top of page
12 1.jpg

Year 5 & 6 Curriculum Overview

Year 5/6 Autumn 2024

​

  • In English, the text and accompanying film, ‘Goodnight Mister Tom’ is taught, which explores the evacuation of a young boy, William, to an estranged town which he comes to call home. This supports our Creative Curriculum topic on the Second World War, but also encourages social and emotional opportunities for discussion. Pupils will compose diary entries as well as a non-chronological, informative report about the war. We also link our reading lessons to the text, where we use our DERRIC model to decode, explain word meaning, retrieve information to answer questions, interpret characters feelings and thoughts, review sections of the text and discuss why authors have used certain techniques in our choice lessons. A video-based story called ‘Francis’ is then studied through the Literacy Shed, enabling pupils to see a different, suspenseful genre and write a setting description and police report. Handwriting develops on from previous years, focusing on legible, cursive writing at speed. Finally, SPaG is a key focus with the revision and introduction of all verb forms (including perfect, progressive and passive) as well as the full programme of punctuation, including semi-colons and colons to demarcate clauses being introduced.
     

  • For Numeracy lessons, we split into year groups. In Year 6 Maths, pupils work with numbers to and beyond 10,000,000, including powers of 10, use of number lines, comparing, ordering, rounding and reasoning from known facts. Negative numbers are also introduced. All four operations are then developed in Year 6 with factors, multiples, primes, squares and cubes being a focus as well as both mental and formal written methods, all building on prior knowledge, including the introduction of the long method for division by 2-digit numbers. Finally, understanding of fractions is developed through equivalences, comparisons but also all four operations with fractions, including improper fractions and mixed numbers. In Year 5 Maths, Roman numerals to 1,000 are developed with place value focusing on numbers to 1,000,000. Powers of 10 are explored, encouraging pupils’ deeper understanding and manipulation of number as well as further comparisons, ordering and rounding of numbers. Addition and subtraction of numbers with more than four digits is developed with both mental and written strategies as well as multiple methods for checking accuracy. Multiples, factors, prime numbers, squares and cubes are introduced as well as multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 to develop deeper understanding of the connections between digits. Finally, fractions are explored, focusing on equivalences, converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers and adding and subtracting fractions.
     

  • In Science, the topics of living things and their habitats are taught plus a unit based around electricity. There is also a mini sustainability project where renewable energy sources are considered. Furthermore, pupils explore through practical investigations, making predictions, selecting materials, recording results and drawing conclusions for themselves based on these enquiries.
     

  • In History, the Second World War is the focus through our topic of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. Not only are the key dates, events and facts researched but also the government’s use of propaganda and biased posters.
     

  • In PE this term, some pupils will be swimming and others will be exploring basketball and football in teacher-led sessions and hockey and yoga with the support of our Soccer 2000 coaches.
     

  • In Art, Year 5 and 6 look at an array of different paints, including inks and watercolours. They use the techniques studied to create a sunset painting, and link to history by creating soldier silhouettes. They also study a digital artistry unit using the work of Hannah Hock to create layered portraits.
     

  • Computing focuses on communication through computer systems and networks and creating media, which includes video editing.
     

  • In Jigsaw, we are covering the topic “Being Me in My World” where pupils have the opportunity to reflect on their journey so far and in their final year ahead in primary school before comparing this to children globally. We then move on to “Celebrating Differences” where pupils consider normality in a diverse world and power struggles. We use the Project Evolve program to deliver lessons on online safety, focusing this term on units entitled, ‘self-image and identity’, ‘managing online information’ and ‘online bullying’.
     

  • DT this term has a focus on first designing and making a working bridge structure. DT includes the process of researching, designing, planning, making and evaluating.
     

  • In Music, learning focuses around ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences as well as comparing similar songs with a focus on the music, instruments and lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing the songs and play instruments including the glockenspiels. The second unit is a classroom jazz unit, following the same structure but within an alternative genre.
     

  • We will be transferring over to Spanish as a foreign language this year and will therefore spend the term getting to grips with the basics, such as phonics, greetings, numbers, presenting myself and my family.
     

  • In RE, we will be exploring what will make Wolverhampton a more respectful community from the perspectives of the Sikh, Muslim and Christian communities.
     

  • Our new oracy curriculum is based around speaking and listening and we are filtering discussion opportunities and talk tactics into all other curricular areas, as well as into homework. Reading at home is vital and all pupils have access to a Times Tables Rock Stars account to help them learn and recall their times tables.​

 

Year 5/6 Spring 2025

​

  • In English, the text and accompanying film, ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’ by Rick Riordan is taught, which explores the fictional story of a half-boy, half-god student at school who realises his true powers and uses them to help his father, Poseidon, Greek God of the Sea. Pupils will compose a retell/recount of the story from an alternative character’s point of view as well as a newspaper report about one of the incidents in the book. We also link our reading lessons to the text, where we use our DERRIC model to decode, explain word meaning, retrieve information to answer questions, interpret characters feelings and thoughts, review sections of the text and discuss why authors have used certain techniques in our choice lessons. A music video called ‘Titanium’ is then our focus for the writing unit, enabling pupils to study a suspenseful genre and write a retell of the narrative. Handwriting develops on from previous years, focusing on legible, cursive writing at speed. Finally, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) is a key focus where pupils revise and are introduced to all verb forms (including perfect, progressive and passive) as well as the full range of punctuation marks, including semi-colons and colons to demarcate clauses being introduced.
     

