Learning  »  Class Pages  »  Archive  »  Year 5  »  Year 5 Archive 22/23

Hi and welcome to our Year 5 class page. We have got lots going on this year throughout the curriculum and have started fantastically well! 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. At the top of the page, there are useful links and websites to support children at home, as well as help parents/carers to help the children. Also towards the top of the page, is the class timetable (that will be updated time-to-time), half termly newsletters, timestables/arithmetic support and general help. Further down the page, you will find lots of information keeping you up-to-date with what we have been upto in Year 5, with photos, videos and quotes from children. Thank you in advance for taking an interest!
Year 5 Class Timetable (subject to changes at times)

Please see the link to the Year 5 class timetable. This may change slightly from time to time, but if it permanently changes, it will be uploaded in good time.

Half Term Curriculum Letters (and other letters of reference)

Please see below the half term letters which provide information about the curriculum we will follow in Year 5, as well as any useful information about the half term.

Times tables sheets to practise from

Attached are the times tables sheets that the children use in school for their weekly tests. Feel free to use and practise from.

Year 5 Experience at Boston Spa Academy July 2023

This week, Year 5 were fortunate enough to be invited to Boston Spa Academy for an experience day so that they could have the 'high school experience' before they make their choices for which high school they would like to go to next year.

The day began with an introduction in their new auditorium by the deputy headteacher, then they were taken by students to different classes to have a taster of what they might get, starting with Art, where they produced a lovely adapted Jasper Johns piece with their own choice of primary and secondary colours.

Following this, the children were led to the Drama studio, where they acted out their own scene to create a spooky atmosphere using a range of medium (sounds, textures, lighting, visuals).

After eating their dinner in the canteen, they learnt a variety of skills in basketball and competed in small games, before finishing their sessions with a 'wow' session in the Science laboratory, conducting their own investigations with different chemicals to create acids and alkalis (and noticing which colours represented acids and alkalis).

The children really enjoyed their day and represented school brilliantly. The Science teacher was particularly impressed with the answers given about their knowledge and vocabulary to do with the session, reverting to asking if we had learnt about this at school already! Well done year 5, we hope you took a lot from
It!

Buddies July 2023

Reception children have been working hard on developing models of the seaside. They planned, and created, then presented their final product to their Year 5 buddies. The Year 5 children were very supportive and asked lots of questions about their seaside models. Reception children were very proud of their work and answered evaluation questions about what they liked, what they found tricky and what they would do different next time. Their Y5 buddies scribed and prompted children when they were struggling. Well done buddies, you have all done an amazing job this year, you can all be very proud of yourselves for being such wonderful role models.

Basic First Aid - DrsABC

Year 5 enjoyed learning about Basic First Aid recently, learning about their primary response to an unconscious casualty. We discussed our Danger, Response, (shout), Airway, Breathing, Circulation checks, as well as learnt how to put casualties who are breathing in the recovery position - which you can imagine, was taken very seriously by the casualties...!

Textiles

Year 5 have continued to enjoy their driver for this half term of 'Textiles' in their Design and Technology (D&T) learning. We have learnt about the history of textiles in Leeds, as well as researched our own products to determine what we want our own product to look like. We chose cushions to make for our chosen people, as our definition of D&T is 'something, for someone, for some purpose.'

We have focused on different forms of stitch (including running, blanket, back, diagonal, cross etc), as well as our vocabulary and Goldilocks words (including 'embroidery, disassemble, seam, innovative, functionality, specification, prototype etc) to be in the best position to design and make our cushions. Here we are sewing and attempting our cushions.

Shadows Investigation!

As part of recapping on our 'Light' unit, we investigated shadows on the playground, by working cooperatively to observe our own shadows across the course of a day and measuring the lengths and distances between shadows. We discussed and recapped on the effect that sun has as it appears to rise in the east and set in the west, and what this shows with our shadows on the ground (also making evident why in the past, people used sundials to help with timing!). It was good to discuss the compass points and get children explaining their thought processes and predictions.

Cooking at Boston Spa Academy!

In Year 5, we had a wonderful opportunity to visit Boston Spa Academy to use their kitchen facilities.

As part of our PSHE healthy living topic (and D&T cooking!), children were challenged to create/use a healthy pasta recipe that they could then prepare using the equipment provided.

