Taxal and Fernilee CE Primary School

In English, the children have been busy writing adventure stories. They’ve worked hard on character development, placing their protagonists in high-stakes "wild" settings where they must navigate a complex problem. We have also made the most of some of the weather by taking a couple of reading sessions outdoors.

Our Maths focus is decimals. The children are becoming experts at adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals, as well as multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, and 1000. This has been a trickier topic, but all of the children have come out of the other side with confidence. We will shortly be moving on to fractions. Beyond the abstract, we’ve brought maths into the real world this term in PSHE by discussing money matters. We’ve explored the differences between debit and credit cards, loans, financial responsibility and discussed modern banking (including platforms like Monzo) to encourage sensible money management.

In topic work, we have travelled back to the Ancient Mayan civilization. The children have created intricate Mayan masks. We have explored archaeology through Mayan middens, and best of all - we all made, and tried traditional Mayan hot chocolate with spicy chilli and honey.

Our RE curriculum has centred on the question of “What Would Jesus Do?” To bring this to life, the children designed their own church noticeboards, focusing on ways to uplift our local community. We acted as town leaders, and discussed what we would implement to ensure everyone had access to the same opportunities in childhood.

In Art, we have been inspired by the vibrant works of Chris Ofilli. After learning that he is heavily inspired by black musicians, we listened to a handful of new and old black musicians while creating our own sketches. Otis Redding was a class favourite. We studied Ofilli’s Blue Rider series, and then we collaborated on a whole-class collage, experimenting with composition, texture and colour choices. 

In Science, we have been investigating the properties and changes of materials. We are eagerly looking forward to our upcoming DT day, where we will be exploring the mechanics of pneumatics.

Year 5 Art Work - Summer 2026