WELCOME TO YEAR 5 MAGPIES
Magpies are known for their intelligence. We are also resourceful and curious and being part of the upper years team, we are able to gather knowledge and apply this to our daily learning.
THIS TERM'S THEME
‘Free to be me’
In Year 5, we will be focusing on how our thoughts and emotions impact our daily lives, we will understand how contemporary figures and historical events have shaped society. We will evaluate know the importance of a healthy mind and body.
P.E AND DANCE DAYS
Dance and PE for Magpies will be on a Thursday. Please ensure your child comes to school with the correct kit, which is clearly labelled. For more information about kit requirements, please visit our 'Physical Education & School Sport' Page.
We will ensure that PE kits are sent home at the end of every half term.
HOME LEARNING DAYS
Home learning will be sent home on Fridays and should be returned to school on Wednesday. Home learning should be completed to the best standard possible and Mathletics and Times Table Rock Stars should also be completed weekly. We celebrate the efforts of Mathletics and Times Table Rock Stars in our assemblies with special class shout outs and certificates.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday 5th January – Non pupil Day
Tuesday 6th January – First day of Autumn Term
Wednesday 14th January – Magpies Climbing with Reach Outdoors
Thursday 15th January – SEND Coffee Morning at 9am
Wednesday 21st January – Magpies Climbing with Reach Outdoors
Wednesday 28th January – Macaws Climbing with Reach Outdoors
Wednesday 4th February – Macaws Climbing with Reach Outdoors
Friday 6th February - NSPCC Number Day
Monday 9th February – School Nurse Drop-in sessions
Tuesday 10th February – Wonderstruck at Brixham
Friday 13th February - Last Day of Spring 1
Monday 23rd February - First Day of Spring 2
Monday 2nd March-Monday 30th March – Magpies Swimming - every Monday
Tuesday 3rd March- Tuesday 31st March – Merlins and Macaws Swimming – every Tuesday
Thursday 5th March - World Book Day
Thursday 12th March – Merlins at Paignton Sports Festival
Tuesday 17th March - Parents Evening (In Person)
Thursday 19th March - Parents Evening (Virtual)
Friday 20th March - Red Nose Day
Tuesday 31st March – Learning Celebration at 2.45pm
Thursday 2nd April - Last Day of Spring 2
MEET THE TEAM
If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your teacher (Miss Grimes) or alternatively please contact a team leader (Mrs Gidley).
ACADEMIC YEAR 2025/2026
SPRING TERM
Spring Term Curriculum Map
Tuesday 10th February 2026 - Science - Wonderstruck
We went to Brixham College to watch the Wonderstruck science show. The first thing we were told us was to NEVER do this at home as it is VERY DANGEROUS!
First, we looked at how air moves. The man blew air at us from a bucket, but because we could see it, he added some smoke from his smoke machine to show us how the air travelled.
Next, he created a rocket using a burning reaction. He said we needed three things – fuel, a flame and oxygen. Once he’d shown us, he put on a larger one with a backpack and Mrs Gidley set it alight. We thought he would take off...but he didn't. This was because the force of gravity was stronger than the up thrust.
After this, he showed us his bed of nails. Because the force is spread across so many nails it will not go through his skin. Miss Thomson got to put a smaller bed of nails and a concrete block on top of him and then break the block. This was safe because the force was spread across so many nails.
Lastly, we were given instructions to make a rocket. We then made our own rockets and tested them on the school field. They went a really long way! We had a fantastic day.
Home Learning - Safer Internet Day
Here is the video to learn the Year 5 Safer Internet Day song for our assembly.
5. HL - SAFER INTERNET - Year 5.mp4
Friday 6th February 2026 – NSPCC Number Day 2026
Today we have celebrated the NSPCC Number Day. The whole school assembly was taken by Mr Passmore, who told us all about it. He asked us when we use Maths outside of school and we shared our thoughts. We said, ‘When playing on TTRS,’ ‘If we are buying things in the shop and we work out the change,’ and ‘When we look at our watches to tell the time.’ Each class completed their own activity.
Thursday 29th January 2026 – History – Ancient Egyptians
This term we have been learning about what life was like for the Ancient Egyptians. We know lots about them from the artefacts that they left and the hieroglyphics (writing) that have been engraved on tombs and statues. In class, we were split into small groups and given a set of artefacts to look at. We had to use our historical thinking skills to put the artefacts into groups and think about what they told us. We discussed together what the title of each group would be – thinking about what they had in common. We came up with titles like the afterlife, Pharaohs and rich or poor.