There were a wide variety of dishes prepared including a range of ingredients including: chicken, peppers, onions, carrots, spices, meat balls and many more. Broccoli even found its way into the odd dish!

The children were praised by the Boston staff for their behaviour and their independence and I was incredibly impressed with their attitude, enthusiasm and the outcomes as well. I got to sample some of the dishes and honestly enjoyed them and have suffered no ill-effects either! Well done Year 5!

Leeds Reading Champion Finalist!

We are delighted that Henry got through to the final 5 candidates for the Leeds Reading Champion and wish him luck on 8th July - we think you deserve it!

KS2 Reading Champion

As teachers, we are very proud of our readers in school and- the enjoyment the children experience when reading books for pleasure. Two excellent candidates put themselves forward to be our very own reading champion of 2023, and both were more than worthy of the accolade. Both Henry (Year 5) and Flynn (year 6) provided reasons that they believe makes them deserve to be our representative, what contribution they give to being a reading champion and what they most enjoy about it.

Across Year 5 and Year 6, we held a democratic vote to decide who would be our representative, and although a close encounter (with two votes separating them apart), Henry is to be our candidate for reading champion. We are delighted to put him forward to be the Leeds Reading Champion and hope he is successful in the next round.

Orienteering in PE

We have made a great start in our PE with Airenteers very own Simon Martland. We have used maps and run to checkpoints with the dibbers, focusing on orientating our maps correctly, timing our checkpoints and reading directions, understanding map symbols and numbers and gaining the best times possible. We look forward to the rest of the sessions, where we work with different maps and work as a team to get to end points.

Amazing Changes (Science)

Year 5 started the half term working scientifically, investigating irreversible reactions by observing Mr Jackson with the 'Elephant toothpaste' investigation, as well as conducting their own volcanic eruptions.

We made predictions, discussed safety measures and conducted our own investigations in groups, all working cooperatively together. We predicted what would happen when we mixed hydrogen peroxide, food colouring, warm water, washing up liquid and yeast, then observed the reaction, which formed new products, resulting in an irreversible reaction. Additionally, we predicted what would happen when we mixed bicarbonate soda, vinegar, food colouring and washing up liquid; again, resulting in new products.

Everybody showed maturity, teamwork, cooperation, leadership and excellent evaluations for what they would do next time. A great start to our science!

Textiles starter

Year 5 have started their textiles driver topic really well. We discussed our definition of Design and Technology and decided that in creating a product, that we design 'something, for somebody, for some purpose'. We looked at a selection of our 'Goldilocks Words' for this half term, including 'embroidery, authentic, prototype, specification, reinforce, innovate, disassemble', defined them and discussed using these for our intentions to make a cushion.

We used binca in our first session, with our needle and thread to try out a range of different stitches and experiment to help us decided which stitch we might use for our own cushion. We all really enjoyed the practical nature of this, persevering and focusing on precision and accuracy with our threading.

West Yorkshire Fire Service Visit

Recently, Years 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 safety measures we should consider with electrical equipment, smoking, smoke detectors, home safety, water safety, bed-time routines, crashes (in vehicles) and escaping safely. We watched videos and watched practical examples about fire safety and avoiding emergencies by simply wearing a seatbelt no matter what! All this was really valuable learning (even for an adult reminder, let alone children!), and the children engaged with some brilliant questions and discussions.

'It's Not Rocket Science!'

Year 5 recently attended a Teams session on ‘It’s not rocket science’, which was led by a specialist scientist in the designing and production of satellites. It was a fascinating session that encouraged various enquiry questions, all of which we are trying to gain through our Science sessions. This will all contribute to recapping on learning when Year 5 will be doing their 'Earth and Space' Science focus in Autumn term!

Geography Driver - UK and Europe

Year 5 have begun their Geography focus with great enthusiasm. We have recapped on previous learning, being able to locate the seven continents of the world (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and Oceania and Antarctica); the five oceans (Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Southern); the Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn, Equator and lines of latitude/longitude; as well as various countries.

Our first lesson focused on what we already know, as well as locating countries and capital cities throughout the UK and Europe using an atlas. We recapped on using atlases and how we can navigate our way through it, as well as use it effectively for a range of geographical knowledge.

Secondly, we looked at Mountains, what constitutes a mountain and located the UK mountains (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa), as well as the ranges across Europe; all using Google Maps/Earth. We then followed this up by reinforcing our skills learnt last week with navigating through the atlas. A great start with lots still to learn!

