Welcome to Year 5

The teachers in Year 5 are Miss Grainger (Class 7), Mrs Manton (Class 8 and Year Leader) and Mrs Hagger (Class 9).

We also have teaching assistants who will be working in the year group - Mrs Togwell, Miss Bentliff and Mrs Kundi.

Homework

During the week we will set two pieces of homework - maths and spellings. All will be set on Google Classroom. The maths homework will be on a rotation of times tables activities, Mymaths and a task to consolidate or extend the work that they have been doing in class. The children will be asked to learn a list of spellings and to complete an activity.  We also request that your children read for at least 10 minutes each day and that at times, they are listened to by an adult who then can ask them questions about what they have read. A reading task will be set each week.  Every half-term the children will be given a topic based project to be complete over an extended period.

The homework will all be set on a Thursday and then due back in on the following Tuesday. As we are trying to develop the independence of the children it will be their responsibility to complete their work on time. 

PE

During the first half of the Summer term, PE days will mostly be on Tuesdays and Fridays. During the second half of this term, PE will mostly be on Mondays and Fridays. We ask children bring their kit to school on a Monday and take home on a Friday. Therefore, if the PE day changes for any reason, they will still have their kits.

Friday 24th June

Another week has flown by here in school! The children are busy creating mythical characters for their Greek myths and will start writing these this morning. Check back next week for some examples.

They have also enjoyed hearing and reading various Greek myths. During history, we learnt about the different Gods in Ancient Greece and what different beliefs people had. For maths we have returned to fractions in preparation for identifying and using fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents next week.

Our SRE lessons have started this week and will continue into next week too.

Please remember the summer far is next Tuesday straight after school.

Friday 10th June

We have had an excellent week in school this week. The children have returned to school and settled back in very well. They are thoroughly enjoying our new English unit of Fantastic Beasts and are excited to write about their own mythical beast next week. We have recapped addition and subtraction and the children have had to really focus to solve complex context questions. We have started our final science topic and identified the stages in the human life cycle and for history we have started learning about the Ancient Greeks! We have started practising running races for Sports day.

Please remember next Friday is Sports day. Children will need to come into school in their PE kits.

Friday 13th May

Another week has flown by here in school!

Class 8 and 9 have attended the trip to Selborne and thoroughly enjoyed themselves - especially when in the river! Class 7 are looking forward to their trip on Monday (we will add photos from all 3 classes next week).

We have used our knowledge of rivers to start to write non-fiction pieces of writing about and Amazon river. Next week we will identify ways to prevent water pollution.

In maths we have recapped different 2D and 3D shapes by naming them based on their properties. Ask the children to test you at home!

This afternoon the children will be continuing the practise their athletics in preparation for sports day in June!

Friday 29th April

An excellent start to the summer term from the children this week, well done :) They have settled well and immersed themselves in our new topic of rivers, but looking at the features and where rivers are around the world. Our English unit has linked to the fantastic picture book 'The Silver Swan' by Michael Morpurgo and the children have been using character perspective to write some excellent descriptive work! Check back next week for some examples from the books.

In maths we have been identifying why different numbers are special in terms of whether they are prime, squared or even cubed numbers.

We also carried out a whole day experiment measuring the shadow of an object at different times of the day. We discovered shadows are their longest earlier in the day and shorter just after lunch time when the sun is at its highest point in the sky.

Friday 8th April

We have had an exciting final week of term in school.

Today the children enjoyed completing the Easter Egg hunt and have earned their chocolate egg - photos below.

They have also completed their biographies of a Tudor Monarch and written them up to display in school.

Alongside their writing, the children have drawn and painted a Tudor Monarch too.

A huge well done to the children for completing their Science homework too - we have thoroughly enjoyed seeing their creations. Photos below of the displays in school. 

We hope you have a lovely Easter holiday and we look forward to seeing you all again at the beginning of the Summer Term.

Friday 1st April

Another week has flown by here in school!

The children have started their research and planning for their biography of a Tudor Monarch - check back next week for the final pieces.

Remembering the different conversions between different units of measure has proved tricky this week but the children have persevered extremely well to apply them to contextual problems.

We have learned about why the Earth has seasons and its orbit around the Sun.

The children have been working incredibly hard on their artwork by sketching a Tudor Monarch ready for painting next week.

One week to go! :)

Friday 25th March

Another fantastic week in Year 5 this week!
The children have imagined living on Mars and written monologues to their peers back on Earth - see above for some examples.

Our fraction, decimal and percentage unit has concluded this week and the children have enjoyed finding equivalents between them.

We have been carrying out tests this week too which the children have completed with maximum effort, well done :)

The children have continued to engage in our History unit learning about different monarchs are their strengths and perhaps weaknesses as monarchs!

Now swimming has finished, we have been able to start our new RE, PSHE and computing units which has been great!
 

Friday 18th March 

We have enjoyed our final swimming session this week and it was lovely to see the progress made by the children - well done :)

Our English work concluded with the children writing a newspaper report about Robin Hood.

