Autumn Term

The children have really enjoyed listening to Science Fiction stories this half-term. Following this, they have been inspired to write their own Science Fiction stories, from the Novels, 'Aquila' and 'Beegu'. The children in Year 5 also used their knowledge of the planets, in our Solar System to influence their descriptive writing of settings. 

During our geography lessons, we used Mapzone | Ordnance Survey to name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom. We really enjoyed this interactive site, which used games and puzzles to learn all about the six figure coordinates, Ordnance Survey symbols including 1:50K symbols. It also helped them to know that different scale Ordnance Survey maps use some different symbols. We used a wide range of maps, atlases, globes and digital maps to locate countries and features studied.

 The children also designed and created a 3D model of a mountain range to help them described and understand key aspects of:

• physical geography, including rivers, mountains.
• human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. We could also link these skills to our learning in history about Mesopotamia and the House of Wisdom in Baghdad CE 900. 

History

During our history lessons we began to recognise and describe the nature and extent of diversity, change and continuity and suggest relationships between causes (e.g. by understanding which countries Baghdad AD900 influenced and how they influenced devices and technologies we have today).

English

During our English lessons, we were inspired by our class novel, 'The Invention of Hug Cabret ' to write stories about an invention that goes wrong. We explored themes of loss, heroism and friendship within and across the novel. We also used speaking, listening and drama to make comparisons between the characters’ viewpoints during the same events.

Art and Design

This this half-term, the children have developed their understanding of the human form. By extensive drawing, their understanding of human proportions have been developed and then challenged by creating a 3-D form in sculpture. 

We explored both historical and contemporary artists such as Alberto Giacometti and Patricia Coates, who inspired and guided the children from the initial drawing and investigating stages to developing their sculptures. First, the children explored mark making and tones through drawing to music. They were able to use their emotions to guide them. Next the children used questioning and observation to identify similar mark making patterns within their studied artist's sketches. The children also developed their understanding of how to use a journal as an investigative tool.

Year 5 were inspired by their English class novel, 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' and used the characters from the book to inspire their sculptures. 

Computing

During our computing lessons, we have used idraw and sketchpad to understand that digital tools can be used to create images.

We learnt that vector images are made up of shapes and lines and used digital tools to improve detail in image.

We were very proud of our digital artwork and showcased them during our Year5 assembly.