Time flies…Summer 1 has drawn to a close.

We began our last week of term by writing our own ending for ‘The Girl Who Stole an Elephant’. We were very impressed with the children’s creativity, with some children leaving their story on a cliff-hanger! The children also showcased their knowledge of Year 5 grammar, punctuation and spelling rules, with some excellent complex sentences being written. The children then edited their pieces and published their final draft. Next half term, we will be looking at Plays and Play scripts.

In Maths, we have been looking at fraction and decimal equivalents, beginning with tenths and hundredths. The children have been using their knowledge of place value to support them with this. After looking at decimal and fraction equivalents, the children will be introduced to percentages.

The children were lucky enough to be back with Mercedes at the beginning of the week, taking part in her termly ‘Scientist in Residence’ sessions. Continuing with changes and properties of materials, the children started by sorting through a box of different materials, including rubber, wood, metal, and plastic. They then categorised these using two-way tables, deciding whether both or just one property applied. Using everyday objects like beds, bookcases and teddy bears, the children discussed what they should be made of and why, for example, for a bed, we wanted a hard, strong material for the frame, but soft, springy materials for the mattress so that it was comfortable. Finally, the children built a boat, which had to hold 50g whilst floating, using 4/5 sets of materials, such as plastic straws, lollipop sticks and plastic sheets. They then tested them in water, seeing how much weight each boat could take before water was taken on board! The children showcased how much they learnt throughout this topic in their EUQ (End of Unit Quiz). Next half term, the children will be looking at ‘Animals including Humans’, specifically focusing on changes and reproduction.

In R.E., the children looked at the story of Moses being given the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai. The children reflected on the significance of these 10 commandments in the Jewish faith. The children then created their own 10 commandments which would allow them to lead a life following their beliefs and values. They then created a PowerPoint detailing what it means to be a Jew. This lead directly into our EUQ, where the children demonstrated their learning from this half-term – we were very impressed! Next half term in R.E., the children will be looking at how the Christian message has survived for over 2000 years.

In RHE, the children looked at how they can help quickly in a first aid emergency. We looked at the term ‘first aid’, meaning help given to a sick or injured person until full medical treatment is available. The children then used the Chromebooks and The British Red Cross website to learn first aid for when someone is choking, have broken a bone and have been burnt. The children had to note the key steps you must take to help someone in these situations. One child noted that this lesson give them important life skills. The children then reflected on this half-term’s learning, discussing how they can be the best version of themselves. Next half-term, the children will be looking at growing and changing.

Have a wonderful half-term break. We look forward to seeing the children for their final half-term in Year 5!

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

This morning, we went to Stamford Bridge to take part in a mental health workshop in collaboration with the charity, MIND. The children learnt about self-care, considering what self-care looks like to them. In our upcoming workshops with Chelsea Football Club, we will be completing a football team ‘self-care kit’. We finished by visiting Stamford Bridge’s museum – the children were delighted to see the historic Chelsea memorabilia and have a go at scoring-a-goal-through-hoops game!

In English this week, we wrote a setting description to describe the jungle in the fictional setting of Serendib in ‘The Girl Who Stole an Elephant’. The children used great vocabulary to describe the jungle and were even able to magpie descriptive phrases from the book. We then compared the character of Chaya, Neel and Nour, analysing their characteristics first, before comparing their similarities and differences. We ended the week with reading up to chapter 37, following the twists and turns of the plot. Next week, the children will be writing their own ending from this point in the story. Many children have already thought of their ideas for how they want to end ‘The Girl Who Stole an Elephant’.

In Maths, we are now all focusing on decimals and percentages. The children are using their fractions knowledge to support their learning, as well as place value and timetables knowledge.

We had our final History lesson this week, which looked at the second-wave feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. We looked at the story of the 187 women, who worked at Ford Dagenham, and protested for equal pay. The children then showcased how much they had learnt across this unit in their end of unit quiz.

In Science, we looked at the changes formed as a result of heating and cooling, and if these changes were reversible or irreversible. We then looked at the changes caused by burning. We discussed how burning is an irreversible change as a reaction has formed a new material. We also experimented with the components needed to create a fire: fuel, heat and oxygen. We covered one tea light with a small glass and one tea light with a large glass. The children concluded that the tea light in the smaller glass went out more quickly as there was less oxygen trapped in the glass.

In R.E., we learnt about the Jewish festival of Passover. The children then created a comic book strip of the key events in the story, ending with Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land. Next week, we will be learning about the significance of food served during Passover.

In RHE., the children did an amazing job of listing the things that they love about our school community, before thinking up what they think could be improved. We discussed how it isn’t productive to moan about something and took some time to think about possible solutions or suggestions to some of the things we don’t like. We found that some were easy to fix! We then discussed ‘growing up’. We had quite an even split of children who are excited at the prospect and those who are a bit daunted! We discussed how more independence comes hand in hand with more responsibility.

Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the sunshine!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

The highlight of the week was a visit from Cressida Cowell, the author of the ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ series. She encouraged all the children to make the most of their amazing imaginations and gave us some top tips! She showed us some of the characters she had created and how her wider reading and research had sparked the ideas for their amazing powers and magical features!

In English this week, we have continued reading ‘The Girl Who Stole and Elephant’ practising and responding to VIPERS questions. The children have practised dictionary work and used their inference skills to unpick the meaning of unfamiliar words in a context. Next week, we will be comparing and contrasting the main characters, writing a setting description and continuing to identify some of the effective use of language used by the author, Nizrana Farook.

In Maths, the children have been continuing to work on multiplying fractions and will soon all be moving onto decimals and percentages.

In Science, the children witnessed a lemonade making experiment! They learnt that some changes form new materials and some of these are irreversible changes. The sugary water was a reversible change (the water will eventually evaporate to separate the water and sugar), whereas, the baking soda, which is an effervescent powder, reacted with the solution of lemon and sugar to create a fizzy solution known as lemonade. This reaction had created a new material which is irreversible.

In History, we used primary and secondary sources to learn about the role of women in the 1950s. We discussed how primary sources are original content or the first-hand accounts of the events or topics, where secondary sources are one step removed from the original content or the first-hand accounts. The children had to identify whether the source was a primary or secondary source, write what they could learn about the role of woman during the 1950s from the source and then note something they couldn’t learn by looking at the source. The children really enjoyed analysing like a historian and were quite shocked by some of the messaging in adverts targeted at women during 1950s Britain.

In RHE, we looked at ‘What are my strengths?’ to allow us to work on how to be the best version of ourselves. We looked at the different roles in a circus and the different skills required for each specific role. The children thought about what could influence someone’s choice of job, with many saying the skills they have. We discussed how this is something we can control through practise, resilience and patience, however, things such a location and working hours of the job can’t be controlled. The children then recorded their strengths and those of their friends.

Secret Artist Prize Winners

We were incredibly lucky to welcome Jonathan Yeo in to school on Thursday afternoon to judge the entries for our Secret Artist Competition. He was amazed by all the brilliant artwork produced by the children – there’s definitely some budding artists in our school!

Their artwork will now be framed and displayed alongside the artwork donated by adults in our community at the Secret Artist event on Thursday 18^th May. However, all of the artwork produced by the children will be available for purchase on the night so do come along and buy your child’s masterpiece!

Have a great weekend,

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

What a wonderful end to a busy week with our annual Grandparents’ Day! The sun came out and we were all able to gather together with the children’s grandparents and special friends to celebrate them. We even had a Q&A with Prue Leith!

This weekend marks The King’s Coronation. We spent time today speaking to the children about the significant celebration, watching a video from Newsround that discussed the weekend’s events and their significance. We even marked the occasion with a special coronation lunch.

In English this week, we have been continuing to read ‘The Girl Who Stole and Elephant’. The children completed a reading comprehension, which allowed them practise their VIPERS skills. We will continue to focus on inference and retrieval next week. The children also made predictions after chapter 3 on how they thought Chaya would end up with an elephant in her possession, justifying their predictions with evidence from Chapter 3.

The children have now completed their multiplication and division assessments in Maths. We were impressed with their knowledge of long multiplication and bus stop and will continue to work on applying these methods when problem solving. The children are now working on fractions, decimals and percentages.

In History, we looked at the changing role of women in Britain during WW1. The children wrote in character as a women from 1915 Britain, detailing their experiences of now being able to work, as well as maintaining their long-held responsibilities of cooking, cleaning and caring for their children. The children concluded their piece by considering if they would like to have kept their job after the men had returned from war. Many said they would due to independence and empowerment they felt when having a job for the first time.

