Class novel
We have been continuing to enjoy our class novel which is Forest of Doom by Ian Livingstone. This is a great adventure story in which the children choose the path for the main character. They have to collect equipment, battle monsters and stay alive! The class appear to enjoy taking risks which leaves me cringing as we read! We are still alive though – for now!
Science – chemistry
We are being chemists this half term and looking at the properties of substances and the changes they go through. This lesson, we talked about how to separate different mixtures such as flour and rice or sand and water and the children were able to explain that you could use a sieve or you could filter the mixtures. This is a reversible change. They then talked about how they could separate a solution of salt and water. They had some great scientific discussions about this before finally reaching the conclusion that evaporation will allow the reversible change to take place. The children made a salt water solution and placed it in dishes on the windowsill. Heat speeds up the process of evaporation. The children were wowed by how fast the water evaporated and that it left behind salt crystals.
Living and Learning: reflecting and connecting
Pupils in 5/6 have been reflecting and connecting. Before the Easter break, we took some time to connect with our surroundings. Following the Easter break, one child was awestruck by the vibrant colour in this blossom tree on our playground. Another child asked if we could take a picture and share just how beautiful it was with everyone. The pink blossom framed against the dark green and grey is truly worth spending a few minutes just to stop and stare.
Perhaps, like Wordsworth you might take a moment to reflect:
Topic: Biomes
This half term, we’ve launched our brand new Geography topic all about biomes, and what a fantastic start it’s been!
This week, the children have been busy exploring the characteristics of different biomes from around the world. We’ve discovered that biomes are large areas of the Earth that share similar climates, plants and animals, and the class were amazed at just how different these environments can be. From the hot, humid rainforests bursting with life to the dry, extreme deserts where only specially adapted organisms survive, there was plenty to get stuck into.
Using maps, discussion and some brilliant teamwork, the children began to identify what makes each biome unique. They explored key features such as temperature, rainfall and location, and started to understand how these factors shape the living things that can survive there. There were some fantastic observations and thoughtful ideas shared.
We’re really looking forward to diving deeper into this topic over the coming weeks, watch this space!
Help at home: ask your child about their new topic vocabulary.
Happy and healthy PE
Welcome back after the Easter break. We hope you all had a lovely rest and are rearing to get back into learning. 5,6B were straight into their new PE unit today – basketball. A crazy game of Tig was played first to warm ourselves up and get our hearts pumping. We then split into teams to play Possession Ball. A game of tactics and interception in which your team tries to keep hold of the ball. This is a great, fast-paced game that also improves communication within a team. The children then got into pairs to refresh themselves with the different ways of passing a basketball – overhead, chest pas, bounce pass and one-handed. The children then applied these skills in some smaller games. Their throwing became increasingly accurate over the lesson.
Maths: dividing and multiplying with fractions
Children in Year 6 have been thinking about how to represent number sentences using pictures. They have been telling stories to help them understand the concept of dividing a fraction by a whole number.
Living & Learning: I know the importance of a healthy diet
Children discussed the Eatwell Guide from the NHS. They designed a day a food that would fit into the guide.
Help at home: Discuss dinner options with your child. What would their ideal healthly meal be? How could you switch out an item to make your meal even healthier?
Forest School Fun
The Year 5’s have been having a great time at Forest School every Monday and the rain yesterday didn’t even dampen their spirits. The children have had the opportunity to create some bug hotels to encourage insects to the site. Yesterday, they put their culinary skills to the test and made some garlic flatbreads. They cooked these on the fire and they were delicious! The children arrived back at class absolutely covered in mud but they’d had so much fun.
Reading: Beware the Jabberwocky!
Year 5/6 have been reading poetry this week. We have read and analysed Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. Children retrieved information from the text and drew what they thought the Jabberwocky might look like.
Help at home: enjoy the poem together. Have fun trying to work out what each word means. Some words are two words spliced together.
Living and Learning: I know the importance of personal hygiene, including handwashing
This week, Year 5/6 have been learning about personal hygiene. We watched some videos about the importance of using a tissue when sneezing. We discussed the difference between using hand soap and sanitiser. Children were shocked to learn that at any point in the day you might be in contact with 10,000,000,000,000 (10 quadrillion) microbes.
Help at home: discuss the importance of washing hands at key points in the day.