Our second week in Year 5 has been crammed full of lots new learning, beginning lots of exciting topics!

After completing an initial reading and spelling assessment, we then began our English unit for this half term: Myths. In groups, the children read a given myth: Jason and the Golden Fleece, King Midas and the Golden Touch, Orpheus and Eurydice, Theseus and the Minotaur and Pandora’s Box. After hearing everyone’s myth, as a class we considered what these mythical stories had in common and made a features checklist in order to ensure that the myths we will create follow a similar style. We also used Theseus and the Minotaur to practise our reading skills, using each of our VIPERS. We ended the week with a drama lesson. The children thoroughly enjoyed getting into character as they acted out Pandora’s Box.

The children were put into their Maths classes this week and began their first unit of work: Place Value. So far, we have looked at Roman numerals to 1,000 and numbers to 10,000. Next week, the children will look at numbers to 100,000 and 1,000,000. This knowledge is crucial for the rest of the units we will complete in Maths.

The Victorians is our focus in History this half term. The children learnt all about the life of Queen Victoria and the impact she had on Britain. Many of the children recognised famous paintings of Queen Victoria wearing black. We discussed how many people then had the impression that she was a rather unfriendly, grumpy character. The children were therefore surprised to learn about her dedication to her country and her popularity in Britain during the 19^th century.

This half term in Science, we will be looking at Forces. On Wednesday, we began by looking at gravity. The children were able to define gravity as the force that pulls an object to the centre of the Earth. Through an experiment, we were able to test whether the weight of an object would effect the size of a crater left in the Earth. The children discovered that the heavier the object, the bigger the crater due to the weight impacting upon the gravitational pull, pulling it down to Earth more quickly.

This half term in R.E., the children will be studying Judaism and what it is like to live as a Jew. Each table were given different Jewish artefacts and as a group, had to discuss: What could it be called? What is it used for? What would the equivalent Christian artefact be? The children were then introduced to the names of these Jewish artefacts and explored what it was like to live as a Jew by considering how they are used in practise.

In Computing, we created a poster using the acronym S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Safety, Meeting, Accepting, Reliable and Tell. These words were prompts to help us remember how to stay safe and enjoy the internet responsibly.

In our first RHE lesson, we learned about the word ‘collaborate’ which means to work together. We worked in groups of 6 and had six pieces of newspaper and a roll of tape. In groups, we had to work together to construct the tallest tower. We realised we had to negotiate, discuss, listen, respect and be patient in order to work together. We learned that shouting over one another achieved very little and made us feel frustrated and unhappy!

The children have settled well into their first Gymnastics, Music and P.E. lessons and look forward to all that is to learn in these subjects throughout Year 5.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Bill

It was great to welcome the children back to school after a well-deserved summer break.

The children appear to have settled back into school life quite quickly. This week, we have looked at our class rules (Be Safe, Be Ready, Be Respectful), our class poet (Sheldon Silverstein) and completed a portfolio about our family heritage. The children also showcased their excellent artistic skills when they completed their self-portrait.

We look forward to next week and getting to know the children even better and seeing all they have to showcase!

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Bill