Autumn 2 is a very busy half-term with lots of exciting learning and extra-curricular activities taking place. To kick off the children's return, our first week back was STEM week.  During this week children participate in activities that are based on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

      

In Year 5, our theme was space. We designed and created our own moving mechanism cam toys. We started by experimenting with the different types of cams and followers. To create our mechanisms, we used shoe boxes, wooden dowels and cams for the structure. For our toy model, we used cardboard and a range of decorative materials and paints. The mechanisms were very successful. They worked well and looked great!

"I enjoyed building our mechanism, it was challenging but enjoyable to decorate our shoes boxes"

After STEM week, we started new topics in all of our lessons. The children were extremely excited to learn even more about Earth and Space during our Science unit. In English, we wrote a balanced argument on whether school uniform improves pupil experiences at school. Some of the children in Year 5 were even so passionate about it that they had a discussion with Miss Smith! 

In Maths we have been looking at fractions. We have been adding, subtracting and converting between improper and mixed number fractions. We have also been learning about Hinduism and Humanism (RE), gymnastics (PE), pets (French). We enjoyed learning all about valuing differences and creating our 'honesty' values board for this half term. 

                  

"I have enjoyed Maths and Science. I like converting between improper and mixed number fractions." 

"I love my English lessons. Writing about 'The Snowman' story has been fun and very Christmassy!"

                            

"I loved learning about Space. It is fascinating!"

                         

We have had some close competitions between the classes on TTRockstars. The children with the fastest speed were: Lisander, Ridham and Ali.

The children have been completing their accelerated reader quizzes each week. The children with the highest word count in each class are: Lisander,  Sukhmani and Sid.

Well done to all of these children!

We were privileged to have a lantern making workshop which the children attended in their classrooms. Children used bamboo sticks, a strong tissue paper and various materials for sticking and decorating to create their lanterns. Many of the lanterns made were used at the Hounslow Winter Lights lantern parade. 

To mark the start of the start of the World Cup, we had an assembly and also watched the England vs Iran game in our Year groups. There were also a range of World cup activities for the children to complete during this time. It was a very intense match and nerves were high! The outcome was definitely worth it with England winning the game.

"I enjoyed watching the England vs Iran match with my class."

Our Christmas Fayre took place in December with lots of fun activities such as face painting, a Christmas crafts, games and Santa's grotto. The children getting in the Christmas spirit! Our Christmas concert also took place this month. All of the children performed brilliantly and enjoyed singing the Christmas songs. During the last week of the term the children completed some fun Christmas activities. In Year 5, we wrote a letter to some of the residents of Vicarage Farm Care Home. We also made our own snow globe decorations. They looked absolutely amazing!

           

"I really enjoyed the pantomime. It made me laugh and was fun."

"I felt happy at the Christmas concert because we practised so much!"

                                                           

 

The children had a fantastic start to their Spring term, and we can't wait to share with you what they have been up to!

In History, Year 5 have been exploring the lives and times of some of Britain’s early people; looking at the reasons why the Vikings, the Angles and the Saxons came to this island and the lives and customs they built for themselves across Britain. We all thoroughly enjoyed our fantastic experiences with the Anglo-Saxon workshop where we learnt about whom the Angles and Saxons were, why they first came to England and the legacy they left for future generations. This opportunity allowed our children the chance to consolidate the learning on Anglo-Saxon life that they have engaged with in class. Everyone was invited to dress up for the workshop, and it was wonderful to see the whole year group enjoying their learning so much. 

   

“The Anglo-Saxon workshop was amazing! We learnt so much, I hope we get to do more workshops.”

“I really enjoyed learning about the Anglo-Saxons. I really liked learning about their laws and Crimes and Punishment - it was really harsh”

“I’ve learnt so much about the Anglo-Saxons now. And we learnt to play Fox and Geese which is a great board game they invented. I never knew Anglo-Saxons had board games.”

In Science this half-term, Year 5 have been investigating Properties and Changes in Materials.  They have explored which properties (for example whether it is magnetic, transparent, absorbent etc) are held by different materials and have also looked at whether all or only some substances dissolve. They have built on their knowledge of scientific concepts and expanded their scientific vocabulary through planning and performing their own experiments - feel free to ask them which parts of their experiments were the solute, solvent or solution. 

“I loved doing Science experiments. Everyone gets really interested in what’s happening.”

“We had to make our own experiment when we were looking at solutes and solvents. We were surprised the gravy granules took so long to dissolve.”

