Welcome to Year 5

Our class is called Admirals. We are taught by Mrs Tott and are supported by Mrs Bourne.

PE Days

In the Spring Term, Admiral class will be taught PE on a Tuesday and a Thursday. Children will need to wear their PE kit to school on Tuesdays. They will not need uniform to change into. Please ensure your child has the correct kit so they can participate successfully. On Thursdays the children will be going swimming, so will need to bring their full swimming kit on these days.

Library Slot

Your child will get an opportunity to visit the school library on Thursdays. Here they will have the chance to borrow a book that they are interested in: a book they will read for pleasure. If they wish to take a book home, this will need to be returned on a Thursday ready to change.

Home Learning

Reading

In years 5 and 6, children may choose to read independently at home. This should be for at least ten minutes and should be recorded in their reading record daily. Your child's reading record must be handed in every day. At Margaret Wix our children are all aiming to be 'Reading Champions' at the end of each term.

It is important that you talk to your child about what they have read; you will find some question stems that could be used to support such conversations on our reading star above. Here you will also find a list of recommended texts for Year 5 that are suitably challenging.

Maths Magicians

There are a number of key mathematical facts that children should know and remember. These are, of course, taught in school but it is essential that children practise them at home too. You can find out which facts your child is currently working on by checking their maths record book. This is also where you should record their daily practice. Children's maths record books should be brought to school every day. Children will be quizzed on their maths facts every Friday. As they progress through the different stages of facts, children have the opportunity to earn rewards and work towards becoming Maths Magicians!

Times Tables 

Times Tables (and the associated division facts) are a vital part of mathematical knowledge and understanding. It is crucial that your child practises these skills at home by logging onto the Times Table Rockstars website daily, for at least ten minutes. Additionally, there are opportunities to practise maths skills in day-to-day life, such as when measuring ingredients for cooking, or counting change at the shops. You will find this resource on the maths star, which may help you to structure mathematical conversations.

Spelling

In school, we will teach the children spelling patterns and rules. At home, we would like the focus to be on  learning and practising the Year 5/6 National Curriculum words (you can find these by clicking on the spelling star at the top of the page.)

English and Maths 

Each week, your child will receive a grid of homework for maths and English that will focus on revisiting previous learning and consolidating the learning from the week. Please be aware that this homework should only take them a maximum of 20 minutes and won't include any new learning. If your child struggles with the tasks, let them give it a go for 20 minutes, then stop and let me know by finding me on the door or writing a note in their homework book. Not only will this homework be a great way to consolidate any prior and current learning but will support your child in becoming more independent and will inevitably help to prepare them for homework in secondary school.

Handwriting

In order to support your child with their handwriting, please use letter join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/. For more information on how to log on at home, with your child, head to the handwriting star. 

This week's home learning is...

• Arithmetic - pages 10 and 11 (Workout 5 - adding 5-digit numbers)
• Maths - pages 10 and 11 (Workout 5 - adding/factors/multiples)
• English - pages 10 and 11 (Workout 5 - endings with 'shul'/relative pronouns)
• Maths Magicians and reading daily
• Children could also practise Times Table Rockstars and handwriting - links to these pages can be found under the maths and writing stars at the top of this page.

If the maths or English task is taking your child much longer than 30 minutes for each, then please write a note in the book and we will look at it with them in school.

Home learning is given out on a Friday and should be handed in the following Wednesday.

Spring 2 Update (April 2025)

This half term has continued to provide Admirals with challenges and opportunities to flourish! The children have once again impressed with how adaptable and resilient they can be. They continue to work extremely hard to consolidate their number fluency, improve their vocabulary and sentence structures and grow in their curiosity and problem solving skills. 

In English this half term, Admirals have enjoyed exploring a range of texts and focusing mainly on tension building. The first text we focused on was The Watertower. This short graphic novel follows two boys who decide to the climb the abandoned and neglected water tower just out of their town. Strange things occur and we are left questioning what really happened to the main character, Bubba. The mystery of this eerie text helped us to learn some tension building techniques so we could write our own short section of a story that would leave our readers feeling uneasy. We then read Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho Yen. This novel is about Ade who is a just an ordinary boy with an ordinary life. He loves living at top of a tower block, but one day a building falls randomly near his home, an incredibly stable building. Luckily, no one is hurt, but the buildings keep falling with no reason whatsoever. We were gripped from the beginning and loved the mystery as it unfolded in the story. We learned more about how to grab the reader’s attention and keep them wanting to read more. Our pieces of writing at the end of this unit were so gripping!