Light

Year 5 have made a great start to their Science focus on 'Light', where we discussed light sources and how light travels in straight lines. We discussed various examples of how this can be shown and practically demonstrated this in groups. We also discussed and recapped on elements such as how shadows are created and how shadows can be manipulated to change the size of them. We look forward to investigating light and shadows further going outside and gathering data to do with the sunlight and how shadows change over the course of the day.

Finch Experiment!

We have been enjoying our Science topic on Evolution and Inheritance and therefore wanted to investigate Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection by discovering whether a short beak or a long beak was most effective for picking up some sunflower seeds. We worked in pairs to investigate this, ensuring that we thought of our own questions to ask, what we predicted would happen, how we were keeping it a fair test and how we would conduct the investigation. We recorded results in tables and decided to draw bar graphs to represent this data, finishing with our conclusions - which fortunately supported Darwin's theory! We thoroughly enjoyed working together cooperatively....and didn't get competitive at all!

Year 5 Accountancy Session

Last week, Year 5 were very fortunate to have had a session with Mr Lankester on business ownership, accountancy and linking these skills to their existing Maths knowledge.
Mr Lankester came in to deliver a fun-filled session, whereby it gave the children an experience of running their own business as a class, being in different roles, what these roles mean and how ‘knowing your numbers’ really does matter!
Year 5 were introduced to terms such as ‘profit’, ‘loss’, ‘liability’, ‘assets’, ‘balance sheets’ and many more key terms. Once the children had an understanding of these terms, they were put into one of the following: banker, business owner, supplier, customer, government/tax collector or worker. This was all based around a paper aeroplane business. Children were taken through each step needed for consideration, and as accountants, they completed the running costs associated with the whole process, ultimately understanding the profit margins, costs related to the business owners and general fairness across the process.
It was a brilliant session for the children to relate their Maths to real life and show what the application of their skills can result in. Year 5 would like to thank Mr Lankester for his time and a brilliant session. Here is what some of them had to say:
Seb – ‘I have learnt how accountants can record and monitor how much money a business has.’
Herbie – ‘I have learnt that if you have ‘Ltd’ after your business name, the bank cannot hold one person liable, but the money comes from the business.’
Jacob – ‘I learnt that ‘net worth’ is the same as profit.’

Y5 Sports Leaders

This half term, we have been able to get our Sports Leaders up and running helping with active play-times, supporting the younger children with structured play and generally making lunch time more fun for lots of children in school! Children in Year 5 have shown excellent attitudes in proactively wanting to become Sports Leaders, and wanted to go through the training to achieve this.
Since the start of this half term, most children in Year 5 have embraced their responsibility, been organised, prompt and relished the opportunity to wear their ‘Sports Leaders’ t-shirts! The younger children have shown great interest in the activities since they have been advertised and the daily rota of activities is now on-going until the end of the school year!
Here’s what some of the leaders have had to say so far:
Seb – ‘I’ve enjoyed being a sports leader because you get to play with different children, spend more time with them and help them.’
Emily – ‘Its really fun, because you see the smiles on the younger children’s faces and you know you’re doing your job!’
Evie – ‘Its fun to see the children adapting the games we are teaching them.’
Marley – ‘I have enjoyed leading my sessions as well as joining in with others.’
Herbie – ‘I have learnt that you have to be patient with the younger children; trying to help them listen using different strategies.’
Sam – ‘I enjoy putting a smile on others faces.’
Noah – ‘I enjoy when the children are having fun and have smiles on their faces!’

Science: Farm Live Session

As part of STEM week, Year 5 took part in a live ‘Science Farm’ session, which investigated wool from sheep. The session took Year 5 through the process of it being a natural material, how its fibres went through the ‘roving’ process, then how it creates products in the final process, such as being used for fire-fighters/astronauts PPE (as a thermal insulator), other simple clothing, and even used as rope to help with restoration of kelp in sea beds.
It was fascinating to learn about projects being conducted with wool to help with climate and sustainability. Wool, being a natural material, is biodegradable, so is being used to replace plastics in a range of products (as plastic can take 40-50 years to biodegrade!). However, wool is also being used to replace cotton in some instances, as it has been found to require less water to clean and create new products, as well as the water being recycled afterwards. It was a great session, where the children made useful notes and as usual, asked some enquiry questions.
Here is what some of them had to say:
Herbie – ‘I have learnt that seaweed is better at absorbing carbon dioxide than trees.’
Angus – ‘I have learnt that wool can be put in filters.’
Sam – ‘I have learnt that wool can catch microscopic particles (in masks) so that people – like astronauts – don’t inhale harmful substances.’
Gracie – ‘I have learnt that farmers sheer the bellies of sheep first, then the head to the backbone.’
Noah – ‘I have learnt that the best time to shear sheep is in Spring, as it isn’t too hot, or too cold.’