Thursday 22nd January 2026 - Drumba
This half term in Dance we are learning Drumba. This is a fusion of music and physical exercise involving high energy movements and developing rhythm and co-ordination. We are really enjoying this and everyone is making great progress to improve their fitness and timing using the drumsticks.
Wednesday 21st January 2026 - Climbing with Reach Outdoors
Today, we went climbing with Reach Outdoors, on their wall at Parkfield.
First we had a go at walking along the bottom of the wall. We were told about traversing. This is when you climb sideways. We worked with partners, while one of us was climbing, the other one was spotting to check that we were safe.
After we had our first go we were given some top tips!
- Keep arms long.
- Walk sideways along the wall. Hip into the wall
- Feet sideways to the wall - wherever possible.
We then had a second go and we were much better.
Next, we were shown how to put on an our harness properly. This was then checked by the Reach Outdoors instructors. After this we were given a helmet.
Before we climbed the wall, we talked through how to be safe. The whole team needed to be checked by the Reach Outdoors instructors before we were able to start climbing. We all had a different job to do. One person climbed, another person - called the rock, pulled the rope to get rid of any slack, and the rest of the group were pebbles. They pulled the rope through too.
We had such a brilliant time!
Friday 16th January 2026- Spanish
Year 5 had lots of fun in their Spanish lesson this week. iQué maravilloso! We learnt 10 different sports (los deportes) and how to say "I play" and "I do"
iQué fantástico!
Here are the words to practise at home.
el baloncesto- basketball
el badminton- badminton
el hockey- hockey
el boxeo- boxing
el baile- dance
el ping-pong- table tennis
el judo- judo
la gimnasia- gymnastics
la natación- swimming
el patinaje sobre hielo= ice-skating
We also learnt about cognates which are words which are similar in English and in Spanish. For example: pizza, television, fútbol .....
Don't forget you can access a language learning platform from home to
practise vocabulary learnt in class. You can also learn other languages such as German and Mandarin! See the link below.
We also learnt a new greetings song.
Thursday 8th January 2026 - PE
This half term year 5 are focusing on Netball. They will be developing their footwork skills and understanding of attack and defence in invasion games.
Tuesday 6th January 2026 – Writing – Kensuke’s Kingdom
As we begin the new term, our writing will be based on the book Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo.
This week we have listen to Chapter 4, which tells us about how Michael ends up on an island after falling off his boats – The Peggy Sue. In our books, we have plotted the events of the chapter and created our own story maps.
AUTUMN TERM
Autumn Term Curriculum Map
Monday 8th December 2025 – DT – Soup Making
In DT, we have been learning about a balanced diet. We have found out about different food groups and used this to inform our soup design. When cooking, we learnt how to cut and peal safely. As a group, we made decisions about how much of each vegetable to put in and what seasoning to add. We then tasted our final product and completed an evaluation.
Tuesday 9th December 2025 – Writing – Performance Poetry
As part of our writing we have been reading, ‘Where my wellies take me.’ In the recount, the author has added famous poems. We read some of them and pick our favourite. As a group, we performed them to the rest of the class.
Wednesday 24th November 2025 – Year 5 Learning Celebration
Today we invited our adults into school to see some of the learning we have been doing this term. First, we started off in the hall, so they could see how well we had learnt the Charlston. We then went back to our classrooms, and they had a go at being artists. We used the French artist Jo Di Bona as our inspiration. Finally, we talked to them about the World War Two learning we had completed as part of our History topic.
Thank you to all the adults who came and made it such a success!
Thursday 19th November 2025 - Dance
In Dance this half term, we have been learning some Charleston steps as this dance became popular after World War I. The Charleston is a tricky dance to learn, but some of us have even managed to include the famous swivel. High energy is needed for this fun style of dance and we are enjoying learning the steps ready to perform in our learning celebration next week.
Tuesday 11th November 2025 – Geography – Live Lesson from Brazil about COP30
Today, Year 5 took part in a Live Lesson organised by Picture News. We joined in with other schools across the UK and Jenny who was live from Brazil!
We thought about what COP30 is. This stands for ‘Conference of Parties’ and this year is the 30th anniversary.
We watched some videos from some school in Leeds. They talked about the nature around their school and what they have learnt about Climate Change.
A teacher, from a school in London, called Jenny was at COP30 in Brazil. She showed us where she was and what is happening. She had some paper keys that pupils wrote in her school, and she was going to give them to some of the world leaders.
