Summer 1

What a fantastic half-term it has been in Year 5! The children have thrown themselves into their learning with great enthusiasm and curiosity. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to:

Maths

This half-term, we’ve explored a wide range of geometry and decimal-based learning. We began by reading, comparing and rounding decimal numbers, deepening our understanding of place value in the context of decimals.

We then moved on to shapes, where we learnt how to find missing angles in 2D shapes and investigated the properties and nets of 3D shapes. The children especially enjoyed the hands-on activities using real-life nets and predicting what 3D shape they would form!

Our geometry journey continued as we explored polygons, reflection, rotation, translation, and tessellation—even plotting transformations on coordinate grids using four quadrants. It’s been an exciting and practical half-term of maths.

Writing

In English, we have been immersed in the world of narrative writing. The children crafted powerful short stories, focusing on how to build tension, use foreshadowing, and hook the reader with figurative language.

We’ve explored how to vary our writing using different sentence structures and included a range of reported clauses to bring our characters’ voices to life. From mysterious forests to dramatic cliffhangers, their writing has been bursting with imagination and style!

Guided Reading

We’ve been thoroughly engaged with our class text, Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman. Through this gripping story, we’ve explored key reading skills including retrieving evidence, inferring meaning, and understanding characters’ motivations and emotions.

The class has enjoyed discussing the themes of bravery, family and hope, and it has sparked many thoughtful conversations during reading sessions.

PBL: We Are Wayfinders

Our PBL project this term, WE ARE Wayfinders, has taken us on a geographical adventure! We’ve been developing our understanding of different types of maps—topographical maps, street maps, digital maps and satellite imagery—and learning how to interpret them.

The highlight has been preparing for our very own Geocaching challenge, where pupils will design a trail using coordinates and mapping skills. We’ve had lots of fun using compasses, learning about scale and symbols, and even trying our hand at some orienteering.

It's been a brilliant few weeks of learning. We can't wait to see what Summer 2 brings!

Spring 2

It has been a busy and exciting term for our children, filled with new learning experiences across different subjects.

Maths

In maths, we have been developing our skills in division and multiplication, including solving simple rate problems using multiplication and fractions. Our work with fractions has been a key focus, as we have learned to add and subtract fractions using our knowledge of the lowest common multiple, equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, improper fractions, simplifying fractions, and understanding factors.

English

In English, we completed our playscript based on The London Eye Mystery. This gave us the opportunity to develop our understanding of dialogue, stage directions, and character interaction. We also created detailed non-chronological reports about Earth and Space, using research and factual writing skills to produce informative pieces of work.

Guided Reading

We have been diving into the book Holes by Louis Sachar, exploring its themes, characters, and engaging storytelling. Through comprehension activities, we have deepened our understanding of the novel’s messages and developed our analytical reading skills.

Project 

For our project this term, we took inspiration from our studies on Earth and Space to create our own prototypes based on how things work. This encouraged creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork as children designed and built their own models.

It has been a fantastic term of learning, and we look forward to another exciting term ahead.

Autumn 2

Exciting Learning Highlights from This term!

This term has been packed with amazing learning experiences across all subjects! Here's a glimpse of what our pupils have been up to:

English

Our budding writers have been hard at work crafting engaging narratives. They’ve brought their stories to life with vivid character and setting descriptions that showcase their creativity. As part of our focus on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the children also wrote thoughtful letters as Matilda herself, capturing her unique voice and character beautifully.

Maths

It’s been a busy term in Maths! Our learners have been tackling long division with determination and practising their skills with both regular and irregular shapes. They’ve also explored symmetry and dived into converting between different units of measurement. Plus, we continued building confidence in reading the time and deepened our understanding of fractions.

Science

In Science, we’ve been learning all about the human life cycle and gestation. The children were fascinated to explore the incredible journey of life, from its earliest stages to how we grow and change over time.

Project-Based Learning (PBL)

History came alive in PBL as we delved into key events in British history after 1066. The children were captivated by the stories of the past and how these events have shaped the world we live in today. Our project outcome was truly amazing! Pupils worked collaboratively to showcase their knowledge in creative and inspiring ways!

It’s been a fantastic term full of discovery and achievement. We’re so proud of all our children and can’t wait for what’s next! 🌟

Happy holidays!

Autumn 1

Year 5 have enjoyed a fantastic first half-term back at Ainslie Wood. After an excellent Early Risers, pupils returned refreshed and ready to learn.

In English, we have created our very own non-chronological reports on subjects that interested us. After learning the features of a report and conducting independent research, we put our information into paragraphs and shared our outcomes with one another.

We have been focusing on the four operations in Maths. After consolidating our knowledge of place value, we practised both addition and subtraction, before moving on to multiplication and division. We also looked at the reciprocal relationship between operations, learning about using the inverse to check our answers.

Our project this term is Artistic Historians. We were tasked with finding an event in British history between 1066 and modern day that interests us. Once we had chosen an event, we then had to choose a picture to base our research on, working towards the end goal of an artistic representation of our findings.

Elsewhere, we have studied famous authors for Black History Month, practised our netball skills in PE and studied animals, including humans, in Science.