The children have fully immersed themselves with our new learning in maths identifying equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages! 
During our non core subjects the children have applied their explanation skills to explain how we know the Earth is flat and who was the worst king: Richard or John.

Please remember next week to send in PE kits as we will resume doing PE on a Friday now swimming has finished.

Friday 11th March

We have had another excellent week in school this week! During English, we have started to look at newspaper reports and identifying their features in preparation of writing one next week linked to Robin Hood - check back next week for example of these articles.

In maths the children have worked extremely hard at securing the formal methods for short and long multiplication. Now they are looking forward to division next week.

Our History unit has 'taken us back' to the reign of Henry II and the death of Thomas Beckett - the children thoroughly enjoyed working out who was to blame for his death!

We also started our Earth and Space topic this week with the children creating interesting ways to help them remember the order of the planets.

Final swimming session next week then we will return to PE on Fridays the following week :)

Thursday 3rd March

Today we have celebrated World Book Day in school. The children have enjoyed dressing up and their workshop from the children's author Charlotte Guillian. They have used her methods to create an individual page to create a class story using one of Charlotte's strategies. 

Yesterday parents came in for the reading cafe which was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

What have we been up to this week? – Book week!

This week has been book week in school. We have enjoyed a variety of activities including a reading café where parents came into school to listen to their children read and enjoy a drink at our café! We also celebrated world book day with the children and staff coming dressed up as their favourite book characters. We also had visit from an inspiring children’s author who worked with us on Thursday.

Friday 11th February

The children have continued with their excellent focus this week and produced some creative poems linked to the book 'Cloudbusting'. Please scroll below to read a few!

We have started addition and subtraction in Maths and the children have worked hard to secure their use of the formal written methods and apply for context questions.

This week has seen us conclude our Science and Geography units. The children enjoyed investigating how the shape of an object affects the water resistance. The final lesson of slums saw the children evaluating how crime can be lowered.

We are over half way through the swimming lessons and the children have continued to make good progress.

Friday 28th January

Year 5 have worked hard this week and have created some excellent work. They wrote some amazing sequels to Alma in their atmospheric writing unit - we really enjoyed marking them!

In maths, the children have been revisiting place value including looking at number lines and rounding numbers up to 1 million. 

They have enjoyed looking at different poems in guided reading and are looking forward to writing some poems of their own next week during their English lessons!

In science, the children have enjoyed doing some more experiments investigating forces - it is great to see them being able to investigate and come to conclusions in their groups.

Friday 21st January

Year 5 have had an excellent week, they have enjoyed their new English unit - Alma - and have created some fantastic writing. In maths, they have been working with timetables to retrieve and interpret the information they hold. 

In the afternoons, the children have enjoyed a variety of science experiments about forces. They investigated friction and air resistance (see pictures below of the parachute experiment). They also enjoyed learning more about their geography topic, Slums.

The children another excellent week improving their swimming skills and are looking forward to returning to the pool next week!

Please note that there will be no PE on a Friday for the next 4 weeks (until half term).

Friday 14th January

The children have worked very hard this week and have enjoyed a variety of activities. In English, they wrote fantastic information texts about the long-tailed field mouse and all remembered lots of key information from their time at Stubbington. In maths, they have been challenged during their unit on time.

On Thursday, year 5 enjoyed learning about friction in the hall where they were allowed to slide around in their socks and shoes to compare the amount of friction created from each surface. 

Their week ended with the 'Big Schools' Birdwatch 2022'. The children spent some time outside (see photos below) in different parts of the school being very quiet in the hope to see lots of different varieties of birds, which they did! They then plotted their findings on graphs. 

Friday 7th January

It has been great to see so many children back in school this week and it has been lovely to hear about their exciting Christmas breaks.

The children have returned to school with their great attitude to learning and have immersed themselves in our new topics - please see the new termly topic web for more information on these.

We have been learning to tell the time, both on an analogue clock and digital clocks, started to write our non-fiction text about gravity and identified what a slum is and where they are around the world.

On Wednesday, the children enjoyed their first swimming lesson and it was fantastic to see their efforts in the pool.

Stubbington

Day 1

We were all excited to arrive at Stubbington and get to our bedrooms. We had time to unpack before meeting for an introductory talk led by the Stubbington Study Centre staff.  We then had our lunch before doing a tour of the grounds. After that we got our warmer clothes on (although the weather has been very mild today) and went down to the seashore. When we were by the sea we collected all sorts of shells and we were told lots of information about them all. We could see the Isle of Wight and Osborne House which is where Queen Victoria lived. On the way back we had time to search for shark teeth - they are fossilised shark's teeth which are black and very sharp. We found at least five because it was low tide so we had time to hunt for them. When we got back we had our break time and played on the adventure playground, played football with Mr Hunt (who scored an amazing goal!) or just relaxed with our friends. For dinner we had a selection of food to choose from - there is so much to eat! After that we all went to different areas to take part in activities in our house groups. We had time in our classes to write postcards home and we now have a wildlife presentation. Later some of us will go the hide to see badgers and foxes whilst some of us will play games inside before we have supper and settle to bed. 