We’ve continued to work hard in maths this half term, tackling a range of topics. We began our learning with fractions. Although we found this tricky, we continued to persevere and quickly realised they are not as challenging as we once thought. We worked hard to find equivalents; add and subtract fractions; convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions and solve fractions of amounts questions. Once we had fully mastered fractions, we moved onto to area where we practised converting measures and volume and were introduced to percentages.

In science, we loved learning all about forces. This unit had plenty of investigations, so we took the hands-on approach to learn all about gravity, air-resistance, water-resistance and friction. We planned and carried out a number of fair tests, seeing these forces in action, and making suitable conclusions.  

Our geography topic this term has seen us explore the physical and human importance of a biome that covers one-fifth of the world’s land surface – the mountain! The study of mountains enabled us to comprehend key concepts of physical geography such as plate tectonics and the formation of different rock types, as well as erosion and geological deep time. We created informative videos about how fold mountain ranges form and got to grips of how fossils have been found on the summit of Mount Everest.

In computing, this half term, we have learned about flat-file databases. We first created paper databases before moving to online databases. We learned about records and fields and how to sort data and search within a database. Finally, we found out how databases are used in real life.

In Design and Technology, we have been exploring the use of electronic items and have been exploring the components needed to complete a full circuit of electricity. We then created our own moving mechanisms (doodlers) which we used to draw across the page.

In Art, we learnt a bit about arcjitecture. We studied a range of different buildings, looking at the shapes that were made and practised our observational drawing. We then learnt about the architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser who loved to incorporate colour and whimsical shapes to his building. We then designed and drew our own buildings in his style.

In PE the children have really impressed staff with their self-belief in their swimming lessons. I was particularly pleased with their determination during their sponsored swim! Well done Admirals and thank you for any sponsorship money raised! 

In RE, this half term, we have been investigating and evaluating the key question: How significant is it for Christians to believe God intended Jesus to die? We learnt to question whether Christian’s believe that God intended Jesus to be crucified or whether Jesus’ crucifixion was the consequence of events during Holy Week. We began our sequence by thinking about our life plan and whether we have a specific purpose in life. We then transferred this thinking to Jesus and explored different clues in the Bible that suggested Jesus was aware of his purpose on Earth.

Our PSHE lessons have been focused on the topic ‘Healthy Me’. We have learned about the risks and effects of smoking and alcohol on our bodies. I was extremely impressed with the considered discussion and thoughtfulness surrounding these mature themes. The children enjoyed learning and putting into practice basic emergency aid procedures. In addition, we have had some extremely thoughtful discussions about body image. We learnt how important it is to show kindness when talking to or about others. We looked at celebrity pictures that have been altered by the media and the effects these could have on young children today.

As you can see, Admirals have had a full on half term and have continued to show just how resilient they can be. They have shown kindness, demonstrated self-belief and worked hard to reach their full potential. As always, thank you for your continued support too. I hope that everyone has a restful and enjoyable break!

How can you support your child at home with preparation for Year 6?

Since we are fast approaching year 6, I am becoming increasingly aware of the need to prepare the children for this. Please look at the list below, which outlines non-negotiables for your child’s learning. These are key skills that MUST be rehearsed and practised at home.  

1)   Times tables – these feed into every aspect to maths learning and are a crucial skill in everyday life. Please practise times tables every day on times table rockstars website or the below link. 

