Knowledge overview for Year 5 (A.W/2026)

English

• Reading/viewing: Read a range of texts and explain main ideas; use clues to infer meaning; summarise key points; discuss how vocabulary and text features affect meaning; compare ideas across texts, including NZ and Pacific voices.
• Writing/presenting: Plan for purpose and audience; organise ideas with clear paragraphs; develop ideas with examples; choose precise words and varied sentences; edit for spelling, punctuation, and clarity; create simple multimodal texts.
• Speaking/listening: Share ideas clearly in discussions; listen and build on others’ points; ask and answer questions; present short talks with a clear beginning, key points, and ending.
• Language knowledge/strategies: Use growing academic vocabulary; apply basic grammar (sentence types, correct tense, paragraphing); choose strategies (predict, question, note, draft, revise) and reflect on what works.

Mathematics and Statistics

• Number/algebra: Add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers and common fractions/decimals; connect fractions, decimals, and percentages; solve rate/ratio problems in familiar contexts; recognise and continue number patterns; use simple variables and rules.
• Geometry/measurement: Describe and classify 2D/3D shapes; use symmetry and transformations; measure length, area, volume, mass, time, and temperature with appropriate units; estimate and calculate perimeter and area of rectangles/compound shapes; read simple scales and timetables.
• Statistics: Pose questions; plan and collect data fairly; display data (bar, dot, stem-and-leaf, simple line); describe patterns using language of centre and spread; make statements about what the data shows.
• Probability: Describe likely, unlikely, certain, impossible events; list possible outcomes for simple situations; discuss fairness and chance using everyday language.
• Reasoning: Explain steps and check reasonableness; choose strategies (mental, written, calculator, diagrams, tables) and represent problems in words, symbols, and visuals.

Science

• Nature of Science: Describe how science uses evidence; plan and carry out simple fair tests; make careful observations and measurements; present results with tables/graphs; explain what the evidence shows about a question.
• Living World: Describe basic needs and life processes of plants/animals; explain how body parts and behaviours help survival; build simple food chains and discuss human impacts on local habitats.
• Material World: Use particle ideas to talk about solids, liquids, gases; describe common properties and changes (melting, dissolving, evaporation); sort materials/mixtures and explain choices.
• Physical World: Describe effects of forces (push, pull, friction, gravity) in everyday contexts; explore light, sound, heat, and simple electricity ideas with models and diagrams.
• Planet Earth and Beyond: Explain parts of the water cycle and weather observations; describe Earth’s features and natural processes (erosion, earthquakes/volcanoes in NZ contexts); describe day/night and seasons patterns.

Social Studies

• Concepts: Describe how identities and cultures influence perspectives; explain how people shape places and how places shape people; identify continuity and change over time; link simple causes and consequences of events; describe roles, rights, and responsibilities in class/school/community (including Te Tiriti principles).
• Inquiry: Ask focused questions; gather information from maps, photos, short texts, and simple data; identify author purpose and viewpoint; make explanations using evidence; present findings with clear visuals and brief writing; suggest practical actions for class or local issues.

Learning Languages

• Comprehension: Understand main ideas and key details in short, familiar texts (greetings, family, school, hobbies, routines); use visuals and context to support meaning; notice common patterns.
• Production/interaction: Use memorised and adapted phrases to introduce, describe, ask/answer simple questions, give likes/dislikes and reasons; write linked sentences or a short paragraph; sustain short exchanges and ask for help/clarification.
• Language/culture: Use core vocabulary and key grammar (basic word order, questions, present tense, simple past/future as taught); pronounce/sign more accurately; show culturally appropriate greetings and etiquette.
• Strategies: Use repetition, chunking, cognates, and reference tools; self-correct with prompts.

Health and Physical Education

• Personal wellbeing: Describe hauora dimensions (taha tinana, hinengaro, whānau, wairua) and how they connect; set small health goals (sleep, nutrition, movement) and track progress; use simple regulation strategies for emotions; question unhelpful media messages.
• Relationships/sexuality: Practise respectful communication and consent language; recognise friendly, fair, and unkind behaviours and seek help when needed; understand body changes in puberty at an age-appropriate level.
• Safety/substances/digital: Assess basic risks (road, water, sun, online); make safe choices and ask for help; describe effects of substances at a simple level and practise refusal skills; use privacy and kindness online.
• Movement/sport: Develop skills across games and activities; show teamwork, fair play, and inclusion; set personal activity goals and use feedback/data (e.g., repetitions, times) to improve.
• Communities: Investigate a class/local wellbeing issue; identify helpers, services, and environments that support health; plan and take simple class actions and reflect on impact.

The Arts (Dance, Drama, Music/Sound Arts, Visual Arts)

• Create/perform/present: Generate ideas from themes or stimuli; use elements and simple conventions of each art form; rehearse, refine, and present with clear intention to a familiar audience.
• Respond/analyse: Use arts vocabulary to describe how works communicate ideas and feelings; compare works from Aotearoa NZ, Pacific, and global contexts respectfully; give and use feedback; record process steps.
• Discipline specifics:
  • Dance: Create short movement phrases with motif, repetition, contrast; perform with timing and spatial awareness in groups.
  • Drama: Devise short scenes using role, focus, and tension; use simple props/costume/sound to enhance meaning.
  • Music: Perform in a group or solo with steady pulse and accurate pitch/rhythm (as appropriate); compose short patterns/melodies; read/use basic notation or symbols.
  • Visual Arts: Develop ideas using sketches and artist models; explore materials and composition; produce resolved work that shows intention; discuss symbols and choices.
  • Media Arts: Plan and create a short media piece (photo story, animation, audio) using basic shot/sound/editing ideas; discuss audience and ethical choices.

Technology

• Technological practice: Identify a user and need; write a simple brief with criteria and constraints; research examples and gather user feedback; model/prototype ideas (sketches, mock-ups, basic code/circuits); plan steps and use tools safely; test against criteria and explain improvements; present the outcome and process clearly.
• Technological knowledge: Choose materials/processes based on properties and sustainability; measure and join/finish accurately; apply simple design for fit and function (including basic human measurements); represent information clearly; program or control a simple system and explain inputs/outputs.
• Nature of Technology: Describe how technologies change lives; consider environmental, cultural, and economic impacts; recognise mātauranga Māori and Pacific innovation in materials and design; involve users and act on feedback.