This Term

Below you will find information about what the classes in Year 5 and 6 are learning about this term. You might also like to view our Homework page for ways that you can support learning at home.

Spring 2025

English

This term we will begin with studying a poem called ‘The British’ by Benjamin Zephaniah. The children will look at the work of Benjamin Zephaniah, explore different performance techniques, enhancing their speaking and listening skills and plan and edit their own list and free-verse poems. We will then move onto a familiar story with a moral ‘The Boy Who cried Wolf’. The children will learn the text and focus on learning how to use expanded noun phrases, parenthesis and direct and reported speech. Finally, the children will create their own story with a moral based on an animal living in a zoo using what they have learnt during the unit. During the first half term, the Year 6 children will begin work in booster groups preparing for SATS. This will focus on; securing reading comprehension skills, grammar knowledge and writing in different genres using the specific targets set, and will continue until May.

In the second half of the term, Year 5 will study a narrow escape story ‘The Canal’ focusing on the use of speech and its’ related grammar and punctuation, using a variety of ways to open sentences and linking ideas across paragraphs. Children will produce their own story applying the genre features learnt throughout the unit. The final unit for the Spring term will be a non-fiction unit based on a discussion text about young people and social media. This will include learning how to make a balanced argument with for and against points of view, using colons and semi-colons and subjunctive form sentence openers. The unit finishes with the children writing their own discussion text using the writing skills they have learnt.

Maths

The children will be studying a range of concepts and calculations focused on number. These will include; place value, different methods for addition and subtraction, reasoning problems, methods for multiplication and division, identifying different fractions and reading and writing decimal numbers. In addition to the number focus; children will also work on their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes, identifying angles, converting units of measure, solving data problems and presenting data.

Topic

Over the course of the first half of Spring term our focus will be historical, learning about The Mayans considering the question: ‘How did the achievements of the ancient Maya impact their society and beyond?’ The children will be studying: who the Mayans were and where they were from; Mayan culture and daily life and exploring different theories as to what happened to the ancient Mayan civilisation.

After February half term, our topic will be Design Technology-based learning considering ‘Could I be a restaurant manager?’ The topic will begin with learning about where and when food is grown around the world and about the main food groups and the importance of a balanced diet. The children will then gain a basic understanding of cooking equipment and practise some simple staple recipes before going onto design and make a starter, main course and dessert in small groups.

Further information about this terms topics can be found on the topic pages.

Science

We will begin this term with learning about Light. Children will explore how light travels and how light behaves. They will learn that because light travels in straight lines objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye. Our second unit is ‘Animals including humans’ which will focus on the human circulatory system and the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood. They will also learn about the impact of diet, exercise, drugs and lifestyle on the way the human body functions.

During the first half of the Spring term, the children will spend one of their PE lessons working on a Real PE unit developing their seated balance and floor work balance through skills development sessions and games. The other PE lesson will be developing a range of skills and tactics – passing, shooting, defending and attacking through the game of basketball.

During the second half of the term, one of the lessons will be a Real PE unit giving the children opportunities to develop their health and fitness skills. The children will also participate in gymnastics lessons working on balance, coordination and movement.

In R.E, we will spend the first half of the term focusing on the question, ‘What do Christians believe about the old and new covenants?’ and in the second half term, ‘Should we forgive others?’

Music

In the first half of the term the children will use part of the Charanga program to explore music technology and learn how to create their own hip hop music. The second half term will see the children begin ukulele lessons.

French

Our focus for the first half of the term is “Je suis le musician.” During the second half of the term, children will learn vocabulary related to food in our topic “Bon appetit.”

Art/DT

In the first half of the Spring term, the children will be learning all about colour, tone and different techniques. The children will learn how different colours can create different moods and explore different techniques to create effects. In the second half of the Spring term, we will focus on food technology skills during our Topic work.

Life Curriculum

This term we will focus on growing up and changing and people who care for us. As well as this we will continue developing the children’s understanding of our whole school approach using the ‘Zones or Regulation’ and include sessions on our whole school Mindmate themes.

Computing

During the first half of the Spring term, the children will learn the key skills needed to create a PowerPoint. Following this, the children will complete the next coding unit using Espresso.