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check 

2)   Telling the time – in the age of the digital clock, we are becoming more and more aware that our children cannot tell the time on an analogue watch. Ask your child what the time is at every opportunity e.g: It’s dinner time, what time is it? How long is it until your bedtime? What time is it now? Etc. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=telling+time

3)   The use of four operations (addition, multiplication, subtraction and division). These methods should be practised and rehearsed daily. Use this website to guide you on the sorts of questions. 
https://myminimaths.co.uk/year-6-arithmetic-practice-papers/ 
 

4)   Reading – please encourage your child to read every day and/or read with them. This is so vital in ensuring your children are exposed to a variety of different text types as well as ambitious vocabulary.  

Your children practise these skills daily in morning work and daily fluency sessions, however we need your support to ensure your children reach their full potential. Please come and talk to me if you would like any support with this; my door is always open.  

Thank you so much for all of your support.

Mrs Tott

Spring 1 Update (February 2025)

What a fantastic half term we have had in Admirals class! The children have proven, once again, that they have embraced our Margaret Wix values and are continuously working hard to live by these powers in school. They have shown resilience when tackling hard maths challenges; self-belief when striving to reach their goals; curiosity in abundance when asking thought-provoking questions across the curriculum; and kindness whilst supporting their friends during new challenges like swimming.

In English, this term, we began by looking at biographies describing the lives of remarkable scientists like Mary Anning. We studied the language choices used in this style of writing, including the use of specific vocabulary, fronted adverbials to help keep events in chronological order and using brackets for parenthesis. We then researched, planned and wrote our own biographies on another inspiration figure. We then enjoyed reading the humorous ‘The Misadventures of Fredrick’ which followed letter writing from one child to another. We then built on our abilities in persuasive writing which lead us nicely into writing to Mrs Gibbs to see if we could convince her to make a change to the school. Our ideas included: having a McDonalds on site, banning homework, bring pets into school and introducing mandatory nap time!

In maths, we have worked hard to tackle short division. Although we found this challenging at first, we all persevered and have mastered it. Admirals are now able to express remainders as fractions, decimals and decide which remainder would be most appropriate in different contexts. We have also worked hard on representing fractions pictorially, creating equivalent fractions and adding and subtracting them too!

In science, we delved into our incredible solar system in our space topic. We have learnt how to describe the movement of the Earth and other planets, relative to the sun in the solar system. We are now able to discuss the movement of the moon relative to the Earth and created moving models to showcase this understanding. We also learnt how the Sun, Earth and Moon are approximate spherical bodies.

History, this term, has been centred around the Ancient Greeks. We were studying the key question, The Trojan horse: historical fact, legend or myth? In order to answer this question we first learnt about the story. We practised our story telling skills to retell the key events and then wrote up the story using a comic book strip. Next, we explored different sources and investigated how reliable or unreliable they were. We designed Greek pots and used these to create our own reliable piece of evidence. To end our unit, we had to think deeply about our enquiry question and decided whether the Trojan Horse story was in fact a myth, legend or historical fact.

In computing, we practised numerous skills relating to vector drawing. We learnt how to manipulate shapes, zoom, duplicate, copy and paste, rotate and layer in order to produce a range of fun, complex vector drawings.

In art we made a link with our space unit in science to create a drawing of the future. We used printing and applying different materials to create a drawing similar in style to ‘Moonwalk’ by Teis Albers.  

In PE, the children have enjoyed swimming lessons, improving both their technique and stamina. The swimming teachers have been very impressed with the effort and determination to succeed shown in every lesson. I have been particularly impressed with the determination and perseverance shown by all the children! Well done Admirals.

Our PSHE lessons have been focused on our dreams and goals. We started our topic by thinking about our long term goals for the future, including jobs and careers. We discussed that these needed to be realistic and that we would need to work hard to achieve them. As a class, we thought of the logical steps we needed to take in order to reach our potential. We then looked at a range of jobs and salaries and discussed which job profession we felt contributed most to society. We then had to fill out our own job applications for our dream job. As well as our discrete learning in PSHE, we took part in NSPCC number day and Children’s Mental Health week!

I hope you have a restful and well-deserved break over the half term, Admirals.  Well done for all of your hard work and I look forward to seeing you in a week! Thank you parents and carers for your continued support in helping your children to reach their full potential – it really is a team effort!

