Year 5 Class News

Writing: Were the early Islamic civilisation an advanced society?

In writing, we have been looking at discussions. The purpose of a discussion is to think about different sides of an argument. The question we are discussing is ‘Were the early Islamic civilisation an advanced society?’.

This question links to our history topic where we’ve been learning about the innovations of the early Islamic civilisation – a golden age. The children have started to write their discussions: introduction and for point. Tomorrow, we will be moving on to write the against point and conclusion.

Help at home: Discuss if the early Islamic civilisation were an advanced society. Use examples of why they were or why they were not.

Living and Learning: Being safe

For the past two weeks, Year 5 have been looking at how to stay safe. Last week, we talked about permission and consent with regards to different types of touches.

We looked at a number of different scenarios and sorted them into 3 different categories: appropriate, inappropriate or depends on the situation.  The children talked about how kicking is an inappropriate touch, high-five is appropriate and holding hands depends on the situation and who it is with.

We then moved on to discuss how appropriate touches feel on the outside and inside of our bodies. The children suggested that they might feel happy, safe, loved and comfortable and their body might be warm.

Help at home: Sort the following scenarios into appropriate, inappropriate or depends on the situation.

• biting
• linking arms
• hugging
• dancing together

Science: An experiment fit for a king!

Year 5 have planned and conducted an experiment fit for a king. They received a very special message from the King with a problem he was facing.

With this message in mind, Year 5 used the enquiry question ‘Which material is the best insulator of heat?’ A thermal insulator is a material that does not let heat pass through it easily or quickly.

Our scientific enquiry type was ‘comparative and fair testing’.

The children used three materials: fabric, bubble wrap and foil. They wrapped these around their beakers and used scientific equipment to measure the temperature of their ‘tea’. Year 5 recorded their results into their tables.

Next week, the children will analyse their results and see if they have any anomalous results (a result that does not fit in with the pattern of other results).

Help at home: Discuss the independent (what is changed), dependent (what is measured) and control (what is kept the same) variables in this experiment.

Maths: Adding with different denominators

For the past two lessons, Year 5 have been learning how to add fractions with different denominators.

Firstly, we recapped Year 4 learning where we added fractions with the same denominator.

We then moved on to fractions with different denominators. To add these types of fractions, we need to find equivalent fractions that have the same denominator. Once we have fractions that have the same denominators we can add them like we did previously. Have a look at a worked example.

Help at home: Have a go at these questions.

Spring term after-school clubs

*UPDATE*

We do have the following availability for clubs should your child wish to sign up.

Living and Learning: D:side drug education visitor

This week, we had a visitor: D:side Dave! Dave came in to talk to Year 5 about the impacts of smoking and vaping.

First of all, we played a game of ‘Which is the most dangerous?’.

• Knives or a plastic cup?
• A toolbox or a Year 5 maths book?
• Smoking or vaping?

The discussion led us onto the impacts and risks of traditional smoking. Have a look at the key points:

We then talked about the different types of vapes and  e.cigarettes and how their packaging is incredibly similar to some packaging for sweets. Take a closer look:

Finally, Dave spoke about how smoking and vaping can impact our health.

Help at home: How many different health impacts can you list in a minute?

Children’s Heart Surgery Fund

This week, Lauren from Children’s Heart Surgery Fund came to visit.

Children’s Heart Surgery Fund is our new school charity, voted for by the Junior Leadership Team, and we learnt all about their work and how our donations will support the charity over the next year.

Here are some of our Junior Leaders with Lauren.

Living and Learning: I know what a drug is.

In Living and Learning, Year 5 have been learning what a drug is, why people use medicine and how vaccines can protect the population.

We defined a drug as ‘a substance that changes the way the body or mind works.’ Then, we moved on to focus how medicines can help:

• prevent someone from becoming ill or stop a disease from spreading
• help someone manage an ongoing health condition, such as asthma or diabetes
• help someone feel better and relieve pain, such as from a headache
• help the body recover from illness

To finish off, we played ‘the vaccination game’. This helped us to look at how different percentages of vaccinated people can affect the spread of diseases. We learnt that the more vaccinated people in a population, the less likely it is for someone to get the disease.

Reading and Music: Sounds Like A Story

Today, we welcomed back Liz from the British Library to do another workshop with us.

This time, we linked together reading and music. It started with us listening to The Phoenix of Persia by Sally Pomme Clayton. As Liz was reading, we had a soundtrack playing in the background; each page had a different song.

Afterwards, we were then able to practise with instruments and then in small groups, create our own soundtrack for the rest of the book. 

Art: Our Sculpture Show

At the end of last term, we had a sculpture show to showcase our amazing sculptures. If you were unable to make it, here are the final pieces of artwork.

Help at home: Discuss how your child’s sculpture related to Barbara Hepworth’s ‘Family of Man’.