Year Five
Welcome to Buzzard & Magpie
Class 2023 - 24
Welcome to our Year 5 class page. We will updating our class stories every week to share with you the engaging work we are completing in year five.
This year, our staff consist of:
Magpie Class - Mrs Ward, Mrs Wilkinson (1:1),
Buzzard Class - Miss Randell, Mrs McBride (who will work across both Y5 classes)
We will also have the following teachers working with us over the year:
Music Specialist- Mrs Heap (autumn 2, spring 2, summer 2)
PE Specialist- Mr Williams (autumn 1, spring 1, summer 1)
Useful Class Information
Drop off and pick-up
The school gates will open at 8.45am for registration at 8.55am. We expect for children to be in the classroom, ready for learning by 8.55am. Pick-up time is 3.15pm. If you would like your child to walk home independently, please pick up a form from the office which allows you to give permission for this to happen.
P.E
P.E will be taught this half-term by class teachers which will be on Tuesday afternoons (the first week back, it will be on Thursday morning). Please ensure that children come to school dressed in their PE kit. We will aim to be outside, weather dependent, so please make sure that your child is suitable dressed.
Reading
Oxford Reading Buddy
We are delighted to tell you that our school uses Oxford Reading Buddy. This is a digital reading service to support children’s reading development at home and at school. It contains hundreds of digital books and book-quizzes all matched to each child’s reading ability. Please log in to Oxford Reading Buddy. Your child has their password in the back of their home-school learning journal. If you don’t have a tablet or PC at home the service works on smartphone as well. For more information go to this address and choose Parent Support: https://support.oxfordreadingbuddy.com/
Your child will also be given a physical copy of a book. This can be looked through when completing their quiz.
In year 5, children should be reading at home five times over a week. We also read every day in school between 8.45-9.05am. This is where children are able to read their book, complete a quiz and change their book once they’ve completed it.
Teachers keep track of individual scores and move on and/or support where necessary. When children complete a quiz, it gives teachers an analysis in how pupils have performed in certain areas such as finding information, making connections and using inference or understanding vocabulary. Teachers can then support appropriately.
The scheme goes up to level 20 which is aimed at Y6 greater depth readers.
Homework
Spellings and homework will be set on Fridays and will be due in the following Thursday. It is important that pupils complete their weekly tasks along with reading and practising their spellings on a daily basis.
Water bottles/snacks
Children are encouraged to drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep well hydrated. We ask that each child brings to school a named water bottle and a healthy snack (fruit or veg) each day to school (Fridays are for a small treat). Please remember that we are a nut-free school.
Communication
If you need to communicate anything to staff, please contact us (through email or telephone) via the school office. Alternatively, you may be able to speak with a member of the team during pick-up time.
Best wishes,
The Year 5 Team
Summer Second Half-Term
This half-term, our unit of work will be on 'Amazing Animals' will be be looking at animals, living things and their habitats.
We will be having a special visit by Animals 2U South-West to help launch this new unit of work.
Communication, Language and Literacy
In CLL, we will be using two books: 'Invented by Animals' by Christiane Dorion and 'Actual Size' by Steve Jenkins. Using these books, we will be looking at how amazing animals truly are and what we can learn from them. We will use our prediction, inference and research skills, along with our presentational skills, to study different species and to teach others about them.
During our unit, we will focus on non-chronological features. For our create piece, we will be writing and publishing a non-chronological report on a species of our choice. Some will be shared with Marie Pulman (from Animals 2U South-West).
Maths
The key areas being taught over this half-term will include:
- Position and Direction
- Negative Numbers
- Decimals
- Converting units
PSHE -
Jigsaw
This half-term, children will study the unit, 'Changing Me'. In this unit, pupils will revisit self-esteem and self-image/body image. They will learn about changes that will take place. Pupils will learn about life cycles in humans and some other animal species.
Faiths and Beliefs
For this unit, we will be encouraged to make clear connections between Gospel texts, Jesus’ ‘good news’ and how Christians live in the Christian community and in their individual lives. Pupils will explore these three main questions:
- What does the word 'Gospel' mean?
- Why is the Bible considered to be the sacred scripture of Christianity?
- Why and how do Christians use Gospels?