Year 5 Curriculum

Take a look at our Year 5 curriculum:

Mathematics

Number and place value

  • Numbers to 1 000 000
  • Roman numerals

Calculations

  • Addition and subtraction
  • Multiplication and division
  • Word problems

Statistics

  • Graphs

Fractions, decimals and percentages

  • Fractions
  • Decimals
  • Percentages

Geometry

  • Properties of shapes: geometry
  • Position and direction: position and movement

Measurement

  • Measurements
  • Area and perimeter
  • Volume

English

  1. Significant author: Michael Morpugo
  2. Instructions: How to have fun
  3. Poetic style: Poet with a passion
  4. Traditional stories, myths and legends: Monsters and myths
  5. Recounts and new reports: Daring adventures
  6. Classic and narrative poetry: Tales in a verse
  7. Plays and scripts: Acting up
  8. Persuasive writing: The art of persuasion
  9. Film narrative: Moving pictures
  10. Stories from other cultures: Caribbean tale
  11. Older literature: Classic stories
  12. Choral and performance poetry: Speaking aloud

Science

Unit 1 – Life Cycle of Flowering Plants

  1. Habitats and Microhabitats.
  2. Parts of a Plant.
  3. Reproduction in Plants.
  4. Parts of a flower.
  5. Pollination – Fertilisation – Seed dispersal – Germination.
  6. Life cycle diagrams.

Unit 2 – Characteristics of Plants

  1. Growth.
  2. Germination of seeds.
  3. Factors affecting germination.
  4. Stem, roots and leaves.
  5. Factors affecting growth.

Unit 3 – States of Matter

  1. Solids, liquids, gases.
  2. Change of State.
  3. Evaporation and condensation.
  4. Water Vapour.
  5. Solutions – Dissolving and separation.
  6. Factors affecting solution.
  7. Water Cycle.

Unit 4 – The way we see things

  1. Light sources.
  2. Uses of light.
  3. Intensity of light.
  4. Light travels.
  5. Reflection
  6. Mirrors.
  7. Your eyes.

Unit 5 – Shadows

  1. How are shadows formed?
  2. Shadow puppets.
  3. Materials and light.
  4. Changing shadows.
  5. Sun and shadows.
  6. Sundials.

Unit 6 – Earth and Beyond

  1. Earth’s movement – on its axis.
  2. Earth’s movement – around the sun.
  3. Our solar system.
  4. The sun.
  5. The moon and its phases.
  6. Planets.
  7. Constellations.
  8. Galaxies.

French

Alphabet

  • Say and sing the French Alphabet
  • Spell a word
  • Spell out a name in French

Places in the locality

  • Use letters and numbers to give coordinates
  • Use multiples of 10 up to 60
  • Recognise and say some places in the locality

Journey to school

  • Follow simple directions
  • Read and understand a short description of a journey
  • Build sentences and phrases of making a journey to school

Directions

  • Understand and give simple directions

History

Unit 1: The Indus

  • Indus Valley civilisation
  • What do artefacts tell us of life in Mohenjo-Daro?
  • Everyday life
  • Religion
  • Trade and transport
  • Seals and script
  • Jewellery
  • Decline of the Indus
  • What can we learn from the Indus?

Unit 2: The Tudors

  • Henry VII – the War of the Roses
  • Henry VIII – 6 wives and the split from the Catholic Church
  • Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey and Mary I
  • Elizabeth I
  • Battles and adventures at sea
  • The Tudor explorers:
    • Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada
    • Sir Walter Raleigh
  • Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Everyday life
  • The Court
  • Food
  • Health

Unit 3: The Aztecs

  • The Empire of the Aztecs
  • Aztec people
  • Island city
  • Aztec technology
  • Aztec houses
  • Religion and sacrifice
  • Food and farming
  • Clothes and craft
  • Writing and counting
  • The encounter
  • Cortes
  • The fall of Tenochtitlan
  • The end of the Aztecs

Geography

Location knowledge and geographical skills

  • Maps
  • Atlases
  • Globes
  • Computers

    Biomes and vegetation belts

    • Savannah
    • Alpine
    • Rainforest
    • Desert
    • Marine
    • Temperate deciduous forest

    Human and physical geography

    • British Isles
    • India
    • Mexico

    Art

    Our Year 5 Class (ages 9-10 years), forms part of the Key Stage 2 phase of Primary school. In Year 5 learning takes place through a structured approach, which focuses on formal academic learning and social and emotional learning which continues to build on the skills developed through the previous years of schooling. 

