Welcome to Year 5
Teacher : Mrs Feldman and Miss Coy
Support staff: Mrs Smith, Mr O'Connor, Mrs Stalham, Mrs Ward
Hello!
We hope you all had a wonderful summer break. It’s been lovely welcoming the children back to school—they’ve returned full of energy and ready to learn, which is great to see!
Miss Coy will be teaching the class on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Mrs. Feldman will teach on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Year 5 is a fantastic year, full of new opportunities and exciting learning experiences. We have a busy year ahead!
Please take a moment to look at our class timetable. The KS2 long-term plan is also available on our school website and outlines the topics we’ll be covering throughout the year.
Homework and Reading Records
Homework will be given out on a Thursday to be handed back in on a Tuesday morning along with reading records. Homework will usually consist of one Maths task and one English task; however, this can differ.
Sometimes the maths will be online on Sumdog and therefore the children have all been given their login details to take home.
As always, homework not handed in on time, or not completed to a satisfactory standard, will need to be completed at break or lunchtimes. The homework set is in addition to regular reading at home.
PE
PE is on Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure your child has their named PE kit in school for this. Each child will need a pair of trainers, a white t-shirt, and blue or black shorts. As we transition into the winter months, children can wear black tracksuit bottoms and a blue or black jumper.
Swimming
Year 5 are very lucky to have swimming lessons every Thursday morning throughout the year.
For swimming, girls will need a one-piece swimsuit, and boys should wear fitted swimming trunks (not loose, baggy board shorts), along with a towel.
Children with long hair must have it tied back, and a swim cap can be worn if preferred. Goggles are also allowed, should your child wish to wear them.
As with PE, no jewellery should be worn during swimming lessons. However, stud earrings may be kept in.
Adult support
In Year 5, we’re fortunate to have Mrs Smith in class every morning to support the children with their learning. We also have Mick working alongside us to provide additional support. Mrs Phillips will be teaching the class for one hour on both Tuesday and Thursday each week.
Haberdashers’
This year, Year 5 will benefit from weekly Science lessons provided by Haberdashers every Monday afternoon. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to take part in hands-on experiments and enjoy enriched learning experiences, thanks to the excellent facilities available at Habs.
A coach will collect us after lunch, and we aim to return to school by 3:15pm. These sessions will run throughout the year, although some Mondays are unavailable due to different terms dates and other commitments.,
Please make sure that your child has a named water bottle in school so that they can keep hydrated during the day. Due to hygiene reasons, it is difficult to provide cups for the children, so it is important they have their own water bottle.
I hope this information answers a few questions you may have. If you have any concerns or would like to know further information, please do not hesitate to contact either one of us. It is important we all communicate and work together to ensure your child has the best possible experience at school.
Thank you,
Mrs Feldman and Miss Coy
Year 5 Autumn Timetable 2025
Reading in KS2
In KS2 children have daily whole-class reading lessons. At Monksmead, we use VIPERS from Literacy Shed Comprehension Plus to help structure the learning and ensure that all key skills are being learnt.
VIPERS is an acronym to aid the recall of the 6 reading domains as part of the UK’s reading curriculum. They are the key areas which we feel children need to know and understand in order to improve their comprehension of texts. The 6 domains focus on the comprehension aspect of reading and not the mechanics: decoding, fluency, prosody etc. As such, VIPERS is not a reading scheme but rather a method of ensuring that teachers ask, and students are familiar with, a range of questions. They allow the teacher to track the type of questions asked and the children’s responses to these which allows for targeted questioning afterwards.
To support the children in accurately answering comprehension questions, we use A.P.E. This stands for 'Answer', ' Prove it' and 'Explain it'.
Science Knowledge Organisers - Autumn 2025
Knowledge organisers for the individual topic area.
