Welcome to Year 5

As children progress through Key Stage 2, Year 5 offers an exciting opportunity to deepen their knowledge, develop critical thinking, and enhance their leadership skills. It’s also a time for pupils to take on greater responsibilities, building confidence and preparing them for the challenges of Year 6 and beyond.

Eager hands up from a group of children to answer a question from the teacher

Spring Term Curriculum Letter

Everything that’s going on in Year 5 this half term.

Read it here

Upcoming events for Year 5

Here’s what you’ve got to look forward to over the next few weeks.

Geography Workshop
Mon 20th Jan
Parent Consultations
Wed 22nd Jan
1.30pm-5.50pm
National Art Gallery Visit
Fri 31st Jan
Open Classroom
Mon 3rd Feb
8.45am-9.15am
Bank of England Visit (Ranjeni/Ruhana)
Tue 4th Feb
Parental Engagement Session
Fri 7th Feb
08.45-9.10am
Bank of England Visit (Habiba)
Tue 11th Feb
Bank of England Visit (Kayann)
Tue 25th Feb

Year 5 Curriculum

Art and Design / DT / Food and Nutrition

At KS1 and KS2 we follow a two year sequence:

2024/2025 and 2026/2027

Autumn 1 – Textiles – batik

Autumn 2 – Painting

Spring 1 – Mechanical Systems: Pneumatics

Spring 2 – Collage

Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media

Summer 2 – Food Technology

 

2025/2026

Autumn 1 – Printing

Autumn 2 – 3D: Metal

Spring 1 – Electrical Systems

Spring 2 – Mechanica | Systems (axles and wheels)

Summer 1 – Portraits, including mixed media

Summer 2 – Structures

Computing

Each year through KS1-2 we cycle through the following units at increasing depth:

  1. Productivity
  2. Programming
  3. Computational Thinking
  4. Creativity
  5. Networks
  6. Communication/collaboration
English

Reading to Learn

Once children have been carefully assessed as having met the requirements of the phonics program, they should be able to decode any age appropriate text. At this point, children move onto our ‘Paradigm Literacy and Language’ program.

The program allocates 3 weeks to ‘fiction writing’ such as: stories, poetry, one week to ‘journalistic writing’ such as biographies and non chronological reports and two weeks to a ‘non fiction writing’ program in which specialist teachers across the Trust have worked together to create and provide high quality texts in The Humanities and The Sciences.

Geography

Children in Year 5 learn about the following subjects:

The living world

  • Biomes
  • Hot and cold climates
  • Rainforests

The economic world

  • Food, water and energy
  • The changing economic world
  • Tourism and ecotourism
  • Case study: Cambridge
History

We cover two topics a year for History in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Year 5 we take an in-depth study on the Significance of the Tudors, then Compare and Contrast Islamic World and Medieval Christendom.

Mathematics

Our school uses Maths Mastery to teach the subject.

In Year 5 we cover:

  • Reasoning with large whole integers
  • Integer addition and subtraction
  • Line graphs and times tables
  • Multiplication and division
  • Perimeter and area
Modern Foreign Languages

We study Spanish at Key Stage 2, through a system called Early Start Spanish Programme.

Music

Autumn 1 – Rock

Autumn 2 – Big Band / Swing

Spring 1 – Piano Music

Spring 2 – Opera

Summer 1 – Indian Raga

Summer 2 – Reflect, Rewind and Replay

PE
  • Striking / fielding (e.g. rounders, cricket)
  • Gymnastics
  • Invasion Games (e.g. hockey, netball, football)
  • Athletics
  • Swimming
  • Dance
Religious and Non-religious Worldviews (RE)

We follow a three-year cycle (see below) covering the major world religions as well as  worldviews.

The programme is designed so that each previously taught religion is reviewed and comparisons are drawn between the content. Over six years, each child will have studied each identified religion/non-religion twice, studying in greater depth and making connections between religions.

Pupils are taught key substantive knowledge for each religion and worldview and each lesson is broken down into one of 3 disciplines: Theology, philosophy and Human/Social Science.

2024-2025: Christianity and Islam
2025-2026: Judaism and Humanism
2026-2027: Hinduism and Sikhism

Parents/carers have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE – please contact the principal if you wish to explore this as an option.

RSHE and PSHE

The Paradigm primary schools follow the Jigsaw programme.

From September 2019 we have allocated 45 minutes per week to PSHE at KS1 and KS2.

  • Being Me in My World
  • Celebrating Difference
  • Dreams and Goals
  • Healthy Me
  • Relationships
  • Changing Me
Science
6 hours per fortnight

Autumn 1 – Earth and Space

Autumn 2 – Living Things and their Habitats and Classification

Spring 1 – Rocks / Evolution, Inheritance and Fossils

Spring 2 – Forces and Magnets

Summer 1 – Properties of Materials

Summer 2 – Light and Sound

Children colour with an activity at the desk
Ukeleles in red, blue and pink adorn the walls of the music room

INSET Days for this term are:

  • Monday 6th January

Students should not attend school on this day.

Tower Hamlets have advised the provisional date of Monday 31st March for school closures for the celebration of Eid.

First Half Term Dates
Start Monday, 6th January
End Friday, 14th February
Half Term Holiday Dates
Start Monday, 17th February
End Friday, 21st February
Second Half Term Dates
Start Monday, 24th February
End Friday, 4th April

Tower Hamlets have advised the provisional date of Friday 6th June for school closures for the celebration of Eid.

First Half Term Dates
Start Tuesday, 22nd April
End Friday, 23rd May
Half Term Holiday Dates
Start Tuesday, 27th May
End Friday, 30th May
Second Half Term Dates
Start Monday, 2nd June
End Thursday, 24th July

Frequently Asked Questions

When is my child taught PE?

What do I need to know about homework?