Welcome to our Year 5 Class Page
Friday 24th May 2024
We have been extremely busy in Year 5 this term and children have enjoyed becoming fully immersed in many exciting topics, including the history of Gloucester Cathedral, comparing animal life-cycles and creating our own paintings in the style of Henri Rousseau.
In our computing lessons, children have worked effectively in partners to create and design our own vector drawings. Using the shape tool and utilising commands such as copy, paste, rotate and resize, children have enjoyed creating their own images. The finished products were extremely impressive – we possible have some future graphic designers in our class!
In our Design and Technology sessions, we have made our own rotating planet models. After exploring a range of different gear and cam mechanisms, children planned their own models whilst carefully considering how to ensure the planet rotates 360 degrees. Children have really used their learning powers superbly and it has been amazing to see how pairs are working effectively as a team to overcome the initial problems with their own cam mechanisms. We’ll enjoy painting our models after half term!
We hope everyone has a lovely half-term break.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 19th April 2024
We have loved the Spring sunshine this week! What a treat to enjoy our PE session outside in MUGA whilst enjoying the sun! We have started looking at cricket and practising our skills of rolling, throwing and catching.
In Science this week, we researched our favourite planets in the Solar System. Working with our partners, we prepared and carried out our own presentations; aiming to include as much space related vocabulary as possible. Children have been working well to explain how the spherical planets revolve around the sun whilst rotating on their axis!
In History, we have started looking at William the Conqueror who was the first Norman King of England. We have found out about the Domesday Book and how this effected many people living in Gloucester at this time. We will go onto looking at Gloucester Cathedral and how it was used in the Tudor times.
In our computing sessions, we have been using the laptops to create our own vector drawings. Using different shape tools, line tools and copy and paste functions, we created our own drawings of a house – they were very impressive! I think we will have some budding graphic designers in Year 5!
Have a lovely weekend – I hope the sun continues to shine for everyone.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 19th January 2024
It’s been a very cold week at school but we’ve enjoyed time inside the classroom exploring our new Spring Term topics. Luckily the icy weather hasn’t affected all the fun we’ve had at playtimes!
In English, we’re so enthusiastic about our new core text, ‘Floodland.’ It’s a dystopian novel with edgy characters and a gripping plot. This week, we have used modal verbs and adverbs of possibility to develop characterization. We’ve written our own diary entries from the main character, Zoe’s perspective. I have been so impressed with how brilliantly children are focussing on their class targets.
This week, some children from Year 5 entered the ‘Look Who’s Talking Competition’ and they all presented superbly! Children delivered amazing speeches on the most interesting topics, for example: Ancient Egypt, sloths, climate change, hyenas and gaming. A huge well done to Bella H – we can’t wait to hear your wonderful speech again as you reach the next round!
In Art, our focus has been on drawing and using tone effectively. We’ve practised shading in darker areas when observing 3D shapes and considering where the light hits the shape. This week we are applying this drawing technique when replicating an animal drawing.
In Science, we have completed an investigation on gravity to find out whether all objects fall at the same rate. Working with our learning partners, we’ve planned our own investigations to fully understand what gravity is and how objects fall towards the Earth. I wonder which objects falls to the ground first – a tennis ball or a feather? Children have made their predictions and are looking forward to carrying out the investigation.
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 11th November 2023
We’ve really enjoyed our learning this week and everyone is also feeling very excited about Christmas!
In Science, we have enjoyed taking part in practical explorations when finding different ways to separate materials. We all enjoyed getting stuck in and using techniques such as filtering, sieving and magnetism to separate a mixture of materials. Children loved getting their hands dirty and ‘playing’ in our Science lesson – it is definitely the best way to help our new learning become meaningful!
In Computing, we’ve loved using the iPads to experiment with different filming techniques. Working with our partners, we’ve practised close-up shots, full body shots, mid-range shots and side-by side angles to name a few. We also played back our videos to analyse whether the sound was effected by the change of technique. Everyone loved this lessons and we have many budding cinematographers in Year 5!
Next week will feel very festive in Year 5 and we can’t wait to officially countdown to Christmas!
Have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 6th November 2023
We hope you’ve all had a lovely half-term! This week, we’ve enjoyed exploring some new topics and finding out about our Autumn 2 core-text: The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. The characters and opening plots have caused excitement and we are already hooked!