Early Islamic Civilisation - Timeline planning!

Year 5 have made a great start to their History driver topic this half term - Early Islamic Civilisation. We have discussed the significance of learning this era and the concurrence this has with previous learning (Anglo Saxons, Romans and Vikings). We therefore created our own timelines in groups which demonstrated our understanding of chronology of events during this era, as well as the concurrence between the other 'eras'. The children used their Mathematical skills to complete scaled timelines on the playground, which was fun! This was after a long discussion of learning that the children had done through homework of their own accord, researching about the topic and supporting their friends to understand the relevance of learning it. We hope to learn the significance of Baghdad, the Silk Road and the influence this era has on today.

Safer Internet Day

In Year 5, we spent time discussing ‘online safety’ and what we have learnt so far this year, including SAFE choices, which are SMART (Safe, Meet, Accept, Reliable, Tell), having secure passwords for accounts, knowing who to report dangers to and discussing scenarios that have happened and what we would do. Following this, we did a round-robin of activities where we wrote what we would do in certain scenarios, which you can see in the images. Children showed excellent confidence with their responses on what to do and how to report scams, as well as noticing ‘phishing’ and fraudulent emails or messages. Here is what some of them had to say about their session:

Henry – ‘I enjoyed that we all got a say in every questions and scenarios that we got given.’
Hughie – ‘I liked how we got to walk around the classroom and write what we thought was the most sensible and suitable answer. Out of what we put, we discussed the definitive answers and had our points of view.’
Seb – ‘I learnt that if you get a friend request on a game, that you don’t know who it is, you shouldn’t accept it.’
Maddie – ‘If somebody contacts you and you don’t know who they are, and ask you for money, then report them, block them and tell a responsible adult.’
Noah – ‘I learnt that if somebody tries to bribe you saying they will give you something, it is often too good to be true. I would delete the message, report it to my parents.’
Rupert – ‘I learnt that whenever you get a call/text that you don’t know, never reply, ignore and delete it.’

Year 5 and 6 shared writing

With a number of children away on cross country, Year 5 and 6 took the opportunity to share some writing with each other. The children paired up with someone from the other year group and talked through a recent piece of writing linked to Francis or The Piano (suspense and flashback work) and then worked together to edit and improve their content. Both classes benefited from the experience and were able to pass on tips as well as having a rare chance to work with a differing year group.

Orienteering Festival KS2 January 2023

In January, all of KS2 enjoyed a thrilling day of orienteering with Simon from ‘Airenteers’. The children loved learning map skills, teamwork and younger Year 3 children could not believe how tiring map work could be – yet children in Years 4-6 were ready to go again! All children got very competitive with the electronics involved, clocking in at the start of their task and clocking out once finishing (with their ‘dibbers’, then gaining a time (which they were all wanting to beat each other’s time!).

The activities involved following trails and drawing them out on their maps with their white board pens. They then ‘followed the leader’ and gave each other challenges. Secondly, children were given ‘kites’, where they had to hide them, identify a starting point (with a triangle) on their maps, as well as the finishing point (with two circles) for their challengers to find. Finally, they finished with the time trials, where they chose various different trails and were timed on their completion (which brought the element of challenge, and resulted in some very tired competitors!).