We were also joined by a teacher who came from in Zimbabwe, in Africa. He lives in the heart of the African rainforest. He talked to us about how the world is coming together and encouraging governments to reduce carbon emissions. He said that a good message coming from all governments, across the world, that they are going to try to reduce carbon emissions by 1.5%.
As the session went on we were able to ask both him and Jenny about COP30. They explained that there are lots of different buildings. Jenny explained that it gives everyone a voice to talk about how to look after our world properly. Brazil was chosen this year, because they moved around to different locations all over the world. She said it was exciting to be in the rainforest.
Monday 10th November 2025 - PE
Last week year 5 had their first experience of our fantastic new activity, Drumba! The children had lots of fun learning some new drum skills and moving to the music. We are looking forward to continuing this after Christmas.
This half term in PE year 5 are focusing on developing their attacking and defending skills in football.
Wednesday 5th November 2025 – Reading Roundabout
Jade came to school and brought some books for use to look at, that will be going into our library. She brought different genres; these are different types of books or themes. We had six sets of books: Wild about animals, Realistic Stories, Adventure and Mystery, Fascinating Facts, Funny Books and Imaginary Worlds.
We thought about how we pick books for enjoyment. We said the following things:
- Check to see if it’s an author we like.
- Read the blurb.
- Flick through the pages. Does anything catch our eye?
- Read the first couple of pages.
- Look for books recommended by a friend.
- See the front cover – What does it tell you?
We used these strategies to help us pick the books we’d like to read and to complete our Read Roundabout Booklets.
Friday 24th October 2025 - Guide Dogs for the blind.
Today we wore non-school uniform to raise money for Guide Dogs for the blind. We thought about how much it costs for a dog to be trained. Mrs Tomkinson told us it costs £77,000!
We watched a video which told us how important these dogs are, in everyday life, for someone with sight loss. Guide dogs help people with sight loss to live the life they choose.
We were lucky enough to have Peter with his dog Ridley who was 10 and a half, Mary and her dog Clara who is also 10, and Harmony with Hanz who has just turned 2, come into assembly to talk about what they do.
Peter told us that Guide Dogs started in 1931. In this time, they have match and paired people with 36, 000 dogs. They retire between the ages of 8 and 10 and in their lifetime cost £102,000 to be trained and maintained. Peter told us that Guide Dogs change lives. Ridley is an ambassador dog, as he is retired. His job now is to go around to schools and companies to help represent guided dogs. This year he won a Hero award for working for ten years.
Tuesday 21st Ocotber 2025 - African Dance Assembly
Today we have been lucky enough to have some African dancers in our assembly. They explained to us that they come from West Africa - a place called The Ivy Coast. They played their drum and danced as we clapped along. They also did some call and response, where we did some calling back and added actions. This is assembly is always a favourite!
Monday 20th October 2025 – Writing: Making Chocolate Lollies!
As part of our Shared Write, the class wrote a recipe for chocolate lollies. We had to put these to the test to see how well the children had written their instructions. In groups, the children worked together to create their own crazy chocolate lollies! The children had lots of fun, have a look at how they turned out…
Friday 10th October 2025 – Writing: Making Ice-cream
For our Writing unit we are using the book, ‘Incredible Edibles’. We are looking at recipes and what they include. Today we have followed two different recipes to make ice-cream. One was from our class text and the others was a video.
We had to follow the recipe and work as a team to make sure we were doing it correctly. Some of the recipes worked, while others were still a bit runny. Some even had salt in them where we didn’t seal the bags properly! In our next lesson, we’re going to evaluate how good we thought the instructions were.
We all had a brilliant time trying and some of us were thinking of having a go at home. Here’s the link to the online recipe:
Thursday 2nd October 2025 - Dance
This half term, we are creating dances that represent the emotions of different people during World War II. We all chose two photos (out of the four below) to create a solo dance that uses dynamics to portray the feelings of those in our chosen photos. We had time to write the feelings and dynamics down and then plan our dance out, having talked a lot about the mixed emotions people would have felt at the time. Last week, we shared our dance with our learning partner and they said what they liked about it and gave us one thing to improve. This week, we had time to improve our dances before sharing again and teaching our partner our dance. Next week, we are going to develop this into a duet and link it to our solos.
Tuesday 16th September - Reach Outdoors Coasteering
Magpies had an amazing time coasteering with Reach Outdoors at Fishcombe Cove in Brixham. They had a fantastic time swimming in the sea, climbing across the rocks and jumping in. They demonstrated fantastic determination, resilience and bravery!
