Learning  »  Class Pages  »  Archive  »  Year 5  »  Year 5 Archive 21/22

Hi and welcome to our Year 5 page. We have got lots going on this year throughout the curriculum and have started fantastically well in these strange times! Below, you will find lots of information about what we have been doing, as well as learning that could be done at home for support and practise. 

Class Time Table (Subject to changes*)

Attached is the current class time table for your reference. This is subject to changes that happen across the year and will be updated if and when appropriate.

How to help your child at home

Below are a selection of links that might help you with supporting your child at home with books recommended for their level, SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) knowledge, times tables pracitse, arithmatic practise and spelling word lists. Please contact Mr Jackson if you have any more suggestions, recommendations or requests for anything else. For further practise, please access Purple Mash activities, or Century for ‘Nuggets’ to practise.

Times Tables Test Practise Sheets

Feel free to print these sheets off or adapt them for your children to practise for their fluency in recalling their times tables to 12 x 12:

Websites to help with learning

Click on the link to check out some of the websites that will help with children's independent practise at home and websites that are useful for Parents/Carers to support children in their learning. Additionally, there are websites which will help with preparations for Year 6 also, but are more formal, rather than fun games and activities (such as http://satspapers.org/).

Creative Lego Workshop

Year 5 were very lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience a 'Creative Lego Workshop', whereby the leader, Steven, gave the children opportunities to build structures and ideas in their own way (linking with our current Design and Technology driver subject this half term), as well as practically investigate gears, pulleys and leavers -which also linked with our current Science focus on 'Forces'.

Here, you can see the children being creative and taking in the knowledge, as well as applying it practically in a range of different ways through the Lego.

NSPCC Speak out, Stay Safe!

Year 5 and Year 6 were fortunate enough to have a visit from ‘Buddy’ and the NSPCC team, to come and talk to us about speaking out and staying safe. We have had assemblies in school about encouraging children to ‘speak out’ about their problems, but also to speak out about celebrating the good things. Within these sessions, the programme helps children understand:
-abuse in all its forms and how to recognise signs of abuse
-that abuse is never a child’s fault and that they have the right to be safe
-where to get help and the sources of help available to them, including our Childline service.
The children showed excellent knowledge within the sessions, great maturity and thorough understanding of their right to speak out, throughout a range of scenarios and case studies. The visitors were very complimentary and were blown away by the children’s engagement and enthusiasm.

Science starter - Isaac Newton and Galileo!

Year 5 have made a great start to their Science focus on 'Forces', where we have already discussed many of our 'Goldilocks words' (vocabulary) that we are expected to understand and define before the end of this half term. We have discussed Gravity, friction, air resistance, water resistance, drag, surface area and many more related terms in lesson 1! Here are some pictures of us investigating Galileo's and Isaac Newton's theories on Gravity. Everybody was surprised by the result!

Greek Day May 2022

Year 5 and Year 6 enjoyed a wonderful curriculum ‘Greek Day’. We were able to branch out in our learning and experience what it may have been like to transcribe and write in the Greek alphabet, make Greek hummus, eat other Greek food and compete in Gem groups to win our very own Greek Olympics!rnrnAbove and below, you can see groups competing with the javelin throw, as well as the discus, where we measured the distances and were able to identify the winners and calculate our personal bests. rnrnAdditionally, we competed in the ‘Legendary Long Jump’, again resulting in overall winners for the event and gaining our personal bests. We added in our own creative game, whereby we had to bounce the ball into the basket, which required estimation, precision and control, all of which the Greek Olympians required. Finally, we ran our own ‘Stadion’ running race to determine our personal best times with speed and power.rnOverall, the points were counted and the overall winners were Amber, so congratulations to those members! Having said this, the children showed good gamesmanship, team work (‘working together’) and ‘ambition’ - all of which we’ve worked on with our Primrose Lane Learner Values.rnrnTo complete what was a fabulous day, all children enjoyed making Greek hummus after a hard day’s work in the Olympics! We discussed our own ingredients for our recipe, put our own twists on the flavours (with flavouring) and made our hummus with various equipment. We also ate olives, feta cheese, carrots and pitta bread. rnrnHere’s what some of us thought of the day:rnElizabeth – ‘I enjoyed the Greek Olympics as I am a very sporty person. Half a day of sport is always entertaining! Also, it was fun doing it in the chiton.’rnToby – ‘I think that Greek Day was an amazing experience. Making hummus was a great part of it because we don’t often get the chance for cooking and I love cooking!’rnElise – ‘I really enjoyed the Olympics because it was fun to experience how the Greek competed.’rnBailey – ‘I enjoyed Greek Day because when we did the Olympics, it actually felt like we were competing for our country, but it was about our personal bests. Also, making hummus was great because I have never tried it before, or olives.’rn

