Welcome Back
Welcome back to Summer Term! We hope that you all had a restful Easter break. We had so many fantastic experiences in Spring Term of Year 5: Exciting film night for our fundraising, Taiko Drum Workshop, and as geographers we created maps of Bideford as part of our geography fieldwork. 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 — Looping and Remixing
This term, pupils will be exploring the exciting topic of looping and remixing in music. Throughout this unit, children will develop their rhythmic skills by performing looped body percussion patterns, keeping in time with their group and building confidence in ensemble performance. They will learn how loops can be layered to create a complete piece of music, ensuring that different musical elements work effectively together.
- Key Vocabulary: accuracy, backbeat, body percussion, loop, looped rhythm, fragment, layers, melody, remix
History — Ancient Greece
This term in history, we will be learning about Ancient Greece. Children will gain an overview of Ancient Greek civilisation, studying features such as geography and religion. Children will consider the extent of which Ancient Greeks were united and their influence on the western world.
- Key Vocabulary: AD/BC, archaeology, artefact, democracy, conflict, cooperation, modern and ancient
D&T — CAD
Children will learn how to write simple code using block-based programming, control outputs such as LEDs and sounds, and use inputs like buttons and sensors to interact with their programs. This hands-on experience supports their understanding of algorithms, sequences, and variables while encouraging creativity and problem-solving. Additionally, working with micro:bits fosters collaboration and resilience, as pupils test and refine their ideas. These activities not only build their confidence in computing but also connect to wider subjects like science and maths.
- Key Vocabulary: Coding, programming, algorithms, sequences
Art — Fashion Design
In this project, children are introduced to contemporary fashion designers and use sketchbooks to record things about the designers which interest them. Pupils are then given a design brief and invited to make their own designs, again working in sketchbooks to explore and test, before making decorate papers through which they can bring their designs to life in 2d or 3d.
- Key Vocabulary: Fashion, design, contemporary, historical, texture, wearable
- Artists: Alice Fox, Rahul Mishra, Pyer Moss, Hormazd Narielwalla
Geography — Comparing Bideford and Manteo
This term in Geography, we will be continuing to explore and compare 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:
- Dance — Children will develop a sense of movement and rhythm through hip hop
- Cycling — Children will develop skills learned in Bikeability including speed, stamina and control
- Tennis — with an external coach who will support us to develop our racquet skills
- Cricket — Children will understand rules of the game whilst developing their batting, bowling and fielding skills
RE — Humanists and Christians
This term in RE, we will answer the question 'What matters most to Humanists and Christians?' Our learning will concentrate on the values and ways of living of Christians and Humanists, making positive comparisons while identifying definitive differences between these visions of how to live. Children will build on previous learning that some people are non-religious and they will understand teachings about the viewpoints of 'good' and 'bad'.
- Key Vocabulary: Humanist, Christian, non-religious, religious, good and bad
Science — Earth and Space
This term, we will delve into the topic of Earth and Space! We will build on our knowledge of forces to describe the movement of Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun and the solar system. Pupils will be able to describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as spherical bodies and use the idea of the Earth's rotation to explain day and night. We will explore features of the moon's surface in a practical experiment about the size of craters and make gravity defying space capsules for an adventurous 'eggstronaught'! In addition to this, we will have a visit from the Science dome to bring our learning of space to life!
- Key Vocabulary: Earth, Sun, Moon, spherical, solar system, rotates, star, orbit, planets
Computing
Children will learn the following skills:
- Recognise different solutions may exist for the same problems
- Use two-way selection in programs/algorithms — if..., then...
- Recognise variables and what they do
- Create programs including 'repeat until' loops
- Create and use simple variables, e.g. keeping score
- Evaluate program and make improvements to code/design
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.