Spring Term 1 - Week 5 - Hear Ye, Hear Ye...

English

In English this week, the children planned their persuasive letters. They thought carefully about the devices, skills and knowledge they needed to include in order to be successful. Then using their plans, the children wrote to His Majesty, King Charles, persuading him to place Katherine Johnson on the honours list. The children drafted, edited and improved their letters, before checking their work against their success criteria. Once checked, the children ticked off their toolkits and shared/constructed feedback with their teacher. Next week, for the final week of term, the children will begin their performance poetry learning journey, they will discuss, learn and add actions to their poems and perform for their peers.

Maths

In Maths, the children finished their second fractions learning journey and completed their end of unit assessment. We then introduced the children to their new learning journey of decimals. The children looked at decimals up to 2 decimal places. With Mrs Callister once again, ahead of the game, the children had already been exposed to these and completed the questions with confidence. This allowed great opportunities to grapple with problem solving questions and explore decimals in different contexts. On Friday, we had a skills session where the children ‘Find their weakness and destroy it’ – The children looked at a range of arithmetic questions, selected their area of focus and engaged with the challenge. Mrs Callister took a group of children off to look at %’s of an amount and Miss Beckett supported addressing ‘silly mistakes’ – The session had great purpose and lots of children had their ‘Ah Ha’ moment.

Wider curriculum

In wider curriculum, we have come to the end of our Science learning journey. The children showed off their learning in an end of unit assessment. It was amazing to see all the wonderful learning from across the past weeks, come to the surface. The children were proud of their ‘Sticky Knowledge’. Next week we will begin our DT journey.

Music

Every Wednesday, the children have had an opportunity to place a range of brass instruments under the lead of Tony our music man. The children have been exposed to different instruments and have explored reading notes and playing. We looked forward to next week, where our journey will continue.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

Best wishes,

Spring 1 - Week 4 - Ground control to WPA! 

English

This week in English, the children have continued their learning journey, with the focus text of ‘Hidden Figures’. The children started the week, by writing their main body of their newspaper articles. In the main body, the children had to give context to the event, explaining to the reader what happened. They then had to use their skills and knowledge of direct and indirect speech to embed within their paragraphs. The next day, they then reflected upon their main bodies, editing with blue pen before writing their conclusions. Finally, the children edited, drafted and improved their articles before writing them up in best! On Thursday, the children explored the key features of a persuasive letter. They identified the structure and the language. On Friday, they then composed their own formal sentences that they will use in their persuasive letters next week. The letters will be written to King Charles requesting him to put Katherine Johnson onto the honours list. This is the final piece of our learning journey!

Maths

In Maths this week, the children began the second part of their Fractions learning journey. To begin the week, the children were multiplying unit fractions – With Mrs Callister challenging us in our Morning work, the children had already been exposed to these types of questions, and therefore completed with ease and confidence. Next, the children multiplied by and integer, multiplied non-unit fractions and then began to look at finding a fraction of an amount or of a quantity. To end the week, the children explored finding the whole, it was a lively lesson, grappling with some tricky questions but the children were don’t stop Darwin’s and worked together to problem solve. Next week, we will continue to explore these types of questions in our Morning work.

Wider Curriculum

Science, science and more science! The children have had a fantastic week, the wider curriculum lessons started off with a bang when we had a visit from ‘Space Odyssey’. The children entered a space dome where they had an opportunity to show off their learning and gain some new knowledge! We were amazed by the sites and experiencing some of the wonderous space events that have taken place over the years. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Moon and its phases and enjoyed being able to decipher some of the star’s constellations. Because of this incredible experience, the children were eager to find out more throughout the rest of our week within our science lessons. On Thursday, the children explored the relationships between the Moon, Earth and Sun. They created mechanisms and models to demonstrate their proximity and movement. On Friday, the children looked at the Sun’s movement across the sky and how this related to day and night! It’s safe to say that the children are loving our new inquiry question, please ask your children about their experience this week, I know they’d love to tell you!

Have a SPACEtacular weekend,

Best Wishes,

Autumn Term 2 - Week 7-Wishing you a very merry Christmas! 

English

In English this week, the children completed their own versions of ‘Secrets of a Sun King’ they have embedded the skills and knowledge taught across the learning journey within their writing and had the chance to show off their ‘WOW’ vocabulary. Next term we move onto our new Wider Curriculum theme ‘Earth and Space’ and will investigate the question ‘Do the stars really tell tales?’ with this in mind, the children will explore the text ‘Hidden Figures’ by Margot Lee Shetterly and will have a go at writing to persuade.

Maths

The children have finished their fractions learning journey and had a go at their end of unit assessment. It has been a long and tricky journey but the children are now getting to grips with the different levels of fractions and how to tackle them. Next term we will be looking at the next stage of multiplication.

Wider Curriculum

This week the children finally completed their canopic jars which we will be sending home with them next week. They also put their DT skills to the test creating their own Christmas decorations. In PE the children had their last session with DT spots Jack and next year it will be Pro 20 on a Monday! – This means our PE day is now Monday, children need to come to school dress in PE kits.

