What an excellent first full week back to school. We have packed so much in, from hatching chicks to meeting an athlete!
We started the week buy visiting the hatching chicks based in Nursery. We have been learning about different animal groups in Science, and identify the chicks were in the bird group as they are laid in eggs, have feather and wings.
Later on in the week, paralympian Kate Gray gave us an inspirational talk about never giving up. Her story was very inspiring and she even joined us for the daily mile.
As some of you may know, we have started using Numbots to help children with their addition and subtraction knowledge. Each child’s log in details should be stuck into their reading record or tucked away in their book bag. A letter also went home today with some more information too.
Don’t forget, RE homework needs to be in by Wednesday 4th May. Please the updated RE blog for more details.
We have kept ourselves very fit this week and enjoyed running the Golden Mile. We learned that if we run around the junior field eight times, we will have run a mile. Well done to all of the children who challenged themselves to keep running as far as they could. The children also enjoyed the wonderful new playground markings and each day, it is great to see them developi all kinds of fun and imaginative games to keep themselves active! Added to this, the children were very pleased to go to the swimming pool again this week and it was brilliant to see how any initial nerves from the first visit had disappeared and the children were super excited! What great resilience, everyone!
Running-the-Golden-Mile keeps us fit.
Eight-laps-1-mile
Enjoying-our-great-new-playground-markings-
We found an interesting place to read to an adult!
We have been learning about life cycles, so it has been wonderful this week to see chicks hatch out of their eggs and listen to their sweet tweetings. As part of this learning, the children have created slide presentations that show animal life cycles. The children have worked hard to learn how to insert images, shapes and text boxes and organise where they are on the page, so that the slide shows the life cycle clearly. It has been wonderful to see the children’s computing skills develop across the week. When they are next on the Googleclassroom, ask your child to show your their lifecycles, which can be found in the Year 2 Classwork section.
.. with a shout ! Year 3 – or Raven Tribe – marched enthusiastically into Celtic Harmony this morning. They had to shout their name to make sure they travelled safely back to the prehistoric times as they passed through the gates. And what a world of Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages awaited us! The setting is beautiful and peaceful, with artefacts galore and scenes and buildings recreated as they would have been in prehistoric times; and everything explained in detail and with good humour by our educator guide for the day, Fei.
Events which took place over nearly 100, 000 years were put into context by creating a timeline with objects. We then went into the woods and watched Fei do some flint knapping and then the children made their own “soap arrows”. They were also very excited to see Fei showing us a long and a shorter spear as well as a stone axe. Fei was very impressed by the class’s knowledge that obsidian is the sharpest stone known. The class’s understanding and knowledge of the period generally was impressive.
The children then helped Fei rebuild part a wattle fence which had come down. He was able to jump up and down on the fences built by Raven Tribe so their weaving must be good!
Lunch was outdoors and everyone ate heartily. After lunch the children became completely engrossed in making clay coil pots, which will be dry enough to take home on Friday or Monday. We were also treated to different (replica) prehistoric pots with their different features explained well by Fei.
Lastly, the children learnt about prehistoric farming and the hugely significant change from hunter-gathering to farming methods of getting food. They used stone querns to grind grain and then mixed flour with water to make Neolithic-style bread. There was definitely no danger of putting on weight from bread in the New Stone Age. The effort and time needed to make the flour are huge and the resulting amount of flour tiny. The children’s opinions are below, but this was my favourite part of the day, because of the amazing team-work and co-operation the children showed. The relatively small space was a hive of activity with every child happy engaged in the tasks, problem-solving, communicating and completely focused on carrying out what had been asked.
After these four highly enjoyable activities, we came back to the twenty-first century and walked back down the lane – just slightly slower than the first time- back to the coach and then school. I think everyone will be sleeping well tonight. Possibly including the fantastic, committed Mums who came to help. Thank you so much as without your commitment, learning like this wouldn’t be possible. The children were a credit to the school. It is really marvellous to be back to learning in as many different ways as possible.
