Welcome to Year 5

Meet The Team

Welcome to the Year 5 staff team. We are a friendly team, determined to help your children have a fantastic year at Avonwood Primary School. If you require any help or have any questions, please do not hesitate to chat to us at drop off / pick up or contact the school and one of us will respond.

Phase Lead	Mrs King
Pacific Teacher	Miss Wilkes
Atlantic Teacher	Miss Short & Mrs Wright
Teaching Assistants	Mrs Hughes, Mrs Power & Miss Marks

Key Information

Year 5 Curriculum Overview: Click Here

Instagram: AvonwoodYear5

Homework: Click Here

Year 5 is such an exciting year, full of inspirational texts, stimulating trips and visits and new challenges. It is a year full of opportunities to develop independence, growth and resilience. We work hard to set children up for their transition in this final phase of primary.

We begin the year by diving into an adventure narrative, ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’, which we use to develop our skills in both composition and comprehension. With this, we will get the opportunity to be true survivors and learn how to be successful.

During the run up to Christmas, we step through the wardrobe and into the magical world of Narnia, where we explore themes of courage, loyalty, and the battle between good and evil in C.S. Lewis’s classic tale, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’. We will also begin our learning of the Romans, focussing on their development of the Roman Empire. During this topic, we will design and sew our own Roman themed cushions.

In the spring term, we are reunited with our wonderful Forest School team and extend our learning of survival skills. Alongside this, we will be studying Roman Britain and then investigating rivers and North America whilst reading ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar - a cleverly woven, funny and heart-warming story set in Texas. During our water investigation, we will visit a river (the River Piddle) and work on our key geography field skills.

Summer term takes us on an emotional journey where we will be reading ‘Skellig’ and receive a bird visit from ‘Falconry UK’ where we will explore hidden meanings and the wonder of birds. Our final text of the year is a Greek adventure, full of puns, myths and legends. In Science and Design and Technology, we will be exploring forces, physics and gravity supported by our trip to Paulton’s Park! Also in our final term, we begin to explore Space and learn all about the world around us and beyond!

We cannot wait to get started and welcome you to Upper Key Stage 2.

The key dates for the half term ahead and information on homework (including Reach for the Stars Challenges) are captured on the half termly curriculum handout, a paper copy of which is sent home with your child. The electronic version of the handout can also be found below:

Year 5 parent curriculum handout autumn 1

Year 5 Timetable - A Typical Day

At Avonwood our mantra is ‘Every Minute Counts’, so please help us by arriving promptly at 8:40am daily. Morning break is 15 minutes, and we have a one-hour lunch.

Year 5 Example Timetable (Subject to Change)

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Home Learning

In Years 5 & 6 we begin to prepare the children for the next phase of education and rigour of secondary school daily home learning expectations. The onus increasingly falls on the child to organise their own time and to submit their learning to the class teacher. At the start of Year 5 we will support the children in taking more responsibility for their home learning. As well as consolidating prior learning, a key driver of this phase of home learning is to develop independence and resilience with this aspect of education. The home learning is very much designed around end of Key Stage 2 goals, in Y6 CGP SAT revision guides forming a key part of this.

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FAQs

What trips and visits do you complete in Year 5?

In Year 5, we have a number of trips and visits available. To link with our Water Geography unit, we visit a river to undergo some river dipping and complete our geography field skills. We will have our Roman Day to celebrate the mid-way point on our Roman learning. During the summer term, we will go to Paulton’s Park for our forces workshop to help with our science learning, where we will then get to see the forces at work – on the rollercoasters! During our Skellig unit, we will have a bird visit from Falconry UK to help with our subject knowledge of birds.

What day of the week is homework set?

Homework is set on a Friday and due in the following Thursday.

I would like to support my child with their learning from home, what can I do to help?

The best way to assist your child at home is to help set up routines that ensure your child has increasing responsibility for getting their school things ready, completing their homework and daily reading. Daily reading is fundamental to children’s progress so any support with this would be fantastic. This could be a mix of the child reading to you and you reading to them too. Times tables are also key in a child’s success to maths in Year 5 and 6; without this vital knowledge they will struggle with the everyday basics. Any support you can provide with helping your child to ensure they have high quality weekly homework would be highly beneficial as well. Checking over your child’s homework and discussing the number of marks they achieved helps them to identify where they may have made any mistakes and what areas they should focus on in the future.

What should they bring to school every day?

Each day, your child should come equipped with their reading journal (signed daily), their reading book, a named water bottle, a named snack box with a fruit or vegetable snack for playtime, a named lunchbox (or know that they are having a hot school dinner), a named waterproof coat and a named sunhat and suncream in the summer.

When should I apply for secondary schools?

The deadline for applications for secondary schools is usually the 31^st October in the year that your child enters Year 6.

Can I take my child with me to view secondary schools?

The deadline for applications for secondary schools is the end of October in the year that your child enters Year 6.

What should my child be reading and how often?

For some top tips of what your child should be reading, please see our useful documents and links (below) for a recommended reading list for Years 5 and 6 or have a look at the reading section of our website. Research shows daily reading as one of the highest contributors to high achievement in children. Therefore, children should be reading daily all through their school life; we encourage children to log this in their reading journals which we will check daily. Once your child has read five times in the week, they will receive a ‘High 5’ pom pom to put into their class jar. Once the jar is full, the class will celebrate by choosing an activity from the reading raffle!

Why has my child been invited to swimming lessons?

It is a National Curriculum statutory requirement that children are able to swim 25m. All children are invited to swim in Year 3 for a block of lessons, if children do not pass then we ask parents in Year 5 if they have since reached this. If children are still not able to swim 25m then children are invited to attend six catch up lessons in Year 5 whilst the other children complete their PE in school. There is a small fee to pay for these swimming lessons, but if there are any problems with this, then we encourage you to get in touch at the earliest opportunity so that we can help.

What days do our children need to wear PE kit?

In Year 5, we have PE on Wednesday and Thursday. Children should attend school in full PE kit, including navy jogging bottoms and our branded Avonwood navy hoodie. They should not wear any jewellery (including earrings) whilst participating in PE.

My child would like to walk to and from school independently, is this possible?

In Years 5 and 6 we permit children to walk to and from school independently with prior parent and school consent. To request this, please complete the form (which you can find from the office) and pass this back to the front office once completed. Please await written confirmation this may go ahead before commencing this.

How can I help my child prepare for Year 6?

In Year 5, we spend our time getting children ready for the pace of Year 6 and Secondary School, so this feels like less of a shock for them. One thing that really helps with this is confident and fluent times table and arithmetic skills (e.g. knowing number bonds to 10, 20 and 100 fluently and being able to add single-digit numbers in their head quickly). Additionally, it would be beneficial for children to practise their Year 5 and 6 statutory spelling words which can be found below.

Do you do 11+ practice in school?

We do not do anything specific to assist with 11+ practice at school. All preparation for this should be done at home, however, teachers are happy to discuss which areas of learning your child may benefit from focusing on.