Welcome to Year 5 – Hawthorne

Miss Mason

Learning Update

Year 5 have enjoyed a packed and rewarding few weeks, taking part in engaging lessons, a variety of activities, a brilliant class assembly, and an unforgettable residential trip.

In Literacy, Year 5 have been reading Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo, a retelling of the classic Anglo-Saxon legend about the heroic warrior Beowulf, who battles fearsome monsters, including the terrifying Grendel, to protect others. As part of their learning, the children explored kennings—descriptive phrases made up of two words, such as “whale-road” for the sea—which are a feature of this style of writing. They also practised writing an obituary for Beowulf, using key Year 5 writing skills such as expanded noun phrases, fronted adverbials, varied sentence structures, and a formal tone. Building on this, the children planned and wrote their own heroic legends based on a fictional character, showing great creativity and enthusiasm.

In Maths, Year 5 have recently completed their topic on percentages, fractions, and decimals. The children have been developing their understanding of how these concepts are linked, including finding fractions out of 200 and converting them into decimals and percentages. They have also revisited their knowledge of equivalent fractions, learning how to convert fractions so they are out of 10 or 100, which makes them much easier to change into decimals and percentages. This has helped to strengthen their confidence and fluency when working with different forms of number.

In Science, Year 5 have finished their topic on human reproduction and ageing. They explored the different stages of human development, focusing on the juvenile and adult stages to understand how our bodies grow, change, and develop over time. To bring their learning together, the children created a timeline of the human life cycle, from embryo to adulthood, including labelled diagrams, key facts, and detailed information about each stage and process.

In Geography, Year 5 have continued their topic Sow, Grow, Farm. The children have been developing key skills such as reading maps and atlases, as well as labelling maps accurately. As part of their learning, they explored how far our food travels by investigating different food packaging to identify the country of origin. They then located and labelled these countries on a world map to understand the global distribution of food. Finally, they calculated the distance from each country of origin to England, helping them to see just how far food travels before reaching our plates. They also explored farming in the United States, looking at how different climates are suitable for different types of farming. For example, citrus fruits grow best in warm, sunny climates and are commonly found in states such as Florida and California. Cotton farming requires a hot climate with plenty of sunshine and moderate rainfall and is often grown in southern states like Texas and Mississippi. Dairy farming, on the other hand, is suited to cooler, wetter climates with rich grassland, which can be found in states such as Wisconsin and New York.

One of the most memorable and exciting parts of this term has been our residential trip to Phasels Wood. The children took part in a wide range of fun and adventurous activities, including abseiling, the cresta run, exploring underground tunnels, shelter building, rock climbing, low ropes, and pedal karts. It was wonderful to see how they worked together, supporting one another and developing their teamwork skills. Many of the children challenged themselves and overcame their fears, which was fantastic to see, and they should all feel incredibly proud of their achievements. In the evenings, they also enjoyed a variety of team-building activities and games back at the lodge, making the experience even more special.

After Easter

• Literacy: Kaspar, Prince of Cats
• Maths: Perimeter and Area
• Science: Properties and Changes of Materials
• Art: Nature's Art
• DT: Architecture
• History: Groundbreaking Greeks

Spring Term 2025

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