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

Well, what a lovely Autumn Term 2 we have had. To finish off then term the children have joined in the festivities by having Christmas parties, going to the local church for the Carol service, completing the ultimate Christmas quiz and watching Arthur Christmas at the regal Cinema this Friday. We have had the most wonderful week and we can’t wait for the staff panto on Tuesday to sprinkle the last bit of Christmas magic. We want to not only say how proud we are of our Year 5’s but to also send our special Christmas wishes, we know for some it can be a difficult time of year, so we hope you have a magical Christmas filled with laughter, fun and good food!

See you in the New Year,

Best Wishes,

Autumn Term 2 - Week 6 - Feeling festive! 

English

On Monday the children were introduced to a Sentence of 3. For this lesson, the children investigated Lil’s movements and generated action words based on her emotions and the scenario. Then using a specific dilemma in the story, the children wrote a descriptive paragraph embedding their new knowledge. They also used language to build suspense and included the characters feelings. For the rest of the week, the children revisited the skills and knowledge needed to write a set of instructions. They looked closely at Imperative verbs and their purpose, as well as using adverbs to add detail. The children then wrote instructions for ‘How to mummify a tomato’ – They also used knowledge from their previous learning journeys to add facts about the mummification process. They presented these beautifully on a double page spread. Next week, the children will start their ‘Big Write’ creating a narrative piece based on our class text ‘Secrets of a Sun King’ by Emma Carroll.

Maths

In Maths, the children were subtracting fractions greater than 1, less than one and subtracting mixed numbers. The children used their knowledge of ‘Level 4’ fractions to help them. “When you subtract mixed numbers, you convert to an improper fraction, find the common multiple, make the denominators the same and then subtract” – Lochy 5B.

The children also completed their ‘PUMA’ assessment – Completing a reasoning paper. It was a great opportunity for the children to show off what they know so far. We as teachers now know what the children need next! WOOHOO bring on Spring Term!

Wider Curriculum

We are still being ‘Don’t stop Darwin’s’ with our canopic jars! The children have now painted their pots and the tops of their jars. Towards the end of the week, we refined them by going back and adding detail. The children need to add the finishing touches on Monday once they are dry and then they will be coming home. WATCH THIS SPACE.

Christmas

We also got into the festivities by creating our own Christmas tree decorations, the children will share these with you at the end of the term!

WOW

On Thursday, we had the pleasure of watching the KS1 nativity! We thought it was amazing and we are so proud of them all. As Year 5’s the children know how scary it can be, so we made sure to cheer them on!

Important Dates

·   Years 5 and 6 Carol Service: Wednesday 13th December at 9:30am

·      Party Afternoon in Classrooms (games, dancing etc). Children are welcome to wear party clothes all day: Thursday 14th December KS2 Cinema Trip: Friday 15th December at 9:30am 

   Have a wonderful weekend,

   Best Wishes,

Autumn Term 2 - Week 5 - Getting our hands dirty!

English

At the start of the week, the children wanted to complete their explanation texts all about ‘How wealthy Egyptians were prepared for the afterlife’ – They used the success criteria to the edit and improve their writing and continued to add detail to the different paragraphs before colouring in. Later in the week, the children then looked at writing Journal entries; the focus being on using conjunction starters. The journals were written from Tulip’s perspective, up until now, the children have focused on the main character Lil therefore they had to make inferences on how they thought Lil would be feeling. Next week, the children will start instruction writing using imperative verbs.

Maths

In Maths, we have been digging even further into fractions, now looking at level four – Adding and subtraction mixed numbers. The children have found this quite tricky but we have continued to use our Morning work to address the misconceptions. We are encouraging the children to constantly revisit Level’s 1, 2 & 3 so that we are consistently re-enforcing their declarative knowledge. At the end of the week Mrs Callister created a super challenge, where the children worked their way through the different stages. Throughout they flicked back to their morning work to remember the ‘Top Tips’ and signs of success for competing them.

Wider Curriculum

We’ve continued to be artists in wider curriculum this week, the children began to prepare their canopic jars. On Wednesday, the children used clay to one of the Egyptian Gods for the top of their jar. The children had to roll and mold their clay and problem solve so that it didn’t crack or dry out. On Thursday, the children then covered their pots in the newspaper and glue ready to be painted. On Monday, we will then finish our pots and piece them altogether.

RE

In RE this week, we dug deeper into Jesus’ life and how the bible suggests that Jesus was the one who was promised. The children took an event that happened in Jesus’ life and represented it as a diagram in their books. They then wrote a description about this time in Jesus’ life. Next, they used their chronology skills to identify what came before and after that event. To end the lesson, the children then ordered themselves in a timeline showing the whole of Jesus’ life.

Important dates:

·      Reception- Year 5 (Year 6 are on a school trip this day- unfortunately this was the only day that Children’s Hospice could support us). Charity Christmas Fun Run Children’s Hospice Southwest: Tuesday 5th December. All children in PE kits for this day, with Christmas tops/ jumpers.

