The Rissington School Tornado Class
Tornado Class
Useful information:
PE is on a Tuesday and Thursday
Homework is set on a Friday and is due in on the following Wednesday
Spellings are tested every Monday
topic web y5 6 summer 2025.pdf
The Curriculum
Welcome back to the final term of the year! We always have a packed summer term, filled with sports (definitely), sun (hopefully) and SATS (only four days though). Summer 1 will be over in a flash with only four weeks, with lots going on in Summer 2. Keep an eye on any dates as they come up on the weekly newsletter, including things like transition days for Year 6.
The Curriculum (History driver) Our topic this term is The Greeks. Our big question this term is ‘What was the Ancient Greeks greatest legacy?’ We will be looking at the different achievements of the Ancient Greek and which of these accomplishments have an impact on our lives today. We will be looking at where the Greeks settled, as well as when this happened in our world timeline. We will look at their impact on different areas of life, such as democracy, architecture, the Olympics, gods and goddesses, and Greek art. We will celebrate this topic through a Greek activity day in Summer 2.
In English we will be basing our work around two key texts: Who Let the Gods Out? By Maz Evans and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. These two brilliant, but contrasting stories will be used to inspire the children to write their own narratives, non-chronological reports, newspaper reports, persuasive adverts, book reviews and instructions. We will also be focussing on spelling, punctuation and grammar, focussing on tenses, sentence types and classifying words. This will be taught through the medium of the studied books. Reading will focus on inference skills and interpreting vocabulary. The main areas for reading are: VIPERS – vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarise. Reading will look at the main texts, as well as additional short texts from a range of genres. Please continue to focus on reading at home as a priority, engaging in discussion with children about the books their reading.
In Maths we will begin by looking at shape, position and directions, decimals, negative numbers, converting units and volume in Year 5. Year 6 will be looking at shape, position and direction, as well as a broadly revising the areas that have been covered during KS2. Knowledge of times tables up to 12 x 12 continues to be really important to access the Year 5/6 maths curriculum. Due to their importance, we ask that you help your child to practice times tables at home regularly using Times Tables Rockstars. Reinforcement tasks can be accessed through Mathletics and Mathletics will continue to be set as homework. After Y6 have completed SATS, they will be working on themed projects, consolidation and problem solving.
In Science, our key strand this term is physics. We will learn about how light and electricity. During our unit on light, we will be looking at how light travels, and the difference between light sources and reflections. In our unit of electricity, we will be looking at the creation of circuits, as well as completing investigations linked to the properties of electricity.
In Art, we will be looking at sculpture linked to Greek pottery. This includes our trip to the Kingham Sculpture Gardens. The children will finish the unit by creating their own Greek pot. In DT we will focus on investigating, devising and evaluating a product that incorporates an electrical system.
In Music, we will be learning our songs ready for the productions in Summer 2. Therefore, our focus is on singing.
We will continue to learn French on a weekly basis, building on previous knowledge and understanding, focussing on food and drink.
In Computing we will doing a skills showcase, which will involve inventing a product, debugging, and using computer aided design. We will be using a range of skills from previous units, including refining our skills during this unit.
In RE, we will follow the Gloucestershire RE syllabus and we will be learning about why people believe in god, looking at perspectives of both religious and non-religious groups. We will also be looking at how faith can support some people when they are experiencing challenges.
In PSHCE we will be focusing on laws, rights, charities and listening and sharing viewpoints. We will also be teaching a unit on Sex and Relationship Education (SRE) during Summer 2, which you will receive more information about nearer the time.
PE will continue to be twice a week. Year 6 will be swimming on Thursdays through the Summer term (information provided separately) and Year 5 will start with Tennis for both sessions. As we approach Summer 2, we will be focussing on athletics.
In Upper Key Stage 2 we aim to support the children’s independence, encouraging them to become self-motivated and organised with their own homework. We expect children to read five times a week and record this in their reading records. There are also tasks to complete each week in the reading records. Each term children are expected to take responsibility for learning their weekly spellings ready for their weekly tests. Maths homework will be set through Mathletics. Please see your class DB home page or the class whiteboard for homework days etc. Should there be any issues either accessing or returning homework, please do let us know.
Remember to keep an eye on date through the newsletter for whole school events as they occur during the year.
Best wishes,
Miss Burn, Miss Green and Mr Botham
Year 5/6 Dates to note:
7th May – Kingham Sculpture Garden (am)
12th-15th May – SATS week
16th May – KS2 Athletics at Cotswold School
19th May – Class Photos
23rd May – End of Summer 1 (3.15pm)
18th June – Sports Day
20th June – Reserve Sports Day
23rd – 27th June – Y5 Assessment Week
24th June – Y6 STEAM visit to Williams F1
26th June – Schools Beat (Y6)
26th June – Rissi Proms
27th June – Non-uniform for village fete
1st July – Transition morning + Cotswold School Transition Day
7th July – Nimrod/Typhoon Dress Rehearsal
8th July – Nimrod/Typhoon Performance (6pm)
9th July – Tornado Dress Rehearsal
10th July – Tornado Performance (1.30pm and 6pm)
17th July – End of Summer 2 (1.15pm)
End of Key Stage 2 Assessments (previously known as SATS) - Information for Parents