When back at school, we reflected on what we had seen and done that day; and specifically what we enjoyed most. Maeve – “I liked the dough balls best. I liked making them and squashing them. They felt really squishy. ” Several other children agreed with this. Austin liked the weaving which “used all your strength”. Like many other children, Aiden enjoyed making the clay pots best of all. Jack B said, “Doing the pattern was really good.” Gabriel couldn’t choose one thing because he loved all the activities. Darragh said “It was really fun when you went in the roundhouse”. We agreed that what made the activities special was the fact that we did them in authentic locations. The roundhouse were the clay took place had a (small, raised and enclosed) fire so you really got an idea of what it was like to live stone-age style. Mrs Porter knew we’d returned from the trip because she could smell the smoky smell coming from the classroom! Some children, like Aidan, would’ve liked a go at other activities we saw evidence of, like the den-building.
We all enjoyed meeting Gerald, who is the resident pheasant, not a wild cockrel as originally thought. He is really very striking.
A great day was had by all; and everyone is looking forward to more enrichment days like this!
Today Year 3 learnt and recorded their learning about St George, as Friday was very busy with the Science workshop and Earth Day. We decided that St George must be very significant because so many countries have him as a patron saint, due to his huge courage in refusing to renounce his Christian faith when in the Roman army. That was the “real” St George. We also learnt about the story of St George and the dragon and considered the theory that dragons are not real and, instead the George represents good and the dragon evil with, of course good winning.
The children taught each other all about the different aspects of the stories of St George. They were put into groups and each group learnt about the same part of the story – eg the “real ” St George, or which countries have St George as a patron saint. They then returned to their normal tables and shared what they had learnt with the rest of the table. They class are very good at sharing learning by talking with each other.
This week, we have celebrated Earth Day, St George’s Day and attended swimming lessons for the first time as a class.
St-Georges-Day-dressed-in-red-and-white
On Earth-Day-we-created-a-drinking-station-for-the-bees-and-butterflies
For Earth Day, we-planted-lots-of-bee-and-butterfly-friendly-plants
Here we are in the dark, ready for our Light and Dark workshop.
Alex-helps to teach-us-about-the-earth-and-the-sun.
We had fun exploring mirrors and torches.
We-reflected-light-off-a-mirror. and onto different surfaces.
We made kaleidoscopes in our Light and Dark workshop.
Swimming superstars!
On Earth Day, the children had a fun science workshop and learned about the topic of Light and Dark. We had a great day and also set up one of our flower beds to make it bee and butterfly friendly. We have planted plants that will have lots of nectar for the insects to collect and created a watering station for the bees and butterflies. As part of our Christian mission to look after the earth, we will make every day Earth Day and care for our garden over the next term. As you pass the garden, please keep a look out for the plants growing and see if you can spot any insects arriving at their new feeding and drinking station.
The children were brilliant when we went for our first class swimming lesson this week. It was a wonderful trip as the coach journey was just as exciting as the swimming. Well done to all of you!
Please take a look at the Year 2 Quicklink to find out about this half term’s learning in RE.
Like everyone else , we in Year 5 like nothing better than bouncing …
This Week in Year 5 (12th -23rd May)
Hi Everyone,
Well, whats been happening over the last few days…
In DT, rather than just bung a few cardboard boxes together, we decided todesign our own …
In English, we have started a newBook- Origami Yoda – inspired by this, we put our own skills at putting instructions to the test by competing in the multi-link challenge – can one team recreate a structure viewed by one team but described to another team elsewhere , who then have to pass on the instructions to the builders elsewhere?
The first hand over of information:
How did we do ? (The target instruction is closest to the camera)
This Week in Year 5 (1st -12th May)
Well I think I could get used to these 4 day weeks. Still we managed to make the most of our time in school.
We had a lovely vistit from the Mayor.