·      Christmas Lunch for Reception- Y6 and Christmas Jumpers (with school uniform): Wednesday 6th December

·      Years 5 and 6 Carol Service: Wednesday 13th December at 9:30am

·      Party Afternoon in Classrooms (games, dancing etc). Children are welcome to wear party clothes all day: Thursday 14th December KS2 Cinema Trip: Friday 15th December at 9:30am

Have a magical weekend,

Best Wishes,

Autumn Term 2 - Week 4 - Full of facts, facts and more facts! 

English

In English this week, we have continued our stories from other cultures learning journey. At the start of the week, the children were introduced to new learning of Parenthesis. They looked at the different types, learnt how to use them accurately and were then ‘A’ve a go Alexanders’ and had a go at putting them into a sentence that linked to themes from the text ‘Secrets of a sunset king’. Next, teachers noticed that there were gaps in the children’s learning of the use of expanded nouns phrases, therefore we looked at them in close detail, unpicking the signs of success before having a go at writing expanded noun phrases about Egyptian artefacts. We then began looking at writing explanation texts. First, the children identified the signs of success for writing an explanation text and labelled a WAGOLL. The children then used their VIPERS skill of retrieval to gather research about how wealthy Egyptians were prepared for the afterlife. They then recorded their findings in an Explanation text over a double paged spread.

Maths

In Maths, the children have continued their learning journey of Fractions. This week, the children ordered and compared fractions greater and less than one. In our Morning work we have drawn focus on 3 stages of fractions, children are able to articulate and pinpoint exactly what area of fractions they are finding tricky and are active in addressing their misconceptions. To end the week, the children gathered all knowledge learnt so far to add and subtract fractions. With all the hard work put in place during Morning work the children accessed the learning with confidence and ease. Please ask your children about the different levels of fractions, we are sure they would love to show you!

Wider Curriculum

In wider curriculum, we have started our art learning journey of creating our own canopic jars. Across the journey the children will access a range of mediums to create their final piece. To begin with, the children researched canopic jars, what they were and what they were used for. Using this research, they then began sketching canopic jar designs and then annotated their drawing with thoughts and facts. They experiment with colour palettes using chalk pastels. This process will then inform some of their designs for their own canopic jars!

Other information:

·      For our art project, we need Greek Yogurt pots – Please see slip given to your child for suggested types.

·       Mrs. Lee – Elkins has now sent our importance CHRISTMAS dates. Please continue to monitor these and we will update our blogs accordingly.
* Please remember to return Christmas slips for the carol service and cinema trip. 

Have a wonderful weekend,

Best wishes,

Autumn Term 2 - Week 3 - This just in... 

English

In English this week, the children began their new learning journey and began investigating a new genre – ‘Stories from diverse cultures’ in this journey the children will explore the text by Emma Carroll ‘Secrets of a sun king’. During the journey the children will have the opportunity to write in a range of ways for example, instructions, explanation texts, journal entries and narrative. The skills and knowledge we build up across the learning will all contribute towards their final piece. This week, the children began by using their VIPERS skills to unpick the text. They read through the first chapter and answered SATs style questions. Next, they used their knowledge of adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs to write a setting description; we encourage them to think about how the senses can inspire vocabulary. Finally, to end the week, the children continued to read chapters of the story and wrote dialogue between two of the main characters ‘Grandad and Lil’.

Maths

In Maths, the children began their fractions learning journey. Mrs. C has been amazing at preparing us for the skills and knowledge we will cover by placing sneaky pre – teach questions in our morning work! The children have investigated the fractions in 3 levels and each day have been progressing into harder questions. This has been a great way to introduce the children to some tricky concepts. To start the week, we looked at finding and recognising equivalent fractions, and then equivalent and non – unit fractions. The children have quickly realised how much their times table knowledge can help them! With that in mind, please do encourage your children to get on TTRS as much as they can.

Also, we would like to say a huge well done to all the children that contributed to the nationwide competition ‘England Rocks’ you did a fantastic job!

Wider Curriculum

This week, the children continued to be Geographer’s by exploring the environmental impacts humans have on specific countries and places with a particular focus on tourism. The children had to identify the positive and negative impacts on tourism and how it might affect Egypt. The children then culminated their ideas/thoughts/research in a newspaper report in their books. On Friday the children then imagined they were travelers, taking a trip to Egypt. They had to use the Geography skills to write a detailed itinerary getting them from Wadebridge, to London, to Egypt.

PSHE

PSHE’s theme this week was Anti-bullying. On Monday the children had an assembly with Mrs. Orme who allowed the children to discuss ‘What is bullying? What does it look like? How should we deal with bullying?’ etc. This then fed into our weekly sessions where the children looked deeper into rumors and how these can affect people in and out of school. The children created a snakes and ladders game based on a scenario, they then had to create problems and resolutions that decided whether they went up or down the snake. The children were very mature about a complex theme and it is something we will continue to revisit. On Tuesday, we were also lucky enough to be apart of a nationwide seminar which explored British values as well as anti-bullying and how these coincide.

Other important information:

·        Mrs. Lee – Elkins has now sent our importance CHRISTMAS dates. Please continue to monitor these and we will update our blogs accordingly.