We have had a great start to the spring term.
In mathematics, the children have continued to develop their ‘basic skills’ during morning work. Our new mathematics lessons have centred around fractions. The children have applied their knowledge of division and multiplication to help them identify equivalent fractions, calculate common denominators and order unlike fractions. We will continue with this focus as well as decimals and percentages for the majority of the spring term.
In literacy, we have been writing a narrative inspired by ‘The Piano’. The children have concentrated on using apposite vocabulary, the correct tense and a variety of sentence structures and openers. Their writing has been emotive and thoughtful and we are looking forward to sharing them with you at the next tea afternoon.
In science, we have explored the human circulatory system. It has been a fun and practical topic where we discovered how we breathe, the components of blood and the function of our heart. We have made a lung model, a blood model (which was rather messy) and carried out a pulse rate investigation.
To begin our new creative curriculum topic we had a Victorian Day. Everyone (children and staff) came to school dressed in Victorian costumes and the children took part in a variety of activities. The strict Victorian rules were followed throughout the day. They performed drills outside, played Victorian games, wrote on blackboards, made butter and practised cross stitch. It was a great day!
 

We have had a jam packed term in year 5 so far. 

​In literacy we started the term with fiction story writing, using a picture book 'The Wolves in the Wall' as a stimulus. The children planned their own version of the story using a different animal. We focused on ensuring that basic punctuation was accurate, using direct speech, different sentence types, apposite vocabulary and cohesive 'stepping' sentences. In reading we have been enjoying sharing a class text daily which the children have found very engaging and enjoy their daily story time. To develop their comprehension skills, we are using the Jane Considine 'Book Talk' approach which develops their reading skills through fluency practise and structured talk. 

​In maths, we have covered place value, addition and subtraction, properties of number and multiplication and division as well as continuing to practise 'basic skills' learnt in previous years, The children have explored their conceptual understanding using resources and bar modelling as well as mental and written formal methods of calculation.

​We started our Rainforest topic with a visit from Ed from Mini-monsters. The children learned lots of amazing facts about small creatures that live in the rainforests of the world. We enjoyed sharing all the facts we learnt at our first year 5 sharing assembly. Following on from this, we have been investigating the reasons for deforestation and the impact this has on the rainforest, its ecosystem, indigenous people and the wider world. We are currently working on writing a speech about saving endangered orang-utans that live in the rainforests of Asia in Borneo or Sumatra. The children enjoyed sharing their 'Rang-tan' poems, which we have been working on in our 'Arts Activity' afternoons. The children explored different poems and how they could perform them in different ways before bringing all the ideas together in a final performance.

​In science, we have travelled to outer-space using VR headsets and explored the planets in the solar system, learning about the gas giants and rocky planets. The children have developed their understanding of the Sun, Earth and Moon using a range of practical activities. In the second half of the term we are learning all about the circulatory system - again through a series of practical activities.

 We were pleased with the amount of creative autumn homework from the children who had enthusiastically explored autumn through a variety of media. We had poetry written by the children, or found and recited, collages made from autumnal 'found' objects, drawings, paintings, descriptive writing, autumn boxes and photographs. We thoroughly enjoyed the children sharing their work with us and discussing the beauty we can see in nature during autumn.

We have had an exciting start to the term with our Science and Creative Curriculum topics. In science we are learning about Life Cycles and have been lucky enough to incubate and hatch 8 baby chicks in school. The children have learnt about how birds reproduce and how they grow into adulthood. They even got to hold the chicks just days after they had hatched!

We were also lucky enough to welcome Ed from Mini-monsters to share some exotic animals which launched our topic on the Rainforests. The children will be working towards presenting arguments to ‘save the rainforest’ at our tea afternoon in December as well as creating some writing and art around the topic. We have made a great start to our Maths and Literacy learning, with the children showing some great skills already!
​

During the Spring term, the children learnt about the life of a child in Victorian times through a range of practical experiences: a Victorian Day, Punch and Judy show/workshop and a trip to Christchurch Mansion. 

In design and technology the children have been refining their skills of designing, cutting, measuring and constructing in a cam toy project.

At the beginning of the Summer term, the children began their new Science topic 'Space' with an immersive experience in a pop up planetarium. The children were fascinated and had many questions.

The children are currently learning about 'Invaders and Settlers' through Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. We visited West Stow Anglo-Saxon village where the children were able to learn about how historians investigate the past using archaeological evidence. This was their introduction into life in Anglo-Saxon times.