Mrs Tott

Autumn 2 Update (December 2024)

Year 5 have had a productive second half to the Autumn Term, which has been full of opportunities to grow as young people and learn about the importance of being kind and resilient. As a class, we took part in Anti-Bullying week as well as World Kindness Day. During these weeks, we spent time focusing on our mental well-being and creating strategies for how we can help ourselves and others if we face conflict. We have been lucky enough to take part in some wonderful cross-curricular activities too. We took part in an online STEM challenge; performed an amazing drama to the school and parents; watched a pantomime at Townsend and took part in the Christmas concert.

In maths, we have consolidated our understanding of place value and we are able to regroup more flexibly to solve calculations. We moved on to tackle mental strategies for multiplication, addition and subtraction. We explored which methods were most efficient for calculations and which methods would not be the best suited. Mental calculations are a great way to estimate answers but also can save us a great deal of time. We then applied our learning to formal written addition and subtraction. With this, we spotted mistakes, solved missing number calculations and investigated word problems; these tested our understanding and provided an opportunity to show case our understanding. Towards the end of the half term, we started looking at formal methods of long multiplication. Although this test our reliance at first, we are feeling much more confident with this method now.  

We have been busy in English, this term, and have written some excellent, extended pieces of writing. At the start of the half term, we wrote some beautiful war poetry just in time for Remembrance Day. We were able to write in the format of a cinquian and developed our use of ambitious and well-chosen vocabulary. We then spent a number of weeks on the fabulous book ‘The Promise’ by Nicola Davies. We all enjoyed the descriptions within this story and the deep message it gave. We practised our descriptive writing, building sentences, which include figurative language and expanded noun phrases. We also developed our skills in writing effective dialogue, which helps to move a story forward and provide more information about a character. Then we were finally able to put all of these skills together to write a continuation of this cyclical story, and the results were phenomenal!

In science, we delved into the world of ‘properties of materials.’ In each lesson, we acquired more knowledge by planning and carrying out investigations. We tested which materials were insoluble and soluble. We investigated which materials were reversible by heating and filtering and we even managed to separate an abundance of materials using magnets, scissors, blue tac and cello tape (that really was a challenge). Later in the unit, we explored reversible and irreversible changes. We made our own pop rockets and watched them explode when a new material was formed: carbon dioxide. The children have loved the hands on side to learning and demonstrated such curiosity whilst investigating the properties of different materials.

In Geography this half term, we have learned about volcanoes. The children have learnt all about the locations of volcanoes in the world, the make-up of volcanoes, how they are formed and much more. Our focus was on Iceland, which is where are inquiry started. We looked deeply at Heimaey: an archipelago towards the south of Iceland. We studied the physical and human features of Heimaey and then compared these to St Albans. We then moved on to learn about the climate of Heimaey and looked closely at how eruptions that have occurred there, have affected the lives of the inhabitants.

Computing lessons have focused on video editing this half term. We began by looking at filming techniques including camera angles and types of shot before using a storyboard to plan a video of our own. We then filmed our videos in groups. The children showed that they were adept at using technology to create their videos.

For our PSHE lessons, we learnt all about tolerance and the importance of celebrating difference. We looked at children with different cultures from our own. We held mature discussions about sensitive topics such as Hate Crimes and Black History. We learnt that groups of people are discriminated against because of perceived differences and discussed how we could overcome these conflicts. I was so impressed with how mature all the children were in talking about these subjects and expressing their views to others.

As part of our PE next term, we are so looking forward to going swimming! Please remember your swimming kit every Thursday!

As the term draws to a close, I am reminded of just how much we have achieved as a team and as the very special Margaret Wix family! The Christmas spirit has definitely taken over. It has been so lovely to see the school filled with festive cheer! We wore Christmas jumpers, ate Christmas lunch, decorated the tree, took part in the Christmas music concert and watched the panto too!

I hope you have a restful and well-deserved break Admirals. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, if you are celebrating! Well done for all of your hard work and I look forward to seeing you again in January! Parents and carers, thank you for your continuous support in helping your children to reach their full potential!

Mrs Tott

Autumn 1 Update (October 2023)

Admirals have had an excellent, productive first half term back at school. They have settled back into their routines and have shown me just what enthusiastic, reflective learners they are! This half term has been packed full of learning and lots of amazing opportunities.

