What a busy and exciting week it has been in Year 5! The children have thrown themselves into their learning with enthusiasm and a real willingness to think deeply, especially when tackling new ideas and challenges.

English
This week, we have been writing online news reports about Usain Bolt setting the Olympic record at the London 2012 Olympics. The children explored how news reports can be biased in a particular direction and learnt how journalists make deliberate language choices to influence the reader. A key focus was ensuring consistency in tone and viewpoint across their writing, just like real news articles.

Next week, we will be finishing our news reports before beginning to explore poetry.

Maths
In Maths this week, we revisited rounding numbers and then used our knowledge of rounding to help us estimate the answers to calculations. We discussed why rounding is such a useful skill and how, in real life, we often only need a rough estimate rather than an exact answer.

Alongside this, we have been locked in an incredibly heated Times Table Rock Stars battle! It was a very tight race between Team Indigo and Team Royal, but a huge well done to Team Indigo for coming out on top!

Next week, we will be using our times table knowledge to identify the factors of larger numbers. We will also revisit prime and composite numbers, as well as learning about squaring and cubing numbers.

Thematic
This week, we began our new thematic topic, Marvels of Matter, where we are learning about how the Angles, Saxons and Jutes took advantage of the Romans vacating Britain to settle here themselves. We found out where these tribes came from, how they brought their language with them (which would slowly develop into Modern English), and explored what other historical events and civilisations were happening around the world at the same time, such as the Golden Age of Islam and the end of the Roman Empire.

Spelling
Please continue to practise this term’s ‘red words’ each week, as these are tricky 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

Love to Learn

Since we’re writing newspaper reports this week, we’d like you to write one of your own. Think of something interesting that has happened to you or someone in your life recently and tell us all about it. Also think about whether the report is going to be positively or negatively biased towards the events and people involved.

Make sure you include:
Introduction with 5 Ws
Direct and indirect speech
Maintain the correct tone for a newspaper report; this isn’t a diary entry so keep it formal.
Pictures and captions

RSPB Big Garden BirdWatch

This term, the whole school is taking part in the Big Schools' BirdWatch to collect data for the RSPB. We are inviting you to take part at home too. Here's what you need to do:

1. ‎Choose an hour between 23 and 25 January

2, Only record the birds that land in your garden

3. Record the highest number of each bird species you see at any one time

4. Sign up online and submit your results to the RSPB. Here's the link: Big Garden Birdwatch

Miss Isaac, who is Chilton's science leader, would love to see any photos of you doing this and also know any particularly interesting birds you saw. Feel free to send her an email: carol.isaac@chiltonprimary.co.uk

Have fun twitching!

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