In Science, we learnt about the different methods of separating a substance from a solvent. We learnt about different methods of filtration and about evaporation.

In RHE, we started by considering how we keep fit and healthy. After our initial discussion, we then took an ‘internal organs quiz’ which was a lot less gruesome than it sounds. We used the internet to see if our answers were correct, and in the process we learned lots of interesting facts about our amazing bodies!

To celebrate the Coronation, we held a special assembly about the crowning of King Charles III. Mrs Whiting sang ‘Don’t Rain on my Parade’ by Barbara Streisand because it is the King’s favourite song! We had a special ‘Coronation’ themed lunch too to mark the occasion. As a class we learnt a bit about King Charles III’s life and then did a ‘similes activity’, we revisited similes from our poetry unit and thought about how to make them really effective. We then wrote these down in the form of a poem.

See notices below:

City Harvest is delighted to invite parents and staff of St Stephen’s to an open day to learn more about what we do as a food redistribution charity, and how you can get involved by volunteering!  

We will be hosting a dynamic and engaging day at our Acton site in collaboration with The Big Help Out (please find details below).   

Volunteers are the beating heart of City Harvest and we would not be able to do what we do without our thriving community! For each hour you volunteer, City Harvest is able to deliver 530 meals which shows the incredible impact you can make – and we would love for you to join the team.  

For more information please visit: www.cityharvest.org.uk/volunteer  

If you have any questions, please email Miss Hall (f.hall@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk)

Recycling request!

Please may the children bring in any bottle tops and/or bubble wrap from home for our upcoming art lesson. Thank you.

Have a wonderful bank holiday weekend!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

We have had a great end to the week in Hyde Park at ‘The LookOut’. We explored the centre grounds and the wider park, identifying trees and plants and collecting flowers. Binoculars were used to watch the birds, we were even lucky enough to see some nest-building activity! We used the natural materials we collected to create a spring picture. We also investigated and observed life in the pond considering which animals are best suited to this habitat – some of the children caught a newt!

In History, we learnt about the Suffragette Movement and some of the key women who played a part. The children made placards with slogans to replicate those written at the time.

In Maths, Miss Bill’s class will be doing their multiplication and division assessment next week. The next unit, which we will be moving on to, is fractions and we will specifically focus on finding a fraction of an amount and multiplying.

In English, we wrote our newspaper report based on ‘The Highwayman’. The children reported as if they were the first to the scene after the ‘incident’. They made excellent use of reported and direct speech. On Wednesday, we began our next unit, which uses the book ‘The Girl Who Stole an Elephant’, reading chapter one and two and unpicking the meaning of some of the new vocabulary. We will use this book to continue working on reading and writing objectives over the next few weeks.

In Re, we learnt about the Shema, which are often found inside a Mezuzah. We discussed how many Jews see the Shema as an affirmation of their faith, from this, the children wrote their own affirmations. It was so wonderful to see the range of affirmations from ‘I am amazing’ to ‘I will forgive those who trespass against me’.

Next Friday, it is Grandparent’s Day. We have a couple of visits planned from a couple of grandparents, who have lived extraordinary lives and have some stories to tell!

In the next couple of weeks we will have an art lesson in which we will need some scraps (they won’t come back, so please make sure you are happy before donating….). If you happen to have any of the following at home, please may you send in with your child before next Friday:

• bubble wrap
• buttons
• bottle tops
• hessian/interesting textured material

Thank you for your support.

Have a great long weekend!

It is hard to believe it is summer term already, the year is flying in!

It was great to welcome back all the children on Tuesday after a well-deserved Easter break. We were straight into continuing with our newspaper reports in English. We spent time recapping the main features of a newspaper, direct and reported speech before focusing on another grammar objective, past tense and third person. The children were able to challenge themselves to write a sentence in the past tense and third person but as a piece of reported speech. Today, we completed our detailed plan for our newspaper reports. Next Monday, we will be completing our first draft before editing them and redrafting.

In Maths, we consolidated long multiplication and completed word problems. We are now continuing to work on short division with remainders. The children will then be completing more work on fractions, looking at multiplying fractions and finding fractions of an amount.

In R.E., we began our new unit of work, ‘What does it mean to be a Jew?’ We began this unit by discussing the knowledge we have from our Autumn 1 unit, ‘What is it like to live as a Jew?’ We were very impressed with how the children were able to describe and recognise Jewish artefacts and describe how Jews worship. We began our first lesson by looking at the word ‘covenant’ and how it means a promise. We learnt of the covenant that God made with Abraham, which allowed us to reflect upon previous promises we have made and a new promise we would like to make.

In Science, we began ‘Properties and Changes to Materials’. The children set up a fair test to test solutions that are soluble and solutions that are insoluble. We discussed for it to be a fair test there needed to be a dependent variable, independent variable and control variables. Through our experiment we discovered that salt is soluble as it dissolves in water. When it was placed in the water, the solvent and solute mixed together to form a solution.

The Changing Role of Women is our new unit of work in History this half term. We began this week by looking at the role of women in society up to the 19^th century. We began by looking at the roles women had in Ancient Egypt. During this time, they were able to vote in law, own their own property and have an education. During the Roman period, women had to obey their husband and they couldn’t own property. We ended the lesson by looking at women’s rights during the period Queen Elizabeth I was in reign. We concluded that nothing had really changed, she was doubted in her ability to rule and people tried to force her to marry. Next week, we will find out about the suffrage movement.

The children thoroughly enjoyed their first healthy lifestyles session with Chelsea FC Foundation. This will continue every Friday afternoon, with the exception of next Friday, where children will need to be in school uniform as we our on our Science trip.

This Saturday, April 22nd, is Earth Day. This afternoon, we watched a video on newsround that explained how Earth Day is an opportunity for people across the globe to come together, not only to celebrate the world, but also to raise awareness about how crucial it is that we take steps now to protect our precious planet. We then all made ‘green pledges’.

Arts Week

We have decided to move Arts Week to the summer term to minimise disruption to academic learning earlier in the year and so it will be between the 6^th and 9^th June (the first week back after half term).

A real highlight of the year, Arts Week is a time when we can all indulge our creative impulses and spend a week creating, exploring and experiencing. As usual, all the work completed this week will be inspired by a piece of art and this year we have linked it in to the National Gallery’s Take One Picture event, which this year is, Surprised! By Henri Rousseau (for image and more info please follow the link here).

If you feel inspired by this image, perhaps you would be willing to come in and volunteer with your child’s year group during the week? Whether it’s running a whole session, working with small groups or just providing an extra pair of hands for a session or two, we would love to have parents and carers involved. If this is something you would be interested in, please get in touch with Ms Bell: c.bell@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

Have a restful weekend,

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

Happy Easter!

We began our last day of term by having our annual Easter Service in church. It was great to sing traditional Easter hymns, besides our St Stephen’s classic, ‘I Give Thanks’. We also came together to reflect upon Jesus’ sacrifices during this time.

In English, we began our new unit, ‘Newspaper Reports’. We started by identifying the features of a newspaper, punctuating direct speech with inverted commas and then, introduced reported speech. We will continue this work after Easter, building up to writing a newspaper report about The Highwayman.

This week in Maths, we have completed our Spring Term assessments. We were pleased with how the children got on and identified areas that we will recap and practise after Easter.

We also completed the End of Unit Quizzes for Science, RHE, Geography and R.E. It was really impressive to see how well the children could use new vocabulary they have been taught in each subject then apply it to their answers. Any misconceptions were discussed.

Please see our Curriculum Map on this page to see what is coming up in Summer 1 and 2.

Two notices for next half term:

Next half term, we will be doing DT: Food: What could be healthier? Can we ask that any large glass jars you have are rinsed and then brought into school for this DT project.

As part of Healthy Schools London, we have partnered with Chelsea Football Club, who will be coming in to school next term to deliver some sessions to both Year 5 classes. These sessions will start on Friday 21st April and run for 12 weeks and will be done during the school day. Please could your child come in to school wearing their PE kit on Fridays.

Do you work in the arts?

As part of our ongoing ‘Cracking Careers’ project, which aims to give the children an awareness of the different careers in our local community and further afield, we want to invite any parents or friends of St Stephen’s to come and tell us about what they do! It could be as short as 15 minutes – we just want to hear about your day-to-day work and what inspired you to get there!​

If you, or someone you know, could take part, then please get in touch with Miss Hall – f.hall@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

Thank you for all of your support this half term. Have a restful Easter break with friends and family.