This half term, in English, we have been enjoying a couple of fantastic, high quality texts, including ‘The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures’ and ‘Cloud Tea Monkeys’. Our first unit, on non-chronological reports, saw us learning about how to inform our reader about a mythical creature of our own design. We used new and ambitious vocabulary to describe its appearance, diet, habitat and evidence of sightings. We then read the beatifically descriptive ‘Cloud Tea Monkeys’ and worked on a number of grammatical techniques including: fronted adverbials, figurative language, expanded noun-phrases and how to link through paragraphs. This led us to our final extended write where we took a section of the story and retold it in our own words.

In maths, we have tackled a hugely important unit on place value. The children have ordered numbers, placed them on number lines, predicted mystery numbers and rounded them too! The children have persevered when faced with new learning and challenges and have demonstrated our learning skills brilliantly! We moved onto exploring negative numbers and learnt about: where we would find them in a real-life context; how to add and subtract negative numbers; and how to read different intervals in scales. More recently, we have been learning how to divide and multiply by 10, 100 and 1,000. The children used speaking frames to support their understanding of the number growing larger or smaller and exactly how the digits move through the place value columns.

History, this term, has been centred on the Maya Civilisation. We explored how the Maya lived and how this is different from how they may live today. We learnt all about the occupations they had and the different types of food and drink they ate. We travelled back in time to look at famous sketches of the different pyramids and temples and wrote diary entries in role as if we had been exploring the famous ‘Lost Jungle Cities.’ Following this, we learnt exactly what each of the impressive structures was used for. These included sacrifice sites, bathing pools and columns to observe the stars and phases of the moon. We finished our unit by playing the infamous Pok-A-Tok game and drank chilli hot chocolate - what fun!

In computing, we have been learning about electronic systems and sharing information. We studied how these complex systems work and where we would find them in the outside world. We created teddy bears with different complex systems inside of them and studied important systems like pelican and puffin crossings. We then looked at sharing information effectively and created a shared PowerPoint on some under recognised, influential black people practising virtual skills in communication. 

In PE, the children have been practising their skills in hockey and now have great control over the ball. They have also been developing their sportsmanship which is lovely to see.

In science, we have studied living things and their habitats. We found out how living things are sorted by observable characteristics and that scientists all over the world observe them, and ask questions to find out about different species. We looked particularly at Jane Goodall and David Attenborough. We also learnt all about pollination and how pollinators are vital for our environment to flourish and produce fruit and vegetables for us to eat. We learned about the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction in plants, and researched the gestation periods of different animals. We also thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Tring Natural History Museum.

In art, Mrs Campbell-Pugh has taught the children how to cut lino to create positive and negative prints in the image of dragon scales. The children then experimented with mixed colours on our rollers and found out what it would look like if they overlapped the prints. They then used oil pastels to create our eyes. We also started Christmas a little early this year with some festive artwork which we will be revealing after half term.

In DT, we developed our sewing skills further by creating a small stuffed toy. After designing our toy, we revised our use of running stitch to attach appliqué and used blanket stitch to sew the sides our toys. The results were impressive!

In RE, we learnt all about commitment and considered the key question, ‘How far would a Sikh go for their religion?’ We looked at some of their core beliefs and then learnt about examples of how modern Sikhs might demonstrate these today. We also held our own Langar in our classroom to get a sense of the equality and selfless duty that many Sikhs show in a gurdwara. We practised our oracy skills in our discussions and had to express our opinions clearly and confidently.

In PSHE, we began our first topic ‘Being Me in My World.’ We explored our hopes and dreams for the upcoming term and moved on to learn all about children’s rights. We explored everybody’s rights to be safe, have access to clean water, a safe place to live and the right to learn. We thought about our rights at school and how we can all show responsibility by upholding these rights. Additionally, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day and Black History Month. We also took part in the NSPCC Speak Out. Stay Safe. programme where were learnt about abuse and how we can reach out for help. 

Your children have worked so hard this half term and have lived by our Margaret Wix values. I hope you enjoy a restful break Admirals, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs Tott