Welcome to Mercury – Year 5
Autumn 2 – Scream Machine
Engage – Roll up, roll up! We’re going to soak up the sights, sounds and smells of the fair.
Develop – This half term, we’ll write poems to capture the excitement of riding a roller coaster and investigate the wonders of centripetal force. After carrying out fair tests to investigate the materials used to make roller coasters, we’ll create prototype rides of our own. In our computing work, we’ll upload photographs of rides and examine online theme park maps. Then, we’ll use advanced techniques and commands to search for information on the internet. In English, we’ll write stories, signs and emails about theme parks and investigate forces by making a ride. We’ll design a roller coaster using software such as Scratch and look at online advertising.
Innovate – Good news! The engineers at ‘Scream Towers’ want us to build a death-defying new drop ride for a theme park. We will make a working model and test it out with uncooked eggs. Cracking stuff!
Maths – square, cubed and prime numbers; fractions as decimals, percentages
RE – Understanding Christianity – Incarnation: Was Jesus the Messiah?
PE – Hockey and Dance
We will aim to go outside whatever the weather, safety permitting. Please ensure the children have appropriate outdoor PE kit: t-shirt, trousers, jumper and footwear. Gloves would also be useful this half term.
Music – Celebration – performing songs and accompanying with instruments
French – On-going throughout the year – Intercultural Understanding, Language Learning Strategies, Knowledge about Language.
Homework
This will be set and sent home on Friday with it due in on Wednesday. Times tables or alternative number work will be set with a follow up timed assessment on Wednesday. Spellings will be tested on Friday. Please make sure you take a copy of the spellings so that when your child hands their book in on Wednesday they are still able to practise for Friday’s test.
Ways in which you can help your child
Reading, reading and more reading! Please encourage your child to read as often as possible. Listen to them and ask questions about the text to develop their understanding.
Please follow this link to have a look at the sort of books your child could be reading
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-5
This is what we are reading in class this term.
Practise all times tables up to 12 x 12, especially the 7’s, 8’s and 9’s.
Test your child on their spellings and encourage all homework to be completed to a high standard.
If you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to come and talk to us.
Keep up to date with Year 5 news by following Class Dojo. 
The Mercury Class Team
Mrs Jenkins, Mrs Buck, Mrs Skipworth, Mrs McKeown, Mrs Ray