Birkby Junior School

Welcome back to the summer term!

We hope you have had a fantastic holiday and are refreshed and revitalised, ready to take on the challenges of the Summer Term. 

You are now in your third and final term of Year 5, which will continue to be exciting and challenging.  Keep persevering towards your targets, showing us a mature and independent approach towards your learning.

What will we be learning?

In our English lessons, we will start the term focusing on an exciting new text Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson.  This is a fiction text all about a young girl’s journey to the Amazon and her experiences.  This will be used as a basis for different styles of writing, such as: writing in role, writing a biography and creating an audio guide using figurative language.  We will also make comparisons between this text and other texts we have read so far this year. 

After half term, we will be focusing on stories from different cultures.

Cracking Comprehension sessions will continue to reinforce important comprehension strategies.

Our maths learning will begin with developing our understanding of geometry—first angles and then shapes.  We will learn to estimate, compare, draw and measure angles accurately.  Facts learnt about angles will support our reasoning around calculating angles on a straight line and around a point.  We will apply knowledge of angles to the properties of 2D and 3D shapes.  

After this, we will be describing and representing the positions of shapes after a reflection or translation, using the appropriate language.  To develop our measurement understanding, we will be learning how to convert between different units of metric measure and between units of time.

All children are expected to know their times tables by the end of Year 4; we will continue to practise these.  You must make this a personal target if you cannot recall them quickly.  If you can, you need to extend this to knowing the related division facts.  Knowing your times tables facts, will help you in all your maths work.  Keep learning them!  Spending time playing on TT Rock Stars will help with your speed and accuracy.

For our history & geography work, we will be moving onto learning about Victorian Huddersfield, thinking carefully about when this era began, what happened before and what happened after this period. We will also look at the key events from other historical civilizations which occurred at the same time as the era we are studying, building on our understanding of concurrent timelines. We will have the opportunity to explore both Victorian and modern maps of Huddersfield, thinking about change and continuity. We will also learn about how Victorian children lived and compare this to our own life experiences. During this unit we will also learn about Victorian workhouses and the impact the 1870 Education Act had on both children’s lives and our local area. In addition, we will be looking at the importance of the railway in Huddersfield and how this led to an increase in leisure opportunities.

We will then study North America and understand geographical similarities and differences between countries of North America and also compare and contrast with Great Britain. 

In Art and DT lessons we will be exploring bridges, learning about the structure of different types of bridges. We will be researching Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 – 1859), who is an English civil Engineer considered to be one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history, famous for designing tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships. Using this knowledge, we will design and create our own structures. 

After half term, we will learn about Mexican pattern and colour use, to design and create our own 3D clay sugar skulls.

Also, to keep our bodies as fit and active as our minds, we’ll have the opportunity to develop a range of skills individually and in teams.  This term our P.E. sessions will cover games skills, futsal, athletics and cricket.  You will be informed by your class teacher when you have P.E. lessons. You will need to come to school in your P.E. kit on your P.E. days - please make sure you have suitable footwear too.

Please see the Year 5 curriculum newsletter for more detail about other aspects of our learning.

What work will I need to do at home?

Every Wednesday, you will be given Maths and English homework.  This must be returned to school by the following Monday.

Your teacher will share the new spellings you need to learn on Wednesday - try to practise spellings every day.  You will be tested on these the following Wednesday.  Bringing your homework diary to school every day will help you to remember what work you need to do.  This is a good habit and will help you to become an independent learner. 

Remember, you have your TTRS and mathletics login – try to go on regularly to practice your maths work.

In addition to this, it is important that you continue to read and discuss texts with someone at home on a regular basis.  You will be able to visit the school library once a week, in order to select a new reading book.

Try and read every day, even if it’s just for 10 mins.  It doesn’t have to be the school library book – it could be a magazine you have read, game instructions, a recipe or any other texts you have been reading.

Let’s continue to build on our fantastic learning so far in Year 5, where we are developing into inquisitive and independent learners!  We have another great term ahead, getting ready for Year 6, and can’t wait to get started!

A very excited Year 5 team!