Brownlee Brothers Triathlon May 2022

All of Year 4 and Year 5 enjoyed an exciting morning at John Charles Centre for Sport at the Brownlee Brothers Triathlon event. The children arrived, equipped ready for an unforgettable experience, which began with a 50m swim, followed by a 300m run and 800m cycle. Once the Brownlee brothers had wished the children good luck via video link, they were ready and equipped to go!

The children were bursting with excitement, but once briefed at the beginning, were surprised to discover that they had to go straight from the pool, get changed into their sport gear and continue (without drying off!) with their cycle, followed by the run finish.

The whole of Year 4 and Year 5 thrived on the experience and went with it, all completing the stages and achieving a medal and goody bag.

Upon completion of the course the children congratulated each other on their successes and enjoyed refreshments from their goody bags whilst watching other schools reach the finish line.
All children behaved excellently and were a credit to Primrose Lane. Here’s what some of the children had to say about their experience:
Sophia – ‘I really enjoyed the experience because I love swimming and it was fun with the running and cycling. It was my first triathlon experience and I loved it!’
Finlay – ‘I loved doing the triathlon because it was my first time doing the triathlon and it was also my first time doing three events in a short period of time.’
Bella – ‘I liked that if you struggle to ride a bike, you got to use a scooter. I also liked the swimming part.’
Matthew – ‘It was a really fun experience to know what it felt like after doing a triathlon.’
Elliot – ‘I really enjoyed doing the triathlon: I enjoyed swimming, cycling and running.’

Greek Vase Day 2022

This week, Year 5 enjoyed their Greek Vase Day, where they began by learning all about the importance of Greek Vases, as well as what they tell us about the past (all the way back to the 800’s BCE). They designed their own Greek vases/pots, with labels, captions and instructions, as well as shared ideas for what type of vase/pot they wanted to produce, and the purpose it would have had in the Greek era. Within their artistic skill, they focused on colour, pattern, shape, line and in particular ‘motif’ to think about their design for a repeated patter.

Once their designs were finished, they made use of their carving knives, clay, pencils, rolling-pins and water to create their intended designs - look below, what do you think?

The Year 5’s then reflected on their own and other’s vases and evaluated, thinking what went well, what could have been improved and what they would recommend to people if they were to teach them in the future.

Even though it required a lot of perseverance, planning and control, children loved their experience and have produced some top quality vases (that I am sure you’d be proud to display at home!). It was great to see Parents/Carers come in and discuss the children’s learning, as well as see all of the learning that they have been producing in school – we hope you enjoyed it!

Here are some quotes from some of the children about their day:
Sophia – ‘I enjoyed making the shape of the vases and designing it. It was good to experience learning of how and why Greeks used vases in ancient times.’
Matthew – ‘I really enjoyed designing the vase and making it a whole day, as it was great fun! It felt like you were in Greece during that era!’
Bella – ‘I liked how we made different patterns and motifs, so that we didn’t have to stick to one type of vase.’
Elliot – ‘I really enjoyed shaping and moulding my vase. I liked flattening it out, experiencing what they did in Ancient Greece.’
Annika – ‘I enjoyed seeing all of the range of Greek designs, and enjoyed showing our vases to our Parents.’
Bailey – ‘I liked designing and drafting of how we were going to make the vases, focusing on line, colour and pattern. It felt satisfying smoothing the clay.’

Science - The Titanic!