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

The Easter countdown is on!

Please remember to bring in Easter eggs for our fundraiser Easter raffle. You can buy raffle tickets for your children from the online shop (see Parentmail). Next Thursday will be the Easter bonnet parade – so happy creating!

Today, the children were told about the upcoming Secret Artist Competition. We will be making the children’s entries in school, however, the children have been encouraged to think about and maybe develop some ideas before we do the creating part on Friday next week. The theme is Myths and Legends.

After the children wrote their final draft of their poems inspired by ‘The Highwayman’, they edited their poems to ensure they had consistently used the correct tense throughout their piece, as well as including a range of figurative language like Alfred Noyes did in ‘The Highwayman’. The children then wrote their final draft of their poem ensuring they included all of their edits and focused on their handwriting, making sure it was increasingly legible, joining letters, which should be joined, and leaving those that shouldn’t. We finished the week off by completing our Spring Term reading, grammar and punctuation assessments. We were very impressed with the knowledge the children displayed in these – well done!

We have continued to make good progress with our multiplication and division unit in Maths. The children are becoming more confident in the formal written method for long multiplication. As we continue with this unit, we will be working on the written method for short division. Can we ask that children know their division facts as fluently as their times table facts to support them with this. We have reset some of the Mathletics from last week, to give the children a chance to revise the method and improve their scores.

In Geography, we compared and contrasted an area within the UK with an area of Scandinavia. We selected London and Stockholm. The children used their knowledge from this topic, the work in their books and additionally, chrome books, to gather further research to allow them to compare and contrast the physical and human geography features of London and Stockholm.

On Wednesday afternoon, in Science, we looked at diagrams, which show the part of the moon that is illuminated by the sun as it orbits Earth. The moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted about five degrees from our orbit around the sun. This means we see different shapes of the moon from Earth for each lunar phase. The children used Oreos to represent the different lunar phases (see our school Twitter page for our delicious representations!).

In Computing, the children learnt about spreadsheets. The children learnt how to format a call and experimented with doing so. After that, the children were tasked with creating formulas to complete calculations. The children learnt how to using the symbols on a keyboard to create different calculations. The answers would then appear in the answer cell.

In RE this week, we recapped all the Christian events that we have covered in RE so far, building up to ‘Holy Week’. The children matched the meaning and details to each event and sequenced them. We then focused on Good Friday and Maundy Thursday and some of the events that take place on these days and their symbolism. The children made links to our topic on Judaism by identifying the Seder Plate, which is representative of the Lord’s Supper. The children were also able to build on their understanding of Christianity by making links between various celebrations and events during ‘Holy Week’ and the final week of Christ’s life on Earth.

In RHE, we considered the duties and responsibilities we have in our local community and reflected on a story called, ‘Mo Makes a Difference’. See below how Mo’s emotions changed as he took responsibility and action in his community. We then considered how a helpful community makes our area a nice place to live. At the end of the lesson, we discussed what local organisations we would like to join that help the local community.

SEE MORE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING…

There is always so much going on at St Stephen’s across all of the year groups and the school’s Twitter feed is a great way for catching up with the latest news. Whether it’s the Mums & Chums Breakfast, Debating Team or sports’ teams news, the London Children’s Flower Society Spring Bulb competition, class visits, TV appearances, FOSS funded activities or our celebration of World Down Syndrome Day… superb for keeping an eye on things.

You don’t need a Twitter account to view it, but if you do, you could ‘like’ or even share the link with friends and family or ReTweet the news. It would be wonderful to see more activity and it’s a great way to keep up to speed.

St Stephen’s Twitter – @StStephensLBHF

https://twitter.com/StStephensLBHF

Have a great weekend.

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

What a great start to the day at the ‘Mums and Chums’ breakfast! Thank you to everyone who came. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

In English this week, the children have planned their own classical, narrative poems inspired by ‘The Highwayman’. The children have been using visual media as a stimulus to help them create their own version using figurative language and other poetic devices that we have covered. Next week, we will be writing our first draft, editing it and then writing a final draft, focusing on our handwriting, which we have been working on. The children will then read aloud and perform their poem to the class, concentrating on tone, intonation and volume.

In Maths, we have been working on multiplication and division, particularly long multiplication. We have used visuals to help the children understand the place value of the digits they are multiplying before showing them the formal written method for long multiplication.

In Geography, after looking at physical features last week, this week we looked at some of the human features of Scandinavia. The children defined human features as aspects of our Earth made by man. The children found facts for each of the Scandinavian countries, discovering their populations, cuisine, major religions and other human features.

In RE, the children started their new topic about Easter. The children learnt about some of the events leading up to Holy Week, from Shrove Tuesday all the way up to Palm Sunday, including Passiontide and Ash Wednesday. We were able to draw on our recent Ash Wednesday experience in church, where Reverend Cheryl gave many children an ash cross.

On Wednesday, the children had Drama with Mark where they explored rights, respect and duties. The children performed scenes, which exemplified their rights, from this they discussed how rights must be earnt through responsibility and maturity to ensure rights are not abused.

We had a great start to British Science Week with Mercedes, our Scientist-in-Residence and some of her Science Club students running a STEM themed Collective Worship on Monday where we learnt about all of the careers available in the worlds of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Don’t forget to enter the British Science Week Poster competition on the theme of Connections and bring your entries into school by next Friday for us to shortlist. More information here: Poster competition – British Science Week .

Next week, on Tuesday 21st March 2023, it is World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD). St Stephen’s will be joining many schools and communities around the world by celebrating this occasion and wearing odd socks. They might be mismatched socks or your craziest and most colourful socks, whatever takes your fancy! The idea is to start a conversation, so when people ask you about your socks you can tell them, “I’m wearing them to raise awareness of Down Syndrome”. Then, you can tell them everything you want them to know about Down Syndrome.

Next week is Parents Evening. Please make sure that you are signed up to a slot and email us if any issues.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

We had a wonderful time at the V and A today, exploring the collections and taking part in a workshop. The children were taught about the design process, learning the purpose and meaning of prototyping and iterating, before creating. The children learnt about famous designers and how they took inspiration from food, their imagination and just about anything! The children then worked in small groups to design an object to solve a problem for a specific audience. Sustainability and the environment were at the forefront of lots of the children’s ideas and they created some excellent prototypes.

This week we have been reading the classical poem, The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes. The children were given the challenge of translating some of the classical, formal language to modern, informal language. This helped the children to really unpick what is happening in each verse, for a moment ignoring the use of figurative language. Next lesson was all about exploring the figurative language used by Noyes to set a scene, create images and emotions. The children should now be able to identify personification, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia and alliteration. We will continue identifying these more independently next week before planning and writing our own poems inspired by The Highwayman and based on a piece of visual media.

In Maths, we have now all completed our fractions assessment. We are really impressed by how the children got on. Our focus is now long multiplication. Please keep up the great revision of multiplication at home and, at the same time, division facts.

In Geography, we looked at the physical features of Scandinavia, in particular, the varied landscapes of Norway. We discussed how glaciers and fjords are formed over millions of years. We also discussed what a waterfall is and annotated images of Norwegian landscapes. After looking at pictures of Denmark and Sweden, we were able to conclude that their landscapes are much flatter and in many areas, the land is low lying and prone to flooding.

In Computing, the children looked at the difference between the internet and the worldwide web (WWW). The internet is a global network of computers, whereas the WWW uses the internet to provide us with information.

In RE, we learnt about some of the destinations of pilgrimages around Europe and completed our end of unit assessment. Next, we will be focusing on church at Easter.

In Science, we continued with Earth and Space, looking at the planets in the Solar System and the length of their orbits of the sun. We worked out that some of the children were 40.4 years old on Mercury because of the length of time it takes Mercury to orbit the sun!

Have a great weekend.

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

Well done to all the children for their amazing World Book Day costumes!

We have had a whole host of exciting events linked to World Book Day this week. On Monday, there was a theatre production recreating ‘The Secret Garden’. Today, we started the day with a brilliant one-woman storyteller, who had all the children completely spellbound. She was telling myths and legends. Right now, the children are watching a talk by children’s author, HS Norup.

In class, the children took part in a quiz, where they had to guess the reader and the book they were reading from given clues. They then had the chance to create a character profile about the character that they were dressed as.

