Geraldton (Year 5)
Term 1
Early Morning Work
For the first half-an-hour of the day, Year Five focus on developing key skills in English and maths. The children work through a daily maths task to improve their mental agility and to consolidate and recap key maths skills that they have learnt. They will also have a handwriting task, which usually has a spelling, grammar or punctuation focus. In addition, this is also when we listen to the children read. Every child will be heard once every other week, which may also include reading comprehension tasks. On Fridays, the children will be tested on their times tables.
English
English is taught every morning from Monday to Thursday with the aim of developing reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. English units are usually taught over a two-week period. Where possible, these units will link in a cross-curricular way with the class topic. During term 1, Geraldton Class will cover the following genres:
- Grammarsaurus (two-week unit)
- Mill-on-the-Brue: Persuasive Leaflet (two-week unit)
- Varjak Paw: Narrative - Suspense and Tension (two-week unit)
- Grammarsaurus (one-week unit)
Maths
Maths is taught daily in the mornings Monday to Thursday. Maths units vary in length and are split into weekly blocks. The children build on their previous knowledge to extend their understanding in the different aspects of mathematics. They also have the opportunity to apply their knowledge when solving mathematical problems and puzzles. Geraldton class will cover the following units in term one:
- Place Value
- Addition and Subtraction
- Multiplication and Division
Science
Science is taught once a week, through both practical and theoretical activities. The children will develop their skills as a scientist through investigations, practising their predicting and concluding skills and gaining an understanding of controlling variables. The science topic for the following two terms are related to the properties of materials and how they change. The children will be learning the following in terms one and two:
- To reason about the properties and uses of different materials
- To record data and results using scientific diagrams and labels
- To understand and use key scientific vocabulary
- To understand the different states of matter
- To plan and carry out experiments with different materials
- To understand reversible and irreversible reactions
- To investigate conductors of electricity
- To plan investigations about evaporation and condensation
Music
Geraldton class will take part in voice tuition this term. Our voice coach, Caroline Radcliff, will teach the children a wide variety of songs. They will learn how to control their voice, how to pitch their voice appropriately and to sing as part of a group, including singing in different parts. They will also be developing their performance skills by taking on different roles during the sessions. In addition, they will also be having Music Enrichment on a Wednesday afternoon this term.
PSHE
The theme for our PSHE topic this term is relationships. Over the course of the term, the children will improve their understanding of how to take responsibility for their own and others’ learning. They will help develop the learning environment in their classroom. In addition, they will learn how to develop healthy relationships with others, how to respect equality and diversity in a community and understand how to respond to uncomfortable situations within relationships.
Religion and Worldviews
Religion and Worldviews will be taught once a week on a Friday. The theme for this term is creation and we will be using this theme to ask philosophical questions and develop the individual thoughts of the children as to how they believe the world was made. We will be thinking about creation and science and developing the ideas of the children in relation to whether these two things are complementary or contradictory. In addition to this, we will be thinking about the different ways that Christians worship God and how they do this in their daily lives.
History: Groundbreaking Greeks
During terms one and two, the children will be focussing on the history of Ancient Greece. Our key question for the unit is ‘what impact has Ancient Greece had on our ideas today?’ They will be learning to:
- Draw a timeline which shows different historical periods and key events
- Compare historical periods, explaining some of the things that have changed and stayed the same
- Construct questions about the period
- Think about the reliability and validity of the sources of evidence used
- Understand the difference between primary and secondary sources
- Compare and contrast the ideas and formation of the city states Athens and Sparta
PE
PE is always taught twice a week. In this term, PE is taught on a Monday afternoon and a Friday afternoon. On Monday, the children will be exploring dance through their PE lessons. This will allow them to develop their rhythm, timing and explore the different movements that their bodies can make to music. They will think about performance, levels and travelling in order to make their own dances effective whilst also thinking about how they can use dance to create a story as a group. On a Friday afternoon, the children will be having Tri-Golf sessions. In Tri-Golf, the children will be developing their hand-eye coordination, balance, and concentration as well as focusing on how to hold the golf club, the stance that they need and the technique to swing the club and aim for a specific area.
Art
This term, we will be having Art lessons once a week and we will be exploring the artist Joseph Cornell. Cornell was an American artist who created many different pieces of art using everyday objects and things that he thought were curious or odd to look at. Much of his work is based on the shadow box and the children will be having a go at creating their own shadow boxes containing a variety of different things that they have both collected and made. We will be practising many different skills when creating our shadow boxes, from sketching to photography.