Welcome to St. Catherine Class

Year 5 and Year 6

Class Teacher: Mrs Fairman

Our Learning for Autumn Term:

The Vine and the Branches

Branch 1: Creation and Covenant

This term, the children will learn about the life of Moses, focusing on his encounter with God in the burning bush and the giving of the Ten Commandments. They will reflect on how these commandments, given to the freed Israelites, were a source of guidance and freedom, and how Jesus later summed them up in the call to love God, others, and ourselves. We will also explore virtues—faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—and how these help people of all faiths and none to live well, make good choices, and build strong relationships.

English - Reading

Daily reading is a key priority in primary school and we actively encourage children to read as much as possible at home to help further develop their fluency and comprehension skills. Every child will be able to bring home a banded reading book from school. These will be assigned to children by their class teacher following a short reading assessment. These can be changed regularly in school. Every child is also encouraged to have a 'Reading for Pleasure' book.

Within our Whole Class Reading lessons, we will be exploring a variety of texts within a variety of genres. This will give children plenty of opportunities to practise their reading comprehension skills and learn about new things. 

Our current class novel is 'Wonder by R.J. Palacio. 

English - Writing

Our focus text for this half term is: Star of Fear, Star of Hope.

Throughout the unit, children will work towards mastery the Mastery Keys outlined below. 

Mastery Keys (Year 5)

Use fronted adverbials (Y4) 

Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely 

Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials

Commas after fronted adverbials (Y4)

Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to punctuate direct speech (Y4)

Mastery Keys (Year 6)

Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely (recap from Y5) 

Use passive verbs 

Link ideas across paragraphs using a wider range of cohesive devices 

Integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action

Maths

In Maths, we follow Power Maths. This allows children to develop their fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills. 

During this half term, our topics are:

Place Value

Four Operations

Throughout the week, children are given many opportunities to practise their arithmetic skills. 

Science

Our Science topic for this half term is Evolution and Inheritance. Throughout this unit, children will practise using a variety of scientific skills to help them learn:

Fossils are found in sedimentary rock. 

Fossils provide information about where and when living things inhabited the Earth. 

Charles Darwin helped us understand more about natural selection. 

Living things can change over time to adapt to their environment. 

Evidence has shown that natural selection is how human evolution has occurred. 

Inherited traits are passed genetically by a parent. 

Offspring inherits traits from parents and grandparents.

History

This half term, we will be exploring:

Ancient Maya - What were the achievements of the Ancient Maya civilisation?

Within this unit, the children will discover the achievements of the ancient Maya civilisation. They will explore where this is on the timeline, linking with prior learning before using primary and secondary resources to research more and further their knowledge to support them in drawing conclusions. 

Geography

This term, we will be exploring:

'Where does our energy come from?'

This term, pupils will learn about different types of energy, how it is produced, and how countries use and trade it. They will explore renewable sources, such as wind, solar, hydropower, and tidal, which come from natural resources and don’t run out, as well as non-renewable sources like oil, gas, coal, and nuclear, which are limited. Pupils will also consider the importance of sustainability—using resources responsibly—and look at how different countries, including the UK and the United States, rely on and trade energy, with a focus on the shift towards renewable energy.

Art

This half term, we will explore the skill of 'Drawing'. Using Edvard Much's 's work as inspriation, the children will develop their drawing skills focusing on using light and shade as well as looking at one and two point perspectives. 

Music

Music sessions will be delivered by Amasing music tutors. 

PE

Our P.E. day for this half term is Thursday. Children should come to school in their kit. 

All kit must be clearly labelled, and appropriate footwear must be worn. Jewellery, including earrings, must not be worn during P.E. days. School hoodies and jogging bottoms can be purchased online with school uniform. 

Our swimming sessions are Tuesday afternoons.

Personal Development

At St Luke's, RHE is taught using a scheme created by 'Ten:Ten'. Our first topic is Created and Loved by God. This unit explores the individual. Rooted in the teaching that we are made in the image and likeness of God, it helps children to develop an understanding of the importance of valuing themselves as the basis for personal relationships.

Communication 

Messages will mainly be sent using School Spider; please turn on notifications for the app so that you are alerted to new messages/emails. I am always happy to discuss any worries, concerns or general queries you may have. Please feel free to send an email or make an appointment through the school office.