Welcome to Year 5
Teacher
Miss Elvy
Teaching assistant
Mrs Mizon
Home Learning: Set on a Friday and due in the following Wednesday
PE: Monday and Tuesday
Ukelele: Tuesday
Swimming: Not this term
Autumn Term 2024
Y5 have started their geography topic called ‘UK and County of Opportunity (Hertfordshire). They looked at the difference between key human and physical geographical features and then used an atlas to find some UK examples.
In history this week the children looked at the highs and lows of the Vikings in England. After reading through a PowerPoint about them, they worked in pairs or groups of three to create a living graph. Each dated statement was discussed to decide if the children thought it was a high or a low. Did the Vikings have a big or small impact on the Saxons already living here? All of the graphs were slightly different.
The children have started to create their final watercolour pieces called ‘Cityscapes’. This will be a night-time painting that showcases all the skills they have learnt – perspective, bleeding, layering and blending. The final piece will be a few week’s work. The final pieces will then be displayed in a gallery.
At Forest school this week the children started off with a couple of games. Rock, paper, scissors got them involved in teamwork and was a lot of fun. The next task was a little more challenging and involved everyone having a wooden pole which looked a bit like a broom handle. Standing in a circle we had to bang the stick on the ground and then move clockwise to catch the next person’s stick before it hit the ground. Hand / eye co-ordination was needed here. If the stick was dropped that person was out. The game continued until only one person was left. Well done Chase!
Choosing time involved a choice of activities – mud kitchen, hammocks, own games in the woods or making a spinner. A great time was had by everyone.
In science this week the children investigated separating different mixtures of water and solids. They could use a colander, kitchen sieve, or coffee filter paper to separate mixtures of water and marbles, water and rice, water and glitter. After suggesting which would be the best filter for each mixture, we tested out their suggestions and observed closely what happened. We discussed what had happened and why.
5 had their first Forest School session this week. After a discussion about what it was in the fire circle to start off the session, the children got into groups. The task was to record ideas and thoughts that answered a given question to explain to a new child what Forest School was. After a sharing of ideas within the group, the children made their recording which was then shared with everyone. The other task this week was a class task – they had to use sticks to create a large ladder first using sticks. Then in groups of 2 or Year 3 they had to collect natural things, but all of the same kind. These were spread in between the rungs of the ladder. The idea was to experience the different textures with their feet, so they could either go bare foot, in socks or in shoes. Walking along the ladder meant they encountered different textures. At the end was some warm soap water to wash their feet! Experiences were shared with the class in the fire circle.
The children have quickly settled back into the school routine – lots of new experiences, new learning, a new classroom and a new teacher. Everything is new and exciting.
In maths we have been looking at place value. Here the children are exploring number magnitude – creating a number line on a strip of paper and working out where different numbers would go.
In P.E. the children had their first tag rugby lesson. It was obvious that they were having fun while learning.