Year 5 & 6 Class News

Reading

Posted on Wednesday 28 February 2024 by Mrs Hogarth

We have linked our reading to writing this week and looked at the use of vocabulary. The children are noticing that authors make choices in their writing to help create a mood and effect on the reader. They have read lots of extracts over the last couple of lessons and identified the effect it has on them. Did it make them feel anxious? Elated? Petrified? They found evidence in the text to identify the deliberate word choices that the authors had used.

Viking Artefacts

Posted on Sunday 25 February 2024 by Mr Lindsay

Year 5/6 have been exploring some Viking Artefacts. They made predictions about what each item was used for. We then  discussed how the items have changed over time. There were some items that we still use today which have not changed very much in 1000 years.

Reading: class novels

Posted on Sunday 25 February 2024 by Mr Lindsay

Year 5/6 have thoroughly enjoyed their class novels this year. From tales of escaping from harsh environments in David Long’s Survivors to the thrilling tale of Gunnar in Tony Bradman’s Viking Boy, children have been captivated by these fantastically rich texts.

In 56C, children are now enjoying reading a book which is structured in a different way; You are the chracter and you get to choose the path your story takes.

Help at home: discuss the class novel.  Which one is your child’s favourite? Go to the library and ask for similar books to share at home.

PE – dodgeball

Posted on Thursday 22 February 2024 by Mrs Hogarth

We have been having a great time over the last few weeks learning lots of new dodgeball games. As a class, we are very competent players at the original game, however the children needed to test their skills at some brand new games. Dodgeball is a fast paced game that requires quick movements, good defence and an accurate aim. The children played games of ‘poison ball’ which is a ‘last person standing’ game. They played large team games such as ‘benchball dodgeball’. This involves losing your team to a bench on the opposite side of the court if they are hit. It’s a game of attack and defence. These new games have definitely been great fun and we are all out of breath by the end of our PE sessions.

Leeds United Primary Choices

Posted on Thursday 08 February 2024 by Mr Lindsay

This half term, Year 6 had a workshop from the Leeds United Foundation about Choices. The workshop covered a range of subjects: antisocial behaviour, being aware of apps, moving on to high school, making friends and legal ages.

Two children were also lucky enough to win two tickets each to watch Leeds vs Leicester. What a fantastic  prize!

Safer Internet Day

Posted on Thursday 08 February 2024 by Mr Lindsay

This week at school has been our online safety week and lots of our learning has linked to being safe online.

In reading, we enjoyed our reading fluency text called: 10 top tips for respect online.
On Tuesday, it was our ‘staying safe online’ day. One of our sessions that day was all about misinformation, disinformation and hoaxes and ensuring we are critical users of the internet.
The children were given different sources of information taken from web pages and summarised the information. Despite the websites having a padlock, https, and even one seemingly from the BBC website, the information, however, was all made up!
This is disinformation – information shared that isn’t true on purpose.
We learnt to make sure if we see something on the internet, that we check it on other websites/places to ensure the information is true.
If we share information that isn’t true, by accident, this is misinformation. 
 
Help at home: 
1. See if your child can remember the definitions above.
2. Ensure you monitor the websites your children visit and who they are interacting with online.
3. Check in regularly with your child about their online experience.
4. Set time limits on your child’s devices to ensure a healthy balance.
5. Ensure your child is safe online and being respectful, too.
Well done, Y5 and 6!

Reading

Posted on Wednesday 31 January 2024 by Mrs Hogarth

Exploring vocabulary was the focus of our reading lessons this week. We read a text about the Islamic Golden Age and identified lots of facts that we previously didn’t know. We then went on to identify unknown words within the text. Using dictionaries and iPads, we identified the definitions of these words and also searched for antonyms and synonyms. We were able to use these words in our own sentences to show our understanding.

Science: we are chemists

Posted on Wednesday 24 January 2024 by Mrs Hogarth

Science this week has led to the children investigating which materials make the best thermal insulators. Thermal insulators don’t let heat pass through easily or quickly. They planned their enquiry and tested bubble wrap, tin foil and fabric. Which one would keep the water hottest for longest?

The children used thermometers to measure the temperature every five minutes and they recorded their results. Next week we will analyse the results to see which was the best insulator.

Vikings: primary and secondary sources

Posted on Friday 19 January 2024 by Oli Wain

In this week’s history learning, we learnt about primary and secondary sources of historical evidence and how to judge their reliability when learning about the past.

primary source: a source of information created at the time (artefacts, newspaper articles)

secondary source: a source of information created after the event (drawings, reconstructions)

Help at home: See if your child can tell you what happened at Lindisfarne in 793AD.

Living and learning: I know that some drugs can be harmful.

Posted on Monday 15 January 2024 by Mrs Hogarth

We were lucky enough to have D:side visiting us this week. The children got to learn about the different types of drugs including legal, illegal and medical – they learnt about the impact these have on our bodies. Caffeine was even talked about and that this is in the energy drinks that children often consume. They also contain a huge amount of sugar. Smoking and vapes were identified as very harmful and the children now understand the harmful chemicals that are in just one cigarette – there are 4,000.

This was an incredibly informative session and the children engaged brilliantly. They recalled previous learning well and asked some great questions to deepen their knowledge. Some children even applied their learning about peer pressure from our living and learning lesson last week.