    Learning is based on the English National Curriculum for the foundation subjects. This provides a framework for learning which is enriched by an awareness of the context of our host country and the international background of our students.

    Year 5 builds on the learning from Year 4 with an understanding that all children are unique and are at different stages of their learning journeys. For that reason we continue to incorporate a range of activities within the program that are inclusive and personalised for each child. We reserve the right to modify our programme based on the needs of our students.

    Our goal is to prepare each child by the end of Year 5, to be ready for the greater independence expected as they move to Year 6.

    The following information provides an overview of expected topics to be covered during Year 5.

    English

    The English curriculum is not taught in isolation, as the language of instruction at Hillview is English. However, there are key skills that may need to be taught as stand alone sessions. The English curriculum builds on the Literacy Skills practised in Year 4 and the outcomes for the end of Year 5 are students who are fluent readers and writers, who have well established speaking and listening skills and are presenters at an age appropriate level. 

    In Year 5 English Literacy skills are developed through a unit based approach and authentic cross curricular links are promoted wherever possible.

    The following texts form the basis of the exploration and development of English Literacy in Year 5:

    • Unit 1: Significant author: Michael Morpurgo
    • Unit 2: Instructions: How to have fun
    • Unit 3: Poetic style: Poet with a passion
    • Unit 4: Traditional stories, myths and legends: Monsters and myths
    • Unit 5: Recounts and new reports: Daring adventures
    • Unit 6: Classic and narrative poetry: Tales in a verse
    • Unit 7: Plays and scripts: Acting up
    • Unit 8: Persuasive writing: The art of persuasion
    • Unit 9: Stories from other cultures: Caribbean tale
    • Unit 10: Older literature: Classic stories
    • Unit 11: Choral and performance poetry: Speaking aloud

    Our outcomes are achieved through teaching and learning focused on the following key areas: 

    Reading 

    We use a variety of texts from internationally recognised reading schemes to individualise reading progression for each child. There is a focus on reading fluency and comprehension skills.

    Comprehension

    • Identification of main ideas from paragraphs and summarising
    • Formation of opinion of motivation
    • Retrieve and record key information from non-fiction texts

    All students join the Accelerated Reader programme (AR). This  is an online reading scheme which manages and monitors independent reading practice, and encourages reading for pleasure for students of all abilities.

    Spoken Language

    • Articulation and justification of answers, arguments and opinions
    • Read exception words, noting the unusual correspondences between spelling and sound and where these occur in the word
    • Use of intonation, tone, volume and action in spoken dialogue
    • Speak audibly and fluently with an increasing command of standard English

    Writing

    Grammar

    • Using determiners
    • Clauses
    • Expanding sentences using conjunctions
    • Expanding sentences using adverbs
    • Expanding sentences using prepositions
    • Direct speech
    • Present tense
    • Present perfect of simple past
    • Using paragraphs

    Written Composition

    • Draft and write by organising ideas around themes into paragraphs, subheadings and headings.
    • Draft and write narratives using characters, settings and plots
    • Progressively use a varied and rich vocabulary and increasing range of sentence structures

    Spelling

    We use the spelling assessment the Single Word Spelling Test (SWST) to establish a baseline for each student to explore known and unknown spelling rules. We can then individualise the spelling programme for each child. The focus of our spelling development program encourages children to nurture a curiosity about words, discover their history and, in so doing, understand the logic behind the way they are spelled rather than a focus on rote learning lists of spellings each week. 