In Science, we have started our unit on the 'Titanic', which revolves around why the Titanic sank. This enables us to investigate 'floating and sinking' and determine why objects float and sink, what density is, why surface area affects this, and many more factors. Here so far, you can already see that we have observed and tested different objects floating and how we can adapt objects to float better (including the effect the orange peel has on making an orange float, compared to without a peel and it sinking; the effect squashing tinfoil has whether in water or not; making plasticine float; testing how we can change an object so that it floats; and monitoring temperatures etc). We have worked well in groups, having excellent conversations which have involved discussing gravity, upthrust, density, mass, weight, surface area etc). Investigations have been effective, especially the one involving thermal insulators and measuring temperatures, where we compared everybody's choice of insulation on line graphs! A great start to our Science focus!

Fire Service Visit

Year 5 and 6 had a visit from the West Yorkshire Fire Service to come and speak to us about safety considerations from fires and escaping. The fire-fighters discussed saftey measures we should consider with cooking, candles, electircal equipment, smoking, smoke detectors, home safety, bed-time routines and escaping safely. All this was really valuable learning (even for an adult reminder, let alone children!), and the children engaged with some brilliant questions and discussions. Matthew's quote sums it up perfectly: 'It was really helpful to learn and in the future I will use this every day to ensure I keep myself safe!'

Eco Warrior of the Month!

After we took part in a webinar about the book Climate Action by Georgia Stevens, we launched a new initiative at Primrose Lane. Each month a child or children can win an Eco Warrior award for their 'above and beyond' efforts linked to helping prevent climate change. In its first month, Elizabeth (Year 5) won the award for her amazing efforts at home where she made a concerted effort to turn off all lights in the house whenever possible, switching off the radiators when they were not needed and introduced a no-meat May once she had checked with all her family members. These small actions can make a big difference, well done Elizabeth. As a prize for all her efforts, Elizabeth won a bar of Tony's fairtrade chocolate. The company that makes them not only sources the ingredients through fairtrade but also supports the prevention of forced labour to make chocolate around the world. The next winner could be you!

Science - Sexual and Asexual Reproduction!

Year 5 have enjoyed the start of their new Science focus of this half term on 'Living things and their habitats', whereby so far they have learnt about sexual and asexual reproduction.

Firstly, we discussed the flowering plants and how they produce sexually, discussing and explaining key 'Goldilocks Vocabulary', including: 'stamen, carpel, reproduction, fertilisation, anther, filament, stigma, style, pollination' etc. We learnt what 'pollination was' and dissected a flowering plant in groups (with Year 6) to see if we could spot all of the parts we had discussed which result in reproduction of flowering plants.

Secondly, we studied 'asexual reproduction', whereby, again, we observed a 'hyacinth' plant and how it grows from a bulb. We also discussed other plants, including strawberry/spider plants (that produce runners) and potatoes (that produce tubers). It has been great so far to practically observe and investigate different plants within our learning which has also helped the information to 'stick' a little better!

PE Dance Routines

In PE, Year 5 again worked brilliantly in groups to produce some dance routines using the James Bond theme tune. We discussed key vocabulary again that we could relate to Gymnastics (mirroring, unison, cannon, balance, coordination, levels, speed etc) and listened to the music to inspire our movements. See some of the creativity below, it was impressive to see the differences in performances from one stimulus!

PE Gymnastic Routines

In PE, Year 5 have been learning about key vocabulary within Gymnastics, as well as demonstrating their understanding, knowledge and ability to apply this physically. We have manipulated our bodies in different shapes, travelling in various ways and putting together nicely sequenced routines (in groups) to calming music. Here are some of the performances for you to enjoy!

Year 5 and Reception Buddies Read for World Book Day!

As part of World Book Day, Year 5 and Reception classes took the opportunity to read together a selection of books of their choice. It was lovely to see the Year 5 children supporting their buddy, but also the Reception children demonstrating their reading and listening skills. Discussions were prominent throughout the classroom and the children loved the time with their friends.
Here's what some of them had to say:
Bailey – ‘I really enjoyed it. I read to my buddy and he read to me.’
Finlay – ‘It was a pleasure to read to my buddy. He listened well. When I had finished the story, he recalled what we liked about it.’
Francesca – ‘I think it’s a great idea to read regularly to our buddies, because it helps them learn new words and they get to read new stories that they may not have read.’
Ruby – ‘I think it’s a great idea to read to younger children, because they learn their phonics and enjoy themselves. I enjoyed reading with expression with them.’
Owen – ‘I found it good, because when we were reading the book, sometimes my buddy got muddled up, but I helped him and then he learnt how to sound out really well.’
Matthew – ‘I found it really fun because my buddy was laughing at our funny book. I asked questions (predictions) of what would happen next and he guessed right.’
Stanley – ‘My buddy and I very much enjoyed reading the book.’
Elizabeth – ‘I really enjoyed reading to my buddy because he enjoyed listening and pointing to the animals. We did actions to make it fun. He got bored with a poem that we read, so then he picked one and loved it!’

