Our main focus this week has been History and we are beginning our journey learning about Anglo Saxons and Vikings. We have researched why the Romans left and looked at where the Anglo-Saxons came from. We also found out about their lives.
In Religion we have been looking at the importance of prayer and pupils created some beautiful ‘Wordles’ to express how they feel about prayer. 

​Year 5 have had a very busy week. We collated data about the planets and then the children looked for patterns in the data that they could investigate. Some good suggestions included:  Do larger planets have longer days? Do larger planets have more moons?   Children then used the data they had collected to answer these questions and draw conclusions. 
 
We also learned about Katherine Johnson, a black African American woman, who overcame so many barriers in the 1950s and 60s to become an important figure contributing to the success of the space program at NASA.  We discussed the importance of Science and Maths and the children wrote about how her story can inspire them today.
 
We are writing some lovely Sci-fi stories in English using our book from last term Boy in the Tower to inspire us – I will post some work once we have finished.

​We are delighted that Mr and Mrs Oliva have been working with Year 5 and teaching the children Coding this term.  The children have benefited from their expertise in this subject and are absolutely loving the lessons. They have been creating a game that has increasing levels of difficulty and keeps score.

This week we used Alexander Calder paintings as our inspiration and made some beautiful prints. This technique using polystyrene is very effective but also quite tricky. The children had to create a design, etch into the polystyrene and then roll the ink on to their work and print onto paper. To create different colours they had to remove parts of their block and then over print onto the original.  They worked very hard to achieve some lovely results.

​Mr Costello has very much enjoyed working with Year 5 this term. He is delighted with their developing skills and dedication to the game.  This term he has been holding an in-class tournament. We are delighted to announce Cameron as the overall winner with Naomi as the most improved player (even beating Mr Costello in a match!)  Well done!! 

Year 5 have had a wonderful week developing their Science and Maths skills.  As you can see from the photographs we had a great week, discovering and learning.
We identified and classified the trees in our school grounds using observation skills and branching keys.  The children learned how to group leaves using the correct scientific vocabulary. We were surprised to find so many different types of tree in such a small area.
 
We measured tree height using measuring tools and percentages. Back in class we recorded our results in charts.
 
On Wednesday we shared our research about a special Scientist or Mathematician and the whole class learned about some amazing discoveries and people.
 
We also looked at the Fibonacci sequence in Maths and linked this to Science by investigating the number of petals on flowers.  We also created some Fibonacci spirals and learnt about other spirals created from circles. We then were amazed to discover the number of spirals we could find in the natural world.
 
We also learned about Financial matters in our Maths this week – focusing on budgeting monthly bills and learning about the uses of debit and credit cards.

Year 5 have been thinking about different types of pressure in their lives – both good and bad. They have learnt about direct and indirect pressure and different ‘tricks’ people use to put pressure on others. Here are some photographs of them role playing different situations. The children will then be asked to evaluate how these situations make them feel and how to resist and cope with pressure.

Year 5 have been studying Alexander Calder in Art. They have created a collage using torn paper and felt tips using some of his ideas. Some of the pupils fitted them together for our display and they really make a beautiful pattern.  Well done Year 5!

Year 5 are learning about Alexander Calder an abstract artist who used organic shape to create paintings, mobiles and stabiles. The children learned about his life and work and then responded to some of his paintings by creating their own artwork.  They used primary colours, geometric or natural shapes to inspire them. I think you’ll agree they have created some beautiful pictures.

This week we have studied news reports and written our own. We have linked this to our class novel – Boy in the Tower – What are the Bluchers? Why is it raining so much? Why did the George collapse? The children have written some amazing reports and have remembered to include many of the features of news reports including eye-catching headlines, quotations, a strong lead paragraph and  emotive language.