Squirrel Class (Year 5) 2025 - 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the class page for Squirrel Class.

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 Hought, Mrs Sumner and Mrs Healey

Autumn 1

Our English text for Autumn 1 is When We Walked on the Moon by David Long.  

This book tells the story of the Apollo Missions, when incredible intelligence, engineering and bravery allowed humans to stand on the surface of something other than Earth for the very first time. From the 1969 first moon landing to the amazing rescue of Apollo 13, each chapter tells the story of a different mission. Humorous details bring the astronauts to life: discover how the astronauts of Apollo 12 were so over-excited when they stepped onto the Moon that Mission Control had to tell them to quieten down, and Shepard (Apollo 14) somehow managed to smuggle a golf club onto his spacecraft! Published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, this is the perfect title for any child who has ever looked up at the moon and wondered what it might be like to go there. 

 The children will complete two pieces of writing during this unit: 

Exploration Narrative 

Recount

Our reading text for Autumn 1 will be Exploring Space. The text is "Exploring Space" by The Literacy Company, introduces children to the International Space Station (ISS), space travel, and key figures in space exploration such as astronaut Chris Hadfield.

Children will also watch the short film "Planet Unknown" by Shawn Wang, which complements their reading by encouraging visual storytelling and summarising skills.

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. 

During Autumn 1, we will be really focusing on Place Value alongside Addition and Subtraction.

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 Earth and space.

Pupils will research and present information about the planets and our Solar System. The children will describe the motion of the Earths and planets and explore how ideas about the solar system have changed over time, how day and night occur on planet Earth. 

Pupils will work scientifically by observing, measuirng and identifying changing patterns in shadows across the day, 

We will be completely a scidntist study on Mae Jemison. 

This term, in Geography, Year 5 pupils will be learning about the Alps, one of Europe’s most iconic mountain ranges. Through this unit, children will explore the geographical features of the region, including its climate, terrain, and natural resources. They will investigate how the Alps influence human activity, such as tourism, farming, and transport, and consider the challenges of living in a mountainous environment. Pupils will also develop their map-reading skills, use geographical vocabulary, and compare life in the Alps with life in the UK. This unit encourages curiosity about the wider world and helps children understand how geography affects people’s lives.

Your child will have a music lesson each week where they will learn to explore their musical abilities.

During Autumn 1, children will be exploring composition and notation. 

This term, Year 5 pupils will explore music through the theme of Ancient Egypt, focusing on composition and notation. Children will learn to sing with accuracy and expression, identify musical structures, and use both hieroglyphic and stave notation to compose their own pieces. They will develop key musical skills such as improvisation, pitch recognition, and rhythm reading, while building confidence in using musical vocabulary to discuss and evaluate performances. By the end of the unit, pupils will be able to create and perform a melody, contribute to group compositions, and understand how music can convey mood and meaning through tempo and key.

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 Dodgeball and Gymnastics. 

 Mondays- Each Monday, your child will be given 10 spellings to learn over the course of the week. They will complete a spelling test each Friday, and, if they receive a mark of 10/10,  they will get Dojo points. They will have opportunities to learn their spellings each morning in class, however, extra practice at home is essential.

FAMILY MATHS CHALLENGE: Every week there is a new challenge to complete in the Family Maths Challenge Booklets. Each challenge will earn a star on the reward wheel. If children help their siblings or other family members with their homework, they can receive an extra star for that too! It's a great opportunity to get involved with your child's Maths learning. 

Every day- Your child should read as often as possible when not in school and this should be logged in Reading Records. 

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.