Freedom is Coming!

This jubilant song about freedom is in two parts and the children in Y5 learned it so quickly and they keep to their parts so easily. Last minute, we added some percussion, too. Enjoy!

Year 5 Online Safety

Over this half term, and within ‘Safer Internet Day’, Year 5 have spent a lot of time learning, discussing and enquiring about online safety in a range of areas to ensure we know and understand more about the risks and safety measures that we need to consider online. We have considered a lot of scenarios and learnt what to do to report our worries, concerns and speak to trusted adult to voice these concerns.
In particular, we have learnt through programmes on Purple Mash, where we have completed learning on ‘Plagiarism’, ‘Citations’ and ‘Copy Writing’ and the risks involved with these terms for online safety. We have used terms such as ‘phishing’, ‘referencing’, ‘digital footprint’, ‘malware’ and many more. All this has been done with our SMART (Safe, Meet, Accepting, Reliable, Tell) rules in mind. We have complete various 2Do’s on Purple Mash, as well as produced our own posters for online safety to demonstrate our knowledge of safety so far.
Here is what some of the children had to say about online safety:
Matthew – ‘I’ve really enjoyed getting new knowledge of keeping our passwords safe, as well as new vocabulary, such as plagiarism, digital footprints and more.’
Owen – ‘I didn’t know you had to put different symbols in to passwords, and not to put your date of birth for passwords. I have really enjoyed going on laptops and Purple Mash.’
Elizabeth – ‘Online safety lessons have been very beneficial to me because I did not know many of the dangers before we proceeded with these lessons.’

KS2 Author Opportunity

Last week, KS2 were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience being part of an interactive webinar with author Georgina Stevens (who wrote 'Climate Action: The Future is in Our Hands'). Georgina spoke of her back-story of what inspired her to write the book, but also took us through the book, explaining the importance of taking action now as a collective to ensure future security and safety. She explained about our use of fossil fuels contributing to the change in our climate and that the main things to focus on include our use of electricity, light and heat, factories, farming, tree loss and transport but to name a few. Furthermore, she informed us about Leeds declaring a 'climate emergency' and that Leeds have committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2030 - through our help!

Georgina inspired the children across KS2, so much so that children wanted to write letters to make a difference. Lower KS2 wrote letters to Mrs Bailey about things we could do in school to improve our carbon footprint, whereas Upper KS2 write letters to our MP Alec Shelbrooke on how Leeds could further improve. The letters were somewhat inspiring, so much so that Year 6 are planning on publishing their letters and sending them to Alec himself. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to do this and the children really enjoyed the coming together as a group to discuss this and produce some great learning.

Science practical - How does it feel to get old?!

This week in Science, we have been discovering what it might feel like to get old. We used gloves on our hands and tried to do fine-motor skill tasks (to empathise with difficulties in fine tasks due to reduce motor skills or arthritis); we used glasses or face masks over our eyes (to empathise with reduction in eye-sight); we used cotton wool in our ears (to empathise with loss of hearing); and we used bandages on our joints (to empathise with joint problems or osteoporosis). All of this helped the children understand what it might feel like after our bodies have been worn and what effect it can have on every day lives - even if we continue to keep fit and healthy throughout our lives. The class showed great maturity and were able to reflect on how it made them feel, with the focus being 'empathy'!

