What a fun week we have had in Year 5! The children have impressed us with their maturity, curiosity and willingness to engage with some big ideas across the curriculum.

English
This week, we began reading Running on Empty by S. E. Durrant. As the book is inspired by Usain Bolt setting his world record, we started by watching a video of that incredible moment. The children then spent the week writing vivid descriptions of the event, with a particular focus on the atmosphere inside the stadium.

The challenge was to avoid getting lost in simply describing what the stadium or athletes looked like, and instead to write for effect — conveying the tension, excitement and emotion of the moment to the reader. The children worked hard to think carefully about word choice and how atmosphere can be created through language.

Maths
This week, we have been learning about negative numbers. We already knew that the number line does not end at zero, but we practised counting through zero and calculating simple equations involving negative numbers. We also discussed why negative numbers are needed and where we might see them in real life, such as in car parks, lifts and temperatures.

We then moved on to working with six-digit numbers by learning about the hundred thousands column. The children practised reading and writing these numbers, comparing them, and using accurate mathematical vocabulary to explain their thinking.

Next week, we will be revisiting rounding numbers and learning how rounding can help us to quickly estimate answers.

Thematic (PSHE)
This week in PSHE, we have been exploring what fair really means. We discussed whether fair always means treating everybody exactly the same and discovered that, often, it does not. Different people have different strengths and needs, and treating everyone identically can sometimes be unfair.

We then learned about our Champion of Courage, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The children found out about her unfair imprisonment and how much courage it took for her and her family to remain hopeful during the six years she was held captive. We ended the week by creating our own quotes to inspire others to stay hopeful and be courageous. These will soon be on display in the school hall — keep an eye out if you are in the building.

Next week, we will begin our new thematic topic, Marvels of Matter, where we will be learning about the Anglo-Saxons.

Spelling
This week, we have been practising this term’s ‘red words’ — tricky words that are difficult or impossible to sound out using phonics.

Mr Oxley and Mrs Mirza’s group have been learning:
ancient, temperature, develop, foreign, language, pronunciation, sacrifice, soldier, symbol, identity

Miss Isaac’s group have been learning:
people, great, old, because, century, important, island, separate, women, woman

 

These spellings can also be found on the children’s reading records, with the ones they found tricky circled to remind them to practise those ones in particular. At the end of term, they will be tested again to see the results of their practise.

Love to learn

Inspired by our champion of courage, could you tell us about someone in your life who is courageous. It could be a sibling or an adult (or an animal) you know, or it could be someone famous that inspires you with their courage. You can write a paragraph about them, draw a picture and mindmap some reasons they are courageous, write a song, etc.

TTRS battle

Starting Monday, a TTRS battle begins between the Year 5 and Year 6 classes so make sure to play as much as possible to ensure your class comes out on top. The battle will end on Friday.

Important Dates:

Thursday 15th January – Reception September 2026 application closes

Friday 6th February – NSPCC number day (Reception and KS1 children to come in dressed in number themed clothes/KS2 to come in dressed as a Times Table Rock Star)

Friday 6th February – KS2 Countdown assembly at 9am (parents of year group house winners to be invited)

Tuesday 10th February -  Safer internet day

Friday 13th February – Non-school uniform day

Friday 13th February - Chilton Fundraisers Winter Disco

Friday 13th February – Last day of term. School finishes at usual time