In Geography this week, we’ve started to delve into the Rainforest and will soon begin to explore a range of biomes from around the world. As part of an elicitation, we worked in groups to study photos of the rainforest. Using a ‘flat chat’ strategy, we annotated the pictures with our own thoughts and views about the rainforest. Using a ‘question generator’ we worked with our partners to create high-quality geographical questions about what we would like to find out during the unit. We can’t wait to find out more about rainforests!
In Science, we’ve enjoyed taking part in a practical investigation to observe which materials dissolve in water and which do not. We tested flour, sand, salt and sugar and observed what happened when they were added to containers of water. In this week’s lesson, we learned that a new solution (which contains a dissolved material) is called a soluble solution. If the material did not dissolve when added to the water, the solution is then classed as being insoluble.
We’ve loved relating the value of respect to Remembrance this week and we’ve all been thinking carefully about how we can show respect to soldiers who have fought in the world wars. Many children have bought poppies this week and they have all thoughtfully reflected on what the poppy represents.
We hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 13th October 2023
We’ve had a lovely week in Year 5 and the highlight would have to be our visit to St James Church on Thursday to fully experience Harvest. Reverend Mark led a fun-filled service for us which included listening to Bible stories, joining in with Harvest songs and taking part in Holy Communion. We even learnt all about gleaning and how much joy we experience when smelling lavender and throwing it into the air! Thank you Reverend Mark, Mrs Siddall and our friends from Open the Book for such a wonderful opportunity.
In Science this week, we learnt that a thermal insulator can keep cold objects cold! We loved taking part in an ice experiment and trying to find ways to stop ice cubes from melting quite so quickly! We wrapped the ice cubes up in paper towels and bubble wrap. Our results showed that bubble wrap was the best thermal insulator and less ice melted away. We learnt important skills, such as reading the results of a thermometer carefully.
In Art, we have been using watercolours to paint in the style of Sarah Biffin. We were shocked to learn how Sarah produced the most amazing miniature watercolour paintings, despite being born without any arms or legs. Mixing the watercolours to find the skin tones has been a challenge, nevertheless, we used our learning powers to persevere and to create our own paintings in a similar style to Sarah Biffin.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 22nd September 2023
We’ve enjoyed lots of new learning in Year 5 and we’re beginning to delve deeper into our exciting Autumn Term topic, including Ancient Egypt and Materials and their changes.
In History this week, we have loved finding out what’s inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. We used the iPads to research the different features including the King’s Chamber and the Grand Gallery. After we collected all of the information, we drew our own labelled diagrams and the results were fabulous!
In PE, we loved our first session back with Montagu Academy and enjoyed bouncing basketballs around the hall! Working in teams, we played a highly competitive game where we needed to collect the most cones while dribbling our basketball. Sir Allen was particularly impressed with our tactics and commented on our brilliant behaviour – well done Year 5!
Reading has been one of our favourite past times already this year and we’re definitely enjoying our new core text – Wonder. There have been so many ‘laugh out loud’ moments and we can’t wait to find out more about Auggie’s first term at school. If anyone does have their own copy of the book, remember to bring it in and read along during our daily Whole Class Reading sessions.
Due to the rainy weather, there were lots of wet plays this week. Please remember to bring coats to school in case we get caught out at playtimes. Fingers crossed for some sunshine next week so that we can enjoy our football and pirate ship lunchtimes.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Mrs Hayward
Friday 8th September 2023
Welcome to Year 5!
I hope you have all had a wonderful summer holiday and children were ready to come back to school. We have been so lucky with the weather and it has been a lovely first week – especially when enjoying sunny break times with our friends.
We have started reading our very first Year 5 core text this year: Wonder by R J Pallacio. This has inspired some amazing art work where children completed an abstract self-portrait in the style of the book’s illustrator. The results are fabulous!
In History, we have started to explore our exciting topic on Ancient Egyptians and their beliefs. We have opened up the topic by looking at the Ancient Egyptians version of ‘The Creation Story’ and we worked hard to remember the names of many Egyptians Gods. Lots of interesting questions have already been asked and children can’t wait to find out more about mummification and how exactly the brain does get removed through the victim’s nostrils!
In Maths, we have been using place value counters to help us understand the value of 5 digit numbers. Working brilliantly with our partners, we could visually represent the numbers and recognise the value of each digit in a 5-digit number.
Our ‘Meet the Teacher’ session will be held on Thursday 14th September in the Year 5 classroom. If you can make it, please join us after pick up.
Have a lovely weekend everyone and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts!
Mrs Hayward