Year 5 Mindfulness Training - Children's Mental Health Week 2022

Year 5 have been discussing Children’s Mental Health Week and why it is important to look after ourselves, ‘train’ our own bodies and proactively think about how we can maintain a healthy mind. We watched the ‘Virtual Assembly’ presented by Lindsey Russell and Oti Mabuse, then discussed the strategies that they had suggested and whether we could see ourselves doing those things, or whether other strategies suited us.
One activity that we did as a class was some ‘mindfulness training’, where we listened to calming music and all either ‘thought about nothing’, or thought about something that meant ‘relaxation/calmness’ to us. This is what some of the children had to say:
Sophia – ‘I felt calmed, like difting off into a peaceful dream. Positive clouds filled my head; it was like it drowned my negative thoughts. I really enjoyed the relaxing moment – I will definitely do this again!’
Bailey – ‘It made me feel like I was in n a land of my own and my imagination just went out of this world!’
Francesca – ‘I found it very calming and it basically made me feel like I was in my own world. All the stress/emotion that was in my head fell out.’
Elliot – ‘While I lay down and relaxed, I imagined I was at the top of a massive tree and beautiful animals were surrounding me.’
Toby – ‘This was a brilliant session as I almost fell asleep! I felt refreshed for the day.’
Henry – ‘I felt really good after the mindfulness. I thought about an empty universe and me floating around. It was quiet and peacful.’

National Holocaust Day

On the 27th January year 5 learned more about the holocaust and explored this year's Memorial Day theme of 'One Day'. Exploring some challenging content, all of the children showed great maturity and expressed impressive insight into the topic; this built on their studies of World War 2 and their visit from Judith Rhodes. We learnt about the appalling treatment Jews and other groups received both before and during WW2 as well as the fact that that the Holocaust Memorial Day also raises awareness of other genocides that have taken place in history such as in Cambodia and Rwanda. The theme of 'One Day' showed us that we need to value each and every day as well as using the atrocities that took place as a warning to make sure it is never repeated and that 'One Day' can be the start of a new beginning. In year 5 we made posters summarising what we had learnt and also to raise awareness of such an important historical event and to ensure that the shocking statistic that 52% of the UK population do not know the holocaust took place definitely does not apply to the children of Primrose Lane.

Orienteering

Simon came to do an orienteering session and we tried out several new games and challenges. Roughly a third of the class achieved new personal best time!
Maps skills, teamwork and perseverance - so impressive!

Y5/6 River Wharfe Fieldwork Walk (Geography)

On Tuesday 18th January 2022, as part of our Geography topic on ‘Natural Disasters’ (and focusing around oceans, seas and rivers), we took the opportunity to study our local Rivers Wharfe. We are lucky enough to be so close to a beautiful setting and were therefore able to learn all about relevant vocabulary to extend our knowledge of rivers, whether that be the course of the river, erosion, the flow of the river and many of its features (such as the weir, floodplains, deposits, pollution, sediments, meandering, tributaries and oxbows).

We were able to discuss at various points along the river about the features we saw, as well as link this to our knowledge of history of rivers (and why people used to choose to settle near rivers, compared to risks today). We also sketched images and discussed adjectives to inspire us in our writing back at school. We are now well equipped to take this learning back to class.
The children were well behaved throughout, courteous to pedestrians and responded well to questioning. We’d also like to thank the adults on the walk who accompanied us and ensured we were safe throughout the fieldwork
Here’s what some of the children had to say:
Matthew: ‘I really enjoyed watching the flow of the current and it was good to see the person swimming in the river to help us understand how deep it was and how cold it was!’
Harris: ‘I enjoyed seeing how still the River Wharfe was until it came to the weir, where the flow changed direction and started to speed up.’
Finlay: ‘I was fascinated when we were walking close to the river to see how wide and deep the River Wharfe was here compared to Kettlewell, where it was only up to my knees.’

Printing

Y5 really enjoyed learning how to print. We used a small motif design from our William Morris work and made an indented pattern on tiles. The results are stunning!

William Morris Painting!

This week, we have progressed further in our artwork, focusing on all aspects of our art learning from this half term (line, colour palette, motif, shape, pattern etc) to culminate our own representations of William Morris' artwork that inspire us the most. We were free to choose whichever piece of artwork that attracted our attention the most, or chose a natural picture/photograph to replicate William Morris' style of art. Here you can see the focus on line in particular with the children's drawings, but also the colour palette. Some of the pieces are brilliant!