In English, we have finished our unit on The Boy in the Tower and are now starting ‘The Highwayman’. It is a classical poem and the old English has taken some unpicking, but the children today proved their understanding by re-enacting the poem in stages. Next week, we will be identifying poetic devices and using our inference skills to think about how the characters are feeling at different stages of the poem.

In Maths, some of the children are completing their unit on fractions and some have started a new unit on multiplication. All the hardwork that has gone into learning timetables has really paid off.

In Geography, we continued learning about Scandinavia and specifically the climate. The children learned the names for different climates and were able to identify them using a key on a map i.e. tundra climate and subarctic climate.

In RHE, the children were identifying the difference between fact and opinion. The children used a newspaper report to practise finding each.

Next week, is a particularly busy one! On Wednesday, there is a netball competition for some of the girls – please check Parentmail. On Thursday afternoon, there is a tag rugby competition. On Friday, we have a school trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum for a workshop, where the children will be testing and developing ideas, printmaking and exploring drawing and creative processes to formulate an idea. We are really looking forward to it!

Have a great weekend,

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

The week began with DT Day! The children created pop up books with different mechanisms to create the moving parts. Their target audience was Year 1, who they read their finished pieces to today. It was a real example of their creativity and originality – they all produced very individual stories.

In Maths, we are coming towards the end of our first fractions unit. We will be completing the assessment next week. This will continue to be consolidated in homework and upcoming units.

In English, we revisited inference skills, using them to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words. We discussed how the context around an unfamiliar word can help us to infer what the word means. It’s a great skill for them to have as they become confident, fluent readers.

In Geography, we began our new topic, ‘Scandinavia’. We began by utilising our map skills to get an understanding of its geographical position and discussed the countries in this region.

In RE, we started a new topic, ‘Christians on a Pilgrimage’. We discussed the meaning of a pilgrimage and a pilgrim. We then learnt about some of the historic and modern reasons for going on a pilgrimage.

Next week, it is World Book Day. All the details are in Mrs Pereira’s Parentmail, but do let us know if you have any questions. It looks like a lot of fun – there are theatre, a book sale and author visits lined up!

Have a great weekend!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Half term already! I am messaging from Woodrow, where I am helping out with the Year 4s. Just getting ready for tonight’s disco… before the night time patrols begin! I have been told the children have had a great last few days of the half term with Mrs Connor. They had their Scientist in Residence sessions with Mercedes on Wednesday, learning about space through a practical workshop. Over the last couple of days, the children wrapped up lots of learning from the half term with assessments/quizzes. It is fantastic to see how much the children have learnt from each of our topics.

On Monday, the children wrote up their persuasive letters to Mr. Sunak, persuading him to take action over the ‘Bluchers’, which have been tearing down buildings in London in ‘The Boy in the Tower’. They used the persuasive techniques that we have been identifying and learning about, including emotive language, flattery, modal verbs and rhetorical questions. They wrote some very passionate letters, which were definitely some of their best work yet! Well done! They typed these up on Wednesday and saved them on Google Classroom. I am going to see if there is a way of you being able to access these. We will be continuing with the book for another week after half term because the children have enjoyed it so much, using it as a stimulus to plug gaps in grammar and punctuation that we have identified. If you are looking for birthday present ideas, we won’t get the chance to finish the entire book in class, so it might be a good one!

In Maths, the children have continued with fractions and are now becoming much more fluent at finding equivalent fractions using their knowledge of multiples to help them. Thank you for all the times tables support from home – it makes such a difference.

In History, the children learned about how WWI came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. We then looked at the war memorial in our own St Stephen’s Church and looked through a book from WWI that listed members of the Parish who had fought in The Great War.

In RHE, we discussed drugs – both harmful and helpful – and then looked at vaping and e-cigarettes and some of the facts that we know about them to date. From this, the children discussed, is vaping healthy or unhealthy?

This afternoon, we completed activities for ‘Coding Day’. We completed an e-safety lesson all about ‘Stop, think… do I consent?’ We looked at the five main social media platforms: WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and YouTube. We looked at each of their rules, rights the user has and rights the company have. The children were shocked by how much personal information social media platforms have the right to own. This allowed us to discuss the importance of keeping that information private, and not sharing it online.

Next half term, we will be learning:

• English: Classical Poetry
• Maths: Fractions, Multiplication and Division
• Science: Earth and Space
• Geography: Scandinavia
• R.E.: Christians on Pilgrimage and Church at Easter
• RHE: Rights and Respect
• Art: Drawing: I need space
• Computing: Information Technology: Simply Delicious

Have a safe and restful half term.

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

We cannot believe that we are already heading into the last week of the half term! It has gone so fast!

Today, we had a short assembly to just acknowledge and appreciate the NHS’ 75^th anniversary. Later today, the Year 5’s will be being visited by Una’s dad to learn about his role in the NHS.

The highlight of the week has to be our trip to the BFI on Thursday with Mrs Perreira. The children seemed to really enjoy watching the short films and completing the activities provided. We were very impressed by their confidence, putting their hands up and answering questions – in Spanish – in front of about 300 other children and adults! In the afternoon, we watched a film in Spanish. The children were a complete credit to St Stephen’s.

In Maths, we have continued to compare and order fractions. We are now adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.

In English, we have identified the key features of a persuasive letter in an exemplar letter from Ade to the Prime Minister. The children then got into character as Ade and have planned their own letter to Mr Sunak mapping out their own persuasive techniques. The children are persuading the Prime Minister to do more about the ‘Blucher Disaster’ (see ‘The Boy in the Tower’ or ask the children!).

In Science, Silverstein had their Scientist in Residence session with Mercedes (our Science specialist), where they consolidated our learning about the Earth, moon and sun. Through a practical workshop, they discussed and recreated the Earth’s orbit of the sun and the moon’s orbit of the Earth. Blackman will have this same session next Wednesday.

In History, we learned about the animals which played a part in World War One. Ask the children to tell you about Sergeant Stubby, if interested!

In RE, we completed our topic on Life and Death, by discussing the similarities and differences between the ways that different religions respond to bereavement. We concluded by writing a diary entry in character, responding to the death of ‘Badger’, the main character in the story we read. This allowed the children to bring together our learning this half term about the different ways we commemorate and grieve for people.

In RHE, we will be looking at drugs –both the helpful and harmful.

Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week, the children will be being encouraged to work through an activity pack each morning to encourage them to think about their mental health and some strategies that can support this important part of themselves.

I will be going to Woodrow House next week on Wednesday and will be returning on Friday. Mrs Connor will be taking the class in my absence. I am hoping I will be back in time on the Friday to wish them all a very happy and well deserved half term.

Have a lovely weekend.

Frankie

Happy Lunar New Year everybody!

Today, we had two special visitors in Year 5. We began with a workshop with Keat (Jean’s dad), who explored the Lunar New Year traditions, and the children even got to have a go at calligraphy. We then danced our way through the rest of the afternoon in a Tai Chi session.

You may have heard that we are lucky enough to have Miss Syivak working with us in Year 5. She has spent a lot of time planning fun lessons for the children this week and will continue next week.

In English, we have been looking at modal verbs to indicate the degree of possibility. We practised using these in a piece of writing to persuade the main character, Ade, to flee the dangers of London in ‘The Boy in the Tower’. We also gathered emotive vocabulary, which we ordered based on the strength of the emotion i.e. flustered is not as powerful as despondent.

In Maths, we continue to work on fractions. We have been ordering and comparing fractions less than and greater than 1. To do this, we have to find a common denominator and turn any mixed numbers into improper fractions.

In RE, we began to look at how different religions deal with death and their beliefs. The children gathered information to present to the class. Next week, similarities and differences between the religions’ beliefs will be drawn upon.

In RHE, the children discussed the differences between cyberbullying and bullying. Bullying can include hitting, whispering, pushing, shoving and shouting, whereas, cyberbullying involves sending inappropriate messages, images and videos on social media platforms. We discussed how they both involve intentionally hurting someone’s feelings through unkind words and language and are continuous.

In Art, we continued with our Lunar New Year celebrations by creating rabbit themed cut outs because it is the Year of the Rabbit! These are now hanging in our classrooms and are all brilliantly unique!

In History, we looked at the developments of warfare during WWI. The children used images to identify warfare that was used during WWI and explored how these advancements lead to a stronger battle, which was known to be the ‘war to end all wars’.

Next week, we will going on our Spanish trip to the BFI, on Thursday, and will be celebrating the NHS’ 75^th anniversary, on Friday, by learning about some of the different jobs in the NHS – addressing stereotypes and diversity.

