Year 5

Welcome to Year 5!

Moving into Upper Key Stage 2 is an exciting time for our Year 5 children as they begin their final years at Echelford. During the year, children embrace a range of varied and inspiring topics such as Space, the Victorians, Ancient Greece, and the Amazon Rainforest. These topics allow children to build upon the knowledge and skills they have already acquired throughout their time at Echelford.

We are also fortunate to explore a fabulous selection of high-quality, diverse texts that support our topics, including Gaslight, Floodland, and Hidden Figures. Across these themes, children are encouraged to write for a wide range of purposes and audiences, helping them to develop an increasingly sophisticated writing style.

To enhance the children’s understanding of Victorian Britain, we take the children to the Milestones Museum, where children can dress as Victorian-era pupils and experience what life may have been like for a child during that period.

In addition, we host a range of exciting in-school experience days, such as ‘Antarctica Day’, linked to our Shackleton topic, and Rainforest Rangers Day, supporting our studies of South America.

Year 5 also offers a range of leadership opportunities. Children can apply to become a Playground Pal, an important role in which pupils support others at lunchtime and help to facilitate positive play experiences for younger children. Another role is Diversity Hero Ambassador, where Year 5 pupils lead groups that celebrate the wonderful qualities that make Echelford both unique and united.

Towards the end of the year, Sports Leaders are introduced in Year 5. In this role, pupils support Key Stage 1 children during P.E. lessons, a responsibility that continues into Year 6. In addition, children take on the role of Reading Buddies, which also continues into Year 6. Through this role, Year 5 pupils read with and listen to Reception children to support the development of early reading skills.

Throughout Years 1–6, learning is focused on mastering the end-of-year objectives set out in the 2014 National Curriculum. In Years 1 and 2, children follow the Key Stage 1 programmes of study, and in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6 they follow the Key Stage 2 programmes. The National Curriculum for both key stages consists of the core subjects: Mathematics, English, Science, and Computing; and the foundation subjects: History, Geography, Design and Technology, Art and Design, Music, P.E., and RaWV (Religion and World Views).

We have ensured that the knowledge and skills pupils learn in Year 5 build on prior knowledge and prepare them for their next stage of learning. All learning can be found on the Curriculum Web (updated each half term) and in the Curriculum Overview for the entire academic year. Our Knowledge Organisers show the key knowledge children will be learning across our curriculum themes.