Commando Fitness Part 2!

Due to popular demand, Mr Simpson once again took charge of Commando Fitness with some fun activities, putting Year 5 through their paces with some army drills, team work, determination, balance, coordination and sheer grit! We loved the stretcher, helping people on to the box and doing tug-of-war to finish. Thanks again Mr Simpson; until next time!

Here are the children in action!

Science - Heliocentric Model

In Science, we have recently learnt about the 'Heliocentric Model', which is a theory/model that demonstrated that the Sun is at the centre of our Solar System. This disproved the 'Geocentric Model', where initial theories suggested that the Earth was the centre of our Solar System. In order to learn and demonstrate our knowledge, Year 5 worked in groups to practically prove the heliocentric model, where they represented planets our in Solar System and a news reporter commentated on what was being demonstrated (with excellent use of scientific vocabulary). Here are some of the pictures and videos of our learning!

Here are the reporters on the heliocentric model (as proposed by Copernicus and Galileo)!

Player Loading...
William Morris continued....!

As part of our continued study of William Morris and his work, Year 5 discussed how this pioneering and inspirational artist used colour (with a specific colour palette), line, shape, space and pattern within his work. The children engaged in very thoughtful discussion and recorded their thoughts on a double page spread and then began work on continuations of William Morris' work with challenging small examples of his work. Great effort Year 5!

English - non-chronological report sharing!

Year 5 and 6 Non chronological reports sharing session
On Thursday, Year 5 and Year 6 worked together to look at our recently written chronological reports.

Each child partnered up with a member of the other year group and the two children discussed each others' work. The intention was for the year 5s to observe the completed year 6 work and see if there was anything they could learn and any features they could pick up on. The year 6s could offer advice on how the year 5 work could be improved but also offer praise on what they had done well.

The process was a really positive experience for all involved and both sets of children benefited from the experience; this should improve the learning of both year groups in future lessons.

William Morris (artist focus)

In the first lesson of our art topic driver for the half term, we learnt about our focus artist William Morris. We discovered fascinating facts about him as well as his beliefs about the purpose and value of art as well as looked at some of his incredible artwork. Floral patterns are at the heart of much of his work, particularly his wallpaper designs which revolutionised how homes were decorated in the Victorian era.

You can see some of examples of the double page spreads that we completed that showcase his work and his life.

Here are some of William Morris' famous quotes:

• “The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all details of daily life.”
• “There is no square mile of earth’s inhabitable surface that is not beautiful in it’s own way, if we men will only abstain from wilfully destroying that beauty.”
• “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
• “I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
• “History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.”
• “No man is good enough to be another's master.”

Solar System Investigation!

As part of our Earth and Space Science topic, we have begun our learning with applying our early knowledge of the order of the planets (where we used our own mneumonics to remember the order!) by creating our own Solar Systems. In order to do this, we cooperated to decide on appropriate conversions to apply to our 'relative' size of our planets, as well as the 'relative' distances between planets. We noticed in particular about the distance between the planets increased significantly the further the planets were from the Sun. We also discussed relationships and contrasts between the four inner planets and four outer gas giants. All children worked well together, communicated effectively and showed their contributions. A successful investigation had by all!

Living on a Prayer

Although Singing Assemblies and Choir are currently on hold, nothing can stop Year 5 from rocking out! We have been working on the Bon Jovi classic: Living on a Prayer which includes a tricky glockenspiel part (including F#) and, this week, we had a woodwind group of talented flute and oboe players, too! This video is far from perfect and isn't the 'finished product' but the love of music making really shines through. Enjoy!

Skipping Festival Fun!

Jodi came in again (through her Skipping School) and delivered a brilliant festival, where we learnt lots of new skills, including the forwards and backwards, straddle, pretzel and many more individual skills; as well as 'red arrows' as a group. Here are some pictures of our fun and here is what some of us had to say about it:

Sophia – ‘I loved skipping with Jodie. It was really fun and boosted up my energy quickly.’
Phoebe – ‘I enjoyed the red arrows (when you jump in). I enjoy the sessions with Jodi as it is really fun!’
Toby – ‘It was really fun trying out different skills – such as the pretzel.’

