🌟 Year 5 Newsletter

Supporting Your Child in Year 5 – Learning Through the TransformED Curriculum

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to Year 5! This is an important stage in your child’s learning journey as they move further into Key Stage 2 and begin to develop greater independence, deeper understanding, and stronger problem-solving skills.

Through Northern Ireland’s TransformED curriculum, learning is focused on helping children apply their knowledge, think critically, and become confident, self-directed learners.

🌱 What does learning look like in Year 5?

In Year 5, children experience:

• More challenging and extended learning tasks

• Increased expectations for independent work and responsibility

• Greater emphasis on reasoning, explanation, and reflection

Children are encouraged to:

• Think more deeply about their learning

• Explain and justify their ideas

• Work collaboratively and independently

• Take responsibility for improving their work

📖 Literacy (Language and Communication)

In Year 5, children are expected to become more confident, fluent, and analytical readers and writers.

Your child will be learning to:

• Read and understand a wide range of texts (fiction and non-fiction)

• Identify themes, meanings, and author intent

• Summarise information and give opinions with evidence

• Write in different styles (stories, reports, explanations, persuasive writing)

• Use a wider range of vocabulary and punctuation accurately

• Edit and improve their own writing

How you can help at home:

• Encourage regular reading and discussion of texts

• Ask questions like “What evidence supports your view?”

• Support writing tasks such as letters, reviews, or stories

• Encourage your child to check and improve their own work

👉 The focus is on comprehension, expression, and writing with purpose.

🔢 Numeracy (Developing Reasoning and Problem-Solving)

Year 5 numeracy builds confidence with more complex problem-solving and mathematical reasoning.

Your child will be learning to:

• Secure knowledge of all times tables and related facts

• Work confidently with the four operations on larger numbers

• Solve multi-step word problems

• Develop understanding of fractions, decimals, and percentages

• Use measurement and data in more complex contexts

• Explain and justify their mathematical thinking

How you can help at home:

• Practise times tables regularly

• Use real-life maths (budgeting, cooking, planning time)

• Encourage your child to explain their methods clearly

• Use puzzles and logic games to develop reasoning skills

👉 The focus is on accuracy, fluency, and explaining mathematical thinking.

💻 ICT (Digital Skills and Responsibility)

In Year 5, children use technology more independently and creatively, while developing a stronger understanding of digital responsibility.

Your child will be learning to:

• Use digital tools to research, create, and present work

• Develop coding and computational thinking skills

• Evaluate online information for reliability

• Understand online safety and digital footprint

• Collaborate using technology where appropriate

How you can help at home:

• Encourage purposeful use of technology (projects, research, creativity)

• Talk regularly about online safety and responsible behaviour

• Discuss how to identify reliable information online

• Set clear and consistent screen time boundaries

👉 The focus is on independence, creativity, and safe digital citizenship.

💬 Personal Development & Wellbeing

Year 5 supports children in becoming mature, responsible, and reflective learners.

Children will:

• Take greater responsibility for organising their learning

• Develop resilience when facing challenges

• Work effectively in teams and groups

• Reflect on their strengths and areas for improvement

You can support this by:

• Encouraging independence at home

• Helping your child reflect on their learning

• Supporting problem-solving rather than giving immediate answers

• Praising effort, persistence, and resilience

🏡 Supporting Learning at Home

At this stage, children benefit from:

• Consistent routines for homework and reading

• Opportunities to work independently

• Regular discussion about learning and progress

• Encouragement to take responsibility for their work

🌟 Final Thought

Year 5 is a key stage in developing independent, confident learners who can think critically and solve problems effectively. Through the TransformED curriculum, children are encouraged to deepen their understanding and take ownership of their learning.

With your continued support at home, your child will be well prepared for the transition into their final year of primary school.

If you have any questions or would like further support, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your continued support,

The Year 5 Team