Holy Cross Catholic Primary School
'Living, Loving, Learning Together'
Year 5
Welcome to Year 5's Class Page
I am Miss Cresswell, the fortunate teacher of Year 5 and I would like to introduce our class page. Here is where you will find out about the exciting and enjoyable things we have been getting up to during the year. The children in Year 5 are passionate and determined learners who are always willing to try new things in order to deepen their understanding. Please explore our ‘Curriculum Page’ to gain an insight into what we are learning this year!
PE is currently taking place on a Wednesday afternoon whereby the children will take part in multiple Rugby Tots sessions. Please ensure your child has full PE kit in school on Monday ready for activities during the week. It is vital for the children to bring full PE kit so they can take part in the PE sessions safely and comfortably.
Reading is a very important aspect of learning and can make a fantastic impact across the different subjects. We actively encourage children to read every night and record what they have read in their Reading Record. The Reading Record is to be signed by an adult at home regularly. It is important that your child has a book bag so they are able to take home their Reading Record and Reading book.
In Year 5, homework will be given out on a Friday and is to be returned by the following Wednesday. Year 5 will also complete a weekly arithmetic/reasoning test which they are to take home and revise from each week. The children should identify areas of the test that they find challenging. The children are encouraged to come and see me in the morning if they are unsure on any of their arithmetic questions and we can go through this together. If you or your child are ever unsure on a piece of homework, please do not hesitate to speak to me.
Manor residential
The children and I were very lucky to have attended a fantastic residential trip to the Manor. The children participated in zip wires, abseiling, caving, rock climbing, kayaking and canoeing. We all had so much fun and are now looking forward to the next residential!
Art - Creating moods with paint
In Art, we have been focusing on how we can create different moods through our paintings. We have experimented with colours and brush strokes to discovered which creates happy and sad moods. We then looked at a variety of JMW Turner’s work and noticed how he created different moods in his paintings.
PE - Football skills
This week, the children have been practising their football skills. They have been focusing on how to dribble, control then ball, stop the ball and pass it correctly to their peers.
Apple Store - Coding
This week, the children enjoyed a trip to the Apple Store in Liverpool One. The children all participated in an excellent workshop whereby they each used a Sphero and iPad to create different sets of code to accurately direct the Sphero around different complex obstacle courses. The children all really enjoyed this trip and continued their learning of coding with Mr Mills and I when they returned to school.
PE - Rounders
In PE, the children have been learning how to work together to gain possession in a variety of games. In this lesson, the children have been learning how to play rounders and understanding the rules. The children first found this difficult but after a couple of games and understanding how important team work is in this particular game, the became much more confident. The children really enjoyed this PE lesson.
Code-A-Pillars - Algorithms
The children have been working alongside Mr Mills focusing on algorithms. The children have been understanding what an algorithm is, the importance of algorithms and how they are everywhere around us. The children then worked together using the Code-A-Pillars to create a synchronised dance, focusing on both position and commands - creating an algorithm for the Code-A-Pillars to follow. The children really enjoyed this lesson.
Art - Love, Care and Unity
This week, the children have been working with Miss Kronenburg to create art work that will contribute to a whole class piece based on Love, Care, Peace and Unity. The children used key words in different languages within their designs.
Creating PowerPoints in RE
In RE, we have recently began our new topic - Transformation. For the 'explore' section, the children have been looking at the different types of energy and worked together to create PowerPoint presentations detailing the pros and cons of each. The children enjoyed using the laptops to create their PowerPoints based on their findings.
Estimating and Measuring Angles
In Maths, the children have been looking at different angles. In this lesson, the children worked in pairs to first estimate the degrees of the different angles using their knowledge of acute angles, right angles, obtuse angles and reflex angles to help with the accuracy of their estimations. The children enjoyed using the 'magic whiteboard' and whiteboard pens to write their estimations.
Stations of the Cross
In RE, the children have been looking at the different Stations of the Cross. To show their understanding, the children worked together to create booklets for younger children to explain what happened at the different stations. The children then took their booklets to Year 1 and worked in groups to explain and show the younger children what they have learnt.
The Piano - Live Postcards
The children created still images using different scenes from the film clip - The Piano. The children used emotions and feelings to understand how each of the characters would have been feeling and what they may be saying to one another. When asked, the children then brought their 'postcard to life' and began to act in role of the characters from the film clip.
Anglo-Saxons Settlement
Prior to focusing on the Anglo-Saxons settlement, we recapped our knowledge of the seven continents of the world. The children used playdough to create the seven continents of the world and looked at where they are located in comparison to one another using a map of the world. Once we had recapped our knowledge of this, we focused on Britain and where the Anglo-Saxons settled. We used 'flags' to locate where each of the tribes settled.
