28 February 2023
This week’s spotlight on learning will be on our fabulous Year 5 pupils.
In English, the children have been reading the children’s version of Hidden Figures, a text retelling the remarkable story of four women’s fight against sexism and racism in order to be recognized equally within NASA. Many children have also enjoyed sharing this story with their families at home and some have watched the film based on the original book. In addition to this, the children have also had the opportunity to look at photos and research facts about NASA to support their learning around this topic. As part of National Storytelling Week, the children enjoyed sharing story sacks with our Friendly Frogs in Nursery; it was very enjoyable for all the children involved. Year 5 have also completed their 2-minute reads in class to further strengthen their reading and comprehension skills.
In Maths, both Year 5 classes have been working on problem solving activities and have really impressed their teachers with their attitude towards learning and their developing reasoning skills. Keep up the good work Year 5!
In Science, Year 5 have been consolidating their knowledge and understanding of the Earth, sun and moon and have moved on to learning about the phases of the moon. Working in groups, the children used Oreo’s to recreate the phases in a visual form. Surprisingly, a bargain purchase to aid their learning led to an impromptu discussion about total eclipses! Of course, following their learning experience the children all enjoyed eating their ‘moons’. In addition to this, a game of Top Trumps has enabled the children to learn facts about the planets in a fun and engaging way.
In PE, the children have been furthering their knowledge and learning in the sport of rugby, learning lots of new tag rugby skills with their specialist coach. They have also been extremely busy with Bikeability, a national cycle training programme which gives children the confidence to cycle safely on the road. The instructors were full of praise for all the children who took part and were extremely pleased with their progress throughout the duration of the week it was held. This also links to our safeguarding curriculum.
In Art, Year 5 are learning about futurism and have enjoyed studying and comparing two futurism artists. Clay was the material of choice for their final pieces with the goal of creating a piece of art which had an element of movement and dynamism, not easy to achieve! Rising to the challenge, the children have produced artwork including falling buildings, moving animals and people, waves, volcanoes, upside-down drinks spilling and cakes with icing dripping down them. The teachers have been amazed at the skill, patience and precision, which has been on display from the children. Final touches were added with the addition of paint and I think you will agree that Year 5 are very talented when it comes to the subject of Art.
In addition, in Design and Technology, the children have been studying the topic of bridges and how they are constructed. First, they used paper to make arch and beam bridges to investigate which shapes reinforced the bridge the best. They then moved on to planning and constructing a truss bridge using art straws and glue guns. Throughout this investigation, the children discovered that triangles were the strongest shape to use as they help to distribute the weight across the bridge. As a final challenge, the children were asked to make the strongest bridge they could. Working collaboratively and armed with prior learning knowledge and a lot of perseverance, they used wood, saws and glue guns to produce some amazing final projects.
Year 5 welcomed a special visitor to reinforce their learning in the subject of PSHE. Community Police Officer Parker delivered a talk about internet safety and cyberbullying. The children engaged well through discussion and in a follow-up lesson, were excellent at spotting potential hazards and what they should do if a problem arose.
In History, Year 5 continue their learning about the Victorian Era and have particularly enjoyed the start of their Dance unit of study linked to this topic.
In Geography, the children have completed their fieldwork learning all about 4 and 6 figure grid references. Using these grid references, the children were challenged to plot a 3 mile walk around the forest as part of their Forest School learning experience, which they have all loved. The children worked collaboratively to find given locations on their maps and successfully completed the walk. If you ever get lost, just ask a Year 5 as they are now experts!
Finally, in Music, Year 5 have been composers. They have all had fun using the glockenspiels to create their own compositions.
This is just a flavor of the incredible learning which has been happening in the Year 5 classrooms this term. As ever, we are incredibly proud of how Year 5 are progressing with their learning and developing their knowledge and skills across all of our curriculum subjects.
Well done Year 5!
