5IB

Class Teacher: Miss Bryant 

LSA: Miss Winter

Welcome to 5IB’s class page.

The children from 5IB have had a brilliant start to their year and are already working hard. The children show real enthusiasm for their learning and I am really looking forward to seeing our learning journey unfold this academic year.

Below is some key information that you may find useful.

Reading Books

We are currently implementing a new system for our reading books in school. At the moment, children are given time to read a book of their choosing every day. We ask that they spend some time reading at home - whether that’s in the form of a comic, magazine or a non fiction book on cars (anything that sparks their interest in reading). 

Once our new system is up and running, we will be asking that you ensure you record any reading that takes place at home with a simple comment inside your child’s Reading Record (these will be sent out soon). If the children read certain books from our reading recommendation list, they earn a sticker and 5 house points. 3 children have already read a book from the list. A good start 5IB!

Spellings

Spellings for each half term are handed out at the start of each term. Each week’s spellings need to be learnt ready for a test each Friday. Please make sure the children are practising their spellings every week. Children can practise their spellings in any way they like. Below you can see a selection of suggested techniques to help in learning spellings.

Times Tables
At the start of the year, all children in Year 5 started on their 3 times tables. It is essential the children practise their times tables regularly as they are tested 4 times a week with each test lasting 3 minutes. When the children have answered all 60 times tables questions correctly, they can then move up to the next level. We currently have 6 children on their 6 times tables! I have attached a couple of recommended websites for children to use to help with learning their times tables below.

Spring 1

English

In English, we have been focussing on developing our setting description skills and applying various figurative language techniques (such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia and hyperbole) to improve our writing. We are continuing to build on our SPaG knowledge, particularly pronouns, modal verbs and subordinate clauses. 

Maths

The children continue to build on their arithmetic skills, taking an arithmetic paper every Friday to help increase stamina and to address any misconceptions. Many children achieve personal bests each week. We are continuing to work on the four operations and have started to work on fractions. 

Science 

‘Living things and their habitats’ is the current focus in science this half term. The children have learnt about the life cycle of reptiles and mammals, they have learnt about the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction and, more recently, they have learnt about the different parts of both flowering and non-flowering plants.

Topic

‘Medieval Monarchs’ is our overarching theme in topic. We are learning about England in the Middle Ages. The children have been learning about monarchs such as Henry VIII, King John and Edward I. We have learnt about the feudal system and the children have discussed the key qualities of a good ruler. 

MFL

We have been learning common phrases in French as well as learning vocabulary relating to family, parts of the body and colours. 

Art

Focussing on the work by German artist Anselm Kiefer. 

RE

We are focussing on the different celebrations in the Jewish calander; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur as well as the coming of age ritual bar/bat mitzvah.

Autumn 1

English

In English, we have been focussing on our defeating the monster tale text, Perseus and Medusa, and are currently working on developing our character description skills and building on their SPaG knowledge (specifically what is required in simple, compound and complex sentences). Our Wow reveal involved decorating cakes to look like Medusa’s head in order to inspire us to write our character descriptions.

Maths

Place value and number sense has been the focus in maths so far. We have delved into the world of negative numbers, rounding and Roman numerals.

Science 

Human growth and development is the focus in science. We are learning about the lifecycle of a human from prenatal through to old age. Data handling and generating graphs to document growth of babies is something we have been exploring in recent weeks. 

Topic

‘Barbarous Battles’ is our overarching theme in topic. We are learning about England in the Middle Ages. The children have been getting to grips with key events such as the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings as well as debating about which qualities a good leader must have. 

MFL

Our starting point in French has been in learning greetings, classroom commands and the alphabet. 

DT

To extend our topic knowledge, the children are learning about the structural components of medieval castles. The children are currently in the process of constructing their own castles made of card. The process involves intricate cutting skills, following detailed instructions, a huge amount of dexterity and a tonne of patience. 

RE

We are focussing on the notion of incarnation within Christianity and what the term ‘God is with us’ means to Christians.