Summer term is here!

Welcome back! I can’t believe we’ve already arrived at the final term of year five. I have loved teaching this class so far and I’m confident that this term they’ll continue to work with oodles of enthusiasm to grow and improve further. With year six looming, this is a very important term and we have a lot to get through…as always I am here to help so if anyone needs extra guidance or has any queries, please feel free to ask. May I kindly remind everyone of the sheet I handed out at parent’s evening with numerous links to English and maths websites as well as pupils’ login details for our school accounts…they’ll be needed in the upcoming weeks for homework.

Homework

Just a reminder…Homework will usually be provided on a Wednesday, to be completed by the following Monday. If specific homework is not provided, it would still be a good idea to practise times tables (this could be through the aforementioned websites) and/ or brush up on those reading comprehension skills through some questioning about reading books. It is expected that your child will read for at least 15 minutes every night.

English

The effort in reading at home last term was absolutely brilliant… many of the pupils have found a new level of enthusiasm for literature that is a joy to behold. May I remind you that children are responsible for bringing their reading record to school every day and for changing books when necessary.

In class, we will be extending our skills of reading comprehension, grammar, spelling, drama, punctuation and writing composition. Our first text type this term is creation myths, which ties in nicely with our topic and gives the children an excuse to watch the cbeebies favourite, Tinga Tinga tales! We will follow this with writing inspired by film then a focus on reading, using the excellent book ‘Holes’.

Maths

This term we will begin with area and perimeter before moving on to roman numerals, negative numbers, time, geometry and measures. Phew! We will also continue our focus on mental maths skills and choosing efficient methods, as well as increasing our application of maths skills into complex problem-solving.

Topic

Our term will be a tale of two topics. The first is called ‘The Ancient Kingdom of Benin’, focussing on the little-known but fascinating civilisation based where modern-day Nigeria is located (not, in fact, the modern country of Benin, confusingly!) After studying their artwork, trade success (including the slave trade), rise and fall, we will move on to our geography-based topic, ‘River deep, Mountain high’. This will include a study of our very own River Tyne before switching focus to the more distant Mount Everest! From geographical features to human interest stories, this promises to be a great topic.

Science

We will be studying space before moving on to living things and evolution. These topics are very interesting and I’m sure the children will enjoy them immensely.

Other subjects

Music this term will be closely linked to our topic, from spiritual songs to African chants and djembe drumming! We will also have time for some singing games just for fun! ICT, French, RE and PSHE will continue as usual.

French

We will be continuing our studies of French with Mrs Richardson; the current topic is food.

PE

Our PE lessons for this term will take place on a Thursday and a Friday. We aim to be outside a lot this term so pupils should bring trainers as part of their PE kit, along with our red school PE t-shirt, black shorts and a water bottle.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs N Faulkner

On Wednesday 2nd March, Year Five went on an exciting visit to Las Iguanas, a South American restaurant in Newcastle. Our Spring term topic in based on this beautiful continent, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to allow the children to immerse themselves more fully in the culture by sampling some delicious South American cuisine. We had ten taster dishes, each one more delicious than the last. We also made our own delicious drinks using fruit grown in South America. The chocolate brownies and churros were very popular, as were the cassava chips! The children were an asset to the school and a great day was had by all. Well done, Year Five!

Mrs N Faulkner

Over the past weeks, year 5 have been focussing on chocolate as part of our South America topic.  We investigated the countries cacao beans grow in and the processes they then undergo to reach our shelves. We tasted types of chocolate and surveyed our ‘target market’ to aide our design process before coming up with novel names for our bars. After that we designed and made our boxes, then finally this week we have made our chocolate! We had a chance to taste other people’s recipes and also our own – what a great lesson! Here are some quotes from year 5…

“lush!”

“this lesson left a great taste in our mouths!”

“very nutty!”

“Yes! I feel like I’ve accomplished something…”

“This was the World’s best lesson!”

“This shows how creative we all are.”

“It was like being in a real chocolate factory.”

“It shows you can do fun things and still learn!”

Well said, Year Five!

Year five have been enjoying our first week studying Shakespeare’s spooky tale of Macbeth! So far we have done some whole-class drama, retold the tale and worked in groups to re-enact Act 1, Scene 1. You can see the results of this in the clips below!