In RE we were thinking about Pentecost and how the Apostles were able to get across Jesus’ message to people of all languages. Without using any speech , we had a go at putting across our own messages:
In science we have been looking at the factors affecting how far a ball on a slope will roll.
In computing , we have been looking at how messages could be sent over a distance. This is our attempt at semaphore sending our messages
This Week in Year 5 (18th-21st April)
It was so good to see everyone back after the holidays – many sporting new haircuts. We started a new book in English ‘Otto- An autobiography of a bear’. It begins with a bear in an antique shop – but what is his story ?
On Wednesday, I was able to take 8 of the boys to a football tournament – We played three games; beating Abbey 1 – nil( a cacking goal by Archie); drawing nil- nil with Skyswood and Killigrew. Although we boasted the meanest defence, we just missed out on qualifying for the finals on goal difference.
On Thursday the class was being manned by a skeleton crew while the other half were representing the school in the Quicksticks Hockey Tournament ( report by Alex, Lara, Archie and Lucy to follow).
Meanwhile, back in school, using all our scientific prowess, we managed to separate sugar and sand.
This Week in Year 5 (28th-31st March)
Another busy week in year 5. In between the lessons, we had several celebrations and a Stations of the Cross and Penitential Service. On Tuesday we had a musical feast with Rocksteady Bands performing for us.
On Friday we celebrated efforts with the Easter Bonnnnets, Easter Gardens and Easter Artwork.
And what better way to start the holiday than a banger or two?
This Week in Year 5 (20th-24th March)
This week has been a very hectic both in and out of school with so many of year 5 in the choir performing at the Alban Arena and at Vesta Lodge –
For those of us left behind we were busy solving the ‘Underground Mystery’
On Wednesday, while the choir were rehearsing , the rst of us, along with year 6, went t Mass at St Barts – raising the rafters with our own wonderful singing ( just because you’re not in the choir, doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy singinging).
On Thursday, we went on a school trip to the Life Expo in Frogmore but, rather than me tell you, I’ll leave that to our very own Oscar and Enoch…
YEAR 5 AND 6 LIFE EXPO – REPORT BY ENOCH AND OLIVER
On Wednesday and Thursday this week , Year 5 and 6 went to Holy Trinity Church in Frogmore which was really fun. We went there to explore the deeper meaning of Jesus’ miracles. We also got to learn about what Jesus told his followers and discovered how Jesus’ life was predicted hundreds of years before his birth. We both liked the different learning pods because we learned how to forgive friends, family and enemies. After we explored all the different pods, we went into a big tent to watch a video about the impact of Jesus’ death. We read stories and listened to music. We had some refreshments and a quiz about all we had learnt. It was a very informative and fun afternoon.
This Week in Year 5 (13th-17th March)
They say less is more and although this week had fewer days than usual – we still packed in more than a week’s worth. We have finished our writing topic on Beowulf with the children producing their finished extract and now look to begin the “Lost Happy Endings”.
Our orienteering linked well with the maths and we made connections between decimal fraction s and six-figure grid references. You can see how they got on:
Friday was kicked off with our performance for Mothers’ Day :
Finally, what better way to end the week than to create Mothers’ Day cards whilst acknowledging our Irish roots.
This Week in Year 5 (6th-10th March)
Well we are nearing theend of the topic on fractions (should be completed by next week) and it seems to finally sticking a bit – we are all lloking forward to the next topics on decimals and percentages!
In english, we are writing our own Epics inspired by the books of Michael Morpurgo (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; and Beowulf).
Come wind and Rain…
Some pupils may chose to spend their lunch times languishing but not so Year 5. Inspired by Mrs Porter, my hardy Year 5s were putting in the laps and steps in spite of some very inclement weather.
Our class reader, Dominics Discovery is nearly complete and we are about to start reading ‘Escape from Colditz’. To help the children put this story into context, two of our pupils spent much time researching and producing a powerpoint presentation for the pupils on the subject.