Have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

Today, we took to the stage again to debate ‘Should mobile phones be banned in schools?’ There was a proposing team and an opposing team and the audience were able to take part with POIs (Points of Information) to challenge the proposals. It is a real skill to stand up, present an idea and even challenge another’s opinion. Well done Year 5!

This leads us perfectly to our quick message for you all! We are aware that many of the children in Year 5 now own mobile phones. We kindly ask that these remain at home. Only Year 6 children are permitted to have a mobile phones in school and these are handed in at the office in the morning and collected at home time.

In Maths, we’ve carried on with fractions, looking at converting a mixed number to an improper fraction and vice versa. Some of the children have begun comparing and ordering fractions and some even reached a ‘Crossnumber’ challenge (like a crossword but with maths!).

In English today, we began our new topic ‘Persuasive Writing’, where we will be using the book, ‘The Boy in the Tower’. Today, we focused on the reading skill ‘predication’ by using the cover to predict and infer what the story could be about – it’s amazing how much children can get from one image! We then read chapter’s 1 – 2. In week’s ahead, we will be asking you to read some of the chapters at home in preparation for the following day’s lessons.

In RE, we looked at what Christians believe about death and explored our own ideas about what heaven is like. In Art, the children looked at designing a piece of 3D art with a message. The children thought about what they care about- they were incredibly well informed about some of the issues in the world. Using collage and colouring pencils they designed their own conceptual artwork. In Computing, the children continued to look at the reliability of websites with more independence. In History, we continued studying WWI, specifically, life in the trenches. We looked at many pictures from the time and inferred what life must have been like for soldiers. In Science, we discussed how the Earth rotates on its axis which gives us day and night, and how the Earth’s orbit around the sun takes one year.

If your children are looking for something to do this weekend, here is an idea:

Red Card to Racism Art Contest

On Monday, Miss Hall introduced all the children to the Red Card to Racism Art Contest that is running. Children can make their entries at home and bring them into school to enter into the national competition! Please return all entries to either Miss Hall (Year 5 Blackman) or Mrs Allen (Year 1 McNaughton).

You can find out more about the competition by following this link: ​

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/574451fe37013bd0515647ac/t/6388d1793e498f0edcead03d/1669910910116/School+COmpetition+2023+Flyer.pdf​

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

Another busy week in Year 5…

This week was the Relationships and Health session with an expert from Coram Education, who are an organisation that use data to inform how we teach Relationships and Health at St Stephen’s. I have since received an email telling me how enthusiastic and articulate the children were and how they were a pleasure to teach. Always lovely to hear. In class we talked about risk – when it is a good idea to take one and when it is not!

In History, we started our topic on World War I by laying out the key dates and thinking about the series of events that led up to war being declared. The children seemed to really enjoy it. We will go on to look at life in the trenches, the role of men, women and children and the development of weapons.

In Science, we looked at the relative size of the sun, moon and Earth. We linked this to real life objects to give an understanding of their scale. After this, we recorded their actual diameters and distances between them. We will go on to look at the Earth’s rotation and its link to day and night.

In Computing, we began our digital literacy topic ‘Stop! Check!’ The children were presented with two different websites and they had to decide which one was reliable and which one was unreliable. From this we generated a checklist, reliable websites should: look professional, have a known domain in the URL, be grammatically correct and contain factual information.

In RE, we talked about loss and bereavement and wrote a ‘Helping with your Loss’ advice page. The children made suggestions of things that could be done to remember and commemorate someone or something e.g. light a candle, plant a flower or create a memory book.

Our focus in English has been grammar in the build up to writing our debate next week. The children looked at using adverbials and conjunctions to develop cohesion. We discussed how this can make an argument more persuasive and put it into practise debating whether ‘School should be a four day week’! Next week, the children will be writing an argument and delivering it in a practical debate session on Wednesday.

In Maths, we’ve continued to develop our understanding of fractions. We began by revising unit and non-unit fractions and discussing the word equivalent. From this, we began to look at equivalent fractions. This needs consolidating and has been set as their Mathletics for this week. We will continue to work on it next week in school too.

Tomorrow, we will be creating 3D art using a chair as our starting point, transforming them into something imaginative and amazing using recycling and objects from around the school. Sadly, we couldn’t do it today because of the rain but will look forward to doing it tomorrow!

What a great few days back!

In Maths, we are revising and assessing multiplication and division and starting our Fractions topic. We are going to continue to push times table fluency in class, however, we still need support from home to embed these.

In English, we have started a topic on argument and debate. We have started by developing balanced arguments about a statement. We will now be building up to writing our own persuasive arguments for the statement, ‘Should phones be banned in schools’. We will develop our grammar techniques, such as, using adverbials to build cohesion to support our argument. Once the arguments have been written the children will be having a real debate.

In Science, we are learning about Earth and space. In the first lesson, we looked at how the Earth, moon and sun are spherical bodies and the evidence to support this.

In RE, we are starting a topic called ‘The Journey of Life’. We began by looking at life’s journey, identifying past and future (hoped for) milestones. We will be discussing loss and bereavement in future sessions. If you have any concerns about these lessons, please email us so we can discuss.

In RHE, our new topic is ‘Keeping Safe’. We have attached the knowledge page to our class blog so that you can see what is being covered this term, lesson by lesson. This week’s lesson was about habits and thinking about how we can break a bad habit and develop a good one.

In art, the children discussed their installation artwork inspired by Cai Guo Qiang. Next week, we will be creating installation pieces using a chair as our starting point but creating something imaginative and unique using props. The children have been told that they are allowed to bring in objects from home to use in their creations.

Next week, we will continue with these studies and begin our History topic of WWI.

Notices

RHE Lifebus session about Friendship – Blackman have their session on Tuesday and Silverstein will have theirs on Wednesday.

February 2^nd School trip – BFI event, see email from Mrs Perreira

How Maths is Taught – a Workshop for Parents & Carers

9am Friday 20th January – Music Hall

This very brief workshop aims to give parents & carers an overview of how we teach Maths from Early Years to Year 6. You will see the structured stages of how mathematical concepts are developed year on year in a progressive way that lead your children’s learning in a comprehensive and systematic manner. With much focus on reasoning, we’ll also have learners on hand to help you have a go at some reasoning challenges.

No sign up needed, just come along promptly and enjoy!

Looking forward to seeing you – add it to your diary today

Mr Gane & Miss Whiting

Have a great weekend.

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

What a term it has been! From meeting our wonderful new Year 5s to Bike Ability, our Black History tour, class assemblies, Scientist in Residence, sports competitions, our trip to Gunnersbury’s Park and with the perfect ending last night, our annual Christmas Carol Concert! It has been jammed packed and lots of fun.

This week has been filled with finishing our current studies. We completed our science, R.E., geography and RHE end of unit quizzes. The children showcased how much they have learnt over the half term. In English, they wrote a brilliant, and factual, informative, information text. Through this, they showcased their ability to apply the grammar, punctuation and spelling rules that have been taught over the half term. In maths, we continued with multiplication and division and will continue to consolidate this after the Christmas break.

There will be no homework over the Christmas holidays. Enjoy a well-earned break together with your families and friends. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

We are into the Christmas countdown everyone!

This week, in Maths, we have continued with our Multiplication and Division unit, covering; cube numbers, square numbers and finally multiplying by 10, 100 and 1,000. Next week, we will be focusing on division and doing our end of unit test. The children all need to continue working on their times table fluency over the Christmas break.

In English, the children have continued researching their animals for their information texts and practising relative clauses. We also worked through a grammar test which included topics covered and uncovered so we can better record the children’s progress through the year and to identify any focus areas for next term. Next week, the children will be writing an information text about their chosen animal, including the features covered and factual language. Their grammar focuses for this text are relative clauses and parenthesis besides applying the recent spelling rules.

In RE, we have been designing Christmas cards and listening to carols, identifying the common themes, particularly through imagery. The children then took some of the ‘classics’ and used them write their own carols, maintaining the Christmas theme, but with their own touches! Some were even brave enough to perform these to the class!

In RHE, the children have been discussing discrimination and the importance and advantages of being part of a diverse society. They spent their drama session with Mark last week exploring this in detail using scenarios and a lot of discussion.

In Geography, the children were identifying and naming features of seas and coastlines.

Tomorrow, the children will be continuing with their art installations inspired by Cai Guo-Qiang. The children will be photographing their work once completed, using the mini lego figures to help them imagine the experience from a viewer’s perspective.

