Class Teacher: Mrs Whillock (Monday - Wednesday) and Mrs Cruchley (Thursday and Friday)

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Phillips, Mrs Sale (afternoons)

PTFA Link: Mrs Dhir, Mrs Dale and Mrs Abbott

The Vikings 

This term, Year 5 will travel back over 1,000 years to discover the fascinating world of the Vikings!

We will find out where the Vikings came from, why they came to Britain and what life was really like for Viking people. We will explore their famous longships, raids, settlements, trade and beliefs, as well as learning about their struggles with the Anglo-Saxons and Alfred the Great.

Key Questions

• Where did the Vikings come from?
• Why did the Vikings raid and settle in Britain?
• What was life like for a Viking?
• How did Viking longships help them travel?
• Who was Alfred the Great?
• How did the Vikings change Britain?
• How do we know about the Vikings?

We will develop our history skills by:

• Building chronological understanding
• Using and questioning historical sources
• Exploring cause and consequence
• Understanding change and continuity
• Making comparisons between Viking and Anglo-Saxon life
• Making judgements using historical evidence

Our learning links to the National Curriculum objective of understanding the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor.

Our BIG Question

How did the Vikings change Britain?

Reciprocal Reading- Beowulf

In fifth-century Denmark, a murderous monster stalks the night, and only the great prince of the Geats has the strength and courage to defeat him. Beowulf's terrifying quest to destroy Grendel, the foul fiend, a hideous sea-hag and a monstrous firedragon is the oldest surviving epic in British literature.

Questions to think about:

• Why does Wiglaf stay to help Beowulf fight the dragon?

• Was Beowulf right to fight the dragon?

• How does Beowulf change from the boastful young warrior who first arrives at Heorot into the aging leader at the end of the book?
  

• What do the monsters (Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon) represent?

• Why does Grendel’s mother attack? 

• What does the treasure mean at the end of the story?

🌟 English: Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg

Queen of the Falls is an illustrated biographical book by Chris Van Allsburg that chronicles the true, unconventional story of Annie Edson Taylor, a 62-year-old charm school teacher facing financial ruin at the turn of the 20th century. Desperate for fame and fortune, she conceives a daring, seemingly suicidal plan: to become the first person ever to plunge over Niagara Falls inside a custom-built wooden barrel.

• The Premise: Facing a bleak financial future after her charm school closes, a proper, grandmotherly widow decides a death-defying stunt is her ticket to wealth.

• The Preparation: The story details Annie’s meticulous and stubborn planning, from designing her own heavily padded, watertight barrel to securing a manager to help handle the press and logistics.

• The Conflict: Annie must constantly battle public skepticism and disbelief from onlookers who expect a young, unhinged daredevil rather than a prim 62-year-old woman.

Science- 

Materials: Mixtures and Separation

By the end of the unit, pupils should be able to:

• Define the term mixture and name some common examples. 
• Define the term sieving and explain how sieving separates mixtures.
• Define the term filtering and explain how filtering separates mixtures. 
• Define the terms solution and dissolve and name some common examples of solutions. 
• Recall some factors that affect the time taken to dissolve.
• Describe the effect of temperature on the time taken to dissolve. 
• Define the term evaporating and explain how evaporating separates solutions.
• Identify when sieving, filtering and evaporating should be used.
• Research a mixture to find out what substances it is made from.
• Draw and annotate a diagram to explain how sieving separates a solid-solid mixture.
• Identify and justify which type of enquiry to use to answer my testable question.
• Identify solutions by observing and describing their appearance. 
• Suggest which variables to change, measure and control when investigating how temperature affects the time taken to dissolve.

Our class author is Michael Morpurgo. 

Click on the picture of him to see his website.

Have you read any of his books?

Which book is your favourite?