Welcome to Year 5.
2026 - 2027
Mrs Newman
You and your child should have already seen the following:
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Timetable
An example of a weekly timetable in Year 5.
History / Geography:
Science:
Year 5. Residential to Lledr Hall
Residential is in Autumn term 2.
23rd – 27th November 2026.
More information will follow, including an information evening (21st October 2026 at 5pm).
Year 5. Enrichment
Autumn
Bikeability
Lledr Hall Residential
Santa Preneurs Competition
Reception Buddies
Spring
World Book Day
STEM
Jodrell Bank Visit
Primary Arts Network performance
History Workshop
Fire Safety Workshop
Reception Buddies
Summer
First Maths Challenge
Warrington Museum visit
PE/PSHE - Health Week
Growing up talk
Safety Central
Reception Buddies
�����������������Children in KS2 will select or be recommended home reading books from our Accelerated Reader system from our library. Children will choose from a range of texts (colour coded) based on their (assessed) reading age. This assessment takes place in school using Accelerated Reader. If your child is not ready for these yet, they’ll use our Little Wandle Fluency books within school. ��Children will be encouraged to read these books at a timely pace and once completed, they will undertake a short quiz to test their comprehension and reading of the book. ��Additionally, your child can also choose a book from our library or from our class libraries. This will be free choice and is intended to promote reading for pleasure. Equally, your child may have a book from home that is suitable. This can be communicated with the class teacher to check that there is a suitable level of challenge. Our Library day is on a Wednesday.
Home Reading
Accelerated Reader
How Accelerated Reader Works
A Guide, Not a Glass Ceiling
Nurturing a Love of Reading
While AR helps teachers track progress and identify where a reader might need extra support or stretch, the ultimate goal is reading for pleasure. Teachers use AR data to make tailored recommendations, spark conversations about new genres, and help pupils discover books they genuinely love—not just books that fit a score.
Home/School Planner (KS2)
Daily reading should happen each night (wherever possible) throughout the week with an adult. We know that we all (including the children) lead busy lives outside of school, but it is a priority that all of our children are capable readers by the time they leave for secondary school. Preferably, this is the child reading aloud so that the adult can interact with any misconceptions and so the child can develop fluency and prosody. The reading record should be updated at least 4 times a week to keep track of what is being read at home and so the teacher can monitor this in line with what your child is bringing to and from school each day.
This reading record will be signed by the class teacher on a weekly basis to show that this has been checked and is being monitored. Long-winded comments are not necessary.
There is no need to have each week on one page as the planner does now not have specific days/ weeks allocated to each page to save on wasted space.
We understand the importance of children learning to spell correctly, but we also want to engage and inspire children with a love of words. This is why we have implemented Ready Steady Spell approach to spelling which uses a research-informed framework designed to move spelling rules from short-term memory into long-term retention
Lessons encourage children to look deeply at words, draw and build upon their knowledge of phonics from KS1 and make connections with spellings or letter patterns that they may already know.
In all our KS2 classes, the teaching of spelling is done in a cyclical way, teaching spelling rules and guidance more than once. In turn, this allows children to acquire subject skills & knowledge and deepen their understanding of spelling strategies needed for accurate recall. This approach is about helping children make plausible spelling choices in their writing that make sense and, even if not correct, have phonetical reasoning at the heart of the letter choices being made. For homework, tasks are directly linked to the current week's classroom objectives to reinforce the "overlearning" required for long-term memory.
Useful websites:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/skillswise/word-grammar/zfwfmfr
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar
Spelling Frame
Children will have words to learn on Spelling Frame each week which will encourage the associated rules and strategies from the objectives covered in class the previous week.
Spelling
Maths Awards (KS2)
Our Maths Award Scheme aims to support children’s learning of their multiplication tables and to consolidate their recall of all times tables facts and related facts. This is to ensure that children are fluent and instant in their recall of these multiplication tables.
Children will be reminded of their Times Tables Rockstars (TTRS) logins and some maths homework will also link to games on TTRS. In addition to this, we will test children in class as part of our scheme. Children will continue from where they were at the end of the last academic year.
Please be aware, once children have completed their Silver tests in class, they will need to pass four individual mixed tests to ensure that they know their tables and are confident to move on. This will be repeated after their Gold tests too. This will also support the children as they move to Human Calculator and Maths Genius where they need a very secure and quick grasp of all the times tables up to 12 x 12.
Children work through the Almost Einstein and Ultimate Einstein awards on a rotation system, this is to ensure that each element is retained and consolidated and that children do not just learn facts to pass a test. Information on our award scheme can be found here.
Times tables tests will be done weekly, either a Tuesday or Thursday, although the day of the test may change due to our busy school life. The first tests this year will be week beginning 14.9.26
Homework
English Homework will be given out on a Monday (Fortnightly). To ensure there is a balance of activities, homework will include a reading comprehension, writing/punctuation and grammar activities over the course of a term.
Spellings will be set on Spelling Frame on a Monday and should be practiced three/four times a week by completing the games and quizzes, which rewards points. The spellings being practiced at home will be a focus in school and will support learning and retention.
