Year Five - Juniper and Aspen
Spring 2
In Year 5, the children have worked very hard in all subjects this half term, producing work to be proud of. They thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life of Mary Anning in English. Following this, they researched a famous person and wrote a biography based on their findings. Our class text, Street Child by Bertie Doherty, has been an enjoyable read that has provoked some in-depth discussions.
In History, the children have studied the Vikings, making comparisons between life in the past and life today. It has been fascinating to learn how the Vikings came to Britain and what life was like during this time. Finding out about King Ethelred and his Danegeld strategy led to a lively discussion about how the children would have tackled the Viking invasions if they had been in charge.
Science has been very practical and investigative; the children have explored many concepts, including whether older people are always taller and how quickly different types of sugar dissolve in cold water. Pleasingly, the children have been making plausible predictions and drawing conclusions based on their results.
This half term, we have been fortunate to have welcomed several visitors to our school, including Steven Vinacour (a famous author) and Fiona from ‘Knives not Lives’. The children have also taken part in a Taskmaster project with the University of Hertfordshire based on ‘The Law’. During these sessions, they participated enthusiastically in the exciting challenges and learned so much about the legal system in the UK.
What an exciting half term it has been! We look forward to seeing what the Summer Term will bring.
Spring 1
This half term Year 5 have been reading The Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen. We have had some interesting discussions and produced lots of work in English based on this book.
In Maths we have focussed on fractions and understanding how we find equivalent fractions. We have also been comparing and ordering fractions using visual representations to further enhance our understanding of them. We had a special visit from the University of Hertfordshire who came in to teach us more about the solar system; this was really exciting!
We have also been lucky enough to have colleagues from the University of Hertfordshire come in to teach us about the Law. We have really enjoyed these and have undertaken lots of Taskmaster style activities with them. They will be coming back at the beginning of Spring 2 for a third session.
Autumn 2
This half term Year 5 have been reading Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans. We have had some interesting discussions regarding immortality and what the world would be like if certain people lived forever!
In English we began the half-term analysing poetry – such as In Flanders Field – linked to Remembrance Day and came up with some of our own poems. Recently we have read the ‘How To Be A World Explorer: Your all-terrain training manual’ by Joel Levy and have created our booklets based on surviving in different landscapes. We included exciting descriptive language within the different sections of this.
In Science we have been learning about Earth and Space and have begun our project with the University of Hertfordshire. We had an astrophysicist visit us to teach us and help us make connections with some of the content we have been learning in our science lessons.
We have been proudly representing Yewtree in different sporting activities outside of school this half-term. Some Year 5 children have represented the school at the district cross-country event at Longdean School whilst others have represented the school in football matches against Hammond Academy, Lime Walk and St Mary’s this half-term. Finally, we have also had some Year 5 children represent us in netball against Belswains Primary.
Autumn 1st Half
This half term Year 5 have been reading The Boy in the Back of the Class by Onjali Rauf. We have had some thought-provoking discussions regarding refugees and linked this to how we welcome new children to Yewtree.
In English we have read the Monsterology Handbook by Dugald Steer and have created our own non chronological reports based on a fictional monster.
In Art we have created self-portraits. We used mirrors to ensure we accurately portrayed ourselves and used sketching pencils and water colours. These are now proudly displayed in our classroom.
We have been proudly representing Yewtree in different sporting activities outside of school this half-term. Recently we have attended our first tag rugby event. This was particularly exciting as many of the children had never had a try at rugby before. We ended the half-term by walking to Adeyfield School and then taking part in the Cross-Country championships. We had lots of fun and showed excellent perseverance to get round the 2-kilometre route.