  • For Numeracy lessons, we will still split into year groups. In Year 6 Maths, pupils will start by studying how to convert units of both metric and imperial measure as well as Algebra and Ratio, which explores problems with unknowns and number sequences, as well as proportion and enlargement. We will then study Properties of Shape, Position and Direction, measurement of shapes, including their perimeter, area and volume. Finally, before focusing on revision of key skills in the Summer Term, our last unit will look at statistics, including the use of graphs and charts.
     

  • In Year 5 Maths, we initially focus on fractions, beginning with finding equivalences and converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers. We will also compare, order and calculate fractions as well as explore the links between fractions, decimals and percentages. After half term, we study area and perimeter, statistics and graphs, plus a geometry unit where we look at the properties of common 2d and 3d shapes.
     

  • In Science, we have moved onto a new scheme of learning. Pupils will study the topic of light and the issue of light pollution this half term then, after half term, topics surrounding the circulatory system, diet, drugs and lifestyle. Investigative learning forms a substantial part of our science lessons, where predictions are made, observations undertaken, results analysed and conclusions drawn.
     

  • In Geography, Asia is the focus in our topic ‘Jewels of the East’ where we study the location of Asia in the world as well as its physical and human features, such as population growth, life expectancy and similarities/differences between Asian countries and our own – especially China, Japan and India.
     

  • In PE this term, pupils will be playing dodgeball and dance with the support of Soccer 2000 coaches, and pupils will be playing volleyball and badminton with their class teachers.
     

  • In Art, we will be exploring drawing and sketching techniques with a focus on Manga Characters and Animé, linked to our ‘Jewels of the East’ project. We will also study the Indonesian technique of “Batik” where wax and fabric dyes are used to create art work.
     

  • Computing focuses on a programming unit where we create quizzes with multiple choice answers, plus a unit on creating media, where we learn how to create webpages.
     

  • In Jigsaw, we cover the topic “Dreams and Goals” where pupils have the opportunity to reflect on their own personal journey so far, and their final year ahead, setting their own individual goals and thinking about their long-term dreams. We will then move on to “Healthy Me” where we will explore how substances affect the body as well as considering our own and others’ emotional and mental health and how to manage stress. For Online Safety, we use Safer Internet Day as a springboard for discussions on how to be safe and responsible when gaming, messaging and searching, and we use our Project Evolve lessons to consider privacy and security, health, wellbeing and lifestyle.
     

  • Design Technology this term has a focus on the topic of “Automata Toys” where we use cams, followers and axles to make a mechanical toy. DT follows the research, plan, design, make and evaluate process.
     

  • In Music, learning focuses around ‘A New Year Carol’ and ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ as well as exploring other musical pieces with similar themes and titles. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise songs, considering their own likes and preferences as well as comparing them to other, similar songs with a focus on not only the music and instruments but also the lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing songs and play instruments including the recorder.
     

  • In Spanish, key grammatical knowledge is developed through the topics, Tienes una mascota? (Do You Have a Pet?) and La fecha (The Date).
     

  • In RE, we will be exploring Christian Aid, Khalsa Aid, Islamic Relief and the changing the world.
     

  • Homework for Year 5/6 is as follows:
    - Reading their school reading book plus a variety of other books and genres at least three times a week.
    - Accessing Times Table Rock Stars to rehearse multiplication facts.
    - Oracy homework that is sent via text and includes points of discussion for home based conversations around our “Thunk” of the week (a moral question suitable for debate) and our big question for history/geography for the week.
    -     Year 6 SATs revision homework will be released towards the end of the term.​​​

 

Year 5/6 Summer 2025

​

  • In English lessons in Year 5, the text, ‘The Boy in the Tower’ by Polly Ho-Yen is taught, where vicious plants are consuming and collapsing buildings and their deadly spores are preventing the emergency services performing a search and rescue. Everyone who can get out has escaped but narrator Ade is stuck in the last remaining tower block because his mother can't go out. We focus on a diary and a new bulletin for our writing genre here. The second text is a video text from Literacy Shed entitled ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’. This is the story of when Rock happens to meet the magical Paper: it's love at first sight. But when the wrath of Scissors threatens the well-being of Paper, Rock must stop at nothing to save what he loves most, no matter the cost. The writing genre linked to this text is a setting description. After revision of Grammar (see below), Year 6 spend time editing and improving previous writing units. They also use a video text from Literacy Shed entitled ‘Alma’. In the video, Alma skips through the snow-covered streets of a small town. Her attention is caught by a strange doll in an antique toy shop window. Fascinated, Alma decides to enter. In terms of writing genres, pupils write a playscript based on a news bulletin about the brick-eating plants, a debate about whether Ade should stay or go, a diary entry from the perspective of Alma and an informal letter from Alma. In terms of genre-specific expectations, we expect pupils to consistently produce sustained and accurate writing from different narrative and non-fiction genres with appropriate structure, organisation and layout devices for a range of audiences and purposes. Pupils should describe settings, characters and atmosphere with carefully- chosen vocabulary to enhance mood, clarify meaning and should consistently link ideas across paragraphs using a variety of techniques including fronted adverbials, a variety of clauses and shifting to the passive voice or perfect form. Our Year 5 and 6 proof-reading expectations involve being able to propose changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning.
     