This half-term in Geography, our Year 5 classes have been investigating different aspects of Scandinavia.  Through these lessons they have explored Sweden’s climate, and the area’s human and natural geography and have used a variety of sources to research the similarities and differences between Stockholm and London.

“Sweden looks really beautiful. I definitely want to go there one day.”

“I love it when we do geography. Learning about the world and other places is always fun and makes me want to go there.”

English has been very interesting this half-term. We have  been exploring the book ‘Coming To England’ by Floella Benjamin. This has led us to learn about Trinidad and Tobago. We have learnt about life for people who had to travel from abroad and find jobs and settle in England. We found this true story inspiring and wanted to learn more about Floella’s life.

 ‘It was amazing that she finally got to meet her idol - The Queen!. This just shows that dreams can come true!’

Coming to England Please take your time to watch it and listen to it. 

 

In Computing, we learnt how to use formulae in spreadsheets to convert measurements of length and distance? We created a formula in a spreadsheet to convert m to cm, then applied this to create a spreadsheet that converts miles to km and vice versa.

We also used the ‘count tool’ in Purple Mash to test and investigate a hypothesis about which letters are most commonly used in the English language. 

This is the SMART poster we use to learn the rules on how to keep us safe when we are online. Do you know all the rules? 

Spring 2 has been a very busy term with lots of fun activity days that the children have enjoyed such as: World Book Day, Red Nose Day and Arts Week! We have also learnt lots of new, great things...have a look!

Maths

Maths this half-term has been focused on lots of fractions, fractions and even more fractions! The children have learnt how to multiply mixed fractions and improper fractions by whole numbers, convert between them, relate thousandths to tenths and hundredths, find decimal equivalents to fraction and how to read decimal numbers to the nearest whole number and to one decimal place! The children have also consolidated their understanding of different multiplication and division strategies too!

English

The children have been writing all about the story called 'The Present'. It is about a teenage boy who is quite lonely and always stays indoors playing video games. His mum gives him a present- a new pet dog- to get him to socialise. Ben, the boy, goes through lots of emotions through discovering the dog has one leg like himself, and eventually finds happiness and joy with his new pet. The children have enjoyed exploring Ben and the dog's emotions throughout the story and have produced two fantastic extended pieces of writing each: retelling the story from the dog's perspective and also writing a letter to Grandma whilst continuing the story in a park.

Have a watch of the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjqiU5FgsYc

Science

Science this term has been all about life cycles and habitats. The children have learnt about asexual and sexual reproduction of plants and about lots of life cycles: humans, mammals, birds, amphibians and insects. Also, they have done some fantastic research in both science and reciprocal reading on Jane Goodall (the famous chimpanzee scientist). The children have had so much fun exploring this topic this half-term!

History

In History, the children have started a new topic learning all about the Early Islamic Civilisation in the city of Baghdad. So far they have earned all about the city of Baghdad, why the silk trade is so important to the establishment of the city and all about the importance of the House of Wisdom.

World Book Day

The children looked great dressed up in their costumes and crazy hats! The children enjoyed a workshop delivered by author Banji Alexander. They also produced their own fabulous stories, with great designs on their front covers and even better stories inside! The children were tasked to produce stories based on a character and the Amazon forest (linking to their Geography topic this term) and their ideas were great! Here are some photos from our great day! 

Red Nose Day 17.03.23

This year to celebrate Red Nose Day and raise money for Comic Relief, the children wore red to school. Later, they had lots of fun designing and making their own red noses to wear! Here is Crimson class on Red Nose Day.

Arts Week 20.03.23 - 24.03.23

Arts Week was a blast for year 5! The theme this year was '... in Wonderland' so on the first day of Arts Week, the children (and staff!) dressed up as whacky characters from the story. Throughout the week, children were sketching, designing and creating crazy ideas focused on wonderland. The children then produced their own 'whacky' cutlery to take to the Mad Hatter's tea party; the children did great! We were also very fortunate to have some of our staff trained by the Royal Opera House, so they delivered some fantastic Wonderland dance workshops throughout the week with a brilliant performance at the end of the week! Have a look at some of the pictures from our great week!

Achievement Superstars!

Well done to the following children for receiving achievement certificates this term.

Crimson: Keon, Joey, Kayziah, Demian, Amelia, Arwa, Sanvi, Abner

Red: Zaina, Cherry, Maleona, Tanha, Vihaan, Ejub, Gambheer, Alan

Ruby: Hannah, Anum, Joel, Shakeel, Ronny