    Handwriting

    There is a continued focus on the legibility of individual handwriting styles 

    Mathematics

    All of the learning in Mathematics is through Maths No Problem (MNP). This is a series of textbooks and workbooks written to meet the requirements of the 2014 English National Curriculum using the teaching strategies developed in Singapore that lead to them becoming world-leaders in Primary maths performance.

    Topics to be explored include:

    Number and place value

    • Numbers to 1 000 000
    • Roman numerals

    Calculations

    • Addition and subtraction
    • Multiplication and division
    • Word problems

    Statistics

    • Graphs

    Fractions, decimals and percentages

    • Fractions
    • Decimals
    • Percentages

    Geometry

    • Properties of shapes: Geometry
    • Position and Movement

    Measurement

    • Measurements
    • Area and perimeter
    • Volume

    Science

    • Unit 1 – Life Cycle of Flowering Plants
    • Unit 2 – Characteristics of Plants
    • Unit 3 – States of Matter
    • Unit 4 – The Way We See Things
    • Unit 5 – Shadows
    • Unit 6 – Earth and Beyond

    Humanities

    • Unit 1: Aztecs and Mexico
    • Unit 2: The Tudors and UK
    • Unit 3: Shang Dynasty and China

    French

    TBC

    Art and Design

    Pupils will be taught to develop their techniques, including their control and their use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.

    Pupils will be taught:

    • to create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
    • to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing, painting and sculpture with a range of materials [for example, pencil, charcoal, paint, clay]
    • about great artists, architects and designers in history.

    Computing and ICT

    • Unit 1: Coding in Scratch
    • Unit 2: Computer Systems & Networks
    • Unit 3: Vector Drawing
    • Unit 4: Flat-file databases

    Music

    • Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression.
    • Use and understand staff/stave and other musical notations.
    • Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music.
    • Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds.
    • Appreciate and understand a range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
    • Develop an understanding of the history of music.

    Drama

    • Improvise and invent both real and fictional scenarios
    • Learn how voice and body language convey character
    • Learn how theatre conventions can enhance understanding
    • Learn to work collaboratively and assess both their own and others’ performances

    PE

    Class lessons focus on:

    • Movement and dance lessons
    • Coordination with bat and ball lessons
    • Outdoor games
    • Adventure climbing and balancing lessons
    • Outdoor sport specific lessons
    • Athletics and cross-country lessons
    • Indoor gymnastics lessons
    • Swimming

    Competitive sport specific squads include:

    • FootballHockey
    • Swimming
    • Tag Rugby
    • Netball
    • Athletics and
    • Cross country running

    Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education

    • Friendships
    • Citizenship
    • Healthy Living
    • Hillview Values

    The outcomes of the Year 5 programme are children who are happy, are able to communicate well, have the ability to think critically, who can share their thoughts and ideas with confidence and understand how they learn best. Year 5 students are emerging leaders who are ready to take on the responsibility of senior roles in Year 6, which demonstrate their understanding of leadership. We aim to support the development of children who are ready to face the social, emotional and academic challenges of the Year 6 programme.

    Computing and ICT

    Unit 1: Coding with Scratch

    • Control Structures
      • if-then-else statements
      • iteration
      • sentinel loops
    • Variables and values
    • Performing calculations
    • User input
      • keyboard input
      • mouse input
    • Collision detection

    Unit 2: Exploring Documents

    • Using Microsoft Word
    • Selection, cut, copy and paste
    • Using the spellchecker
    • Images and WordArt
    • Amending content for a specific audience

    Unit 3: Exploring Spreadsheets

    • Using Microsoft Excel
    • Entering data and formatting spreadsheets
    • Using formulae
    • Using the autosum function
    • Creating graphs (pie charts and bar charts)
    • Modeling data

    Core Concepts

    • Using computers and technology responsibly
    • Using PC and network file systems
      • Saving and opening files
      • Creating and using directory structures
    • Typing and mouse control

    Music

    Coming soon…