During the Autumn term of Year 5, we will be developing our narrative writing skills. We are studying the structure of Gorilla by Anthony Brown and will create our own adventure story of a midnight journey. During the second part of the term, we will be developing our speech writing skills and we will be conducting independent research on homelessness in the UK and globally to guide our speeches.

Our whole class reading this term begins with Wonder by R.J Palacio. We will read this collaboratively and will then create written responses based on events in the story. The second book we will be reading and responding to is Patina by Jason Reynolds.

Pupils will continue to take part in Accelerated Reader, spelling investigations as well as comprehension and grammar tasks.

Over the Autumn Term, mathematics and numeracy lessons will focus on embedding a range of fundamental skills. Children will have the opportunity to use practical resources to talk about and show their thinking and develop their ability to make links between concepts. The concepts that we will be covering over the Autumn Term include place value up to 100,000, ordering and comparing numbers, including negative, decimal numbers, addition and subtraction using a range of methods and approaches. Finally, we will focus on data handling and apply our knowledge to solve mathematically challenging problems.

During the second part of the Autumn Term, we will be learning about shapes, angles, position and direction. We will then begin to work with multiplication and division, using practical resources to share our learning. The application of this concept will support us in learning about area and perimeter towards the end of the Autumn Term.

Within our afternoon sessions, we will be exploring the school's overarching concept of 'Human Kind'. We will be looking in detail at our roots and 'Cynefin' and finding out about our values and our community, building upon our own sense of identity. Within this work, we will be researching a range of modern day and historical tribes, gaining an understanding of their geography, values and historical context. We will then apply this knowledge and understanding to our own lives and start to think about what forms our 'Tribe'. As the term progresses, we will explore the hierarchical systems within communities and explore modern day issues around diversity and discrimination such as gender divides and rich vs poor and the impact of these systems on our lives.

Within Science and Technology, we will be focusing on The Human Body, particularly focusing on the Respiratory System. We will be researching influential scientists who have had an impact on medicine and begin to relate this to the practical elements of how the human body works. We will be studying the functions of the heart and what happens when the heart stops functioning as it should.

Welsh lessons are centred around 'Y Dref' with a link to our local community. Children will develop sentence patterns and be able to locate places on a map and give and receive directions. Children will also develop the ability to name a variety of places within our local community, using the Welsh language.

We will be doing a lot of work this year around our sense of identity and community. As part of our class focus we will be learning how to take measured risks and recognising that it is okay to find things challenging. We will be building our relationships with classmates through lots of group discussions and group tasks as well as strengthening our oral skills. Our Health and Well-being sessions will centre around sharing, co-operating and showing respect to team-mates as well as being able to lead and follow during activities.

All pupils should have a water bottle in school every day. PE will take place on Tuesday, children are expected to wear their kit to school on PE day. Enrichment sessions will take place on Friday afternoons and a sports kit should be worn. Accelerated Reading books will be available to take home daily and should be returned to school to read in class on a daily basis.

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To contact your child's teacher please drop us an email via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or call us 01656 815790. Don't forget to download our School App via the Play or App stores - The School App will provide you with up to date information about activities and events at Oldcastle Primary School. Please look out for our weekly newsletter issued via The School App and available on our website on a Friday afternoon.