WELCOME TO YEAR 5 MAPLE CLASS
On this page, you can read about the staff working with your children, find out what topics are being covered and find useful information for supporting your child at home. These pages will be updated regularly. You will also find photographs of your children at work!
September 2025
Welcome to your new class- we hope you had a lovely break and we are looking forward to a great first term with you all.
Term 1
Narrative Writing
For the 1st 3 weeks of the term, we will be focusing on "The Ridge" which is a film clip based on Danny MacAskill who is a mountain biker. We will be using the clip to support us with writing a narrative with a focus on setting descriptions and showing emotions rather than telling the reader. We will be particularly focusing on using a thesaurus to improve vocabulary and to create expanded noun phrases as well as recapping work on fronted adverbials.
Discussion and Debate
We will then move onto learning about discussion texts which will help us to answer our Geography big question of the term "Do humans improve an environment?". Within this unit, we will be learning about words and phrases which can help with cohesion as well as how to use subordinate clauses effectively.
Term 2
Narrative Writing
At the start of Term 2, we will be returning to our work on Narratives. This term, it will have a focus on using dialogue to move the story forward. We will be using Oliver Twist to inspire our own narratives focusing on when Oliver Twist meets the Artful Dodger. We will draw on our skills from Term 1 as well as building our understanding of dialogue and relative clauses.
Chronological Report - Biography
We will continue the term by learning more about Charles Dickens and creating a chronological report about his life. We will be particularly focusing on using conjunctions and sentence openers to build cohesion in our work. We will also be considering how we can engaged the reader.
Playscripts
Our final piece of writing this term, will be creating our own playscripts. We will start by studying a play version of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens and we will then be developing our own playscript for a section of a pantomime.
Term 1
Place Value, Addition & Subtraction
Term 1 starts with the children learning place value of numbers up to one million. By the end of the Term, they will be able to read, write, order and compare numbers to at least a million and determine the value of each digit. Also included in this unit, we will be rounding any whole number up to 1 million to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10000 and 100000.
As the term continues, we will be moving onto addition and subtraction. In this unit, the children will be retrieving their knowledge of formal written methods of addition and subtraction, and combining this with their understanding of place value. They will be continuing to refine the skill of adding and subtracting mentally, using rounding to check answers and focusing on multi-step problems.
term 2
Multiplication and Division
To start Term 2, we will be learning about multiples and factors. We will then be using this knowledge to develop our understanding of Prime Numbers. After this, we will learn about squared and cubed numbers.
If you need any extra practice, here is a link to BBC Bitesize focusing on the above topics.
The end of this unit will be focused on revising multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000.
Fractions
We will then be learning about fractions with a focus on equivalent fractions and converting between mixed and improper fractions. We will then be applying this knowledge to help us compare and order fractions.
Geometry
Our final unit for the term will be recapping properties of triangles and quadrilaterals. We will then be learning about reflection and translation.
Term 1 - cloud busting
We will be starting the year reading "Cloud Busting" by Malorie Blackman. This is a story about friendship which is told in 1st person through Verse.
A fantastic story which also promotes our school value of resilience.
If you enjoy this style of writing, here is a link to other books you might enjoy.
Term 2- Street Child
This text has been chosen to support our historical enquiry as it is set in Victorian times and it links with our historical substantive strand 'poverty'.
Jim Jarvis, his mother and his sisters live in a single room in a house in the poorest part of London. All alone in the world, Jim finds himself working for the evil ‘Grimy Nick’ on a coal barge. Forced to work all day for no pay and little food, Jim decides to escape once more living on the streets of London in terrible conditions until he is ‘rescued’ by a benevolent gentleman – Dr. Banardo.
If you enjoy listening to this story in class, or you enjoy historical texts, here is a book list of other texts linked with Victorian Britain.
Check the book corner for "Gaslight" by Eloise Williams and "Another Twist in the Tale" by Catherine Bruton.
Enquiry 1 - Forces
During Term 1, and into Term 2, we will be answering the two big questions,
What is a force? How do they help us?
To help us answer these questions, we will need to build on our knowledge from Year 3, when we learnt about forces (Friction) and magnets.
Term 1 - MOUNTains
In Term 1 we will be focusing on Physical and Human Geography to help us answer the following questions:
where in the world?
We will be learning about the counties of the UK and using this to make comparisons. We will then learn about the locations of mountains in both the UK and around the world.
What are the physical features of mountains?
We will learn to describe the different features of mountains using Geographical vocabulary.
Do humans improve an environment?
Initially we will be answering this question following fieldwork in our local area. We will then be considering the impact that tourism has had on mountain environments.
Term 2 - Victorians
In Term 2, we will be completing a Historical enquiry, asking the Big Question:
Was the Victorian Era a dark age or golden age?
This unit of learning, focussed on The Victorians, will be encompassing topics including Monarchy, the British Empire, wealth and poverty, inventions during the era, workhouses and much more!
The unit started with a surprise Victorian Day where pupils were able to learn about what it would have been like to attend school during Victorian times. We also learnt some key facts about Queen Victoria as well as the importance of the British Empire.