Older children were also given electronic ‘dibbers’ and maps, where they had to navigate to the different ‘kites’ in the correct order (or even their own choice of order) and try and achieve the best time in the groups. The navigation skills were essential, as well as speed and stamina. It was impressive to see some of the competitiveness of the children, but also the fitness!
Here’s what some of the children had to say about their experience:

Year 3
Year 3 were fantastic at their first Orienteering session. They showed fantastic team work and listened really well to all of the instructions in order to be successful. They've already shown a lot of stamina and improved map reading skills just from our first session. They were very proud of their times for the various routes and worked very hard to complete the challenges put to them. Amazing effort Year 3!
Arthur – ‘I like Orienteering because you get to run in the playground and I like using a map.’
Lillie – ‘It was really fun but tiring because you had to keep going and solve the clues.’
Bethany T – ‘I really enjoyed Orienteering but found it tiring as it was an amazing experience for me and my brain when we had to remember the different things like numbers. ‘
Jasmine – ‘I am really proud of my orienteering especially as it was my first time. I got very into it and never looked back!’

Year 4
Rosie – ‘I like orienteering because I like telling my partner where to go and using the dibber.’
Darcie – ‘I liked it even though it was quite hard!’
Esme – ‘I really liked learning how to map read and running to different places.’
Jessica – ‘Somethings I found hard were how to use the map.’
Ollie F – ‘I really enjoyed it and it is really fun to find the correct location with the dibber.’
Lily – ‘I really liked going to the different places on the map but it was hard work running around.’

Year 5
Rupert – ‘I liked learning how to read maps and using coordinates to find different flags.’
Sam – ‘I liked the cooperation involved; with one person doing the map reading whilst the other person had the dibber.’
Daisie – ‘I liked working together. Its great in terms of sport for exercising.’

Year 6
We had a visit from Simon this week to continue the children's excellent learning regarding orienteering. The class has a fantastic understanding of how to use maps and navigate their way around the school grounds on various tasks and games. I am always incredibly impressed with the teamwork and the way the children take on the different challenges Simon sets for them.
It was brilliant (though a little bit chilly) being outside and it was a beautiful clear day and the children loved the opportunity to run around with purpose and compete with each other in a friendly, fun way.
Elliot – ‘Orienteering was very enjoyable and really tiring! I had a lot of fun as it was a fantastic experience.’
Mathew – ‘I really thought orienteering was a brilliant exercise as it involved running around but also developing our map reading skills.’
Annika –‘I found orienteering awesome as knowing that we partly had to work together in a team of 2 instead of doing it by yourself.’

Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on the Bare Mountain

Here are some examples of our artwork which was inspired by listening to Modest Mussorgsky - A Night on the Bare Mountain. These expressive pieces of art represent different elements of the piece's storytelling...

The story behind A Night on The Bare Mountain
A Night On The Bare Mountain describes a short story in which St John sees a witches' Sabbath on the Bald Mountain near Kiev in the old Russian Empire.

It's a wild and terrifying party with lots of dancing but when the church bell chimes 6am and the sun comes up the witches vanish.

Modest Mussorgsky wrote a number of different versions of this pieces of music. When he was finally satisfied with it, his music teacher told him it wasn't good enough so he put it aside for years.

Eventually his friend and fellow composer Rimsky-Korsakov re-arranged the music for orchestra and this is the piece we know today.

Listen out for: The unsettled strings with trombones, tuba and bassoons thundering out the theme. The very rhythmic oboes and clarinets are quite a contrast.

Listen to the piece and find out more here.
Leeds Rhinos Rugby Sessions and Assembly

With our excellent club links with Leeds Rhinos Foundation (LRF), we have recently been fortunate enough to have sessions delivered to Years 4 and 5 focusing on fundamentals of rugby. Throughout these sessions, children have focused on teamwork, coordination, timing, throwing and catching skills, tactics, speed and balance. Here is what some of the children have had to say about the sessions:
Maddie – ‘I enjoyed the sessions because the teamwork focus was great.’
Gracie – ‘I enjoyed the last session as the competitive games were fun and everybody enjoyed them.’
Herbie – ‘Harvey told us about lots of useful skills, like the tumble pass, grip of the ball, scoring a try and special awareness.’
Jemima - 'I enjoyed it because I felt I learnt new skills and got to know a person from the Leeds Rhinos.'
Darcie - 'I thought that it was both hard and fun at the same time.'
Daniel - 'I really liked being taught by Harvey and wish he could come back again.'
Lily - 'I enjoyed being shown how to score a try.'
Harvey and Ian from LRF led a whole school assembly that focused on growth mindset and informing us of the inclusive nature of LRF, showing that anybody can give rugby a go and they have an opportunity to succeed in a positive environment. It was excellent to learn about the local opportunities we have with Wetherby Bull Dogs and the events that are happening locally that can help us on our steps to playing rugby and supporting LRF – with ticket offers to watch games also.