On Wednesday next week, Blackman Class have their Science workshop with our Scientist in Residence. We will be doing lots of end of unit assessments next week to wrap up the term, making enough time for Christmas celebrations on Friday with a KS2 quiz and a Christmas surprise from the Year 5 team!

Have a lovely weekend. Stay warm and well!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Just two weeks to go! Time is flying.

Reminders for next week

MONDAY

– Gym kit (Blackman only)

TUESDAY

– Carol Singing practice. Please make sure the children learn their lines which should be in their bags.

WEDNESDAY

– Scientist in Residence (Silverstein only – Blackman are the final week of term)

– Christmas Jumper day for Christmas lunch (remember to bring a ‘socking’)

THURSDAY

• Own clothes day, please bring something in for the tombola in return!

This week in English, we have been identifying the features of an information text by reading exemplars. We identified: heading, sub-headings, pictures/diagrams, factual language, third person and present tense. Next week, we will continue planning our own and learning grammar features to include.

We have kick started multiplication and division by looking at factors, factor pairs and common factors. We will continue to look at prime numbers, square numbers and cube numbers next week. Please make sure the children continue to work on their times table and division facts.

In Science, we looked at sexual reproduction in animals and how some animals’ eggs are fertilised internally and some externally. Some even do it all by themselves – hermaphrodites! We looked at how the environment can impact this process.

In RE, we finished our Monastic Community topic and did the end of unit quiz. We are now starting our next unit called ‘Seeing Christmas through Art and Music’. The children will be considering what makes artwork sacred and how Christmas is depicted through art and music.

In RHE, we have discussed the terms discrimination – through the story of Rosa Parks – and diversity. The children also consolidated this through discussion in drama with Mark.

We continued to learn about the UK in Geography, this time by looking at the range of mountains. We represented this through a bar chart, which highlighted that Ben Nevis was the highest mountain in the UK.

Finally, we started creating our own art installations in our shoe boxes – thank you for bringing these in! The children made stencils and attached these to the ‘walls’ of their box, which they have transformed into the setting for their installation art. The children then rolled their sleeves up and were dipping, throwing and sprinkling powder, rice and paint at their boxes to create different effects. We will complete these next Friday and photograph the lego people inside as if entering the installation.

Have a great weekend!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Happy weekend everyone! Sorry for the slight delay in getting it started…

It was well worth it though for Victorian School. I will try to put some pictures on the blog next week. The children did a brilliant job of playing the part and obeying the really-quite -terrifying Victorian school mistresses!

On Wednesday, we enjoyed learning about some of the amazing local heroes who were sadly either forgotten or written out of history due to racism. The children were guided around our local area to some key areas of importance to learn about these people’s lives.

This week in English, the children wrote a report based on the ‘The Lighthouse’. After they wrote their first draft, they used their success criteria to make edits and improvements, specifically looking for the correct use of direct speech, parenthesis, commas, spelling words and formal tone. I was extremely impressed by the children’s final draft reports.

In Maths, we continued to cover Position and Direction. We looked at lines of symmetry, completing a symmetric figure and reflecting shapes and coordinates. We finished this unit by doing a position and direction assessment – the children were very pleased with their results. Next week, we are back in Maths classes and will be beginning multiplication and division. Please ensure your child is practising their times table and division facts.

In Geography, we recapped the four countries of the UK, their capital cities and the counties that make up England. We then looked at locating the ‘major’ cities of the UK on a map. In another colour, we also pinpointed some towns. We discussed how a town could become a city, either through having a cathedral or being granted ‘city status’ by the Royal Monarch.

In RHE, we revisited the story of Rosa Parks and worked in groups to discuss possible scenarios and what we would and could do to respond in a kind and fair way.

In Science, we learnt about plants that reproduce asexually. There was a lot of new scientific vocabulary introduced which we will keep revisiting to embed: ‘fertilise’, ‘pollinate’, ‘runner’, ‘plantlet’, ‘sexual’ and ‘asexual’, just to name a few! The children were comparing the fertilisation of different plants using this language.

Shoeboxes! If you have any lying around at home, please send them in for our art installations, which will start taking shape next week! We would also be grateful for any mini lego people which we take care of and return next Friday.

NB: I have rearranged the children’s missed gym session from this week for December 5th. The children must wear their PE/gym kit on this day. If someone could please add this to the WhatsApp group, I would be very grateful!

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Hall

Well done to all the children for doing so well at Bike Ability!

This week the children have planned a report based on the visual media ‘The Lighthouse’ and will be writing these up next week, using the direct speech, parenthesis and formal tone that we have discussed this week.

In Maths, we have worked as a class to cover Position and Direction which the children have enjoyed. The children have learned to read coordinates (x,y) and plot these and answer reasoning questions about them. We will finish position and direction next week, as a class, while Silverstein do their Bike Ability.

In Geography, we looked at counties and the children used an Atlas to identify all the counties in England and read clues using directional language, identifying the answer using their map.

In RE, the children looked at the benefits and challenges of being in a Monastic community. The children did a really good job of thinking about the communities that they are a part of and reflecting on anything they find challenging about them.

In Science, we learnt about plants that reproduce asexually. There was a lot of new scientific vocabulary introduced which we will keep revisiting to embed: ‘fertilise’, ‘pollinate’, ‘runner’, ‘plantlet’, ‘sexual’ and ‘asexual’ just to name some! The children were comparing plants using this language.

In Relationships and Health, the children thought about what good listening looks like and how to have a ‘kind conversation’. This should link well to the drama activity, which Mark is doing with them today, around friendships and teamwork.

Next week is a particularly busy one…

Notices for next week

• Black History Trail – Wednesday 23^rd November morning. No need for packed lunches. Please make sure the children have waterproofs.
• Gunnersbury Park – Friday 25^th November all day. The children need packed lunches – no nuts or seeds. Again, they will need waterproofs.
• Shoeboxes! If you have any lying around at home, please send them in for our art installations, which will start taking shape next week!

Have a lovely weekend!

Frankie

What a brilliant performance by all the children! They are, understandably, on a high from the whole experience. Thank you for coming to show your support, they definitely really upped their game for the audience.

It has been great meeting you all properly during parents evening. Ten minutes goes fast, so please do email me if we got cut off and there was more that you wanted to say or ask.

In English next week, the children will be planning a report about ‘The Lighthouse’ which is our visual media stimulus for our current unit. If you come across any child-friendly articles during the weekend (possibly ‘The Week’ for children) we would love for the children to bring them in to identify headings, orientation, formal tone and investigate how the information has been grouped by paragraph. The children will be using their ‘Reporter’s notes’ which they made this week about the ‘incident’ broken down into the 5 ‘W’s to ensure they are including all the relevant information in their final report. This week we have focused on how to include direct speech in a report using quotation marks. The children enjoyed getting into character to give statements about what they witnessed and ‘experienced on the night’ and recording answers.

In Maths, we have started looking at multiples. Over the next two weeks during Bike Ability, maths will continue to be taught however not in set maths classes. During these two weeks, we will be covering ‘Position and Direction’. Please can you continue to encourage and support your child with learning their timetables. A rapid recall of multiplication and division facts is really helpful!

In Geography, we are continuing to learn about the UK, this week specifically looking at the counties that make up England. We also revisited naming the countries that make up the UK and their capital cities – quite a lot of the children were finding this tricky last week

In Science, we began our new topic, ‘Living Things and their Habitats: Life Cycles’. We labelled the parts of a flower, categorising them into male and female parts. We then explained the sexual reproduction of a flower using the two keys words: pollination and fertilisation. They found the whole thing completely hilarious and I’m bracing myself for the rest of the unit…

In R.E., we used chrome books to research, ‘What is a Monastic Community?’ From this research, the children will be creating an information leaflet about how nuns and monks live their lives.

Next week notices

• Just a reminder that Blackman will be doing their cycling proficiency with Bikeability next week (wb 14.11.22). They will need to come to school at the normal time, bringing with them a road-worthy bike and a bike helmet. This is a 5-day course, so they will need bikes each day.
• The school trip to Gunnersbury has been moved to Friday 25th November to allow for this.
• We need one more parent volunteer for our Black History Walk on Wednesday 23rd November. Please email me if available.
• Please may the children bring in shoe boxes for an upcoming art project.

Have a restful weekend free from ‘The Beatles’ and ‘Bare Necessities’, which I found particularly hard to get out of my head!

Miss Hall

We hope you all had a great half term! We’ve had a busy first week back, which in the St Stephen’s-style has included a lot of singing, acting and some dancing in preparation for our class assembly next week.

