Welcome back Class 5! I hope you are prepared for another busy and exciting term!
Our topic for the first term is focused around the transition from the Romans to Anglo Saxons and Scots.
Literacy
In Literacy this half term, we are reading Michael Morpurgo’s stunning retelling of the oldest surviving epic in British literature, ‘Beowulf’. We will be transported to fifth-century Denmark on Beowulf’s terrifying quest to destroy Grendel, the foul fiend, a hideous sea-hag and a monstrous fire-dragon. Our written work will be based around our class text, and we will be practicing key grammar skills and extending our vocabulary, as well as writing our own heroic legends where we will battle terrifying creatures! We will be continue to delve into the Anglo Saxon age with “Winter of Wolves” by Tony Bradman, following young Oslaf as he leaves the country he knows for a new life in a new land; Britannia. Will Oslaf be as brave as the heroes in the tales he loves and build a new home in a foreign land? Read our letters we will be writing to Oslaf’s friends back in his home country to find out.
In the second half of the term we will be thinking about the incredible world we live in. Through exquisite illustrations, maps and infographics, author Rachel Ignotofsky takes us on an illustrated tour of our planet’s ecosystems both large and small, from reefs, deserts and rainforests to a single drop of water in her book “The Incredible Ecosystems of Planet Earth.” Read our information texts we write to find out about one of these fascinating ecosystems. After learning about the wonderful world we live in, we will move on to thinking about how we can best protect it, using the poetry book “Be The Change: Poems to help you save the world” to inspire us to write our very own poems encouraging others to look after the planet.
Maths
In Maths, we are excited to continue our mastery approach to our lessons, developing our reasoning and problem solving skills and gaining a deeper understanding of key mathematical concepts. We will be focusing on multiplication and division – increasing our knowledge of formal methods – as well as developing our understanding of fractions, decimals and percentages. We will constantly be revisiting our times tables we have already learnt, becoming more confident with recalling our times table facts, as they are vital to so many different areas of Maths.
Science
In Science, we will be exploring the topic of Earth and Space with a focus on the movement of the Earth, Sun and Moon. After half term, our topic will change to living things, looking at the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird.
History and Geography
In History this half term, we will be investigating the question “What happened when the Roman’s left Britain? ” In order to answer this question we will begin by placing the relevant time periods on a timeline, considering when they happened in relation to other time periods we have studied. We are keen to become inquisitive historians, making relevant historical enquiries and considering a range of primary and secondary sources to find out about why the Romans left Britain and the Anglo Saxons decided to come to Britain, as well as discovering what life was like in both the Roman Britain and Anglo Saxon Britain, making comparisons and identifying contrasts.
In Geography, we will be investigating the question “How have different historical periods shaped our country today?” We will start by looking at looking at the impact of the Romans, considering how the landscape of Britain changed with the arrival of the Romans and looking at Roman roads and settlements. We will then move on to considering the Anglo Saxon towns and settlements. We will be improving our geographical skills, developing our mapwork skills, including six figure grid references as well as making field sketches.
Art and DT
In Art, we will be focusing on our fabric and collage skills. Our fabric work will consist of creating self portraits inspired by inspired by artist Jose Romussi, who stitches and embellishes pictures. We will revisit some of the stitching and embellishment techniques we learnt in DT last year. For collage, we will create a collaborative collage using recycled materials; taking inspiration from the artist Seiko Kato. This will link to the exciting environmental work we will be doing in Literacy!
In DT, we will be making our very own soups! One parent of each child will be invited into school for a soup tasting experience! We hope you are hungry! Our soups will be well researched and we will be working in teams to produce a tasty recipe. 
RE
This term in RE we will be considering the importance of the festival of Passover in Judaism. We will look at why and how Jewish people celebrate Passover, the significance of freedom in the Passover celebrations and the Seder plate. In the second half of the term, we will move on to looking at the Easter Story, focusing on the Last Supper. We will use our previous knowledge to recall the Easter Story, consider why the Last Supper was such an important event for Christians and how that is recognised through the act of Holy Communion.
PE
Our PE day this half term will be a Friday. To ensure that everyone can take part in PE lessons, it is important that children have their PE kit, sports trainers and a water bottle.
SWIMMING – sessions have changed to a Wednesday afternoon and will be taking place at Wolsingham Swimming Pool. We will travel by coach and return for the normal end of school day. Children will need their swimming kit, a towel and goggles.