Maths Homework is weekly, given out on a Friday and due in the following Wednesday. One week will be a maths activity and one week TTRockStars. Times tables will continue to be tested weekly in Key Stage 2, Year 5.
SENDCO - Mrs Harman
At Grappenhall Heys Primary School, we are committed to offering an inclusive curriculum to ensure the best possible progress for all of our pupils, whatever their needs and current attainment. We aim to develop an ethos of care, empathy and understanding, where every child reaches their potential, regardless of attainment level, race, gender or cultural background.
We are committed to each child's personal well-being and academic success. We offer universal provision and ensure an ethos of ambition for all benefits every pupil, though is essential for pupils with SEND.
Attendance
It is crucial that your child is in school as much as possible. In Year 5, we learn new content as well as recapping previously taught material. If your child were to miss one week of school, they may miss content that they will not be taught again this year. Holidays taken during term time will not be authorised. We would strongly suggest that you do not book holidays so that children miss the last couple of days of the school year as these days provide really lovely memories for you all.
Equally, to keep down the spread of bugs, poorly children do need to spend time at home to recover so that we can get them back into school and learning as quickly as possible. If your child is ill, call the school office to inform us that they won’t be in. This makes is much easier for us first thing in the morning when registering pupils.
Refer to this link to see details of return to school criteria following illness
Exclusion table (how long children should be off school for).
Changes…
New teacher
Increase in difficulty of work
New environment/ classroom
Friendships/behaviour
New key stage
New curriculum
New routines
Behaviour, Expectations and Rewards
Successful relationships underpin the positive ethos promoted in our school and we explicitly teach and promote positive behaviour.
We will hand out house points to support our behaviour curriculum.
Behaviour, Expectations and Rewards - Year 5.
The whole school approach to rewards is continued in Year 5.
Healthy Snacks / Dietary Restrictions
NUT FREE ZONE
Due to some children in or school having nut allergies, we endeavour to be a nut-free school. Do not send your children to school with any items that contain nuts. This includes products that ‘may contains nuts’.
Also, grapes, cherries and tomatoes should be sliced in half lengthways at home to avoid choking, especially for younger children.
Please remember to send children into school with healthy snacks and lunch items. Towards the end of last year, we saw lots of crisps and chocolate at playtime. Healthy snacks could include plain popcorn or rice cakes, fruit, vegetable sticks and yoghurts.
We will not hand out birthday sweets or treats any more due to inclusion, dietary and heath reasons.
Key Information for Parents
Parental Consent
To support children’s learning in a safe and effective way, we are asking all families to review and update their parental consents on our new administration system, Arbor.
The school is now using Arbor to manage key information, including consent preferences. All families will have received an email about Arbor, and through the link provided you will be able to enter and update your consent. This includes consents relating to online learning systems, such as Seesaw, and also photograph consent.
Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, schools must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. In some cases, this includes obtaining parental consent before a child can access particular online systems or before images of children are used for school purposes. Consent must be informed, specific and capable of being withdrawn. We therefore ask all parents and carers to ensure that their consent preferences are current on Arbor.
Seesaw, like our other online tools, including Spelling Frame, Numbots and TTRockstars, is an invaluable and essential resource used in school. It acts as an online learning journal (book), enabling children to access learning, complete tasks and record their work. Seesaw is a key method of home-school communication, helping families to receive a weekly class newsletter, reminders for your class and other important updates. It supports independent learning, encourages pupil engagement and helps staff to monitor progress. As children grow up in a world shaped by technology, access to these systems prepares them for the safe and responsible use of digital tools now and in the future. For this reason, it is important that consent is reviewed and given where appropriate.
Photograph consent is equally important. Teachers and staff use photographs to share the wonderful things that make our school special with you and our community. If you do not consent to photographs, your child will not have their photograph taken, or their identity will be covered where images are needed. This will also mean that your child will not be included in the end of year memories movie. We will always respect parental wishes, but we also want to ensure that we can give a true picture of school life and celebrate the experiences of all children where consent has been given.
Please take a few moments to review your preferences on Arbor. Up to date consent helps us to use the systems and materials that support learning, communication and celebration in school. If you have any questions, Mrs Newman is available to help with them.
Parking Expectations
If you have any questions or concerns…
In the first instance, please speak with the class teacher who is best placed to answer any questions or queries you may have and deal with any concerns.
If the situation remains unresolved, please escalate your concern to the Senior Leadership Team - Mr Franklin or Mrs Ottiwell, and then Mrs Harman.
Mrs Bennett is copied into all records of meetings so will be aware of the situation should she need to be involved at that point or further down the line if necessary.
To make contact with the classteacher, you can speak with them at the end of the day, or leave a note in your child’s planner. If the issue is more pressing then please make contact by telephoning or emailing the school office (01925212540 or grappenhallheys_primary@sch.warrington.gov.uk) who will alert relevant staff.
The school does not use Seesaw as a communication tool in this situation, so we respectfully ask that concerns are not raised via this platform as classteachers will not respond.