Learning in Oak Class
About Our Class
Welcome to Oak Class! Mrs Lancaster is the class teacher Tuesday to Friday and Mr Lewis teaches the class on a Monday. Our TA is Mrs Davis.
We are encouraged to always be kind and to respect each other, as well as to always have a positive approach to our learning and do our very best.
Homework is given out on a Thursday and due in the following Thursday. It consists of Reading, Spelling, Times Tables and Maths, linking into our learning in class.
We follow the Twinkl Spelling scheme and learn a different rule each week. Our spelling tests are on a Thursday.
A few Forest School sessions for Oak Class will be led by Mr Lewis on a Monday afternoon during the Summer Term.
PE this term will be on a Thursday afternoon for the first half a term and on a Friday afternoon for the second half. The focuses for the Spring Term are Cross Country and Dance.
We have three exciting school trips this term to look forward to: a trip to the Birmingham Symphony Hall in February; a residential trip to Condover Hall in March; and finally, a trip to The Courtyard to see a performance of Princess Ida towards the end of the term.
Information for Spring Term 2026
English
Our class texts for this term are Shadow by Michael Morpurgo and Hetty Feather by Jacqueline Wilson. Much of our writing will be linked to our texts and topics for the term. We will be covering several genres including narrative, informal and formal letter writing, biographical, report writing and balanced arguments. To improve our speaking and listening skills, we will continue to have class debates from time to time.
Children are regularly taught punctuation and grammar skills and are encouraged to use these skills accurately in their written work.
Reading is so important. Children are given the opportunity to read at school daily, both individually and with reading buddies. In addition, Mrs Lancaster reads to the children every day.
Comprehension work is completed every week with Mr Lewis. Children read and analyse a range of texts and answer questions, further developing their deduction and inferential skills.
Maths
We follow the Hamilton Trust scheme of work for Maths.
This term we will be focussing on Place Value (to tens of millions), Calculations (including use of brackets), Decimals, Fractions and Percentages, Time, Measures, Algebra, and Ratio and Proportion.
Quick recall of times tables facts is so important and children are encouraged to practise regularly at home.
Science
After completing our studies of Animals Including Humans, we will move onto our topic of Properties and Changes of Materials. Much of our work will be investigative and practical.
Humanities
We will begin the term with learning about Earthquakes and Volcanoes. We will be looking at types and shapes of volcanoes, why volcanoes and earthquakes occur and at the city of Pompeii in particular. We will also revise our knowledge of continents, oceans and mountain ranges.
Later in the term, in History, we will move onto learning about the Victorian era. We will explore the expansion of the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution. Also, we will research famous Victorians and find out about life for children in Victorian times and the differences between rich and poor. Some of our learning will be linked to Art and DT.
Our two topics in RE this term are “Why do Hindus want to be good?” and “What do Christians believe Jesus did to ‘save’ people?”. Much of our RE will be learnt through class discussions.
Art and DT
Art and DT will be linked to our topics in Humanities. Some of our projects this term include cooking some Victorian food, creating some Victorian toys, creating a clay model of a volcano and drawing, designing and printing patterns inspired by William Morris.
Computing
This term's topics are Programming A – Selection in Physical Computing, and Computing – Communication and Collaboration. Computing will be taught by Mr Lewis on a Monday afternoon. We will also be focussing on Health, Well-being and Lifestyle, Online Relationships and Self-image and Identity. Much of this will be taught as part of our PSHE circle times.
French
We will begin the term with the topic School Life before moving onto the topic Let’s go Shopping.
PSHE / Citizenship
This term we will begin by focussing on Relationships before moving onto looking at Belonging to a Community. Much of our learning will be through circle time.
Included in our PSHE lessons is our Values Education. The Values for this term are:
January - Forgiveness
February - Loyalty
March - Respect
April - Generosity
Music
Developing keyboard skills, reading music, composition and performing will be the focus for this term in Music and will be taught by Mr Lewis on a Monday afternoon.
Please see below for the topic plans for Oak Class for the whole academic year.
Oak Class Plans
Expectations in Mathematics for Year 5