Monday 3^rd March 2025

Dear parents/carers of Year 5 pupil,

Re: Year 5 Curriculum Spring 2 2025: Treasured Tombs and Fascinating Pharaohs

We hope you had a relaxing break and that you, like us, are looking forward to the weather warming up a little! Our Learning Journey topic this term is called ‘Treasured Tombs and Fascinating Pharaohs’. Our depth enquiry is ‘Which pharaoh brought the most power to Egypt?’ As part of our topic launch we will be visiting the Young V&A Museum for their Making Egypt Exhibition. Please see the letters sent out for each class:
Lavender Class – Monday 3^rd March
Violet Class – Tuesday 4^th March
Lilac Class – Thursday 6^th March

Below we have outlined some important information for the term ahead.

P.E. Lessons
Please ensure your child wears the appropriate kit into school on PPA Wednesdays (26^th February, 12^th March and 26^th March) In addition, Lilac and Lavender classes need to wear their kit every Thursday and Violet class need to wear kit every Friday.  Please ensure your child’s kit includes trainers and tracksuit bottoms as the weather may still be cold and PE lesons will be indoor and outdoor depending on the activity and weather conditions.

Homework        

Reading: Reading with your child and discussing what has been read each day is essential to helping them make progress in all areas of the curriculum. The expectation is that your child reads for at least 15-20 minutes each evening and that they record this in their Reading Record Book.  We ask that you support and monitor your child’s reading and check/sign it regularly.  Reading records are checked in school every Friday and we reward those children who keep up with regular reading.

Maths: Maths homework is set each Wednesday on Mathletics. This is to be completed by the Wednesday of the following week. 

Times Tables: Please practice all times tables and their related division facts frequently. Your child can continue to use TTRS as this is what we also use in school.  Please continue to support timeatable practise at home as children need regular practise to maintain rapid recall of the facts.  Times table knowledge and recall is essential for our work on long multiplication, formal division and fractions.

Spellings: A spelling rule will be introduced on Mondays, and throughout the week lessons and activities will be completed based on this rule. During this half term, we will send home a spelling homework to consolidate spelling patterns taught in school.  When spelling homework is sent out it will have a clear due date for the work to be returned. 

Home Learning Project: Your challenge is to create a leaflet or poster about an animal or plant that lives in the rainforest.  You can choose any animal or plant but you may want to focus on an endangered species as we looked at some of these last term in our topic and speech writing lessons.  We have provided some extra information as guidance on the second page of this letter.  This home learning project is due in on Wednesday 26^th March 2025.

Important dates
School photos will be Wednesday 26^th February, please look out for further instructions from the School Office about ordering.
World Book Day will be Friday 7^th March.
Parents‘ Evening will be in the last week of term – Tuesday 1^st April 3:30 – 7:00 pm and Wednesday 2^nd April 3:30 – 6:00pm. Further information about this will follow in a separate letter later this term.

Other information: Year 5 pupils can bring a healthy, nut-free snack to school each day e.g. a piece of fruit or crackers with a healthy spread, nut free breakfast bar etc. It is also essential that your child brings a named filled water bottle to school on a daily basis.  If your child buys their own snack for school, please discuss with them what healthy options are suitable for school.  Large share bags of crisps or sweets are not suitable.

Thank you, and as always if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Mrs Cooper, Mrs Nandhra-Calow and Miss Januario

Year 5 Home Learning Project – Spring 2 2025

Your challenge is to create a leaflet or poster about an animal or plant that lives in the rainforest.  You can choose any animal or plant but you may want to focus on an endangered species as we looked at some of these in last term in our topic and speech writing lessons.  This home learning project is due in on Wednesday 26^th March 2025.

Background Information:

There are rainforests in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central and South America. The biggest rainforest is the Amazon rainforest. It’s about the size of the contiguous United States, which doesn’t include Alaska or Hawaii. More than half of it is in Brazil, but parts are in several other South American countries, including Ecuador and Bolivia. The next biggest rainforest is the Congo in Africa. Parts of the Congo can be found in several other countries too, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.

Many kinds of plants grow in rainforests. Lianas are thick, woody vines that grow up the trees. When these vines get to the top of the trees, they spread to other trees and form a network of vines over the forest below. Orchids, bamboo, and bromeliads are other rainforest plants. More than half of the world’s animals live in the rainforest. Vampire bats and anacondas live in the rainforests of South America. Bengal tigers and orangutans live in Asia’s rainforests, and chimpanzees live in the rainforests of Africa. Lots of smaller animals live in rainforests too, including dragonflies, tree frogs, and at least hundreds of species of ants. Many of the plants and animals in the rainforest haven’t even been discovered yet!

Support images for choosing an animal or plant but you can choose any other rainforest animal or plant