We have had a jam packed term in year 5 so far. 

​In literacy we started the term with fiction story writing, using a picture book 'The Wolves in the Wall' as a stimulus. The children planned their own version of the story using a different animal. We focused on ensuring that basic punctuation was accurate, using direct speech, different sentence types, apposite vocabulary and cohesive 'stepping' sentences. In reading we have been enjoying sharing a class text daily which the children have found very engaging and enjoy their daily story time. To develop their comprehension skills, we are using the Jane Considine 'Book Talk' approach which develops their reading skills through fluency practise and structured talk. 

​In maths, we have covered place value, addition and subtraction, properties of number and multiplication and division as well as continuing to practise 'basic skills' learnt in previous years, The children have explored their conceptual understanding using resources and bar modelling as well as mental and written formal methods of calculation.

​We started our Rainforest topic with a visit from Ed from Mini-monsters. The children learned lots of amazing facts about small creatures that live in the rainforests of the world. We enjoyed sharing all the facts we learnt at our first year 5 sharing assembly. Following on from this, we have been investigating the reasons for deforestation and the impact this has on the rainforest, its ecosystem, indigenous people and the wider world. We are currently working on writing a speech about saving endangered orang-utans that live in the rainforests of Asia in Borneo or Sumatra. The children enjoyed sharing their 'Rang-tan' poems, which we have been working on in our 'Arts Activity' afternoons. The children explored different poems and how they could perform them in different ways before bringing all the ideas together in a final performance.

​In science, we have travelled to outer-space using VR headsets and explored the planets in the solar system, learning about the gas giants and rocky planets. The children have developed their understanding of the Sun, Earth and Moon using a range of practical activities. In the second half of the term we are learning all about the circulatory system - again through a series of practical activities.

 We were pleased with the amount of creative autumn homework from the children who had enthusiastically explored autumn through a variety of media. We had poetry written by the children, or found and recited, collages made from autumnal 'found' objects, drawings, paintings, descriptive writing, autumn boxes and photographs. We thoroughly enjoyed the children sharing their work with us and discussing the beauty we can see in nature during autumn.