We are going to develop this into a written narrative soon…I can’t wait to see the results!

Mrs Faulkner IMG_0315[1] IMG_0314[1] IMG_0313[1] IMG_0312[1] IMG_0306[1] IMG_0299[1] IMG_0297[1] IMG_0295[1] IMG_0302[1] IMG_0300[1]

Year five are enjoying their studies on South America and this week we were learning about volcanoes (South America boasts the tallest volcano in the World!)

We made our own volcanoes using plastic bottles, papier mache and a few crossed fingers!

We erupted them using a mix of bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and red food colouring…take a look at the gallery to see the results!

Mrs N Faulkner

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Spring synopsis for Year 5

Dear All,

Welcome back!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. Below is a summary of what we’ll be learning about this term. If you have any questions or concerns that are not answered below, please feel free to come along and ask me. I will be at the Key Stage 2 door most days at hometime.

Homework and Reading

Just a reminder…Homework will usually be provided on a Wednesday, to be completed by the following Monday. This may be in our homework books, on a separate sheet or online. This term spelling and times tables will be different. We will not be completing weekly spelling and times tables tests on a Monday. Instead, children will bring home 6 spellings in their reading journal each week that they find tricky (usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday), from the unit we’re studying in school. The expectation is that the children will work on these spellings at home with an adult and then the adult will put their initials next to each word when it is spelled correctly at home. This may be through writing it down or saying it aloud. Times tables tests will happen within maths lessons as and when it is appropriate. It is still very important to practise tables regularly to sharpen those maths skills. It is expected that your child will read for at least 15 minutes every night.  The books chosen can be school books or books from home. If your child comes across unfamiliar words they should be encouraged to use a dictionary to find the meaning. Children are responsible for bringing their reading record to school each day and for changing books.

English

In class, we will be building upon what the children learned last term and extending their skills of reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, spelling, handwriting and writing composition. Our first English unit this term will be based on the classic poem ‘The Highwayman’. We will decipher the text, then use drama to explore it before finally writing narrative and a persuasive piece of writing based on the text. It is a difficult text but I’m sure the children will love the storyline and will produce some excellent writing! Later in the term we will write tourism brochures linked to our topic before moving on to study Macbeth. I know the class will enjoy this tale of intrigue, with perfect timing for the 400^th anniversary of the bard’s death.

Maths

This term we will begin by completing some maths investigations. After this we will cover angles, fractions, decimals, percentages, area, perimeter, negative numbers, roman numerals, time, reflection, translation, length and mass. It would be helpful if you could discuss any real life examples you come across showing fractions, decimals and percentages, for example in shop sales, recipes, and so on, to give this tricky topic a context.

Topic

Our topic for this term is ‘South America’.  Having spent time in this amazing continent, it is a topic close to my heart and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with the class. Our studies will include drama, written work, art, design technology and music (Samba music and traditional songs). We will learn about the physical and human geography of South America and then focus in on one of the countries, Peru. We will explore landmarks, culture, customs (including music, food, clothing etc) as well as the rich history of the area. After that, we will move on to study rainforests and deforestation. Finally we will study one of the products of the rainforest – chocolate! Yum.

Science

Our first two science units of year 5 are called ‘Materials’ and ‘Earth and Space’. Both units allow lots of practical exploration as well as improving our written investigation skills and promise to be lots of fun.

Other Subjects

We will also find time to enjoy lots of Art and Design work, music, RE, PSHE, British Values, Computing and French!

PE

Our PE lessons have changed this term and will take place on a Monday and a Friday.  Please provide your child with a water bottle, indoor kit and outdoor kit in a suitable bag. PE bags can be left on your child’s peg all week and washed at weekends, ensuring that your child has their kit if any changes in schedule need to be made.

Thank you for your continued support,

Mrs N Faulkner

Year Five’s trip to Eden Camp went down a storm. It really brought our WW2 topic to life! Behaviour was wonderful and a great time was had by all. The best bit? The shop, of course! Other than that, the Blitz hut was amazing and made the children feel as though they had travelled back through time to witness the events first hand.