We continue investigating dissolving and were investigating the rate of solubility of various sugars.
This Week in Year 5 27 February-3rd March
We continue with our work on Beowulf in English and have started preparing our own legend stories. We have started new topics in PE – Dance and Orienteering.
While I was chatting to some of you in Parent Teacher consultations, the rest of the class were writing up the excerpts for our class book compendium – in fancy dress, of course.
For the second week running , we won the School Daily mile challenge.
This Week in Year 5 20-24 February
In English, we finished the book ‘The Island’ and have moved on to ‘Beowulf’ by Michaael Morpurgo. It is a very grusome story and the children have enjoyed writing their own Kennings ( a style of poetry made popular by the Anglo Saxons).
In Maths, we continue with our work on fractions and in RE we have also completed our work on the ‘Mission Topic’ and have been looking at Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.
Finally, we put forward some gymnastics sequences featuring rolls and balances.
This week in Year 5 ( 30 January-3rd February 2023)
Here is an update of some of the things that have been happening this week in year 5:
In Englis, we started a new book – The Island ( there is a Grid Homework based on this book) and it got the children thinking about how we treat strangers.
In RHSE , we have been learning about how we can be subjected to direct and indirect pressure and we performed our own role-plays:
We also had the delight in joining in with Electric Umbrella on THursday for an afternoon of singing and dancing:
On Friday, we all put on our numberesque outfits to enjoy numbers day. In deference to this, the curriculum was adjusted and we put our pencils away:
FINDING EQUIVELENT FRACTIONS (this is also a Grid Homework|)
TANGRAMS – Shape and Space
Anti Racism Talk from the School Council
There is an art/media competition linked to this – details from the School Council
Finally, what better than to end the day with a banger or two?
We Will Rock You – QUEEN
Another Brick in the Wall – PINK FLOYD
This week in Year 5 ( 23-27 January 2023)
This week we have completed our topic on the Lost Thing in English and the children have been busy using all manner of fronted adverbial phrases and relative clauses to do descriptions of their strange creatures justice.
In maths , we have started fractions and using manipulatives to work out how to share 7 pizzas between 4 people amongst other things.
For DT, we are starting a new topic designing a electronic greeting card. We started off by creating our own practice circuits.
In science, we have been looking at materials and the effects of insulation on the rate water cools.
On Thursday, many of the pup[ils in Year 5 were representing the school in the sportshall athletics. Many of the other schools were two and three form entry but I am sure our Year 5 and 6 pupils did us proud.
This week in Year 5 ( 15-20 Jan 23)
This week we have been completing all the work in maths looking at tables and graphs – this should stand the children in good stead when we have to analyse experimental results in science.
On Wednesday, it was like teaching in a private school when I was left with only about 15 pupils whilst the rest of the class were at the O2 Arena performing their songs. By all accounts, it was better than fantastic.
But what’s even better than something that’s better tan fantastic? That’s right, a chilled afternoon in the classroom with Mr C producing Viking inspired art but using the pointilism technique.
In music, we are studying ‘Feel My Love by Adele’. However, the song was written by Bob Dylan – some obscure artist of whom, the children had no knowledge . To remedy this pitiful state of affairs, it was incumbent upon me to play them one of Bob’s finest – Like a Rolling Stone.
Parents’Information – Spring Term
Here is an overview of all the excited things planned for Year 5 this term:
Yes the spring term has started and we have already started many new topics. More details of the entire menu for this term will follow very shortly but as a prelude to all the ensuing hard work – what better way than to start the new term (and weekend) than a going home banger or two?
(500 Miles – Proclaimers & Come and Get Your Love – Red Bone)
Christmas and New Year.
I hope that everyone had a n enjoyable Christmas and hopefuly make time for some quiet contenpation on the true meaning of the celebration amidst all the frenetic activities and indulgence that accompany Christmas ( at least in mine).
