Curriculum Letter – Year 5 Spring term

Curriculum Letter Year 5

Year 5 Spring term
Welcome back to Spring Term!
We hope that you all had a restful Christmas break. We had so many fantastic experiences in Autumn Term of Year 5:
  • Developing our cycling skills during Bikeability
  • Learning more about our Stone Age ancestors at Kents Cavern
  • Five informative sessions delivered by PC Matt about road safety, anti-social behaviour, online safety and how to be a good citizen.

To keep you up to date with what your child is learning, we have again provided an overview of our exciting curriculum. We can’t wait to begin yet another exciting term with you all!

Music— North America instrumental
This term in music, we will be exploring minimalism and the music of composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Children will learn to identify music features such as interlocking patterns and layered textures. They will learn to sing and play the piece ‘Interlocking patterns’ as they apply their skills reading staff notation and playing tuned percussion.
Key Vocabulary: harmony, interlocking phrase, layered textures, minimalist music, ostinato
History—Mayflower
This term in history, we will be learning about the Mayflower and why 102 people decided to leave Britain in 1620. We will dive into the Stuart Period to learn about religion, poverty and many other reasons that the Pilgrims decided to leave Britain. We will empathise with people living at this time and draw our own conclusions about why so many left.
Key Vocabulary: Stuarts, Pilgrims, religious persecution, poverty, Mayflower, tyranny, slavery
D&T—Gears and Pulleys
This term in D&T, we will be exploring the fascinating world of design and engineering by learning how to creating either a prosthetic hand, a carousel or a car. This project introduces them to the concept of mechanisms—the moving parts that work together to help their design function. Through this hands-on activity, we will discover how gears, levers and pulleys can mimic the movements of the real versions of these designs.
Key Vocabulary: Gears, pulleys, levers, joints, mechanism, prosthetic
Art – Typography
This term in Art, we will be exploring how we can use drawing and graphics skills to create typography. We will then be using our typography skills to create maps that express our unique identities in a visually exciting way. We will be looking at the work of artists such as Grayson Perry and Louise Fili and seeing how their work can inspire our own.
Key Vocabulary: Typography, lettering, graphics, design, pictorial maps, symbols
Geography— Comparing Bideford and Manteo
This term in Geography, we will be exploring and comparing two interesting locations: Bideford in North Devon, England, and Manteo in North Carolina, USA. Through this study, we will learn about the geographical features of both places, such as their coastal environments, rivers, and nearby natural landmarks. We will look at how the climate and weather in each area shape the way people live and work. By comparing how the local communities have developed over time, we will better understand the similarities and differences between these two regions. This topic will help us improve our map skills, learn about the connections between human and physical geography, and see how places in different parts of the world can be alike in many ways.
Key Vocabulary: Coastal, rivers, landmarks, climate and weather, map skills, human geography and physical geography
PE
This term in PE, we will be covering the following sports:
  • Gymnastics to build on skills in core strength, flexibility and balance learnt in autumn term. We will refine our cartwheel and handstand techniques.
  • Handball to develop sportsmanship qualities through competitive simulated game play.
  • Functional fitness to understand the importance of stamina for all physical activity.
  • Tennis with an external coach who will support us to develop our racquet skills.
RE— Muslim in Britain today
This term in RE, we will learn about Muslim beliefs about God, the Prophet and the Holy Qur’an. They will find out about Muslim sources of authority and how they guide daily living for believers. Pupils will learn about ibadah and links to the Five Pillars, festivals, and places of worship. We will learn about submission, obedience, generosity, self-control and worship; making clear links to how these are lived out in the lives of Muslims today.
Key Vocabulary: Muslim, Prophet, Qur’an, ibadah, Five Pillars, festivals, worship.
Science—Forces
This term, we will explore the topic of forces as part of their science education. They will learn about different types of forces, such as gravity, friction, and magnetic forces. Pupils will investigate how forces can make objects move, stop, or change direction, and how they affect the speed and shape of objects. They will also study the effects of air resistance and water resistance and how these forces work in real-world situations, like cycling or swimming. Practical investigations, such as measuring the force of push and pull, will help pupils understand how forces interact with materials and affect motion. Through experiments and observations, students will develop a deeper understanding of the physical world around them.
Key Vocabulary: Gravity, friction, air resistance, force, push, pull.
Computing
Children will continue to work towards becoming ICT literate by learning the following skills:
  • Use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly.
  • Recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour online.
  • Identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.
Key Vocabulary: safety, respect, behaviour, online conduct
Homework
Please continue to support your child with their homework. Your child will be set a variety of spellings, maths questions and reading questions to complete each week outside of school. New homework will be released each Friday and is due the following Friday

To encourage a love of reading, we ask that your child reads at home every day. This could be done in many ways: sharing a book together, listening to your child, reading to your child, promoting an e-book or audio book with your child or a book from your home collection.

We keep a record of changing books in class which supports school staff to monitor reading at home.