Year 5/6 Awesome Oaks and Resilient Redwoods

In this unit of work children will be learning all about World War II specifically how life was like for children during this period of time.

In art we will be looking at Lowry and how to draw with 1 and 2 point perspective.

In science we will be learning all about forces.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Narnia, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ or ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ We will also have the opportunity to read non-fiction texts about WWII from our book corner.

Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ to inspire us to write our own diary entry from the point of view from the character.

Non-Fiction 2

We will be writing a non-chronological information text based on daily life in WWII using what we have learnt in our topic lessons as well as what we have learnt when reading ‘ The Lion and the Unicorn’

Memorable Experiences
We went to Beaumanor Hall to take part in different activities to help us learn more information about life during WWII. We experienced what it was like to be in an air-raid shelter, with an immersive experience listening to the bomb shells and planes flying overhead while we hid in the cramped shelter waiting for the sirens to give us the all clear signal. 

We wrote some cards to our families at home, remembering not to add any secret information (careless talk costs lives after all)!

We then intercepted some German Morse code messages. We used the enigma codes to decipher what these messages said and reported the urgent messages so we could ensure victory!

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Parental Engagement

Look at our air raid shelters that we made! We invited our parents in to help us create a camouflaged and secure shelter to hide in during the Blitz! 

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Careers

Here is Loud Jackson, she is a Museum Curator. 

She spoke about some of the interesting stories that she hears while collecting artefacts to store in a museum. She explains how interesting it can be to learn the secrets of the artefacts. What a fascinating job to see all of the history come to life!

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In this unit of work we will be learning about the geography of the Arctic and Antarctic as well as learning about the expedition of Ernest Shackleton.

In science we will be learning about ‘Living Things and their Habitats’ and we will then use this learning and apply it to our computing work when we create our own databases.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Varjak Paw.’

Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘Shackleton’s Journey’ to write a newspaper report about the achievements that Ernest Shackleton made.

Non-Fiction 2

We will be using what we know about Ernest Shackleton to write a biography.

Memorable Experiences
We had ‘Prime VR’ come in to school to allow the children to take part in a Virtual Reality Experience so they can ‘visit’ the Arctic and Antarctic to support their learning in geography. We went to the polar regions and saw the beautiful landscapes and discovered the beautiful animals that inhabited the lands. 

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Parental Engagement

We had a special focus on internet safety as part of Internet Safety Day 2023!

This year, the theme was communication – we had to think about how we communicate on line and the dangers this may cause. We thought a lot about absence of body language, knowing it is hard to interpret messages when they are sent online. If we felt in danger, we discussed the trusted adults that we could talk to or the various ways to block and report content!

This linked in nicely with the internet safety workshop we had. We discussed further how to screenshot content as proof of any cyberbullying. Through creating drama techniques, we empathized with how others may feel online.

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Careers

This half term, we looked at the role of an architect! We were designing and creating our own shelters in DT. It was interesting to see the role of an architect and how they created their designs before they are built. We realized there many skills involved other than simply drawing. We needed to have Math knowledge for shapes, DT knowledge for strengthening structures and possible Computing skills for online software. 

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We will be learning all about the circulatory system and how it works. We will also learn about the heart in more detail including the different parts of the heart.

In computing we will be doing our own animation.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Bloodheart Boy’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the heart.

Fiction

We will be using ‘The Cobbler of Krakow’ and ‘Beowolf’ to write our own beat the monster story.

Non-Fiction 2

We will learn about the ‘British Heart Foundation’ to write our own persuasive leaflet.

Memorable Experiences
We will have the opportunity to dissect a heart and get to see all our learning about the parts of the heart in reality.

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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In this unit we will learn all about the Industrial Revolution and significant changes to daily life during the Victorian period. We will also be doing a local history study on Cromford Mills and learn about mill workers.

In art we will be doing printing and learn all about William Morris and his designs.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Street Child’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the Victorians and the Industrial Revolution.

Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘Oliver Twist’ to write a newspaper report about the day that Oliver Twist went missing.

Non-Fiction 2

We will use our knowledge from Street Child and Dr Barnardo to write a biography.

Memorable Experiences
We will be going to Cromford Mills to learn more about the mill workers and support our learning about the industrial revolution.

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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In this topic we will learn all about evolution and inheritance as well as learning about significant scientists including Charles Darwin.

We will also be learning about river systems and use our fieldwork trip of pond dipping to explore this in more depth.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Darwin’s Dragons’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the work of Charles Darwin.

Fiction

We will be using the model text ‘The Nightmare Man’ to write our own tale of fear focusing on suspense writing.

Non-Fiction 

We will write a discussion text on selective breeding.

Memorable Experiences
As part of our geography unit we will be doing pond dipping as part of our field work.

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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