I know I thanked you all in class, but sometimes parents have a hand in providing presents for teachers and to this end, I would like to say thank you so much to everyone for your generosity ( the vouchers for M&S were very useful).
I am looking forward to starting the New Year and wish youall a very happy and proserous Year ahead.
Grandparents’ Day and sing-along
This Week in Year 5 5th -9th December
This week we have been very busy – although in English we have been very high-brow studying Shakespeare’s Tempest ; looking at the Reformation in History; and explaining the significance of 23 degrees and Isonation to the polar regions, all our efforts have been put into the Carol Service – Don’t miss it!
Finally, we were able to plant some trees in the field – our Eco warriors were on hand to help out.
This Week in Year 5 29th November -2nd December
As you will know from our fantastic assembly, we just love performing in Year 5. Well we had another chance to show off our singing chops when we went to the the |Abbey to perform in the Carol Service. It was a lovely way to welcome in the season of Advent. It was good that so many parents were able to join in with us.
We continue our work on Hidden Figures and, using a range of superlatives, are ready to start our memoir of Dorothy Vaughen/ Katherine Johnson. In maths, we are looking at factors and multiples (and getting them the right way round – is 4 a factor or multiple of 20 !
We have done some extremely difficult work on time zones in Geography and have started Gaelic Football and Tag Rugby in PE. and most recetly some of the class were able to represent the school at netball in a match against Killigrew.
This Week in Year 5 10-14 October 2022
October is Black History month and it is timely that this week we started a new book “Hidden Figures” which celebrates the contribution played by African American women who were employed by NASA to help do the mathematical calculations, computing and engineering needed to put the first astronauts in space and ultimately on the Moon.
Speaking of space – we had a go at mapping out our own model of the Solar System to scale (The Planets are in to scale , as are the distances between the planets but for a totally representative model, the children should be holding planets 1000 times smaller).
This Week in Year 5 25-30 September 2022
This week we have been thinking about biographies. We have written about Maximilian Kolbe and will focus next week on what so inspired him with reference to the Old and New Testament , Catholic Tradition, Sacraments and Catholic beliefs, values and Catechism..
WE have started drafting our Philippe Petit biographies, focusing on a hook for the opening paragraph.
In maths we have moved on from place value and are now learning more about addition and subtraction.
In art, we have been busy producing our own pictures which have been inspired by Arcimboldo using a variety of media.
This Week in Year 5 18-13 September 2022
This week we have continued with our work on The Man who walked between the Towers and have used modal and conditional phrases to help pepare a persuasive argument asking a judge not to prosecute Philippe Petit.
Our maths continues apace and our work with place value has moved into the realm of rounding numbers. One of our PE topics is dodgeball and this is a game which we have taken to our hearts with gusto.
In RE we have looked at the life of St Maximilian Kolbe and what influenced him.
This Week in Year 5 12 -17 September 2022
Well things areally
This Week in Year 5 5 -9 September 2022
Hi Everyone,
We had another busy week at school and the children are getting to grips with their new responsibilities and jobs within Year 5. I was very pleased to see so many of them applying for positions of responsibility to become School Prefects and part of the Chaplaincy Team.
We had a some fun during our recent science lesson where I was able to incorporate a bit of PE. Rather than tell them the Planets of the Solar System, I made them earn the information by running around and finding clues.
This Week in Year 5 5 -9 September 2022
It was lovely to see the children looking so keen to learn after their long sojourn.
So far we have started looking at place value in maths and started looking at Place Value and, for English, our new text : ‘The Man Who Walked Between the Towers’.
In RE we have been finding out about the contribution that Catherine McAuley made to help the poor, sick and especially the education of women.
I will give more details about thethe curriculum at the Parents’ Meeting next Thursday.
The children have all they need to complete the homework by way of hard copies but I have attached some spare copies on the Google Classroom.