Coding in Year 5

Year 5 have enjoyed the beginning of their Computing driver unit, focusing on key vocabulary (such as input, output, event, variable, de-bugging, variable, command etc), as well as the coding required to produce an intended output. We have focused on key instructions which follow a specific ‘algorithm’ to ensure that the programme can work. If it hasn’t worked, we have worked collaboratively to ensure we can debug the problem.

In today’s lesson, we focused on ‘efficiency’, ‘computer generated variables’ and ‘simplifying’ codes. As you can see in the picture, this is part of Evie’s game that she created, which involved ‘objects’ performing ‘actions’ where they ‘collided’ with other objects and an overall ‘event’ resulted (such as something ‘hiding’). We discussed that, although this code worked and the game was ‘efficient’, that the code could have been ‘simplified’, as all of her objects were doing the same thing (hiding) when they collided with the object (mySprite1). In this instance, we discussed that the objects could have been categorised as a whole, such as in the example in the next image (where it says ‘Any Animal’, it could have been ‘Any object’ in Evie’s), which would have simplified the code and made it more efficient.
The games that children created were fun and engaging and we enjoyed watching them back, commenting on the success of the code, but also where editing was required to make the game and code more efficient. A great start Year 5!

Electricity!

This half term, Year 5 have loved learning about electricity. From looking at faulty circuits, creating our own circuits and learning about electrical conductors/insulators, it has been eventful and investigative to say the least.

Within creating their own circuits, Year 5 have been able to connect different electrical components (such as wires, cells, batteries, bulbs, buzzers and motors) to create circuits, then represent these components as symbols in recognisable written form. You can see from the pictures the practical work undertaken to ensure bulbs light up, the effect of using more cells on bulbs/buzzers/motors and much more - all with enjoyment and great teamwork. We are culminating this learning with some quizzes, as well as creating our own designs for electrical games.

Well done Year 5 for your enthusiasm and efforts in this Physics unit.

Buddy Reading - Creative Christmas Stories!

Year 5 have recently been writing their own creative Christmas stories, aimed at sharing them with their Reception Buddies to read to them before Christmas. All children enjoyed sharing their stories with their buddy, and the Reception buddies loved seeing their Year 5 friend; culminating with a lovely sing song shared by Reception at the end. It was lovely again to see the nurturing support of the Year 5 children and how the relationships have blossomed throughout the term.

Barbara Hepworth Sculptures!

Year 5 have culminated a wonderful half term of learning with their finished creative sculptures. A lot of thought, perseverance and care have gone into the designs, making and editing their pieces and they have loved producing their finished sculptures. Take a look at the pictures during and afterwards!

Martial Arts Session

Over the last two weeks, we have been fortunate enough to welcome ‘Martial Arts 4U’ to our school and work with each class to introduce everybody to the controlled activity of martial arts boxing. The leaders were very enthusiastic, which transferred to children across the school. They were taught about controlled martial arts and the importance of using it for exercise and healthy lifestyles. This is what some of the children had to say:

Year 5:
Evie W – ‘I really enjoyed doing the last part, which was the ‘rear roundhouse kick.’

Gracie – ‘I really enjoyed doing the second part, where we used the sword.’

Hughie – ‘ I really liked when we learnt to do the jab.’

Isaac – ‘I liked when we were punching the punching bag.’

Henry – ‘I really liked doing the shoulder tig game.’

Herbie – ‘I really liked playing the turtle game and tigging each other.’

Barbara Hepworth Museum Trip

Last week, Years 5 and 6 were fortunate enough to visit the Hepworth Museum in Wakefield as part of their focus on their Art driver for this half term. Upon arrival, it was great to see some of Hepworth’s pieces outside the grounds, and the children were particularly impressed by the building itself, as well as the surrounding area – it was a great start!
The children were split into groups to walk around the museum, make notes, complete sketches on their clipboards and discuss about her pieces, as well as discuss interesting facts about her.
All children represented school beautifully, showing respect whilst walking around, being quiet as they walked around and took interest in pieces that they liked most. It was a pleasure to see the enthusiasm that the children showed, as well as engagement with note-making.
In the afternoon, everybody turned to their sketchbooks to draw a neat piece of the sculpture that most inspired them. Some of these pieces were fantastic, showing a focus on our Art vocabulary of colour, line, shape, pattern, as well as focus on ‘form’, which is prominent in Hepworth’s pieces. After this, we commented on these as to why it inspired us, and then did a gallery type session, where we could walk around and see our friends’ pieces to provide positive feedback.

