Year 5/6

September Update

It has been a fantastic start to the new academic year in Years 5 and 6! The children have settled back into school routines brilliantly and have already shown such PRIDE in their learning. We have packed a lot into our first few weeks, so here is a little snapshot of what we have been getting up to.

In Maths, we have been focusing on numbers and place value, including representing numbers up to 10,000,000 in a variety of ways. We have used place value charts, words, part-whole models, number lines and bar models to help us understand the value of each digit. The children have made fantastic progress in reading and understanding larger numbers. Try this at home: write down a number with up to seven digits and ask your child to read it aloud. Can they identify the value of each digit?

Our English lessons have focused on short-burst writing and developing a toolkit for creating effective setting descriptions. We used the Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter as our inspiration and explored how writers can show rather than tell. The children have been developing their use of descriptive vocabulary, showing emotions through actions and creating atmosphere for the reader. There have been some very impressive pieces of writing!

In History, we have travelled back in time to explore Ancient Greece! Our first lesson introduced the Ancient Greek civilisation by exploring where and when it existed. We revised how historical timelines are organised using BC and AD and used intervals to help us accurately place Ancient Greece in time. We also explored concurrent timelines, identifying other civilisations and societies that existed at the same time as Ancient Greece. We then began exploring what Ancient Greece was like socially and politically, considering how people lived and how the civilisation was organised.

In Science, we have been learning about the circulatory system and exploring different factors that can impact our physical, mental and social health. The children have been considering different scenarios and making suggestions about how we could improve the health and wellbeing of our very own “patients”. We then took our learning outside, where the children worked collaboratively to create a model of the circulatory system. They used their models to verbally explain the key structures and their purposes. Examples of our circulatory system models can be found on Seesaw.

In Art, our focus has been: “What techniques can an artist use when creating collage?” We have been exploring the work of Eduardo Paolozzi, a Scottish artist born in 1924. In 1986, Paolozzi completed one of his best-known works: a large, colourful mosaic installation at Tottenham Court Road Underground Station in London. We looked closely at images of his mosaics, observing and discussing the materials, patterns, pictures, scale and colours he used.

Our PE lessons this term take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Wednesdays, we have been enjoying dance, listening carefully to rhythm and creating our own routines, focusing particularly on the beats of eight. On Thursdays, we have been learning the basics of netball, developing our passing, catching, footwork and shooting skills. We have also been practising defending, finding space and working as a team through a range of fun games and challenges.

Our focus in Learning for Life this term is Relationships. So far, we have considered the different relationships we have in our lives and explored what makes a relationship healthy and positive.

It has been wonderful to see the children throwing themselves into their learning and embracing the new school year with such enthusiasm. We are looking forward to all that the rest of the term will bring! Keep checking Seesaw for photos, videos and examples of our learning, and please continue to support your child with their home learning each week. Your encouragement and support at home make such a difference!