Diary entry writing
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been building up to writing our own diary entries. We read numerous stories from our class novel – Survivors and used these to generate ideas for our own writing. We based the majority of our ideas on the story of Mawson who was the sole survivor of an expedition to Antarctica. We spent some time focusing on vocabulary and generated words that would describe the landscape, emotions and the hardship of an expedition. We began to consider suitable fronted adverbials to add to our writing. These were being used to add extra detail and interest to our writing and to demonstrate our ability to vary our sentence structure. The children also needed to include relative clauses in their diary entry. Everyone worked super hard on their diaries and they were a pleasure to read.
WUSU…per Stars!
Every day, , Year 5 and 6 participate in 10 minutes of Wake Up, Shake Up to get our heart beats nice and high
Children have the option of dancing to songs from our WUSU playlist, or skipping and showing off some cool skills!
Obviously the adults like to join in too!
Let’s get reading!
Last week, your child brought home a new reading record book. We are encouraging every child to read regularly at home and we would like parents to support us in this initiative. The children will be set a target page to read up to on a Friday and this needs to be completed by the following week. We are asking parents to sign the record books to show your child has read.
The children will also be set an activity to complete at home. This could be to draw a character and say what you like about them, it could be to generate some questions you would like to ask a character or prepare an argument for Book War. The task they’ve been set will be written on the activity page. Children need to consider the presentation of the work they produce in these books. There are also some challenges at the back of the record book that we would also like the children to have a go at. We will celebrate the reading that the children have completed and the activities every Friday in class.
Be a reading hero and get reading!
Thinking Like Scientists in PE!
Year 5 and 6 have been using their chemistry knowledge of materials, and their properties, to help develop skills in PE lessons.
We have been using a variety of equipment (made from different materials) in our games and exercises. After feeding back our thoughts of the sizes, shapes and properties of the materials, we agreed the best and worst equipment to suit each task. Turns out it’s not easy to throw a rugby ball into a basketball hoop!
Pupils have thoroughly enjoyed exploring this aspect, using their inside learning in their outside activities.
Bike to School week and Let’s ride
Bike to School week and Let’s ride
Biking and scooting are one of the ways we encourage children to actively travel to and from school and next week we’ll be taking part in Bike to School Week (with Sustrans and the Bikeability Trust). We are pleased to be part of this UK-wide event, encouraging families to cycle, or scoot, to school. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate active school journeys and the positive impact it has on children’s health and wellbeing – as well as the environment.
Scooter storage facilities are available at the top of the playground near the gazebo.
Also, taking place this weekend is the free Let’s Ride session held locally at the Brownlee Centre.
This free family community event is ideal for the whole family to enjoy cycling in a safe and friendly space. At the Leeds Brownlee Centre, Bodington Playing Fields, you can ride at your own pace as many times as you like with volunteers on hand to chat all things cycling.
Sign up for the event here.
Living and Learning: I know the 8 Rs
This week, the year 5/6 have been reviewing our 8 Rs. They were even better than the staff at remembering all the 8 Rs – reflecting, remembering, responsive, ready, resilient, responsible, resourceful and risk-taking.
Children then ranked the 8 Rs by the importance to them.
One pupil said, “Risk-taking is the best because if you don’t take risks then you might miss out on some opportunties.”
We are Living in a Material World!
Year 5 and 6 have been hard at work this week – we have been planning, testing and evaluating properties of materials!
First, we had to plan our scientific experiment. We decided to test the strength of bags (made from different materials) by adding weights to them, until they reached their maximum capacity. We had to think about the variables to keep and change, as well as how to remain safe during this experiment.
Well, what did we find out? It turns out bin bags are rubbish… but we knew that already. The cotton bag was a huge surprise – it could hold a huge 40 kilograms! Some pupils went one step further and showed off their data presentation skills by using bar charts and line graphs to record results.
Where in the world am I?
This week we have been discussing green spaces, including urban green space. This is linked to the vocabulary that we are learning in class. We used OS maps to look for green spaces in Leeds and then moved onto discussing green belt areas. This is an area that is protected against most forms of development in order to preserve areas of natural beauty and to protect wildlife. This is to also stop city expansion impacting on our green space. Can your child identify and urban green spaces in Leeds?
Year 5 swimming survey
As part of the government PE and Sport Premium for primary schools, there is a condition requiring schools to publish how many pupils meet the National Curriculum requirements. As school swimming lessons have been disrupted due to Covid-19, please could you complete this short survey to provide up to date information for your child.
Thank you
Mrs Latham
PE/Health Leader
Welcome Back To School Week
5/6A are having a brilliant return to school this week. From investigating materials in science, to travelling around England’s National Parks in our geography topic, it feels like our brains are about to explode with learning already!
I am really pleased with how well the pupils, and staff, have managed to adapt back into our school setting – it shows how resilient we are after a difficult time for all.
As our living and learning statement this week is ‘I can greet someone politely’, we are making sure that we are speaking to each other with respect. We are listening, responding appropriately and ensuring we ping-pong that conversation back and forth!
Well done, 5/6A – keep it up!