Here is a copy of the Google Classroom Post:
Hi Everyone, Here is the work that I would like you to do for homework A) Read at least 10 mins each day and complete your reading record B) Learn up to 10 spellings from the list (see attachment) and test yourself on Wednesday. C) Complete your work on the Catherine McAuley quotations ( see attachment) – I will want to do a display with some of these on Monday so if you could get it done and bring it in by then, I would be grateful ( pleaae don’t stress if you are unable to get it done by Monday).
PS- On Thursday morning, I will have a brief meeting with your parents in school and tell them alla bout the things we will be doing in Year 5.
PPS Don’t forget that you will need your PE kit on Monday ( bring outdoor shoes).
Have a great weekend,
Mr Creaton
This Week in Year 5 17 June-2nd July
This week we have been very, very busy.
In history we have been looking at how the power of the Monarchy has changed over the last 100 years or so. Some changes are gradual and others more marked. Similarly, the landscape of St Albans has evolved . We tried to match up old photos of St Albans with their modern counterparts.
Later on this week, we completed our DT project on Bridges and also did artwork and sculpture inspired by Degas’s ‘Little Dancer’
This Week in Year 5 20-24 June
This week we have been busy with spagetti – making our model truss bridges for DT
We also learnt about how Jewish people celebrate Passover and the symbolism behind the Seder plate.
This Week in Year 5 13-17 June
Well the summer is well and truly upon us.
We maade the most of it by improving our map skills at orienteering – This time Mr Creaton removed the labels from the marker points so we had to rely on our ability to use six-figure grid references.
We have been rehearsing for our Fathers’ Day song- Strong Love. Our performance was sensational and very emotional – not a dry eye to be seen.
Finally, I found a couple pictures of the Toy Museum from last week which should give you a flavour of the place.
Have a great weekend.
This Week in Year 5 6-10 June
We are back to school for the final push before the summer holidays.
In RE we have looked at the transforming power of The Holy Spirit at Pentecost and , inspired by the Apostles, we tried to put across a message without a shared language.
For English, we have started a new book – The High Rise Mystery- can sister Nick and Nova solve it use all their powers of deduction?
This Thursday, we all visited Montfitchet Castle and Toy Museum.
It was wonderful to see the children enjoying the sunshine and getting to feed the animals in the glorious sunshine set in the grounds of a Norman Motte and Bailey Castle which dates from 1066. The children learnt much about life in the castle and loved being able to let off a bit of steam in the open air.
After lunch and several trips to the gift shop, we were ready for the Toy Museum.
Not such an easy task as we had to pass several dinosaurs along the way. On enetering the museum it was a sheer delight with more toys than Hamleys ranging from the 1940s to about 1980 – No computer games here.
For people of a certain age, nurtured on simpler times where having to use a lot of imagination was paramount, it brought a nostalgic tear to the eye.
Just time to visit ‘The Haunted Room’ for those that were brave enough. It was very dark, things jumped out at you and, my ears are still ringing from all the squeals and screaming!
A great day was had by everyone and thanks to Mrs Kihara, Caoimhe and Cian for helping.
Below is a gallery of the day – I rarely appear in photos but, in Where’s Wally fashion, I am hidden in there somewhere. Can you spot me?
This Week in Year 5 23-27 May
Hi Everyone,
As usual we have been busy creating our newspaper articles for our class book (Otto- Autobiography of a Teddy Bear). There is a homework activity connected with this.
For science, we have been looking at how plants pollinate, reproduce and how seeds are formed.
Friday was our Jubilee Celebration and we had a great time at the Garden Party in our patriotic outfits. We also created some great poems for the Year 5 display in the hall.
On Monday our Year 5 netball team played against a seasoned year 6 team from Bowman’s Green. Although we didn’t win, we did ourselves proud.
Have a great break.
This Week in Year 5 (9th – 13th May )
Hi Everyone,
Well last weekend, some of our boys were representing the school at the Six-a-side Football Tournament. They did very well to get there after coming top in the preliminary round. How did they get on? No spoilers here ; you will have to read the separate match report. We have finally finished our work on the Lost Happy Endings and used this to wrote a prequel from an alternative point of view.
