Year 5

year 5 autumn 1 curriculum overview.pdf

year 5 spring overview 2025.pdf

January In Year 5

During January, we have been learning lots within our topic ‘Earth’s Extreme’, which is a geography-based topic.

The children began to consider how a volcano is formed. They found out that volcanoes are formed using the top two layers of the Earth: the crust and the mantle. Earth’s crust is divided up into tectonic plates that move very slowly in different directions. The majority of Earth’s volcanoes are located along these tectonic plates. Using an atlas and different maps, they looked at volcanoes and compared it to a map of the world’s tectonic plates – considering which plate lines and hemispheres have the most and least volcanoes, their proximity to the equator and what that tells us. The children found out about the ‘Ring of Fire’. Furthermore, Year 5 researched what the land around volcanoes is used for in modern times and what it was used for in the past, if different.

The children found out it is used for:

• Farming – soil around volcanoes is extremely fertile.
• Mining – minerals can be harvested from the lava once it has cooled.
• Harnessing geothermal energy – this is used to provide electricity.
• Building further tourist attractions – volcanoes naturally attract tourists.

They concluded that the one thing all these uses have in common is that they provide jobs for the citizens leaving near to the volcanoes. The children decided if they would like to live near a volcano and the reasons why or why not. Using all our knowledge, during  Literacy, the children wrote an explanation text about Volcanoes and Shape Poems about Volcanoes ( including Figurative Language).  After reading Escape from Pompeii by Christine Balit, we wrote a setting description of Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD.

February in Year 5 

During February, the children completed an internet safety day, where the focus was helping two children out with their digital dilemmas. Firstly, we explored all types of social media and ages you need to be to use them. Some children were very shocked!!!!! We also helped ‘Billy’ who was receiving messages on a game from an unknown person and we helped ‘Mabel’ – who was tricked by AI generated images. We could not believe how good the AI images were! Through our discussions, we have learnt how easy it is to be tricked and although the internet is great, it can also be dangerous – so you need to always think twice and tell a trusted adult!

We were very artistic this month too.  In Art, the children discussed an image and talked about what they could see, what they thought was happening, what they wondered and what they thought about the image of a family on the moon. This introduced us to retrofuturism and how popular culture can influence art. We had great fun with exploring lots of pieces of art within this genre. Looking at a pictures themed about space, we discussed how they  had been created and the choices that the artist had made. Using a viewfinder, the children created a section of their favourite image using different mediums. This then inspired us to create a printing plate- combining different materials based on their texture. We then used this to create our own printed art work – using a colour pallet of our choice. The final pieces were lovely!

Have a look at our photographs to see us creating our printing plate and using it to print. 9Written by Year 5)

March in Year 5

We have had an amazing month in Year 5! During March, we had our London trip which was incredible. We visited and explored lots of London landmarks including: Hyde Park, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Science Museum. At Buckingham Palace, we noticed that the Royal Standard was flying, which means the King is home! In the evening, we went for a meal at Pizza Express, before heading to the theatre to see Wicked. All of the children were amazed by how spectacular the show was, and they were very excited to share their favourite moments with each other. We stayed overnight in a lovely Premier Inn; everyone made the most of the buffet breakfast in the morning! Before heading home, we visited the Science Museum, where we learnt about space, technology and aeroplanes – just to name a few. Take a look at some of the photos from our trip. 

Whilst some of us were in London, the rest of us had a great time at school. We enjoyed some extra play, where we played ‘hot potato’ on the playground, and we explored Mayan gods in RE. The children enjoyed getting to spend some time with friends from the other class.

 

In Science this month, we have been exploring forces. In order to investigate the force of air resistance, we have been conducting various experiments. The children had a great time making their own parachutes out of bin bags, which we created in various sizes to investigate the effects of surface area on air resistance. We discovered that parachutes with a greater surface area take longer to reach the ground, as the air resistance is greater. One of our other investigations consisted of building a parachute to protect a hard-boiled egg. The children worked in teams to create a design for their parachute, taking surface area and air resistance into account. We tested our designs by dropping the parachutes from a height and we were thrilled to discover that some of our eggs survived without even a tiny crack!

 Some of our other learning this month has consisted of Dia De Los Muertos / Day of the Dead; in Literacy, we have been using an animated video as inspiration for writing a diary recount and a narrative retelling related to Dia De Los Muertos. We have learned that Day of the Dead is a celebration that honours loved ones who have passed away. Some of the children realised that the Disney film ‘Coco’ is about Dia De Los Muertos, so we have been watching Coco during Golden time!