Autumn - Journey down the Nile

Are you ready for a journey down the world's longest river?

This term we will learning all about the language of rivers from start to finish. We will start this journey with our field trip to Gaveston Hall where we will learn about orienteering, shelter building and go for a walk in a river! Our river theme and river literature will inspire our writing, Geography, Science and art where we look at the work of Bryan Wynter. 

A study of the River Nile, leads us into the second half of the term, where we consider the wonders of Ancient Egypt, learn about the famous Howard Carter and create our own canopic jars. We think about life in ancient Egypt and write our own traditional tales of this time.

Questions we'll be asking:

• What happens as a river makes its journey?
• What is the longest river?
• How old is the water we drink?
• Where does water come from?
• Who Howard Carter, why is he important?
• Who was Tutankhamun?
• What are pyramids?
• What was the role of women in Ancient Egypt?
• What are hieroglyphics?
• Where is Egypt?

Trips

In this term we are going to enrich the learning with:

• Our field trip to Gaveston Hall where we will be stream walking, orienteering and shelter building.

The approximate costs for trips and visitors this year will be approx £96.00.

Please note: this cost includes swimming lessons.

Supporting your child

Here are some more ideas to support your child’s learning.

Watch Together

• Riverwatch BBC series
• Newsround ~ Awareness of ‘What is Happening Around Us?’
• The Prince of Egypt
• Joseph in Egypt
• National Geographic programmes

Do Together

• Take a stroll along a riverbank and identify the features
• Investigate rivers around the world
• Visit the British Museum in London
• Find out about Egypt as it is today, a popular holiday destination

Read Together

• Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
• Journey to the River Sea – Eva Ibbotson
• Map reading
• Environmental leaflets
• Horrible Histories- The Awesome Egyptians
• The Magic and the Mummy by Terry Deary
• Non- fiction books about the pyramids and ancient Egypt life

Spring – Reach for the Stars

This term is all about space! We will become explorers of our own solar system, learn about day and night and why the different seasons occur. Our learning will cover British and local astronaut Tim Peake and consider what it is like to live in space and even write a lost in space transmission! We'll think and write about the planets and use some amazing literature, science fiction and music to inspire our own writing and artwork. In French, we will create solar system booklets.

Questions we'll be asking:

• Have you ever seen a shooting star?
• Do you know what it is made of?
• How does night and day happen?
• What causes the seasons?
• What is a leap year?

Trips

This term we we will be enriching our learning with a trip to the South Downs Planetarium to experience the night sky, the solar system and the workings of the International Space Station.

Supporting your child

Here are some more ideas to support your child’s learning:

WATCH TOGETHER

• Apollo 13 (PG rated)

DO TOGETHER

• Visit the space section of the Science Museum in London.
• Observe the night sky from outside your house- what stars and planets can you see?
• Launch a rocket from your garden! How high can you make it go?
• Explore the NASA and ESA websites.
• Professor Cox – explore his work on-line and watch ‘The Wonders of the Universe’.

READ TOGETHER

• Science fiction stories
• Non-fiction books about space

Summer – Let's make a Difference

In the Summer Term, our topic is ‘Let’s make a difference’!

The children study inspirational world changers such as Greta Thunberg and Boyan Slat and write their own persuasive letters to make a positive difference to our world. They will research and write their own non-chronological report on a topic of choice which might include: single use plastic, light pollution, ocean pollution, waste management and recycling. They visit Ford Materials Recycling Facility where they learn all about recycling in West Sussex. Year 5 hold their own Enterprise sale where they design and make their own products, with a recycled element. They keep track of their costings and donate the profits to charity.

The term ends with the study of an ancient Islamic civilization (Baghdad AD 900) that provides a contrast with British history. They will place historical periods in chronological order, identify what was in the city of Baghdad, design their own Islamic patterns, learn about the mathematician of Al-Khawarizimi and the Mongol invasion of Baghdad. Finally, they will identify the achievements of the Early Islamic Society that created Baghdad.

The House of Wisdom had hundreds of thousands of books but the greatest book of all was… ‘One Thousand and One Nights’. This book was a collection of the finest tales in Arabia. Written over many hundreds of years they told wonderful stories of giants, and genies, princesses, and heroes, monsters and magic. The children write our own story to add to the book!

Questions we'll be asking:

• What is recycling?
• How can we recycle?
• What impact can we have on the world?
• How can I be a world changer?
• What is a lifecycle? 
• Where is Baghdad?
• What was in the ancient city of Baghdad? 
• How did the ancient city of Baghdad fall?  

Trips

This term we we will be enriching our learning with:

A visit to Worthing Mosque.

A visit to Ford Materials Recycling Facility where we see what happens to our recycling after it is placed in our blue bins.

Supporting your child

Here are some more ideas to support your child’s learning...

Do Together

• Be more Eco-friendly. What can you do to help our planet?
• Visit websites for ideas on how to reuse and recycle every day items.

Read Together

• Non-fiction books / leaflets about environmental issues / world issues