  • We also link our reading lessons to the text, where we use our DERRIC model to decode, explain word meaning, retrieve information to answer questions, interpret characters feelings and thoughts, review sections of the text and discuss why authors have used certain techniques in our choice lessons.
     

  • For handwriting lessons, Year 5 and 6 practise their joins using their weekly spellings.
     

  • SPaG is a key focus within English lessons. By now, our non-negotiable expectations within writing are spelling most Year 5 and 6 common exception words correctly, using knowledge of homophones to support spelling, ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout all pieces of writing and using correct sentence demarcation, plus the majority of KS2 punctuation forms, especially commas consistently to clarify meaning or to avoid ambiguity.
     

  • For Numeracy lessons, we will still be splitting into year groups. For Year 6, the summer term is about consolidating learning ahead of SATs tests and making sure that knowledge stays fresh in our mind through a variety of post-SATs investigations, ensuring that pupils are well-prepared for Year 7 maths learning. In Year 5 Maths, the units of study are shape, position and direction, decimals, negative numbers, converting units and measuring/calculating volume. The learning around shape involves angles and using degrees to measure angles, calculating angles around a point or on a straight line using given facts, learning about regular and irregular polygons and learning about a wider variety of 3d shapes.
     

  • In the unit surrounding position and direction, pupils should be able to plot co-ordinates to form shapes on grids and should be able to translate and reflect these shapes. Within the decimals unit, pupils learn how to add and subtract decimals, learn decimal sequences, and learn how to multiply or divide by 10, 100 and 1000. When learning about negative numbers, pupils count in multiples through negative numbers, compare and order negative numbers and find the difference between two negative numbers, or a negative and a positive number. In the converting units block, we use kilograms, grams, kilometres, metres, millimetres and millilitres and learn how to also convert units of time and use timetables. Finally, in the volume unit, pupils estimate and compare volumes and capacities.
     

  • In Science, Year 5 will learn about reproduction in plants, reversible and irreversible changes as well as plastic. Post-SATs, Year 6 will be learning all about Evolution through Variations, Adaptations and exploring Fossils.
     

  • In Geography, migration is the focus of two case studies exploring Bangladesh and Poland.
     

  • In History, we complete a local area study based around the Molineux and also learn about coming to England through a topic exploring the Windrush.
     

  • In PE this term, pupils will be doing outdoor adventurous activities and cricket through the support of Soccer 2000 and will be completing units based around athletics and tennis with their class teachers.
     

  • In Art, we will be exploring painting using Frank Bowling’s abstract art as a starting point and will be completing a project on Optical Art.
     

  • Computing focuses on a unit called ‘Introduction to Spreadsheets’ where pupils use spreadsheets to organise and calculate data. A second unit called ‘Sensing’ explores designing and coding a project, capturing inputs from devices. In terms of online safety, pupils will use our Project Evolve scheme to learn about online relationships and their reputation online.
     

  • In Jigsaw, we are covering the topic ‘Relationships’ where pupils learn about mental health and self-esteem, love and loss, managing feelings, assertiveness and taking responsibility with technology use. In the topic ‘Changing Me’, pupils learn about self-image, puberty and feelings, physical attraction and respect and consent. The school nurses come in to talk to Year 5 pupils about the changes boys and girls face in puberty and they also talk to Year 6 about how babies are conceived.
     

  • Design Technology this term is based around building structures and using the remit of designing a new playground to create their own moving models.
     

  • In Music, learning focuses around ‘Music in Me’ then ‘Reflect, Rewind and Replay’. Pupils will be given the opportunity to listen to and appraise the songs, considering own likes and preferences as well as compare to other, similar songs with a focus on not only the music and instruments but also the lyrics. Pupils will learn to sing the songs and play instruments including the recorders.
     

  • In Spanish, key learning will revolve around ‘At the Cafe’ and ‘In the Classroom’.
     

  • In RE, we will be exploring the topics of ‘Values: What matters most? (Christians and Humanists)’ and ‘Sikhs in Wolverhampton: What can we learn? Gurus, worship, service and the Wonderful Lord’.
     

  • Homework for Year 5/6 is as follows:
    - Reading their school reading book plus a variety of other books and genres at least three times a week.
    - Accessing Times Table Rock Stars to rehearse multiplication facts.
    - Oracy homework that is sent via text and includes points of discussion for home based on our “Thunk” of the week (a moral question suitable for debate) and our big question for history/geography for the week. 
    - Year 6 SATs revision booklets.

​

​

bottom of page