TOPICS/CURRICULUM
Spring Term 1
Welcome back! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas time with your family and friends. We had a fantastic Autumn learning about light and shadow in art, and putting on our amazing exhibition at the end of term. We also enjoyed basing lots of work around our core text Swimming Against the Storm, and exploring its swampy setting.
Now, we look forward to a new year and a new term. This term our Topic focus is the History of Astronomy, and our science and computing will be inspired by this subject.
Spring Term 1 Topic: Discover - How can we know the unknown?
We will be:
- learning about the beginnings of astronomy from the stone age right the way through to the present day
- exploring the unknown and the people who have been inspired to investigate it
- analysing how different views about astronomy have changed, such as whether the sun goes around the Earth, or whether the Earth goes around the sun
- learning about and comparing astronomers from around the world
- discovering how belief and ideas can change over time
Our project concepts this term are belief, change, innovation and
the unknown.
English Learning
In English, we will be looking at Anthony Browne’s King Kong.
We will learn:
- about the features of a picture book aimed at older readers
- to write effective settings
- to create and develop attention-grabbing characters
- to write action scenes and create our own creature to star in them!
Mathematical Learning
This half term we are looking at:
- money: writing amounts in £ and p, calculating totals, and finding change
- negative numbers: counting, comparing and calculating with amounts the short multiplication method
PSHE Learning
We will be learning:
- How to keep safe online by understanding what is safe to share
- To explore the links between rights and responsibilities
- To understand how reducing our use of materials and energy will help the environment
- To understand how we recognise and value the contribution people make to the community
French Learning
This half term we will be learning about how to write and speak about different pieces of school and classroom equipment.
Scientific Learning
Our topic this term will be Earth and Space.
Alongside our Discover project we will learn:
- That the Earth orbits around the Sun, and the Moon orbits around earth
- How this creates cycles: day and night, the seasons, and the phases of the Moon
- About the 8 planets of the solar system
- How the size of the Planet Earth compares with the scale of the universe
Art Learning
Music Learning
We will be learning to combine pitches (notes) to make chords. We will learn to play chords to accompany pieces tunes and to use them in our own musical compositions.
Faith and Wonder Learning
We will be considering the question “What is holiness for Jewish people: a place, a time, an object or something else?”
Computing Learning
We will be identifying some of the types of data that the Mars Rover collects and explaining how the Mars Rover transmits the data back to Earth.
PE Learning
This term we will continue our units on invasion games and gymnastics as well as learning new tennis skills.
How can you help?
- Encourage your child to read regularly at home, both independently and to an adult.
- Lots of regular times table testing and quick maths skills following the instructions indicated on the home learning sheets. The faster the response, the better!
- Supporting your child with learning their spellings, discussing the meanings of words, putting them into sentences and reviewing spellings from previous weeks.
- All of this will be on the weekly home learning sheets.
Events/Trips planned for this half term
- Monday 10th February - St Margaret’s Got Talent auditions
- Tuesday 11th February - Parents’ Evening (3.30pm to 6pm)
- Wednesday 12th February – Music concert for Choir and invited performers (p.m. – time to be confirmed)
- Thursday 13th February - Parents’ Evening (4pm to 7pm)
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Further dates and information may come out from the Office throughout the half term.
If you have any resources you are happy to loan to us or have any particular knowledge about any of our learning focuses, please let us know.
Class emails:
amberley@stmargaretsprimary.org.uk
lewes@stmargaretsprimary.org.uk
The Year 5 team