be writing speeches and narratives in writing and our first class book will be The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf.

Autumn 1 - Week 6

History this week has allowed us to explore the idea of primary and secondary sources.  We looked at different information about the Anglo-Saxon period and explored what they taught us about Anglo-Saxon times.  Science has been really interesting in this week as we learnt all about the different stages of human development and how humans change over time.  In art we have continued our mixed media portraits and have used paper layering to complete our backgrounds.  We have planned our own narratives based on the video The Present and have chosen our own unique pets and built a story around this.  We are all excited to write our stories next week.

Autumn 1 - Week 5

This week has been Space Week across school and we have dedicated lots of time to learning about space.  We have explored the importance of robotics and how machines can be used to complete activities that might be too small or fiddly for astronauts in space suits.  We applied this learning to making a bionic hand.  We also investigated UV light to see if we could decide what the best material would be for an astronauts visor.  Our final investigation was looking at heat shields for re-entry pods.  We tested different materials to see which protect the space craft from burning up on entry into the atmosphere. We also created space themed art depicting the planets using chalk and mixed media.  In reading we have explored the life of Tim Peake and his mission to the International Space Station.  This week has been a great introduction to space ready for us to study it as our science topic next term.

Autumn 1 - Week 4

This week we have started a new writing unit called The Present all about a boy and his pet.  The video explores disabilities in both humans and animals which has led to really insightful discussions amongst pupils.  In history, we have been looking at the Staffordshire Hoard which is one of the most significant historical finds to ever be made.  The children enjoyed looking at the different treasures that were uncovered and thinking about what they told us about the Anglo-Saxon period.  We have been studying addition and subtraction in maths with a focus on applying our knowledge to problems with different steps.  We have also been using the inverse to check our answers.  In art we have been working on a self-portrait where we have used a single line to create our faces.  We have then added words to our portraits to create a mixed media self-portrait.   Check out the photos below.

Butterfly Hatching

The caterpillars are in various stages across the classes and in 5I they hatched at the beginning of the week and have been letting their wings dry.  Whereas in 5B & 5S the caterpillars have just started forming their chrysalises so the children will be watching out for their butterflies hatching.

Autumn 1 - Week 3

This week we have been completing our first independent write and the children have worked super hard on their battle speeches.  We have also been learning about privacy settings in our computing lessons and how we can use them to keep ourselves safe.  In history, we have been studying the Sutton Hoo discovery that uncovered a large Anglo-Saxon burial site.  We looked at the artefacts that were uncovered and what they could teach us about the Anglo-Saxon period.  Our maths learning this week has focused on comparing and ordering numbers where we have been consolidating our understanding of greater than, less than or equal to.

Butterfly Hatching

The caterpillars have all shed their skin and spun their chrysalises.  They kept wriggling lots when we moved them to their butterfly habitat.  We have been checking on them every day to see if they have hatched.

Autumn 1 - Week 2 

This week we were very fortunate to have a visit from Historic Workshops who delivered a day filled with learning about Anglo-Saxons.  It was lots of fun for everyone we tried our hand at battle tactics, artefact exploration and the Witan.  We have also been taking a look at more animal life cycles and exploring the differences and similarities between them.  In maths we have continued our place value learning and have been using number lines and partitioning numbers.  We have also begun learning about Sikhism and how Sikhs show commitment to their faith.

Butterfly Hatching

The caterpillars have grown so much over this week and have been weaving threads to keep them safe when they are sleeping.  They have eaten so much of the food too and we can see it in little balls in the pot after it has been pooed out.

Autumn 1 - Week 1 

We have had a wonderful start to the term and we have jumped straight into learning.  In maths, we have been learning about numbers to 1,000,000 and their place value.  We have also started our work on battle speeches in our first writing unit and the children have shown a great understanding of vocabulary.  In science, we started have started investigating life cycles and our butterflies have arrived too.  We have studied Anglo-Saxon timelines and are really excited about our history workshop visit next week.

Butterfly Hatching

Our caterpillars have arrived ready for us to study them as they go through their life cycle.  We are going to watch their metamorphosis.