Jungle Book Drama Workshop
The children have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a workshop based around using drama to reenact different scenes from the Jungle Book. The children all worked together to create different scenes/still images using actions, facial expressions and speech.
Easter Play - Ascension
Figurative Language Poetry
Today the children have been looking at figurative language and the impact that it can have for the reader. The children looked at metaphors, similes, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia words that they can use within poetry and writing to create images in the readers minds. We then worked together to create a class poem based around a war animated video. The children worked in pairs to write a line for our poem using what they have learnt and then we put them together and ordered them until we were all happy with the final poem.
Gymnastics
The children have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in gymnastics lessons. So far, the children have learnt how to roll, dismount, travel and jump in a variety of different gymnastic ways. The children are all thoroughly enjoying their gymnastic lessons and are looking forward to learning more in the upcoming weeks.
Goodnight Mr Tom - Comparing a Film Clip to the Book
The children have recently been reading and discussing different chapters from our class novel focusing on the impact and images it creates for the reader. In today’s lesson, we compared different clips from the film to the chapters that we had read. We discussed whether the film clip and the text had the same impact for the reader and found many similarities and differences between the two.
Celebrating World Book Day
The children were fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit our local library. They enjoyed hearing and participating in Craig Bradley’s poems to celebrate World Book Day.
Rainforest Animals Workshop
This week, Year 5 took part in a fantastic workshop whereby each child had the opportunity to handle many different animals that are typically found in the Rainforest. The children gained a great insight into each of the animals, discovering what they like and dislike, what they eat and how long their life expectancy is. The children all really enjoyed the workshop and this proved to be the perfect way to end our Rainforest topic!
Islamic Patterns
In Design Technology, the children have been busy planning and making cushions using their own Islamic patterns. Once the children had designed their own Islamic patterns, they used fabric paint to transfer their patterns onto material. The children have been learning a variety of stitches to use on their cushions and have shown much resilience in order to learn this very difficult skill. The cushions are looking fantastic!
Islamic Artifacts
This week in Religious Education, the children have been celebrating the Islamic faith. Year 5 have been very lucky to have had a parent visit our class to explain the significance and importance of the Islamic faith. We all had the opportunity to have a close look at a prayer mat and Qur'an and understand how they are used within this faith. The children were able to ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of the Islamic faith and make comparisons to the Christian faith.
NSPCC Number Day
This week, the children in Year 5 celebrated the NSPCC Number Day. The children all wore clothes that included a digit and participated in multiple games that involved numbers. The children particularly enjoyed playing 'Who Wants to be a Mathionnaire?'
Chicks!
This week, the children have been very lucky to have gained the opportunity to observe and handle the chicks within our Nursery classroom. We linked our visit to our current science topic and looked at the life cycle of birds. The children all really enjoyed visiting the chicks and learning about their life cycle!
Re-enacting Chapter 5 - Declaring War
During English this week, the children have read chapter 5 of Goodnight Mister Tom and spent time understanding the speech made by Neville Chamberlain. The children then used role play to gain a deeper understanding of how the characters from that chapter may have been feeling when the war was declared. Each child took on a role and planned how they would like to re-enact the scene. The children used objects and their voices to re-enact sounds that they may have heard and used expressions in their faces to express feelings in the role of each character.
Cookery - Apple Turnovers
During this cookery lesson, the children learnt how to make apple turnovers and they were delicious! The children are all really enjoying their cookery lessons and are learning lots of new skills.
UNICEF Day for Change
In February, the school will be taking part in activities for the UNICEF Day for Change. Our school councillors discussed the options that we could choose from to do on that day. Kiki took the lead role of explaining and running the discussion while Tanmayee has the very important job of keeping notes from the meeting. The children all enjoyed having their vote and letting their opinion be heard.
Cookery - Jam Tarts
This half term, the children are currently participating in cookery lessons provided by our school cook. During this lesson, the children learnt how to make jam tarts and they all looked delicious!
Childline
The children have been very lucky to have participated within a school assembly and a workshop delivered by the NSPCC charity. They spoke to the children about what they can do and who they can talk to if they are feeling worried about something. The workshop raised an awareness of Childline and the services available.
Careers Using Maths
The children have been focusing on how they may need to use Maths in their future careers. They have all been thinking about what they would like to do when they are older and have been busy investigating how they might need to use Maths each day within their future jobs. We have been very lucky to have parents come in from different professional careers to explain how they use Maths each and every day to complete their job, outlining the significance of Maths for the children. Dylan’s mum is a nurse and she explained how she needs to use Maths to ensure that she is giving her patients the correct dosage of medicine. Maryam’s dad is an engineer and he explained to the class how he would use Maths to work out the volume of one brick in order to work out how many bricks he would need to build a wall. He spoke about the importance of Maths to ensure that his company buy the correct amount of supplies which would reduce the risk of wasting money. The children really enjoyed learning about the different careers and thinking about how they would use Maths each day in the future.
