Year 5

Welcome to the Year 5 Swans and Herons Class Page

The Year 5 team

Swans Class

Teacher: Mrs Hykin

                               Teaching Assistant:  Mrs Walker (Mon - Fri AM)                             

                              Ms Chalk (Thursday PM)

Herons Class

Teacher:  Mrs Pearson

Teaching Assistant: Ms Chalk (Mon - Fri AM & Thurs PM)

Swimming is on Tuesday and children should come to school wearing their PE kit, with the swimming kit (goggles, towel and swimsuit) in a separate bag.

Herons Class - Autumn 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1

Swans Class - Autumn 2, Spring 2 and Summer 2

PE is on a Wednesday and children should come to school wearing their PE kit.

Herons Class - Autumn 2, Spring 2 and Summer 2

Swans Class - Autumn 1, Spring 1 and Summer 1

As we enter December, preparations are beginning for the KS2 Carol Service.  Pupils who have been chosen to say lines will be bringing their lines home this week.   Please help them to learn them and we look forward to seeing you all at Holy Trinity Church.

As part of our space topic, the pupils have explored 'retrofuturism' in art, looking at what we thought the future would look like in the 1950s and 1960s.  The children have created backgrounds for a piece of artwork using a collage and paint method and will be completing their work over the next two weeks by designing a futuristic image to add to the background.  We are looking forward to seeing the end result.

In science, the pupils have learnt about day and night, the theories of the solar system, the seasons and the phases of the moon.  Maybe they could impress you with their knowledge!  This has linked nicely to our ICT lessons during which the pupils have been learning to design and make websites.  Using Google Sites, they have designed a home page, then added pages to share everything they have learnt about space so far.  Their websites are very creative, colourful and informative.

We are now looking forward to our Design & Technology afternoons during which time the pupils will be building model trains to run on a track powered by an electric circuit.

Space Centre Trip 

What an amazing day Year 5 had at the Space Centre in Leicester!  It was a busy day, starting with an 8.30am arrival at school for last minute preparations then off on the coach at 8.55am.  The coach arrived on time and we were met by a member of the Space Crew for final instructions before being whisked into the lunch hall for a well-deserved snack to give pupils the energy they needed for the day.  Their next stop was the Planetarium for an absolutely amazing trip onto the space station and to learn about astronaut training.  The following 1.5 hours was spent exploring the centre, playing, touching and experiencing all things space.  Lunch was at 1pm and then the coach left at 1.45pm.

The pupils' behaviour was excellent and their happy, smiling faces showed what a wonderful day they had.

Autumn 2

We would like to extend a warm welcome back to the pupils, we hope they had a wonderful and relaxing break.

This term is full of exciting opportunities for the pupils as we will spend the whole term exploring space (please see the knowledge organiser below).  This will be our topic and science for the whole term as there is a lot to cover. The pupils will explore lots during these lessons, from the solar system, to seasons, to day and night.  In English, the pupils are learning about the moon and the lunar landings and will begin to write narratives about travelling to and exploring the moon.  During art, the pupils will create retro space artwork and in ICT they will learn how to create websites.  It is a fantastic term and we are very excited to support the children with their learning and exploration.

This week, the pupils threw themselves into the new topic by learning what skills they needed to be an astronaut.  They soon realised that communication and teamwork were key to success.  During the day, pupils built pyramids using cups, elastic bands and string, recreated models they only had fleeting glimpses of, tested their memories by trying to remember details about robots and then worked together to build, test and fly a rocket.   Please enjoy the photos below which show some of the activities the children enjoyed on our topic day. 

Date for your diary - a reminder that the trip to the National Space Centre is on Friday 14th November.

Tourist Trip

On Thursday 9th October, Year 5 explored Stratford-upon-Avon as though they were tourists.  The classes started by taking a photo outside the Butterfly Farm (with an inquisitive swan nearby!), visiting the statues in the canal basin, before visiting the Tourist Information Centre.  From here, they walked around town, looking at statues and historical buildings finding attractions that they, as locals, had previously missed!  A quick stop at the American monument for a snack gave the children the energy needed to continue on to Holy Trinity Church to visit William Shakespeare’s grave.  The whole year group ate lunch outside the RSC, enjoyed a trip to Hoorays for ice cream and then had a play in the park which finished off a wonderful day.
 

Science

The children have been exploring air resistance and surface area by designing, making and testing parachutes.  In their teams, they dropped their parachutes from an upstairs window (safely and with adult supervision) and monitored which parachutes fell the slowest.  As a class we discussed how a bigger surface area increased air resistance and allowed the parachute to fall slower.  As you can imagine, there were some design flaws, however, the children gained a good understanding of what size parachute they should choose and why!

What a busy start to term!

A huge well done to the Year 5 pupils for a very successful start to the new term.  Both classes have been working hard to establish routines and expectations in the classroom and we are delighted to say that both classes are fantastic!  

In English, the pupils have been exploring a book called 'The Lost Book of Adventure' and have enjoyed imagining that they are explorers in a range of extreme settings.  They have learnt about relative clauses, adverbs for possibility, verb prefixes and suffixes as well as a wide range of vocabulary.  The pupils will be writing survival narratives in the coming days.

Maths has focused on reminding pupils about place value and stretching them to understand about millions.  Next up will be addition and subtraction.

In science, the pupils are learning about forces and will be exploring how air resistance and gravity work together by making a parachute.  Hopefully, the parachutists (paperclips!) will survive the drop...

Topic is mainly a geography focus, with the pupils learning about map symbols and map co-ordinates as well as understanding about tourism and its positive and negative effects on towns.

Swimming for the Herons class is going well and PE in the Swans class is fun.

As always, please speak to us at pick-up or email the office if you have any questions.

Autumn 1

A very warm welcome to Year 5, 2025-26.  We are very excited to start our topic with a local emphasis - Stratford upon Avon, what is it like to live in a tourist town? We will be researching and discussing both advantages and disadvantages of living in a tourist town and looking at what sustainable tourism is and why this is so important.  This is also an excellent opportunity to learn more about William Shakespeare. Please see the knowledge organiser below for more details about the topic.

School trips

To really understand this topic, we will actually become tourists for the day and visit the Tourist Information Centre as well as walk around our local area to identify all those famous and impressive buildings and statues in our town.  You can't be a tourist without suitable treats, so we are very excited that we will be visiting our local ice-cream parlour Hoorays for a well deserved ice-cream. This school trip is booked for Thursday 9th October.  A letter with more information about this trip will be emailed home shortly.  

PE/Swimming 

In Year 5, the children receive swimming lessons. This half term, the Herons have started and go swimming on Tuesdays.  This means the Herons need to wear their PE kit on Tuesdays and bring their swimming kit with them.  Please ensure your child has a waterproof coat as well, as we walk to the swimming pool, no matter the weather! 

The Swans have their PE lesson on Wednesdays, so they need to wear their PE kit on Wednesday during this half term.