In our Year 5 unit, children explore how living things grow, change and reproduce. They observe plant growth over time, including plants grown from cuttings, bulbs, and runners such as spider plants. They learn about reproduction in plants and identify patterns in pollination, grouping flowers by how they are pollinated. Children also study animal life cycles, including mammals, amphibians and insects, and observe metamorphosis in animals such as caterpillars or tadpoles. Through sorting, grouping, research and creative activities, pupils develop their understanding of how plants and animals reproduce and how life cycles vary across living things.
Fox Class (Year 5) 2025 - 2026
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome to the class page for Fox Class.
Class Staff
Teacher: Miss Morris
Teaching Assistants: Miss Stening
Here you will find all of the exciting and wonderful things that your child will be learning during their time in Year 5. If you have any questions, please use Class Dojo or speak to a member of our team at drop off/ pick up.
Thank you.
Miss Morris and Miss Stening
Spring 2
Our English text for Spring 2 is The Promise by Nicola Davies.
The Story
Set in a mean, grey city where nothing grows, the story follows a young girl who survives by snatching bags from passers-by. One night, she tries to steal a bag from an old woman who refuses to let go until the girl makes a solemn promise: to "plant them."
The "them" turns out to be a bag of acorns. As the girl begins to plant, she transforms not only the barren landscape into a vibrant, green forest but also her own life and the lives of everyone around her.
Why We Are Reading It
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Environmental Awareness: It highlights the vital connection between humans and the natural world.
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Social Responsibility: The book demonstrates how one small, selfless act can ripple out to create massive positive change.
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Resilience: It shows that no matter how "grey" or difficult a situation feels, there is always the potential for growth and beauty.
In reading, we will be exploring a mix of different genres, such as stories, poems, and facts, so children can explore all kinds of writing. By reading a range of texts, children not only improve their reading but also start to enjoy different types of books. This scheme helps them become more confident readers while learning about new ideas and topics.
We will be using our different VIPERS skills: Vocabulary, Infer, Predict, Explain, Retrieve and Summarise to
improve our understanding of what we read.
'Reading for Pleasure' has great amounts of benefits for your child. In Year 5, we ensure your child has time to read for pleasure and we set time aside to read our class book.
Benefits of 'reading for pleasure':
Inspires imagination and creativity.
Enrinches cultural awareness and understanding.
Increases empathy and improves relationships with others.
Lifts well-being levels and improves mood.
Improves progress in vocabulary, spelllings and even maths.
Encourages children to take a screen break.
Read with your child every day even if it is just 2 minutes- this can make all the difference.
Record in their reading diaries to ensure that your child is receiving their stamp for their book from the vending machine, or reading buddy.
You could ask your child about what they think might happen next in the story, how do they think the character is feeling, who is the author and what do they do.
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During Autumn 2, we will be focusing on the following: Fractions, Decimals and Percetages, Parimeter and Area and Statistics.
We would like children to continue using Times Tables Rock Starts. Times Tables knowledge is so important! It is used in all areas of maths. If your child can rapidly recall them, this will support them when solving challenging maths fluency and problem solving questions.
Children will have ongoing access to their TT Rockstars logins at home.Please ensure that your child is practising them at home as it is very beneficial for their learning.
If you have misplaced your child's login, please drop me a message on Class Dojo and I will resend for you.
This half term in Science, we will be learning about Living Things and Their Habitats.
In this Year 5 History unit, pupils explore what life was like in Tudor England by acting as young historians. They learn about key figures such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, and think about how these monarchs used their power and influenced society. Children investigate primary sources like portraits, inventories and letters to understand how people lived, worked and dressed, and to build evidence-based interpretations of the past. They examine how different social classes lived—from the royal court to ordinary people—and how power, status and daily life were shaped in Tudor times. Throughout the topic, pupils develop their historical skills by asking questions, analysing sources, weighing evidence, and making connections across the period.
Your child will have a music lesson each week where they will learn to explore their musical abilities.
In this exciting Year 5 music unit, children dive into how dance music is created using looping techniques. They’ll learn to perform looped body-percussion rhythms, layer different sounds to build depth, and play the opening section of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with precision. Students will also pick small music fragments to loop alongside a steady backbeat, and ultimately combine loops into a structured remix performance featuring two distinct layers. Through these engaging, hands-on activities, pupils develop timing, rhythm, and collaborative skills while experiencing the fun of composing and performing their own musical pieces.
Your child will have 2 P.E lessons each week. Please see the uniform timetable below for the days where PE kit or Forest School kit will be needed. This half term we will be playing Tennis and taking part in swimming lessons.
Each Monday, your child will bring home a homework pack to complete during the week. Monday is for reading their book, Tuesday for reading comprehension, Wednesday for spelling practice, Thursday for SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar), and Friday for maths. All homework should be returned the following Monday. This steady routine helps children build confidence and good habits. Please encourage them by setting aside a quiet time each day for them to complete their work - it really makes a difference!
Other useful links:
Please see below links to useful websites for your child to use when they are at home. I will be adding to the list throughout the course of the year so please make sure you check for updated links.
Oxford Owl - Linked to our phonics Read, Write Inc programme https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/free-ebooks/
Story Nory - A range of stories by classic authors as well as poems musicals and fairytales. https://www.storynory.com/archives/classic-authors
Story Berries- Read along with audio clips. https://www.storyberries.com
Monkey Pen- Free downloadable children’s books in PDF format. https://monkeypen.com/pages/free-childrens-books
Free Children’s Stories- https://www.freechildrenstories.com
Keeping Safe Online- www.esafety.gov.au/kids
Topmarks- A great way for children to practise many of their maths skills https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=3
Newsround is a very good outlet for your child to watch each day to gain a wider understanding of what is happening not only in our country, but the rest of the world. We will be watching newsround every afternoon in class.
