Author: Miss Goswami

This week was our themed week: ‘Healthy Week’. Over the last 5 days, we have been off timetable and have been learning about lots of different ways to be healthy.

We kickstarted it with our new sessions of ‘Feelings First’. In these sessions, we have a feeling for the week and we discuss everything related to it: the definition; what happens if we have too much or too little of this emotion; what it might look like on us or others; how it might impact us or others; what other emotions are related to it; and how we can regulate it. We looked at 4 different feelings: influenced, offended, excluded and resentful.

On Monday, we had the British Military Martial Arts come to complete a session. The children were able to learn how to do a front kick, a jab, a cross punch and a side kick. The children got into teams to race against each other.

After we learn about allergies and how to help someone if they are having an allergic reaction.

Help at home: Which 3 do you think are the most important?

Our next lessons were about personal hygiene and dental health. We discussed what we use to stay clean, what areas should be cleaned the most, where does bacteria like the most, what causes damage to our teeth and where do you visit regularly to look at your teeth. The children created posters about the importance of personal hygiene and handwashing.

Did you know that in a can of Coca-Cola there is 35 grams of sugar – that’s the same as 10 teaspoons of sugar! Year 5 researched how much sugar was in their favourite snacks.

We finished off the afternoon with skipping school. The children practised and perfected partner skipping. They then showed off their amazing skills to the rest of the school!

On Tuesday, we started off the day with a road safety assembly and a feelings first session. We then had a zoom about about healthy eating. We looked at ‘The Eatwell Guide’. In the afternoon, we completed the first day of our personal best challenge – the children were able to pick one skill they wanted to improve on throughout the week. We finished off the day with a lesson looking at vaccinations, physical illness and how to spot changes in our bodies. We talked about why it’s important to report any differences: it could get worse if you don’t talk about it.

On Wednesday, we started off the day with a basketball session. We had lots of fun!

Year 5 had a lesson about mental health and tried mindful hearing – a nice calming exercise. We used our senses to  focus on the sounds around us.

In the afternoon, we had time to try and beat our personal best in PE. We also had a session with Hip Hop Phil – the children were amazed!

On Thursday, we had sports day! On Friday, we started off the day with an assembly about physical health and then followed this up with a lesson. The children took part in different physical activities and had to measure their heart rate using their pulse.

In the afternoon, we had a lesson about drug education from D:Side.

Help at home: What was your child’s favourite session of this week?

 

 

 

On Friday, it was Topic Drop Down Morning. Year 5 and 6 joined together for these sessions: History, Geography and Art.

In History, we recapped our knowledge about the Stone Age to Iron Age and Ancient Egypt. The children had to match the significant element to the time period.

To finish off the lesson, Year 5 and 6 needed to decide which civilisation was the most advanced and why.

Help at home: Which time period do you think was the most advanced? Give 3 reasons why.

In Geography, we looked back at out climate change unit. The children needed to match key vocabulary to their definitions.

We then read a kids guide to climate change. The children had to create retrieval questions for their partner to answer.

In our final session of the morning, Year 5 and 6 revisited their art learning – looking specifically at visual and tactile elements. Small groups were given an element each and they had to draw or write something to represent their given word.

Help at home: Can you name all 9 elements?

They then had to match significant artists to their artwork. To finish the lesson, they described the artwork using the visual and tactile elements.

In our next science unit, we are biologists. Biology is the study of living things.

In this week’s lesson, we dissected a flower called Alstroemeria. We labelled the different parts and discussed which of them make up the male and female reproductive systems. Have a look at our work:

Help at home: Label the different parts of the flower.

This half-term,  our PE topic has been cricket. We have been practising our batting, bowling and fielding skills. We have been perfecting the ready position in each of these rolls. In the past couple of lessons, we have been applying our improved skills in games of kwik cricket.

Help at home: Can you show the ready positions? What are the rules of kwik cricket?

Over the past 3 weeks, we have had a plethora of RSE lessons covering a range of topics. This week, we talked about relationships and what makes them healthy as well as families and what makes ours different and unique.

To start, we defined a relationship as “the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected” and then talked about the different relationships we have in our lives. Then, we discussed healthy and unhealthy relationships and thought about how we could support and improve them. Here are a few ideas:

• being kind, considerate and respectful
• being honest
• listening to each other
• respecting personal space, boundaries and privacy
• accepting others’ differences

We then talked about similarities and differences between our families and focused in our why our families are important to us. Here are a few responses. Families provide:

• love
• care
• support
• food
• shelter
• safety

Help at home: Talk with your child about the different relationships they have.

Hi everybody!

Please make sure you bring your costumes and props outlined – in today’s letter – to school no later than Friday 20th June, in a named plastic bag. If you don’t have any of the items listed for your role, please let an adult in Year 5 or Year 6 know before this Friday.

Keep practising your lines at home and get into the character you are portraying!

Thanks everyone!

Year 5 went to the National Science and Media Museum. Whilst we were there, we got to see lots of AMAZING things. We watched a science show that had experiments that the children could join in with – I even had a water balloon popped over my head! We learnt how ‘elephant’s toothpaste’ was created (not actual elephant toothpaste – just the name of the experiment) and create flames of different colours.

We then got to visit the ‘You:Matter’ exhibition where the children were able to immerse themselves in a digital experience that revealed how we are all connected to nature and the universe.

To finish off the day we went into their ‘Wonderlab’. Year 5 were able to experiment with light and sound to understand the technology they use everyday.

The children really enjoyed going on this trip and wanted to share some of their favourite parts:

Aaron: The experiment with the flames because it was cool when the colours changed.

Rory: I liked the show because a) the elephant toothpaste experiment was cool; b) Miss Goswami got wet; and c) the flames changing colour were interesting. The talk about the planets was fascinating!

Ibby: The part where we could put our face onto the screens to see how we are made of atoms.

Erica: I enjoyed being picked to help with the fire experiment.

Rody: I liked the mirror maze because it was fun!

Nate: I liked the whole of the ‘Wonderlab’ because you could interact with lots of different experiments.

Nimrah: I enjoyed the part where you could put your hand into optical illusion with water.

Help at home: Have a discussion about what your child’s favourite part of the day was. What was one thing they learnt from the science talk? What was the best experiment in the live show?

 

This half term, we are designers. Year 5 learnt about design criteria. Design criteria is ‘the precise features a product must have in order to be successful’. In the lesson, we looked at different items and created what we thought the design criteria would be.

 

Help at home: Discuss the key vocabulary for this half term.

 

 

This week, we’ve been reading a poem called ‘Photograph’ by Roger Stevens.

Roger Stevens is a well-known British poet, author, and musician who has written extensively for children. He has published dozens of poetry collections, both as a solo writer and as an editor of anthologies that bring together poems from a range of voices.

Today, we performed the poem in groups! Here are the R2s:

– tone / emphasis
– vary the pace
– vary the volume

Here’s the photo I took
Last year on the beach
Dad, wearing the tie
I bought him for his birthday
Billy drinking lemonade
The straw up his nose
And Mum, huddled up in her coat
Against the seaside wind

Now Dad’s in France
And our beach is covered in concrete
And tangled barbed wire
And land mines
In case the Germans invade

But on that day
We’d just made
The world’s grandest sandcastle
And watched the tide
Rush in
Filling the moat
Gradually washing
The sandcastle away