Year 5 – Spring 2 Curriculum Information

We start the second half of the Spring term by thinking about us and how we express and feel about ourselves. We will start off in the life of a 10-year-old boy as we begin our class Novel ‘Wonder’ by R J Palacio. 

August Pullman (Auggie to his friends) is not an ordinary 10-year-old boy. He feels like one and has the interests of one, but his face is not ordinary at all. In fact, it's the type of face that scares kids and makes people stare. Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie Pullman becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade. As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to discover their compassion and acceptance, Auggie's extraordinary journey will unite them and prove you can't blend in when you were born to stand out. We will use this story to think about how we treat people and to think about the diversity that surrounds us in this wonderful world!

As we continue through the second half of the spring term, we will read the stunning picture book ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker. This story is about a lonely girl draws a magic door on her bedroom wall and through it escapes into a world where wonder, adventure, and danger abound. Red marker in hand, she creates a boat, a balloon, and a flying carpet that carry her on a spectacular journey toward an uncertain destiny. When she is captured by a sinister emperor, only an act of tremendous courage and kindness can set her free. Can it also lead her home and to her heart’s desire? This is also where we will consider how to express our feelings and emotions in our PSHE lessons.

Throughout the term we will be asking ourselves the big question for this half term – What makes us wonder- ful?

In Science this term, we will be learning about living things and their habitats. We will start off by identifying parts of a flower and challenging the children about how pollination occurs and sexual reproduction in plants. We will then become natural historians just like the famous David Attenborough! The children will get a chance to study different types of mammals, their habitats and life cycles of birds, insects and amphibians.

During our Art lessons this term, we will be creating still life drawings. Children will learn how to draw simple objects and use marks and lines to produce texture. They will then use shading to create mood and feeling to their drawings. Children will get to use many different materials in their lessons such as colouring pencil, chalk, charcoal and paint.

We have many more things planned this half-term, which we can’t wait to share you! Including, our Judo taster sessions where children will learn some fantastic skills. We also have our school dog- Boofy who will join the children during the afternoon during their reading sessions. This is a great way for children to interact and engage.

Year 5 – Spring 1 Curriculum Information

We start the Spring term by thinking about the planet we will on. We will start off in the country of Malaysia as we begin our class Novel ‘Running Wild’ by Michael Morpurgo. The story is about a boy called Will who takes a ride on an elephant called Oona in Malaysia when he's on holiday with his mum (his dad has just died, he's a soldier), but the elephant gets scared away and runs into the jungle with Will on her back. What scared her? A tsunami which is a ginormous killer wave. This really happened in Malaysia in 2010 and killed hundreds of thousands of people. After a few days Will and Oona become great friends. They have a great adventure through the jungle and Will is on his own with Oona for months. It's incredible. He learns to live in the jungle, so survives but then one day an evil man called Mr Anthony decides to burn down the jungle to grow palm oil trees and make loads of money. This is where we will consider the use of palm oil in products that we use in our daily lives.

As we continue through the spring term, we will read the stunning picture book ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ by Lynne Cherry. This story is set in the Amazon rainforest, South America. This is where we will consider real life issues happening in the world right now such as deforestation and global warming which have a direct effect on our planet. We will also look at the work of Greta Thunberg, a youth activist, whose campaigning about global warming has gained international recognition. Throughout the term we will be asking ourselves the big question for this half term – How can we protect our planet?

In Science this term, we will be learning about living things and their habitats. We will start off by identifying parts of a flower and challenging the children about how pollination occurs and sexual reproduction in plants. We will then become natural historians just like the famous David Attenborough! The children will get a chance to study different types of mammals, their habitats and life cycles of birds, insects and amphibians.

During our Art lessons this term, we will be creating still life drawings. Children will learn how to draw simple objects and use marks and lines to produce texture. They will then use shading to create mood and feeling to their drawings. Children will get to use many different materials in their lessons such as colouring pencil, chalk, charcoal and paint.