In maths, we have started a new topic : Position and Movement. We continue our work on orienteering but this time we had maps with grid references. We also start a new DT topic where we will be making our own bridges – you can see some of our preliminary investigations below.
This Week in Year 5 (3rd – 6th May )
The Coronation of Mary
We came back to school and were ready to celebrate The Coronation of Mary. Our apect was Mary Queen of Martrys. We produced some lovely artwork and Harry and Gabriel were excellent in announcing our work. After the beautiful singing, we were then treated to some maypole dancing – just the thing for May Day.
Mary Queen of Martyrs
In PE we have been beginning to combine fitness with map work – orienteering- well done to the winning team.
Football
Some of class have been representing the school at football. The boys have done very well lately.
Computing-
We started a new topic today – We are Crptographers.
We learnt how messages were originally sent over distances and we had our own go at semaphore. Like all things, it’s not as easy as it seems and some groups were resorting to shouting parts of the message ( rather defeats the purpose) , but great fun was had by all.
This Week in Year 5 (25th- 30th April)
Well what a busy week again.
Inspired by the guided reading work – the class have done some additional written work on the Marwell manor Mystery and are keen to write their own version of what may have happened – was it the Earl ; or ‘apparently ‘ deaf housekeeper’, Ruth; perhapse the tragedy was a result of a bungled robbery for one of the Earl’s rare orchids? We will find out next week when the class conclude their stories.
In science we found a new use for coffee filter paper as we extracted salt from a mixture of sand, salt and sawdust.
In art, we have tried colour mixing to create our own portraits in the style of Guieseppe Acrimboldo.
On Thursday, we had a visit from Kate Grey, a paralympic athlete. We all ran (or walked some of the way) the Daily Mile. You can read more about Kate’s vist on the Sports Ambassadors/Sports Council web page (in Pupil Pages).
This Week in Year 5 (20th- 22nd April)
I do hope everyone has had a relaxing half term and made the most of the sunshine this last week.
We have started a new book ‘ The Lost Happy Endings’ which tells the story of Jub and her dealings with a rather unpleasant witch. The book has some wonderful descriptive language and we have been looking at its use of metaphors, similes, personification and imagery.
We have resumed learning about decimals and this week made links with decimals and our earlier work on fractions.
The children have really enjoyed learning about Guiseppe Acrimboldo whose conflation of still-life bowls of fruit and portraiture are quite unique.
St George’s Day
Today was St George’s day and we learnt about the man behind the myth – was the dragon real or was it symbolic? Naturally, we were all dressed in reds and whites to reflect this.
St George – The man behid the myth
Earth Day
Since 1970, 22nd April has been designated Earth Day. This year’s theme was about investing in the planet. We looked at the implications of global warming and how we can modify our behaviour to temper it. The children then did some pamphlet style work and designed a persuasive poster.
The summer term has got off to a great start, with new topics and active learning today. The children are clearly interested in the world around them, making a good start to our Geography topic about Europe. We all also started learning about Pentecost – with a theme of Energy – and the RE home learning is on the website. The new books are being distributed and enjoyed. Even more arrived during the Easter holidays – thank you so much again for your generosity. These new books form the class library, from where the children can choose freely. The reading books are matched to year group expectations. It’s fantastic that we now have many more Copper and Topaz books to choose from so the children are able to broaden and deepen their reading skills. Please remember to return these books promptly so that as many children as possible can benefit from them. Thank you. Spelling homework is on Google classroom and the test of these words will be next Wednesday. And don’t forget about Times Tables Rockstars – an incredibly effective way to learn those essential times table facts off by heart.
Today was all about Science. We kicked off the new “Light and Dark” topic with a workshop from STEMPoint, who run educational sessions on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths topics. The class talked about sources of light, the revolution of the earth around the sun, how we need light to see and that the absence of light is darkness.
