Welcome to Year 5 – Hawthorne

Miss Mason

Learning Update

Literacy
Year 5 have been reading the inspiring book Hidden Figures, which tells the true story of four brilliant African-American women—Mary Jackson, Dorothy Vaughan, Christine Darden, and Katherine Johnson—who worked for NASA during the space race. The book explores how their mathematical and scientific talents helped launch some of the first astronauts into space, despite the racial and gender barriers they faced in the 1950s and 60s. Throughout this unit, the children have practised writing in the third person, using noun phrases and expanded noun phrases to describe characters, as well as writing in the first person to create letters and diary entries in the voices of the four women. Their final writing piece was a biography about these remarkable figures, celebrating their significant contributions to science and history. To create their biographies, pupils applied a range of Year 5 writing skills, including using fronted adverbials, relative clauses, cohesive devices, and varied sentence openers. They have really enjoyed reading this non-fiction text and found it fascinating to learn about the lives of people who made such an impact in a very different period of time.

Maths
Year 5 have recently started their new topic on multiplication and division. They began by exploring multiples—the results of multiplying a number by an integer—and factors, which are numbers that divide exactly into another number. Building on this, the children learned how to find common multiples and common factors and applied this knowledge to solve a range of word problems. They also investigated prime numbers—numbers that have only two factors, one and themselves—and square numbers, which are the product of a number multiplied by itself. Through practical activities and problem-solving challenges, Year 5 have been developing their understanding of number relationships and building strong foundations for more complex multiplication and division strategies.

Driver Topic (History)
This term, Year 5’s driver topic has been Dynamic Dynasties, with a particular focus on the fascinating Shang Dynasty, one of the earliest recorded civilisations in ancient China. The children have explored how the Shang people became skilled bronze workers, learning about the process of bronze casting and how it was used to create powerful weapons, intricate ritual vessels, and beautiful ornaments. They also studied the Shang social hierarchy, discovering how the king and noble families lived very differently from farmers and slaves, and how this structure helped to organise their society. Year 5 examined why the Shang army was so successful, investigating the use of horses, chariots, and bronze weaponry in battle. They also learned about the importance of ancestor worship, oracle bones, and early forms of Chinese writing, which helped historians understand what life was like thousands of years ago. Through their lessons, pupils have gained a deeper understanding of how people in the Shang Dynasty lived, worked, and believed, and how their achievements helped shape early Chinese civilisation.

Art
Year 5 have been thoroughly enjoying their Art topic Colour in Landscapes. They have explored how to use tints, tones, and shades to create depth and mood in their artwork—experimenting with how adding white, black, or grey can completely change the feel of a colour. Before producing their final landscape paintings, the children created thumbnail sketches to plan their compositions and experiment with colour choices, perspective, and texture. Their final pieces showcase all the artistic skills they have developed, combining thoughtful design with confident use of paint and colour mixing. Year 5 have taken great pride in their work and shown wonderful creativity in capturing the beauty and atmosphere of different landscapes.

Class Assembly
Year 5 also had the fantastic opportunity to showcase all of this amazing learning in their class assembly. They all performed their lines brilliantly and should be very proud of themselves. We hope you enjoyed it!

Looking Ahead
In the following weeks, we will be learning:

• Literacy: The Tempest by William Shakespeare
• Maths: Converting and comparing fractions
• Art: Taotie (ancient Chinese decorative motif)
• Science: Earth and Space

Autumn Term 2025

Click on the links below to see what the children in Year 5 will be learning in the Autumn Term.