The children will need to be in school for 8.30am next Thursday (November 10th) so they can get changed into their costume ready for assembly at 9am. You should be welcomed into the hall soon after dropping them off to take your seats! We will be doing a dress rehearsal next Tuesday afternoon in preparation, so please may all outfits be in by Monday in a plastic bag and clearly named. The children can wear anything comfortable (some liked the idea of smart!) unless they have been told otherwise.

Thank you all for helping the children to learn their lines, it has made rehearsing relatively stress-free…

Please check your children’s hair over the weekend for nits. They seem to be back in the class again. I would be very grateful if all the children with longer hair could please tie their hair up to help the cause.

This week, the children have loved continuing with our poetry unit, writing their own riddles, and free verse poems bringing together the poetic devices we have covered. We finished the unit by writing a piece about a special place, inspired by Karl Nova’s poem, ‘The City of my Birth’ about London.

In Maths, we have consolidated some of the trickier parts of the addition and subtraction unit, specifically missing number problems and using the inverse before doing our end of unit assessment.

In Science, we finished our ‘Forces’ unit. The children used cogs to understand how gears can use one smaller force to create a greater effect. The children could recognise that smaller gears turned more than bigger gears when one was moving the other and could identify whether a gear was turning clockwise or anti-clockwise.

We have started our first Geography unit about the UK. Some of the children need to spend some more time identifying the 4 countries that make up the UK. The children then worked independently, then in small groups to answer general knowledge questions about the UK.

In Relationships and Health, we will be starting our Valuing Difference unit tomorrow.

Next week notices

Monday 7^th Nov– Flu jabs NOT HAPPENING

Wednesday 9^th and Thursday 10^th Nov – Parents Evening, see Parentmail

Thursday 10^th Nov – Blackman Class Assembly 9am (please bring children in for 8.30am)

As ever, email me with any questions. I’m looking forward to meeting you all/seeing you for parents evening next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

Frankie

What a brilliant half term! The children have worked really hard and are really starting to rise to the challenge of Year 5. It is a step up and we have been really impressed by the children’s determination and resilience.

In recognition of Black History Month, we have continued using the poetry of Malorie Blackman as inspiration and a springboard for our own poems.​ We looked at personification, specifically of clouds, using Blackman’s famous poem ‘Cloudbusting’ as a starting point. The children continued the poem with their own verse personifying the clouds. Finally, we looked at limericks. We learnt the associated ‘rules’- using an AABBA rhyming pattern and a certain number of syllables per line. The children then wrote their own and were able to perform them to the class. The children loved the freedom to play with words, be a bit silly and not have to worry about punctuation- for once!

On Tuesday, Year 5 had a special visit from the famous poet Kat Francois. The children loved joining in as Kat performed some of her poems. They were then guided through planning and writing their own free verse poem using their senses as a starting point.

In Maths, we have continued with addition and subtraction, looking at using the inverse to solve missing number problems. The children can recognise that the greatest number needs to be in the top bar on a bar model and can recognise the 4 number sentences represented.

In History, we learnt about the gory details of hospitals and medicine in Victorian Britain. The children made comparisons between hospitals then and now. The children learnt the meaning of some new vocabulary, such as, ‘chloroform’ and ‘anaesthetic’. We then learnt about how the middle and lower classes started to enjoy more leisure time for the first time in the Victorian Era. The law that protected workers from having to work more than a certain number of hours and the boom of industry meant that suddenly people had the time and money to live a little! We looked at how they spent their time and the origin of ‘Punch and Judy’, circus and trips to the seaside.

In Relationships and Health, we discussed our emotional needs and how we ensure they are met. We shared some strategies for times when we feel they are not being met.

Friday is Show Racism the Red Card day. The purpose of the day is to recognise that racism exists within society and to think about how we can take action to be anti-racist. This is only one day, but we want the learnings to have a lasting effect and help us to contribute to making society a kinder and fairer place.

We have some exciting topics ahead, next term:

• Art topic focusing on 3D sculptures featuring artist Cai Guo-Quiang
• Geography topic all about the UK and geographical features within
• RE topic on monastic traditions
• Maths continuing addition and subtraction
• English finishing poetry and then fictional writing using visual media as a stimulus
• Relationships and Health will be about ‘valuing difference’ and will continue some of the discussion raised during black voices week

Please may the children bring in a shoe box for our upcoming art project.

Have a wonderful half term, thank you for all your support this half term, we’ve really enjoyed getting to know your children and teaching them.

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Another busy week in Year 5!

In Maths, we have continued to work on addition and subtraction, practising the column method. You will see this forms part of this week’s homework. I’m sure you will be as impressed as we have been! In English, we started our poetry unit by reading, analysing and performing ‘Facing the Truth with Haikus’ by Malorie Blackman. In Science, the children made catapults to explore how a lever can use a small force to create a bigger effect.

On Tuesday afternoon, we, alongside all of KS2, took part in a cross country competition. It was so great to see the children showing resilience even if they found it tough.

Over the past two afternoons, we have been focusing on our DT project, doodlers. We began by creating simple series circuits and naming the components. We then analysed an existing motorised product and doodler to allow us to understand how the electrical energy converts to a rotational movement using an axel. This afternoon, we made our doodlers and they are well under way, if not completed! The children will be able to bring these home by next Friday.

Key messages for next week:

Black Voices Week

We will continue to read, analyse and perform poetry by Malorie Blackman.

Red Card to Racism Day

On Friday 21st October, we will be holding our annual ‘Red Card to Racism’ day. For those of you unfamiliar, this is an opportunity to show support and raise money for the UK’s largest anti-racism charity. On the day, children can wear their own clothes and we encourage them all to wear something red. If you are able to, we ask that children make a contribution to the charity in the buckets that will be in the playground before school that morning.https://www.theredcard.org/.

Mathletics

A message from Mr Gane.

MATHS HOMEWORK

Mathletics is our eco-friendly homework setting system for Maths and children’s weekly work is monitored and assessed in exactly the same manner as traditional written homework.

Homework tasks set on Mathletics are expected to be completed on rough paper, with the final answers then entered in to the device – unless specifically stated, it is NOT mental Maths, so ‘workings out’ are expected/required at home, but not to be handed in. Remember that most questions have an animation that explicitly explains the method, demonstrating each step to solve the problem, if your child needs a reminder of how to complete the task.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

We have checked that your child’s login details are correct, if in doubt do ask the teacher to check again. That means that for any other issues, parents/carers should contact the Mathletics helpline, as it will be an issue with your internet set up at home, or iPad setting or browser or any other number of issues – we can’t help there. See the information below that might help.

Mathletics can be accessed by PC/Mac, iOS and Android devices as well as Windows tablets and Chromebooks – on the laptops at school we find that it works best using either the Microsoft Edge or Chrome browsers. See http://www.3plearning.com/tech/mathletics/ for more details and if you experience difficulty in loading the Mathletics website at home please contact Mathletics ‘LIVE Chat Online’ help or email via https://www.mathletics.com/in/contact/

Thank you again for your support.

Buenas dias parents and carers!

Today has been Hispanic Day and what a great day it has been! In celebration of all countries Hispanic, the children sang the Spanish song ‘La Cucaracha’, which they have been taught in their Spanish lessons. The children took part in a Mexican folkdance workshop this morning. They then had an amazing workshop with Aunt Joan (related to the Priors) who kindly came in to sing to and with the children and tell them about her incredible life, growing up in the Atacama desert and her memories of the Andes mountains. Later we will be seeing the Mariachi Band in the main hall, before hometime.

On Wednesday, we took part in ‘No Pens Day’ Wednesday which is in recognition of dyslexia. The children enjoyed talking a bit about dyslexia and really enjoyed using -almost – no pens all day! We focused on inference skills in English, starting by looking at an image and inferring the weather, emotions of the people and other information that is not specifically given but can be interpreted. We then read a small passage of text, answering questions by reading ‘between the lines’, putting our inference skills to the test.

In Science, the children ran their own experiment to prove or disprove the statement ‘The flatter the object, the less water resistance there will be’. They used balls of plasticine and a cylinder of water to run their experiment. We discovered that the greater the surface area the greater the water resistance and, therefore, the slower the object travelled to the bottom.

In History, the children continued learning about the Victorian times and specifically about the horrible conditions of the slums. The children wrote report compiling some of the key facts they gathered during the lesson.

