Welcome to Year 5 – Hawthorne

Miss Mason

Learning Update

We have been doing lots of creative learning in Year 5 this term. In Literacy, the children have been reading the book Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, which tells the story of a young boy who discovers he is the son of a Greek god and goes on an exciting quest to prevent a war between the Olympians. The children have written their own ‘Ode to a Villain’ by exploring synonyms and expanded noun phrases to create powerful descriptions. They have also developed their inference skills by identifying what characters may be thinking or feeling using evidence from the text, as well as practising reading for retrieval. Using descriptions from the novel, the children visualised and drew what they imagined Camp Half-Blood to look like. They then used prepositions, adverbials of place and ambitious adjectives to write detailed descriptions of the camp’s layout and all it had to offer.

In Maths, we have just finished our topic on shape. The children used protractors to measure angles on a straight line and developed their understanding of how angles work together. They used their knowledge of angles on a straight line, right angles and angles around a point to calculate missing angles accurately. The class also completed a range of problem-solving and reasoning questions, encouraging them to explain their thinking and apply their learning in different contexts. We have now moved on to the topic of decimals. So far, the children have used related facts to add decimals that total less than 1 and have worked out decimal complements that make 1 exactly. They used their knowledge of number bonds, addition and subtraction to help them solve these calculations confidently.

Our driver topic this term has been History – Groundbreaking Greeks. This project teaches the children about the developments and changes across six periods of ancient Greek history, with a focus on the city-state of Athens during the Classical Age and the lasting legacy of Ancient Greece. The children organised a timeline of Greek history, learning about key periods such as the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1200–800 BC), the Archaic Period (c. 800–480 BC) and the Classical Age (c. 480–323 BC). We have mainly focused on comparing the Dark Ages with the Archaic Period, as this was a time of significant change. During the Greek Dark Ages, many cities were abandoned, trade declined and writing was lost, leading to a difficult period for many people. However, during the Archaic Period, Greece began to flourish again as trade increased, city-states developed, writing returned and new ideas in art, architecture and government emerged. The children explored both the positive and negative impacts of these changes and discussed how they shaped life in Ancient Greece.

In Art, we have been exploring Expressionism, an art movement that focuses on showing emotions and feelings rather than creating realistic images. The children learnt how Expressionist artists used colour, shape and exaggerated features to express mood and emotion in their artwork. We also studied the artist Edvard Munch, who was a key figure in the Expressionist movement. The children learnt about his famous painting The Scream, which was inspired by a real-life moment when he experienced feelings of panic and anxiety. We explored how artists can use colour choices and exaggerated facial features to imply different emotions and expressions. The children then used mirrors to observe how their own facial features changed when showing a variety of expressions before sketching these carefully into their books.

In Science, we have been investigating thermal conductors by testing which materials kept water hotter for the longest amount of time. We carefully measured the temperature of the water every minute and recorded our results. Using this data, we created line graphs to help us identify patterns and compare how effective each material was. We then analysed and discussed our findings with other groups to decide which material was the best insulator and the most suitable choice for keeping heat in.

In the following weeks we will be:
Literacy – planning and writing our own chapter within the book
Maths – adding and subtracting decimals
Science – testing the solubility of different materials
Art – modern Expressionism
French – pets and animals

Summer Term 2025

Links to Summer Term learning are in the process of being uploaded.