Andersen Class (Year 5)

Hans Christian Andersen (2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.

Andersen's fairy tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes and translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in many countries. His books are readily accessible to children, presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity. His most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Tin Soldier", "The Princess and the Pea", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Little Match Girl", and "Thumbelina". His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films.

Andersen Class Staff

Mr. Abram  Miss Riley, Shepherd, Mrs. Hine, Mrs. Morgan

Summer Term 1

Welcome to Andersen's Class page. Here are a few reminders to help you keep organised throughout this busy half term:

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Wednesday and Thursday afternoons are our designated PE sessions. Children are expected to wear the correct PE Kit to school on these days. On Thursdays the Year 4 cohort will be going swimming in their PE lesson, whilst our Year 5s will be following an athletics unit of work. The focus for both Year 4 & 5 cohorts this half term in the Wednesday session is Cricket - where we shall be learning to develop our throwing, catching, striking and fielding skills.

​Reading

Ideally, pupils in Andersen Class should be reading on a daily basis at home but if this is not possible, the minimum expectation is to read at least 3 times a week.

To encourage a love of reading and to reinforce the notion that reading is a pleasurable activity, we have a wonderful new Reading Corner set up within our classroom which is well stocked with a wide selection of popular children's writers. The many varied authors include the likes of David Walliams, Roald Dahl, Jeff Kinney, Jill Murphy, Michael Morpurgo, Jaqueline Wilson, Megan Macdonald and Lenny Henry to name a few. We also have collections that include the 39 Storey Treehouse books, a  complete set of William Shakespeare plays, Goosebumps, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Judy Moody, Horrible Henry  and a set of Hans Christian Andersen Fairy tales. We even have our own class librarians who check books in and out of our library using a  laptop.

Usually, the end of the school day will see us reading a chapter of our class novel ('The Queens Nose' by Dick King Smith), or, alternatively, we may read some of our identified additional texts which include poetry and picture books. More information about our class book (Blue John) and how we use it within class can be found further down this page.

​Homework 

Homework is set every Friday afternoon and is due in the following Thursday. Our Maths homework is linked to the work completed in class that week to reinforce learning. English homework consists of a reading comprehension task, an online 'Spelling Frame'  task based on the week's spelling patterns and a paper based spelling task with the same spellings.

If there are any issues regarding access to a suitable devise or to internet access then we do offer a homework club one day a week if needed, where the homework can be completed. Ideally though, homework should be completed at home.

Please ensure that homework books with the completed comprehension and spelling activities inside are handed in on Thursday morning at the very latest so they can be marked and sent out again the following day.

​Maths

 In Mathematics this half term, we are continuing to develop our numeracy skills through our topics all about Length and perimeter, Area and Volume, Position and Direction and Statistics. We will continue using 'White Rose' online resources and the accompanying pupil activities. We are continuing to improve our arithmetic skills by completing a daily 'Tough Ten' activity from the Numeracy Ninja. We also use  'Learning by Questions' online resources to help reinforce and further develop our numeracy skills. We will also be working regularly on our times table quick recall skills.

English

In our English lessons we are enjoying reading 'The Darkest Dark' by Chris Hadfield. It is a beautifully illustrated and much loved picture book aimed at Key Stage 2 pupils and we are basing much of our written work, vocabulary development and comprehension skills around this popular text.

" The story of a boy who faced his fears and went on to reach the stars."

' Chris loves rockets and planets and pretending he's an astronaut but there's one problem... at night he is afraid of the dark. But when he watches the Apollo moon landing on T.V. it encourages him to follow his dreams and explore the darkest dark."

  " A book to inspire children with the wonder of space and all the opportunities that life holds for them." LoveReading4Kids

Why not scan the QR code above  to find out more about the book.

Topic:

History and Geography are taught through our weekly Topic lessons and, to ensure continuity and progression, they are taught as discreet age related topics. Each Year group (Y4 or Y5) will study either a History or Geography topic each half term and then study the other subject in the following half term. This half term our Year 4 and Year 5 pupils have a History focus.

History - Year 4

This half term our History topic is :

"Why did the Romans settle in Britain?" 

Our pupils will be able to explain:

• When and why did the Romans invade Britain?
• Why did Boudica lead a rebellion?
• What does the word ‘legacy’ mean?
• Why did the Romans build roads?
• Why did the Romans build towns?

History Year 5

This half term our History topic is :

'What is the legacy of the ancient Greek civilisation?'

Our pupils will be able to explain:

• When was the Ancient Greek period?
• How many Gods did the Ancient Greeks believe in?
• How did the Greeks honour their Gods?
• Ancient Greece was one of the first cultures to introduce what?
• What were the three parts of Athenian Democracy?
• How were Sparta and Athens different?

Religious Education

Our Year 4 Pupils are researching the theme:

'Jesus' 

The aim of this unit is for our children to be able to :

• provide evidence that Jesus is the son of God from the Bible
• understand transfiguration and how it shows Jesus is the Son of God
• identify how Jesus shows authority in different Bible stories
• identify when Jesus challenges authority and understand when it is ok to dos so
• Understand what the Sabbath is and why it is so important in the Jewish faith.

Our Year 5 Pupils are researching the topic:

'How can life be compared to a Journey?'

The aim of this unit is for our children to be able to answer the following questions:

• Do you understand what a journey is?
• Can you identify key events and experiences on your life journey?
• Do you understand the life journey of a Christian?
• Can you link Christian life choices to beliefs in the Bible?
• Do you know which faiths have journeys of pilgrimage?
• Can you research and explain different faith journeys of pilgrimages?

Science

The Year 4 Science focus this half term is 'Sound.' 

This unit of work teaches the children to:

• Explain how sound is created, travels and is interpreted by the brain
• Understand that materials that absorb sound are sound insulators
• Understand that the volume of sound is measured in decibels
• Understand that pitch is how low or high a sound is
• Understand why sound fades as it travels

The Year 5 Science focus this half-term is: 

'Evolution and Inheritance'

• Explain why offspring look similar but not identical to their parents
• Describe how an animal is adapted to its environment
• Understand that fossils provide information about living things that are now extinct
• Describe how natural selection causes living things to evolve over time
• Describe how humans have evolved

This unit of work teaches the children :

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Please keep checking back for important dates and information for Andersen Class as well as information and photos about our fantastic learning this year on our class blog.

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