Year 5 & Year 6

Mrs Ward

Spring Term

This term our history and geography lessons are based on our topic, Maafa. Maafa is a Swahili meaning ‘great disaster’ or ‘great tragedy’. In history, we will learn about Africa past and present, with a particular focus on Benin. It traces the development of the slave trade and explores Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, the causes and consequences of the European colonisation of Africa and the impact of African culture which can be seen worldwide. In geography, we will revise the features of Earth, time zones and lines of latitude and longitude to pinpoint places on a map. Children will find out more about map scales, grid references, contour lines and map symbols. They learn about climate change and the importance of global trade. We will also study patterns of human settlements and carry out an enquiry to describe local settlement patterns.                                                                                                                                  

In English, we will be writing our own folklore based on traditional African tales. We will also learn how to write like a journalist, looking at newspaper reports and biased and unbiased news reports.

In maths, Year 5 will be continuing their learning about multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percentages, area and perimeter and statistics. They will revise methods learnt previously in key stage 2 as well as being introduced to some new methods including multiplying fractions by integers (whole numbers). Year 6, will learn about ratio, proportion, algebra, fractions, decimals, percentages, area and perimeter and statistics. Like Year 5, they will learn methods learnt previously in key stage 2 as well as being introduced to some new methods including using proportion to calculate how to buy the best value items in a shop.

In science, we will be learning about the human circulatory system with a particular focus on the heart and lungs. We will discuss healthy lifestyle choices and look at the effect of harmful substances on our bodies. Linked to this, we will learn about the benefits of whole foods and will plan and make meals as part of a healthy daily menu.

In art we will be learning about tints, tones and shades and will learn how to use effectively. We will look at how a range of artists have used these in their work and will learn how to imitate their style. In line with our topic, Maafa, children will also learn about significant black artists and their work. We will have opportunities to analyse and create artwork inspired by them.

In music we will be learning to sing Benjamin Britten’s New Year Carol and in contrast, Pharrell William’s Happy. We will revise clapping to a rhythm, finding the pulse of a piece of music and using pitch.

In computing, we will be studying the binary system and learning how to make quizzes. We will also learn how to make a Text-based Adventure which is a computer game that uses text instead of graphics.

 

In P.E. we will be studying rhythmic gymnastics, dance, football and netball. This term, our indoor P.E. lessons will be on Thursdays.