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 Shepherd, Mrs. Hine, Mrs. Morgan

Autumn Term 2

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 a Basketball unit of work, where we shall be learning how to dribble, defend and shoot. The focus for both Year 4 & 5 cohorts this half term in the Wednesday session is gymnastics - above and below.

​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 Firework-maker's Daughter' by Phillip Pullman or, alternatively, we may read some of our identified additional texts which include poetry and picture books. More information about our class book (The Firework-Maker's Daughter) 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 please contact Mr. Abram as we can organise a breaktime 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 Multiplication and Division and Fractions. 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 Firework Maker's daughter' by Philip Pullman. It is a fascinating and much loved 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.

Lila doesn't just want to be a Firework-Maker's daughter, she wants to be a

Firework - Maker herself but although she has learned a lot, she must still get through the most difficult part of her apprenticeship and her father won't tell her what she has to do.

"  This is a book you will want to read over and over again." Sunday Times

  " One of those rare books with a confident magic... sheer genius." Independent

Why not scan this 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 cohort have a History focus and our Year 5 pupils have a Geography focus.

Geography - Year 4

This half term our Geography topic is :

"Why do people choose to live near volcanoes?" 

Our pupils will :

• be able to recognise the two different types of volcano.
• know what the Earths layers are.
• to understand what tectonic plates are and what can be found where they meet?
• to know the difference between Magma and Lava.
• to understand the advantages of living near a volcano.
• to understand the dis advantages of living near a volcano.

History Year 5

This half term our History topic is :

' Who is on the front of a five pound note?'

Our pupils will be able to:

• identify who appears on each British banknote
• identify the features of a British banknote
• understand why Alan Turing was significant
• know what William Tuke helped to develop
• know why Lily Parr is a significant character
• understand why people were chosen to be on a banknote
• identify who they would like to see on a British banknote and explain why

Religious Education

Our Year 4 Pupils are researching the theme 'Christmas 2' 

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

• What does it mean to be present?
• Is God present and with us now?
• How did the world find out about the birth of the Messiah?
• What does Immanuel mean?
• How can people be Christ's hand and feet?
• How does the presence of Jesus impact on people's lives?

Our Year 5 Pupils are researching 'The Eucharist' 

• to know why Christians celebrate the Eucharist
• to know how Christians celebrate the Eucharist
• to be able to explain why this time of worship is called the Eucharist/Holy Communion/Mass/The Lords supper
• to be able to ask interesting/probing questions about the Eucharist.

Science

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

This unit of work teaches the children to:

•  draw and label the reproductive parts of a flowering plant
•   identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants
•   explore the requirements of plants for life and growth.
•   how to investigate the way in which water is transported within plants
•   how to explore the part that flowers play in the lifecycle of flowering plants          including pollination, seed formation and dispersal.

The Year 5 Science focus this half-term is 'Living things and their habitats.'

This unit of work teaches the children :

• to identify what plants need to grow strong and healthy
• to know three types of mammal
• to compare metamorphosis in amphibians and insects
• to describe the differences between a mammal and a bird or reptile life cycle
• to identify important facts about 2 key members of the scientific community

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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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