Hello,  my name is Miss Duffy and I would like to welcome you to Year 5.  Our classroom ethos is Respect, Reflect and Resilience: three values that are shared throughout school. We encourage each other to enjoy learning and to take pride in everything we do! We are independent learners and take responsibility for our own learning but we are always there to help one another.  

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What are the three topics and why we are teaching these?

In Year 5, our three key topics are ‘The Industrial Revolution’, ‘The Amazon River’ and ‘World War One’.

 

Autumn Term - World War One:

In this topic, we build upon our understanding and skills from our Year 4 topic, ‘Titanic’ and our understanding of the United Kingdom, the British Empire and the world at the turn of the Twentieth Century.  This builds on our Year 5 topic about the ‘Industrial Revolution’ and Great Britain during Queen Victoria’s reign. We deepen our understanding of how different historians view events and the importance attached to different sources of evidence.  We sharpen our skills as historians, comparing and contrasting different periods in history, questioning and following our own lines of enquiry.  We focus on the experiences of the people, both those who served in the armed forces and those who remained in Great Britain, and how views towards the Great War changed over time as different events occurred.  By considering the lessons learned from the past, we begin to ask about the events leading up to World War Two, which we study in Year 6.​

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Spring Term-The Industrial Revolution:

Our topic, ‘The Industrial Revolution’, aims to build on our previous knowledge and skills gained during our studies of the British history, including the Romans in Year 3 and the Royal Family in Year 2.  We deepen our understanding of how the transformations, inventions and events from 1750 influenced the lives of different groups of people, such as the poorer and richer families. We learn how to contrast the experiences of people living in the earlier period with those in the later period.  By considering the impact of this revolution on people’s lives and how the developments continue to affect our own lives, we come to a greater understanding and appreciation of the work and importance of our ancestors. This topic helps build firm foundations for our topic in the summer term, World War One.

 

Summer Term - The Amazon River:

Building on our Year 4 science learning about the ‘Water Cycle’, we continue to develop links and understanding and apply this to the mighty Amazon River. We learn about the physical geography including coasts, climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts. We compare and contrast this to other geographical areas and consolidate our understanding from our local area studies in Key Stage One, Farm to Fork in Year 3 and Natural Disasters in Year 4.  By focusing on concepts, such as, sustainability and conservation, we learn more how finite resources are harnessed and distributed.  To enable us to deepen our appreciation and respect for others, we learn about the different groups of people that live, and have lived, close to the Amazon and rely upon it for their livelihoods.  We compare the lives of different groups of people, across continents and over time, to probe into similarities and differences, causes and effects. Looking to the future, we consider how developments and innovations may result in further changes to people’s lives in the future, and begin to enquire about issues, such as Fair Trade, studied more closely in Year 6

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What are our mini-topics and why are we teaching these?

In Year 5, our mini-topics are separated into three parts and are taught at the end of each main topic.

Life Skills: First Aid

During this mini-topic we learn about the importance of First Aid, ways to stay safe and care for others.

 

Global Issue: Climate Change

The intent behind this mini-topic is to learn about ways to raise awareness of issues that continue to impact upon people’s lives.  By considering the role of inspirational speakers, such as Greta Thunberg, we appreciate how small actions and words can create positive change.  We delve into the controversies raised by climate change and the disagreements between scientists and politicians can create uncertainty. We learn more about the importance of researching issues carefully, investigating facts and opinions, and considering all sides of an argument before reaching our own conclusions and decisions. 

 

Country: Pakistan

In this mini-topic we explore the terrain, ecosystem and environment of Asia and, in particular, Pakistan, comparing its unique landscape with other places around the world. We enhance our skills as geographers, building on our previous topic of the ‘Amazon river’, and create climate, topography and economic scaled maps.  We deepen our understanding of the developments in the British Empire over time and the move to independence in the twentieth century. We give further consideration to the impact of this upon people living within the Commonwealth countries and consider what the future holds for the British monarchy.

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What are you trying to achieve in your year group?

In Year 5, we continue to develop and link the skills that learnt throughout our school careers so far. We aim to use them in practical ways to learn more about the world and our place in it. In addition to this, we understand the difference between right and wrong, knowing that our decisions can influence others. Furthermore, we embody the terms respect, reflection and resilience, and put these skills in to practice as good role models in and out of our school.