Hook Lesson - Goodnight Mister Tom
This half term, we have started our new class novel - Goodnight Mister Tom. We began our story by using a old suitcase filled with props, words and images that relate to the story. After a discussion about each item in the case, we made predictions on what we think the story might be about and what is going to happen within the story.
Christmas Disco
The children all really enjoyed their Christmas disco. There was lots of dancing, singing and conger lines formed which put us all in the Christmas spirit!
Christmas Cards and Christmas Trees
The children all really enjoyed making their Christmas cards and Christmas trees. The children enjoyed sewing their trees together, attaching the beads for decoration and filling the trees with cotton wool to make them 3D.
Rainforest Collage
The children all created their own collages in art based on the rainforest. The children used a range of materials to create their artwork. The children are all very proud of the pieces they produced.
Black History Workshop
This week, the children actively participated in a fantastic workshop based on famous stories and people that form parts of history. The workshop focused on Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King. The children participated in many different role play opportunities to gain and deepened understanding of each of the stories. The children all really enjoyed the workshop and learnt lots!
PSHE- PANTS
This week, the children completed a lesson focusing on ‘The Underwear Rule’. The children all participated in a class discussion about keeping ourselves private and protecting ourselves. The children then decorated their own ‘pants’ to remind us of the rules. This will go on display within our classroom!
Music - Jazz/glockenspiels
In music, the children have began to look at jazz pieces. The children have been learning to play the glockenspiels focusing on keeping in time with one another and playing as part of a band. Year 5 really enjoy music lessons and always try hard to improve their skills.
Maths Problem Solving Workshop
The children took part in a fantastic problem solving workshop. The children worked together to practically solve the challenging problems that they faced.
50/50 Challenge - Class 5 Market
Year 5 took part in raising money for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. The children received £50 and had to work together to use that money in order to turn it around and make a profit. The children decided to sell hair bows, donuts and drinks on their stalls. All the children showed excellent teamwork and made a total of £203.25 altogether! Well done Year 5! We are all very proud!
Brazilian Carnival Dance
The children have been enjoying learning some traditional Brazilian carnival dance moves this week. The children are going to use what they have learnt to choreograph their own dance sequence in the upcoming week.
Following Instructions - Card Games
In English, the children have been focusing on instructions. In this lesson, the children had to follow instructions to play a variety of card games. The children then had to analyse the instructions stating what was good about them and what could be improved. The children will use what they found out to help when creating their own instructions to ensure they are easy to follow and of a good standard.
Following Instructions - Witches Fingers
In English, the children enjoyed following a set of instructions to make ‘Witches Fingers’. The children worked together to follow the steps accurately to ensure they made their ‘fingers’ correctly.
E-safety - Being aware of who you may be speaking to online
Year 5 have been looking at how to be safe online. The children have read two different books about being aware of who it is you are speaking to online and how it may be someone pretending to be someone else. After a class discussion, the children created their own E-safety posters to bring an awareness to others.
South African Sunset
Year 5 created their own African sunset paintings. The lesson focused on drawing to scale and mixing colours together accurately to find the correct colour for their sunset. The children used watercolours and poster paint to create their art work.
Binary Code
Today the children learnt about binary code and how to convert numbers into binary code. The children each made a ‘binary piano’ to help them with converting the numbers into binary code.
African/Repeated Patterns - Printing
Year 5 have been looking at repeated patterns and African patterns in art. The children analysed and compared a variety of African patterns and used what they found out to design their own patterns, The children then used the printing process to transfer their patterns onto card. The children used two colours to show the different stages of printing.
School Council Vote
This week, the children discussed the advantages of becoming part of the school council. The children came up with their very own persuasive speeches and presented these very confidently to the class. I would like to congratulate Tanmayee and Kiki on their success of becoming part of the school council.
English Ambassadors
The children again participated within a vote to appoint our new English Ambassadors to represent Year 5. We listened to a number of pupils speeches about why they would make an ideal candidate. The children then voted for their two favourites! I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Florence and Kiki on their success!
Maths Ambassadors
This week the children had their very own democratic vote. All of the candidates were extremely persuasive and each of their points provided fantastic reasons to favour their likelihood of becoming an ambassador. However, the chosen ambassadors are Tanmayee and Lottie, therefore I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on their success.