Science Investigation - Mouldy Bread!

Within Science, we have been learning about the five kingdoms (Animals, Plants, Monera, Protists and Fungi). We decided to conduct our own investigations to test mould in bread, looking into what conditions make mould grow well and quick. Here are some pictures of us starting our investigations - stay tuned to see our end results and conclusions!

Anderson shelters!

As part of their World War Two focus, children have been learning about air-raids and different ways of keeping safe during air-raids. One way that people did this was to get into Anderson Shelters. For this reason, children in Year 5 had a project of designing their own Anderson Shelters and making them in their own way. As you can see, children had a choice of how they wanted to design their shelters, as well as make them, from making cakes, using corrugated card/metal, astroturf, designing on MIndcraft and many more creative and engaging ways! They also showed excellent teamwork by some of them combining to work collaboratively in pairs or more. We hope you enjoy looking at them – come and see in Year 5, you’ll be blown away!

Judith Rhodes 'Little Suitcase' Refugee Visit

We were fortunate to have a visit from Judith Rhodes in Year 5 last Friday. Judith shared her mother’s experiences as a refugee in World War 2. Her mother, Ursula, left her family behind in Nazi Germany at the age of 15 and came to London as part of the Kindertransport programme prior the outbreak of the war. The rest of her family were unable to leave and later perished in concentration camps during the Holocaust. We really appreciated Judith sharing her powerful and moving story which really helped the children to understand the impact of these events on individual families. In the photo you can see the suitcase that Ursula took with her and one of the very few items of clothing she was able to fit into it.
We made notes throughout her presentation of key questions, as well as key points to help us with our follow up reports about her visit and what we learnt. There were some excellent enquiry questions from the children throughout the presentation, which very much impressed Judith.
Here is what some of the children had to say:
Sophia: ‘I enjoyed listening to what happened to Ursula (Judith’s mum) during World War II. I like seeing what was in the ‘Little Suitcase’ and asking questions to learn new things about a refugee.’
Matthew: ‘I found it really helpful that she was able to answer our questions in lots of detail, no matter what the question.’
Francesca: ‘I liked seeing what sorts of things you could put in your suitcases if you were a refugee.’
Ruby: ‘I think it was great in the workshop video, that she showed us everything she did about her family.’

Homefront WWII Trip 2021

On Friday 1st October 2021, Year 5 went on their ‘Home Front’ trip as part of their World War Two focus in History this half term. We learnt lots, ranging from experiences of evacuees, women’s roles and rationing, to general way of life during the war times, as well as various facts about the war itself. Throughout the day, the whole class represented the school impeccably, showing excellent behaviour, but also willingly showing to the leaders how much they already knew about World War Two, as well as experiences that children went through during this difficult time. The leaders were very impressed at the knowledge the children were giving and the eagerness they had with answering and asking questions – at one point, the leader had to say, ‘There’s no point in me being here, you already know it all!’

Children got right into character for the day, coming into school dressed as evacuees, with their labels attached to them showing who they were and where they came from. Throughout the day, children were straight in role conducting usual jobs expected from children and adults during the 1939-1945 era. The jobs ranged from creating rag rugs, cleaning and drying clothes using the ‘dolly’, making flapjacks and butter, putting out fire-bombs as fire-guards and putting up the blast tape. Having said this, we did have a real life air-raid, where we ‘pulled together’ and shared Anderson shelters to keep us safe.

It really was a pleasure to see such great learning first hand, with handling such artefacts as ‘gas masks’ and helmets etc; as well as viewing what was a weeks ration for a child and adult would be.

Here is what some of us thought of the day:
Harris - ‘It’s been brilliant! I’d really recommend it. It’s great to find out what life was like then, hearing the actual air-raid sirens. ‘
Toby - ‘It was really fun making flapjack, as well as going in the bunkers/Anderson shelters.’
Owen - ‘I’d recommend going there. I learnt lots of new facts; such as the different kinds of helmets!’
Matthew – ‘I really enjoyed putting out the fire and making the butter.’
Sophia – ‘I enjoyed pretending that we were alive during WWII and doing fun activities.’
Milan – ‘I enjoyed putting on the gas masks and liked learning new things.’
Ruby – ‘I enjoyed pretending to be evacuees and putting on the gas masks.’
Nieve – ‘I really enjoyed doing the cleaning.’