We have many more things planned this half-term, which we can’t wait to share you! Including, our residential to PGL Caythorpe where children will enjoy some fantastic outdoor activities and not forgetting enjoying some scrumptious cooked breakfasts, lunches and dinners to replenish all our energy we use! Although they will be away from school, this is where children will continue to instill the Grove school values, such as self-belief and communication.

Year 5 Autumn 2 Curriculum Information

We continue into the second part of the autumn term by going back in time over 150 years to the Victorian era. We start this half term by exploring the work of Berlie Doherty, reading the book called ‘Street Child’. This story is about a boy called Jim who is living in Victorian Britain. When his mother dies, Jim is all alone in the workhouse and is desperate to escape. But London in the 1860s is a dangerous and lonely place for a small boy and life is a constant battle for survival. We begin to think about and compare life in Britain now and then, all those years ago.

We will also use this story to explore the Industrial Revolution and how lives changed for so many during this period. We find out about the invention of machines and how rich businessmen built massive factories to house these machines. One machine could complete the work of hundreds of people in a fraction of the time. The businessmen were greedy and could see the potential for earning lots, lots more money.

Factories sprung up in every town, creating cities all over the country. This was the birth of the Industrialisation period. We will also consider how the Victorian era changed quickly for a lot of people, how cities became busier and more crowded – and how this also brought diseases such as cholera.

We will carry on exploring more literature, this time by the famous author, Charles Dickens. We will read abridged children’s versions of Oliver Twist and closer to December, The Christmas Carol.

Throughout the term we will continue to explore how the Victorian age has changed modern Britain today by exploring developments such as petrol and inventions such as the first public flushing toilet! We will be asking ourselves the big question for this half term – How did the Victorian era change life in Britain for us?

In Art, we will explore the work of William Morris and his floral patterns (patterns inspired by flowers and plants) that could be repeated many times by block printing techniques on large pieces of paper to make patterned wallpaper. We will also look into the work of L.S Lowry’s townscapes of Victorian Britain.

As part of PSHE/SMSC and UK Parliament week in November, we look at the suffragette’s movement and women’s rights and how these linked it to democracy. We also consider the rights of people around the world today and how they are changing for the better.

We have many more things planned this half-term, which we can’t wait to share you! Including, heading over to Beaumanor Hall for a day in the life of a Victorian child, where you will get a chance to experience real Victorian Britain! Don’t forget your cap or pinafore!

Year 5 Autumn 1 Curriculum Information

We start off the autumn term reading a book called ‘The Jamie Drake Equation’ by Christopher Edge. This is a book about a boy whose father is a famous astronaut who regularly has to complete missions away from home searching for other life forms– we ask ourselves “Why are we so interested in life on other planets?”

During the term, children will have a chance to design their own alien just like the homework Jamie Drake receives from his teacher. We will ask the children to use their imagination to answer the following questions: Where will this alien live, what might it eat and how could it communicate?

We will also use this book to explore the solar system, and the universe, asking ourselves – could there be life on other planets? What would an ideal civilization look like? Do we have that now? Why not? Do our school values reflect an ideal civilization?

We will research real-life sightings and findings as we debate in class whether or not we should be spending government money to learn about other planets. Isn’t there enough to explore and improve on planet Earth!?

We will also be using a picture book called ‘On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein’ by Jennifer Berne and Vladimir Radunsky to learn more about gravity and how this links to space.

Our Big Question this half-term is: Who is Neil Armstrong and how did he contribute to the space exploration? To help us answer this question, we will be traveling back in time to 1969, to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon! We will also be learning about famous places like NASA and people such as Neil Armstrong and Hayley Collins, who was the first British Astronaut in space! We will be thinking about what it would be like to be an astronaut – what questions we would ask one and whether or not we would like to be an astronaut one day. Here we will focus on one of our school values called ‘Ambition’. What are our hopes and dreams for the future? 

In Art we will spend time learning about Peter Thorpe, a space Artist! We will be looking at constellations and images of stars, clouds and potential strange sightings to inspire our own drawings of the beautiful night sky.

We  have  many more things planned this half-term, which we can’t wait to share you! Including, heading out to visit the National Space Centre!