Year 5
Week beginning 12th January 2026
Our project for this half-term is Space and Earth.
The children have returned from the Christmas break with huge smiles and an impressive readiness to learn, settling back into school life wonderfully well. It has been a joy to see how quickly routines were re-established and enthusiasm reignited. In particular, their descriptive writing this week has absolutely blown us away — the vocabulary choices, imagery and attention to detail have created a real sense of awe and wonder. From the very first week back, the children have shown creativity, focus and confidence, setting an exciting tone for the term ahead.
Important dates and messages:
- Hook day is this Thursday (15th Jan) – please see the letter sent out via Arbor for more information.
- Winchester Science Museum trip – 19th Jan - please see the letter sent out via Arbor for more information and please contact the office if you are happy to be a parent helper for this exciting day.
Key Dates
The calendar section on the website lists all major events throughout the academic year, but here are some reminders:
- Hook day is this Thursday (15th Jan) – please see the letter sent out via Arbor for more information.
- Winchester Science Museum trip – 19th Jan - please see the letter sent out via Arbor for more information and please contact the office if you are happy to be a parent helper for this exciting day.
- Tuesday 20th January - Young Voices - O2
- Thursday 5th February - Galilee Class Worship
- Friday 13th February - Break up for half term @ 3pm
- Monday 23rd February - Return to school for term 4
- Thursday 5th March - World Book Day
- Thursday 26th March - Mediterranean Class Worship
- Friday 27th March - Break up for Easter holidays @ 1:20pm
- Monday 13th April - Return for the summer term
- Monday 4th May - Bank holiday
- Friday 22nd May - Break up for half term @ 3pm
- Monday 1st June - Staff INSET day
- Tuesday 2nd June - Children return for term 6
- Thursday 11th June 2026 - School’s 170th Birthday
- Friday 19th June 2026 - Sports Day at King’s Park Stadium
- Saturday 27th June - St. James’ Summer Fayre
- Wednesday 22nd July - Break up for summer holidays @ 1:20pm
Worship theme:
Baptism of Jesus - 14th January
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16
Curriculum
This week, the children will begin an exciting new learning journey across a wide range of subjects. In English, they will complete a short cold writing task to help identify strengths and next steps before launching into a captivating unit of space-themed descriptive writing, inspired by rich texts and imaginative stimuli. Maths will see pupils continuing their work on fractions, with a focus on adding and subtracting mixed numbers, culminating in a fractions assessment later in the week.
In Science, the children will be introduced to the topic of space, exploring big questions about the universe through engaging discussions and multimedia resources. RE lessons will begin our new topic on Buddhism, where pupils will explore the life of Siddhartha Gautama and learn about key beliefs such as the Four Noble Truths. In Geography, we will start learning about time zones, investigating how and why time differs across the world and how this affects different countries and continents.
The children will also enjoy a variety of creative and practical subjects. In Computing, they will move on to a Coding unit using Purple Mash, developing logical thinking and problem-solving skills. Art lessons will focus on researching pointillist artists, while Music will link learning to the planets. In French, pupils will learn vocabulary related to the planets, building confidence in speaking and listening. Forest School sessions will begin to support teamwork, resilience and wellbeing, alongside PE and opportunities for PSHE discussions such as online safety.
It promises to be a busy and inspiring week, full of creativity, curiosity and excellent learning across the curriculum. 🚀✨
Other news:
-
PPA Days - PPA Days will be every other Tuesday, and children should come in wearing PE kits.
- PE every Thursday - Children should wear their PE kits every Tuesday.
Homework:
- Please find links to the relevant information below for the Project Overview and Homework.
- MyMaths - We will set up MyMaths tasks termly, based on the learning we will be doing this term. Please let us know if you are finding them too easy or tricky, and remember that below, there are many resources you can use to extend your learning from home. Various MyMaths activities have will be set for this term. This is to allow children who like to do more to be able to. However, children do not have to complete all the MyMaths activities. One per week is our minimum recommendation.
- Reading books - we would like to remind everyone to have a reading book in school - this can be a school or home book. We want all children to be able to share recommendations and reviews of what we have read recently. We display books we've read in the classroom to get children talking about the stories they love and inspire others to try new titles.
- Reading records - All children should now have a grey reading record in which they can record how often they are reading. They will receive one raffle ticket if they read three times a week and two if they read more than five. At the end of each term, we will draw a raffle to win a trip to Costa. You have to be in it to win it! Activities in the reading records can be completed at home for fun!
Reading:
This term, we are reading The Jamie Drake Equation. We will be using Designated Reader sentence stems to support our written answers. Each lesson focuses on a different reading skill, including inferring, predicting, questioning, evaluating, clarifying, summarising and making connections.
Spellings:
Our spellings for this term are below. However, we are moving away from weekly tests, using more discreet learning techniques, and applying our spelling words across our curriculum.
|
|
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5 |
|
|
debt |
autumn |
island |
Knowledge |
align |
|
doubt |
column |
isle |
Known |
assign |
|
|
lamb |
hymn |
debris |
Knife |
design |
|
|
subtle |
solemn |
aisle |
Knight |
reign |
|
|
climb |
condemn |
viscount |
Knocked |
resign |
|
|
gnaw |
|||||
|
Silent b |
Silent n |
Silent s |
Silent k K is usually silent when it precedes ‘n’. |
Silent g |
Best wishes,
Year 5 Team
Miss Martin and Miss Perry
Learning as a family in Jesus, through Love, Hope, and Forgiveness.
Matthew 19:26: “With God all things are possible.”
