Welcome to Year 5!
In this exciting year, children will be encouraged to take on more responsibility and become more independent. There will be a definite focus on preparing for Year 6 and starting to think about transitioning to secondary school.
This is often a year when children grow in maturity – sometimes even more so than in their final year of primary. They gain greater independence and confidence from being given more responsibility in their learning – encouraging independence in preparation for bigger things to come.
Although there is no statutory test at the end of Year 5, I will assess your child throughout the year to make sure that they can reach their full potential in English and Maths.
Learning in Year 5:
Maths
In maths, there is an emphasis on fractions, decimals, and percentages. There is also an expectation that they will know all the written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Further focus will be placed on problem-solving and your child will be given more opportunities to apply their knowledge to a range of challenges.
English
For English, new punctuation will be introduced (such as hyphens, semicolons, and colons). There is a greater emphasis on grammar features too (for example, modal verbs like would, could, might, and must). Your child will also be encouraged to edit and adapt their work – developing their skills further in the craft of writing for a range of audiences and purposes.
A broadening curriculum
There are some fantastic topics this year, including Space, Antarctica, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and there will be significant focus on diversity and understanding their role in modern Britain.
This is the year when your child will start lessons on puberty, and changes in the human body. I will send out parent email in the summer term and offer a meeting to let you know how this is shared so you can answer further questions at home.
How can I help my child in Year 5?
Just like in school, give them some independence and responsibility for their learning at home. Here are a few ways you can start giving them some responsibility at home:
Encourage them to pack their own lunch/bag for school so that they get into the habit of thinking for themselves about what they need for that day.
Allow them to make mistakes, they learn more quickly from their mistakes, and take responsibility for them too.
Get into the routine of doing some homework at a set time each week if possible. Continue to hear them read, practise times tables and spellings, talk to them about their day and their feelings.
Please update whether your child has permission to walk home or not via Arbour ASAP.
If you message me on Class Dojo, I will endeavour to reply within 24 hours. If anything is urgent please email or phone the office. Any quick messages can be passed on before or after school but if there is anything you need to discuss at length then an appointment will be required.
Please monitor online gaming and try to limit use of social media apps.
From my experience this has caused many problems in Year 5 and 6 in the past. In particular, group chats have caused many issues which spill into school life.
The following apps have a minimum user age of 13:
• Tic Toc
• Facebook and Facebook Messenger
• Snapchat
• X (previously Twitter)
*Whatsapp has a minimum user age of 16
If you do permit your child on social media talk about Privacy Settings:
Most social media apps allow you to set your profile and/or posts to ‘private’ or ‘friends only’. If your child starts using social media, spend some time looking at the privacy setting with them to ensure they are being as safe as possible. It is also important to check the location privacy on any social media apps your child is using. Some social media apps automatically share your location when you post so you may want to disable this. Talk to your child about what is meant by personal information and support them in not sharing personal information online, such as their date of birth, real name, age or phone number. Finally, check the content filters and change the settings so that any content inappropriate for their age is blocked from their social media app.
Here is some information about our weekly routine :
PE
PE is on Thursdays. All children should be doing PE unless proof of medical advice suggests otherwise. Please let me know if this is the case by Thursday morning.
Children can come into school in their PE kits. Appropriate school PE kit must be worn, and please make sure hoodies are labelled – it’s hard (and time-consuming) to find the owners of a pile of identical unnamed tops! As the weather turns cooler, please ensure your child has warm clothes, as PE may still take place outside.
Home Learning
Reading
Encourage your child to read independently for pleasure at home several times a week. Although it may seem that your child can read fluently, they should also have a weekly opportunity to read aloud to an adult. This gives them the opportunity to delve more deeply into the plot (of a fiction book) or the content (of a non-fiction book) by answering questions posed by the adult or engaging in a discussion of what they have read.
Times Table Rock Stars
By the end of Year 4, the children should have been able to answer quick-fire multiplication questions up to 12 x 12. We use times tables continuously in maths lessons in Year 5 and 6 (and they will continue to do so in high school). If your child still struggles with some tables, they need to continue accessing TTRS 3 times a week, for 5 minutes, until their heat map is green.
Spellings
We are practising spellings 3X weekly in school and I will send out the spellings we are practising each week. The words will come from our school spelling scheme. They will be regularly tested on the words they have learnt during the week.
Let's have a busy and fun filled half-term! Watch out for regular photos and videos of the children's learning on Class Dojo. If you have any worries or queries, please come and see me. I am here to listen and offer support in any way I can.
Thank you for your support,
Mrs Womack
Useful Links
Maths Bot
Maths website with ideas for daily maths activities
Oxford Owl
Free website with hundreds of audio and e-books
Times Table Rock Stars
Online site to support times tables - please remember to play 'studio' to gain and improve your 'Rock Status'
White Rose Maths
Great website with ideas on maths lessons and resources too
Newsround
Horrible Histories
Scratch
BBC Bitesize
- from maths and English to our topics and science learning: Vikings, Space, Properties of Materials...
Top Marks -
Maths and English Games