Great Opportunity!

Join me in attending the 'Haworth's 1940's One Day Event' in Haworth (Bradford) this Saturday 25.09.21. It is always a fabulous day out with lots of WWII memorabilia, events, activities and stalls. The houses along the cobbles all get into the 1940's VE day spirit and it really is a great opportunity to experience what life may have been like back then! Unfortunately, the webpage that they operate on is down, but they advertise their event on Facebook now, so if you are interested, please search information on there if you are interested on attending the free event! It kicks off at 9am and goes on throughout the day. Parking can be difficult, so please plan your trip.

Another opportunity locally is the Eden Camp (https://www.edencamp.co.uk/ ). You can go as a family to enjoy all there is to be learnt about WWII there! It is open 7 days a week and is a great family day out to engage with our current WWII History topic!

Science - Classification of living things (invertebrates)

To progress our learning on from understanding 'classification' and 'classification keys', Year 5 ventured in to the outdoor environment in groups to investigate the invertebrates. We were fortunate enough to see a selection of invertebrates, then create our own classification keys to distinguish between them with some excellent questions. A great example of one of these classification keys is below. Yet again, like many activities so far this half term (already), Year 5 used excellent Primrose Lane Values in ‘Working Together’, showing ‘Enthusiasm’, ‘Enquiring’ with brilliant questions and showing ‘Creativity’ with creating their own classification systems.

World War 2 Artefacts!

Children have brought in artefacts that they have from WWII, which compliment our gas mask, helmet, mess tins and many more. This has all added to our learning and given us primary sources that we can learn from - especially grandparents that have letters and experiences during the war. Thank you to these children for engaging with the History topic and providing us with more learning!

Year 5 Classification

In Year 5, we have started our learning on classifying living things. However, before we look to ‘living things’, we ‘worked together’ (as Primrose Lane Learners) and looked to classify some sweets (I’m not sure why they were all so excited!). We worked in groups to ask key questions in order to gain ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers, which worked as a branch diagram (or algorithm) to decided what the sweet was in terms of its ‘classification’. Next week, we will look to transfer these skills to classifying living things within our local environment – I hope the excitement persists like it did with the sweets! Here are some of the children working excellently in groups.

Reception and Year 5 Buddies!

This week, Reception welcomed their ‘Year 5 Buddies’ to their classroom for the first time. Now Reception children have settled into Primrose Lane school life, our wonderful Year 5 children offer a generous, helping hand to settle them in further. This is one of the ‘responsibilities’ expected by a Year 5 child at the beginning of the year, which they always look forward to! In WORKING TOGETHER (one of our Primrose Lane Values), they become better people and learn to cooperate in a school, as well as social setting. Year 5 get the opportunity to be role models, leaders and supportive of their new younger friends. The Reception children learn lots of skills and behaviours from their role models, but teach Year 5 about empathy, tolerance and patience, just by being their lovely selves!

The role of the Year 5 child is important to make their Reception Buddy feel comfortable, learn how to make new friends, play, feel safe and become more independent. They have got to know each other this week and played together outside. Reception children and staff would like to thank Year 5 for being such fantastic buddies, the effort and care are really appreciated! Equally, we would like to thank the Reception children for being polite, understanding and learning well from their Buddies. We are sure these relationships will continue to blossom over the coming year, where we will have reading sessions, learning sessions, walk to church and enjoy many more experiences.
Here are some quotes from the Year 5 children:
Sophia – ‘I have enjoyed helping out my buddy, making them happy. I’m very happy with my buddy as they are super cute!’
Harris – ‘I have enjoyed making my buddy feel welcome to Primrose and playing with them. I have told them if they struggle to find their friends, they can find me easier and I will help them.’
Ruby – ‘I have really enjoyed helping my buddy make new friends and keeping them happy and safe.’

School Council - A Democratic Vote!

In class, in order to elect our School Council representatives, we held a democratic vote. As a result, the class voted for two remarkable candidates, who will represent the school brilliantly - Finlay and Harris. Congratulations to these two, do us proud!

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