Day 2

This morning we woke up ready for our delicious cooked breakfast which was a great way to start our busy day. After breakfast we had the first of our room inspections - it's amazing how tidy the bedrooms are when there are house points to be gained! Points are given for how tidy our clothes are in the wardrobes, how tidy the floor is, how well our beds are made (note this for when they get home - they are very good at it!). Points are also given for how well each room settles to sleep at night. 

After room inspections the classes each did different activities which are rotated. Today these included:

Orienteering where we learnt how to read a compass and navigate our way around the site. 

Mapping where we had to use a map to solve clues which were hidden around the site

Tracking where we had to look for signs of animals for instance evidence of badgers or rabbits. 

Two of our groups set up their mammal hotels. This involved thinking about what a small mammal would like if they were to spend a night in our hotel. We used hay for bedding and warmth, food and a piece of apple for moisture. We then hid our mammal hotels in the grounds and are feeling really excited to see what is there in the morning before releasing any of our visitors back in the same place we found them. 

We also used equipment to build dens and we had to work together as a team. The aim was to build a den which would keep the whole team dry when they sheltered inside. Once we had finished building our den, we hid inside whilst a cup of water was thrown at the outside to test how successful our shelter was at keeping us dry. 

There was great excitement today when we all had our first visit to the tuck shop. 

Tonight we are hearing all about the work of a wildlife photographer before another group sets off to the Hide to see badgers and foxes. The rest of us will have showers, play games, chat with our friends and then have lights out at 9.00. 

Everyone here is being amazing and embracing their time away.  We are seeing fantastic examples of teamwork, responsibility and independence. 

There are so many activities still for us to look forward to. 

Check here again tomorrow to find out about our day.

Day 3

We rotated some of the activities from yesterday today. 

Earthquake - class 8 experienced "Earthquake" which involved a lot of teamwork in order to move around an obstacle course with equipment. 

Small mammal hotels - class 8 and 7 opened their small mammal hotels. Between us we opened 12 hotels which had guests. They were voles or long tailed field mice. 

Class 7 and 9 did Eggstreme Challenge which involved solving lots of puzzles in small teams to earn tokens, They then used their tokens to buy materials to wrap eggs in. These were then catapulted through the air and the winning teams had the furthest throw with their egg still in tact. 

Class 9 have set up their mammal hotels for tomorrow. 

We have included a picture of each class - however, these only include the 75% of the group who we currently have permission for displaying their photo on our school webpage (these are taken from the permissions you have set up on Arbor). Please be assured that all children are having a great experience and are being looked after really well. We are seeing amazing teamwork, responsibility and independence. They really are a fantastic group of children!

I have completed a flying visit to SSC to see the children and staff at the centre this evening. It was fantastic to see all the children and I was delighted to be able to chat with them about their week so far as they were tucking into their evening meal. The children raved about the activities that they have completed and the amount that they were enjoying the week. A particular highlight seems to have been seeing both foxes and badgers while visiting the hide - apparently one group saw an amazing 8 badgers and 4 foxes during one session earlier in the week. The children also took great delight in telling me about catching mice and voles in their small mammal hotels! 

The children are happy, safe and secure and having an amazing time - parents please try not to worry about them while they are away - they are busy thoroughly enjoying themselves. Rest assured the staff who are with your children would make contact if the children were having any issues. Please also understand that uploading photos is not a straight forward process while at Stubbington and the staff who are with them are primarily focused on looking after the children and making the experience as fabulous as possible over the course of the week.

I am sure that you are all looking forward to hearing much more from the children when they return on Friday. Mr Dawson 17/11/21

Day 4

We started our day with another delicious cooked breakfast before room inspection. Our scores are getting even better as the week progresses. 

Class 9 opened their small mammal hotels and they had 5 guests (3 voles, 1 long tailed field mouse and 1 yellow neck mouse). This afternoon they had their turn at Earthquake which was very popular! You'll need to ask them all about Lava Leap when they get home and what they had to do as they made their way around the course - it wasn't easy and really tested their teamwork skills. 

Class 7 also had a go at Earthquake today - it really brought out different skills in individuals: we saw amazing examples of leadership, teamwork, listening to each other and helping/encouraging each other to succeed even when things got tough. 

Class 7 and 8 completed their orienteering activity this afternoon. They learnt compass skills and made their way around the grounds finding the letters for their course. 

Class 8 did the Eggstreme challenge today - working together to solve challenges to protect their egg.

We are excited for our evening activity in the grounds tonight which involves all the staff dressing up and the children solving a mystery - ask them about it tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning we will have our final activity, followed by lunch before we set off home. They are likely to be covered in lots and lots of stamps as part of our morning game. 

We have all had an amazing week and I hope you are ready for them to tell you all about it at the weekend. Staff and children will all be ready for a quiet weekend!

Isolation work

If you are self-isolating, there will be work on Google Classroom.