Several Mums were very generous with their time and came to help at the workshops. Thank you so much as without your help we couldn’t provide enrichment opportunities like this.
Some of the photos aren’t worth showing as some activities were done in the dark! E
This tent lets in light and so it’s easy to find something in there….. With the cover, the tent is in darkness and sight isn’t possible. You need to use your sense of touch to find something….
Everyone make a kaleidoscope and did a variety of “hands-on activities.”
The children experienced the complete absence of light in the tentIn another dark tent, the children used different sources of light to see the different effects they could makeThe periscopes, to see things from a different perspective, were very popular.These look very dramatic! They were fibre-optics in amazing fluorescent coloursThe children experimented with shadow puppets. The could also see how the size of 3D shapes changed according to the distance of the light. The shadows haven’t come out very clearly in the photos.
As it is Earth Day, we learnt about the “greenhouse effect”, how it is essential for human life on the planet but also how the temperature has risen too much. We did a class investigation today – the photo is below. The cling-film on one jar represents the earth’s atmosphere. We took the temperatures of the air in the jars and put them in a warm place and took the temperature regularly. The children’s prediction was correct in that the temperature in the jar with the cling- film rose more and stayed high, compared to the other one.
“Earth” with an atmosphere and without an atmosphere
We watched a video about the greenhouse effect and sequenced pictures and captions to show understanding. The children also wrote something they’d learnt on post-its. Their engagement and understanding was excellent and they have a good knowledge of the steps we all need to take to try and halt/reverse the overheating resulting from the greenhouse effect – using cars and appliances less figured highly.
It’s been a great first week back. Have a lovely weekend, before more exciting learning next week.
The children have come back to school with a positive attitude for making the most of their final term at St Adrian’s. As well as working hard on their SATS preparations the children have had some lighter moments.
St George’s Day
In honour of the Patron Saint of England, St George, the children came to school in their finest red and white clothes.
Earth Day 2022
The class had a great discussion about the impact of our carbon footprint. We analysed all of the activities which we did this morning from when we woke up until we arrived at school: from the electric alarm, electric toast, the cereal packaging, the journey of the milk and production of the cereals and bread for out breakfasts and then our journeys to school. We soon realised that a lot of what we do and eat can have a negative impact on our carbon footprint.
To rectify this, we then thought about positive steps we could take to reduce our impact and be more kind to our beautiful planet. So, we will aim to walk more, use manual toothbrushes, to buy locally sourced food and maybe even have our own chickens for our eggs!
We marked the end of the first week back with a double celebration. Firstly, the children were resplendent in red and white to mark St George’s Day on 23rd April. We learnt about this early Christian martyr and tried to separate some of the facts from the fiction.
Secondly, we marked Earth Day 2022 by learning about the importance of protecting our planet. If each of us invests in small changes, we can make a difference to preserving our planet for future generations. We wrote poems as we reflected on the importance of trees.
We are looking forward to hosting our cake sale next Friday to raise money for our classroom. The children have grand plans for making our book corner more comfortable! They continue to love sharing the books that you have donated to our class library and I thank you for your continued generosity.
Even though it has only been a short week, we have packed a lot in! We returned from the Easter holidays starting our new RE topic, Holidays and Holydays. Check out the updated blog post here.
We also started swimming this week. We were all very excited and much enjoyed the coach trip too.
On Friday, we celebrated both Earth Day and St George’s Day. To mark Earth Day, we though about ways we could care for the environment. We also created posters to encourage others to look after our planet better. We really enjoyed listening to the story, ‘Dinosaurs and All That Rubbish’ too. The story made us think about the small changes we can make to help our planet.
To commemorate St George’s Day, we listened to the story of St George and decorated England flags. We also dressed up in red and white too! We then acted out the story using stick puppets with a partner, it was so much fun!