In Maths, we have started our addition and subtraction unit. The children have now all completed a Place Value test which will use to inform us of what needs to be revised and where support is needed.

In English, the children wrote their first draft of their myth and edited it by responding to our marking. Our next step is to bring together all of our practise of joined up handwriting and write it out beautifully including our edits.

In R and H, the girls (the boys were at football) talked about the importance of being assertive. They then read a practise trying to use their voice and body language to be assertive. We talked about sometimes it is not appropriate to be assertive and that being assertive does not mean being aggressive or rude.

In computing, the girls continued working on their blog entries, next week both classes will be commenting on each other’s blog posts.

In RE, the children were focusing on the synagogue and what can be found inside one.

Reminders for next week

Monday 10^th October

6pm – Online Safety Workshop

Contact us if you need more information

Tuesday 11^th October

KS2 Cross Country, please see Parentmail

Thursday 13^th and Friday 14^th October

DT afternoons. We will spend both afternoons creating something using a circuit!

Friday 14^th October

Individual photos, please see Parentmail

Have a great weekend everyone!

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Year 5 are really into the swing of things now and it has been a lot of fun getting stuck into our learning for the half term. We did do a times tables test last Friday and noticed that there is still a lot of work to be done here. Please practise these as much as possible to help the children become more fluent. Here is a suggestion of a site that they might enjoy practising on:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Reminders for Next Week

• The boys have got a football game against Weatherby School on Thursday afternoon (Clare and Al are looking into a game for the girls later in the term).
• Friday is Hispanic Day: the children need to wear blue, red and white in line with the colours of the Cuban flag.
• As part of Dyslexia Awareness week, we will be taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday and have planned accordingly (apart from Maths which was unavoidable…We really tried!)

Black History Month

• October is Black History month. Alongside the diversity embedded in our curriculum, we will be focusing on a specific poet in recognition of this important event. We will spend every English lesson for a week focusing on their work and using their poetry as inspiration for our own.

This week the children started planning their own Myths. They loved dreaming up their imaginary worlds and had some amazing ideas. Their target now is to write these up next week using: relative clauses, interesting vocabulary, fronted adverbials, inverted commas for speech and parenthesis. These have been the grammar focus’ that we have either revised or learnt in Year 5. We look forward to reading these next week.

In Maths, we have wrapped up Place Value by looking at negative numbers and powers of 10, 100 and 1,000. We will be moving onto addition and subtraction next week. If your child isn’t fluent in their number bonds to 10 and 20, it would very benefitial for them if you could revise them before next week.

In RE, the children are now confident at identifying different Jewish artefacts, so this week we zoomed in and learnt more about the purpose and importance of the Torah. Tomorrow we will be learning about Shabbat.

In Science, we were back out experimenting, this time with the force of air resistance. The children shared stopwatches and we had a large and small parachute to help us understand the relationship between air resistance and surface area. The greater the surface area of the parachute the slower the object falls and this is due to it having more air resistance acting against it. Next week, we will be looking at water resistance.

In Relationships and Health, we talked about healthy and unhealthy friendships. We discussed some famous friendships like those we have read about in books or seen on the television (Ant and Dec). We then identified what an unhealthy relationship might look like. We talked about what we could do if we were in one. The children then created a ‘Friendship Cake recipe’ where they created ingredients and a method for a friendship. For example, 100g of kindness, a sprinkle of laughter and lots of shared interests etc.

In History, we learnt about the Industrial Revolution. The children recorded the advantages and disadvantages of being alive at the time. We then finished reading our class book which has been ‘Oliver Twist’ and has helped the children to think about being a child at the time.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Miss Hall

Another great week in Year 5. Once again, the children did brilliantly in their spelling tests so thank you for all your support. If anyone has a strong opinion ‘for’ or ‘against’ the new spelling scheme (Spelling Shed – more focused on the understanding of a spelling rule) please email us as we are trialling it. Google Classroom will not allow us to add text boxes to work currently so for now please can the grammar task be completed in homework books. The children have been told.

In English, we have been consolidating key grammar and punctuation objectives: fronted adverbials, relative clauses and inverted commas. We identified these in an exemplar myth. We also gathered and defined high-level vocabulary which the children loved. You could have heard a pin drop…

This week, in Maths we have been rounding and comparing numbers and even started looking at numbers to one million to great excitement. Next week, will be the end of our Place Value unit and we will be assessing the children’s understanding with a short test (very low key).

In RE, the children continued learning about different Jewish artefacts and their purpose and meaning. The children created a glossary for some of this new vocabulary to help embed the meaning and for future reference. In the coming weeks, we will be learning about the Torah specifically and the Synagogue. If anyone knows of someone of Jewish faith who would be willing to come in and talk to the children about their experience of a specific Jewish festival, please let us know.

In Relationships and Health our focus question was ‘What are key qualities of friendship?’ The children answered quiz questions in pairs about the ‘right’ response in a friendship situation. Some things raised discussion, such as, when an adult needs to be involved and when a situation can be resolved independently.

In Science, the children had the opportunity to run their own experiment to investigate the effect of friction on different surfaces. The children used forcemeters and worked in teams to run a fair test. They had to pull a weighted pot across three different surfaces and record the force of friction in Newtons in each case. They then drew a conclusion; the smoother the surface the less friction.

Have a great weekend.

Miss Bill and Miss Hall

This week we have really hit the ground running with the Year 5 curriculum. First off, we were all really impressed with their spellings results. Thank you all for your support. The correctly spelt ‘unseen’ words (not part of the learnt spellings) go to show their understanding of the rule! It’s working! Long may it continue…

We started our history topic about the Victorians by learning about Queen Victoria. This lesson was very apt as the children were able to make links to our own late Queen and the response to her death.

In Maths, we have been learning about numbers up to 100,000, recognising their place value and rounding. We also learnt about roman numerals, converting any number to 1,000 to a roman numeral and vice versa.

In English, the children put their acting skills to the practise by re-enacting Pandora’s Box. We also spent some time reading creation myths and turning a chosen one into a comic book strip which the children were completely engrossed in. This was a great chance to see their comprehension, summarising and writing skills in action. In terms of grammar, we have been recapping fronted adverbials (very good) and teaching relative clauses (working progress!). We will continue this next week and the children will have the opportunity to practise this in the homework.

Science – what a force to be reckoned with (sorry)! This term we are studying forces. This week we specifically learnt about the Earth’s gravitational force. We carried out an experiment using flour to recreate the Earth’s surface and different objects to represent meteorites falling onto it. The goal was to understand how the weight/size/shape effected the crater created by the object.

In Relationships and Health we discussed how to resolve problems and did some pair work responding to different scenarios. This half term the focus is ‘Relationships’.

Have a restful bank holiday.

Best wishes

Miss Hall and Miss Bill

Year 5 Blackman have done a fantastic job at settling in and taking everything in their stride this week. We went to the church this morning to recognise and celebrate the life of our Queen. Denis spoke about the Queen’s amazing sense of duty and helped the children to reflect on their individuality and what mark they want to make.

In English this half term we are starting a topic on Myths. Today the children did a reading comprehension to help us understand their comprehension skills. This also allowed the children to dive right into the mythical world…

In Maths we focussed on place value to ensure that the children have a solid understanding of number before we move onto the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). This week we focussed on reading and writing numbers to 10,000. Next week we will look at Roman Numerals and then move onto numbers to 100,000.

The children learned about the life of the artist Frida Kahlo. As Kahlo did, the children then took inspiration from their own heritage to create a self portrait. The children were encouraged to include fauna and animals from the cultures and countries that form part of their own identity, just as Kahlo did with her own Mexican inspired portraits.

‘We Are Britain’ is a display in all our classrooms and is an opportunity for the children to write about their own heritage, their families and the languages they speak. It is always amazing to explore the diversity of our classroom and school.

In computing the children researched their class author and created a fact file about their lives. We also used this opportunity to make sure all the children were able to login to their Google Classroom accounts which they will need to do moving forwards to access their homework. For this week the homework is saved to the blog to avoid any problems.

Dates for the diary

September 30th – Family Supper

October 7th – Hispanic day

October 14th – Individual Photos

October 21st – Show Racism the Red Card

November 1st – PGL Meeting Year 5

November 9th and 10th – Parents Evening

November 10th – Class Assembly Blackman

November 17th – Class Assembly Silverstein

November 18th – Trip to Gunnersbury Park for a Victorian School experience. ​

Have a lovely weekend and stay dry!

Always email us if you have any questions.

Miss Hall and Miss Bill