Year 5

Grammar is the 'nuts and bolts' of written Standard English. A good knowledge of grammar will enable better writing by helping meaning to be made clear and precise and giving new opportunities to create particular effects on the reader.

In Year 5, we will cover:

• The main types of punctuation and how to use them

• Sentence structure

• Paragraphing and text organisation

• Tense, person and mood

• Word classes and phrases

Class reading:

Each half-term, we have a different core text that will form that basis for our English curriculum. We read a range of different texts, including: naturalistic novels, a range of different types of poetry, classic children's novels, myths and legends, and modern novels. We also study non-written examples of literature, such as short films. We discuss these texts as a class, comparing them to works that we have previously read, making predictions and expressing opinions.

Independent reading:

As well as a class text, pupils in Year 5 have a reading book that they can choose themselves from our fantastic Walhampton library. Children in Year 5 are encouraged to take responsibility for reading every night if possible and recording this in their reading record. As well as reading independently, discussing a book with an adult is a great way to dig deeper into the text. Here are some great prompt questions to encourage discussion about a book.

English is a complex language with many different roots, which can make spelling more of a challenge than in other language. However, by learning rules and understanding exceptions, it is possible to start to spell intuitively even unusual words.

In Year 5, we will study:

• More spelling rules for particular sounds

• Prefixes and suffixes

• Unstressed vowels

• Inflection and morphology

• Silent letters

• Homonyms

• How to use a dictionary or a word bank effectively

In Year 4, the children have covered all the important points of handwriting and earnt their pen licenses.

It is important however that handwriting is practised and improved during Year 5 and into the senior department.

We therefore revise the formation of all letters and appropriate joins at the beginning of Year 5 before moving on to practising handwriting using longer texts.

We will write some of our final pieces of writing longhand for display to provide opportunities to showcase the very best handwriting in Year 5.

We aim to produce two to four high-quality pieces of writing each half term, taking inspiration from a range of areas: our class text, independent reading, the rest of the curriculum and our own experiences.

In order to develop writing skills in Year 5, we teach the skills of planning, editing and redrafting—not just correcting mistakes but actively improving work through making changes to vocabulary, sentences and paragraphing.

We aim to use Firefly as our platform to publish writing so that peers, parents and other teachers can all read our final product!