It really was a fabulous trip! Here is what some of them had to say:
Elizabeth: ‘It was an amazing experience. I enjoyed seeing her sculptures first hand.’
Owen: ‘I enjoyed going on the trip. It was an experience I haven’t had before. It made me think outside the box and use my imagination in my drawings and sketches.’
Rupert: ‘I really enjoyed going to the museum; the sculptures were really cool!’
Charlie W: ‘I loved the detail to the Artwork, especially the smoothness of her pieces.’
Maddie: ‘I liked how creative she was and how she put holes and lines in her sculptures.’

Year 5 Poetry

As part of celebrating ‘National Poetry Day’, as well as ‘Black History Month’, Year 5 have studied lots of poetry this week, looking into poems written by Benjamin Zephaniah, Enid Blyton, A.A.Milne and many other famous poets. Children have enjoyed listening to rhyming couplets, discussing figurative language (such as simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration and onomatopoeia) and commenting on moods and atmospheres. We have analysed the poems (like shown below) to pick them apart, and compared them to other styles of poems, such as cinquain, haiku and limericks, ready to write creative poems

Geography Fieldwork - human and physical features/ urban and rural comparisons!

This week, Year 5 conducted some fieldwork within our local area of Boston Spa and the River Wharfe, just as KS1 children have recently done. However, although a lot of the focus of discussion touched on human and physical features of Geography, the main discussions were around comparisons between our ‘rural’ area and ‘urban’ city area, such as in Leeds centre.
Whilst walking through the area, we stopped regularly to discuss comparisons of: schools and demographics, crime rates, green spaces, carbon stores, local businesses and economic considerations, litter, housing and many more areas of Geography. The children were respectful throughout and showed courtesy and consideration to the public, which is what we have been focusing on in our PSHE lessons. Some good questions were asked, and great answers using desired vocabulary, such as population, density, urban, rural, income and many more terms discussed in class.
Here is what some of the children had to say about the fieldwork:
-Hughie: ‘I really enjoyed drawing our maps and learning about human and physical features of geography in our local area. I learnt that the crime rate is likely to be lower in rural areas compared to urban areas, which was really interesting to think.’
-Evie W: ‘I enjoyed walking around the local woods and learning in more depth our human and physical features of geography, as well as linking this to urban and physical areas.’
-Gracie: ‘I just loved going out of school learning about human and physical geography, as it is different to learning it in class!’

Taking action on 'Climate Change' - Boston Spa Community Green Group Session (with Adrian Balcombe)

Years 5 and 6 were visited today by Adrian from the Boston Spa Community Green Group. He gave a fascinating presentation about greenhouse gases, carbon footprints of the UK population and other nations around the world. The children learnt about which food items have the largest carbon footprint and the many options we have for reducing our carbon footprint including:

- turning electrical items off when not in use
- try to walk/cycle/scoot to school instead of driving or reduce the distances we drive if possible
- avoiding food waste where possible
- trying to eat less meat if possible

The children also learnt some incredible information about recycling. In the UK alone we use 8 billion plastic bottles, only 40% of which are recycled. We also learnt about which packaging can be recycled and how we can make efforts to buy products that have reduced their non-recyclable packaging.

A big thank you to Adrian for visiting and helping us to start the conversation. We will all make an effort to talk more about these issues and continue to positively impact on climate change. This has all supported our current Geography driver topic, with relevant learning on trade, economic links, trends across different countries and understanding of human geography.
Here are a couple of quotes from some Year 5 children about the session:
Herbie – ‘We learnt a lot about climate change and how it can affect the planet. Also, we learnt about the carbon footprint across lots of different countries.’
Hughie – ‘I found it really interesting that the carbon footprint of the UK has changed from 15m tonnes to 12.7m tonnes from 2011 to 2019.’

Science - Thermal Conductors and Insulators

This week in science we have been investigating thermal conductors and insulators. We conducted an investigation into which type of material would make the most effective conductor (plastic, metal or wood).

We learnt about which types of materials are used for which equipment and why; in the process we found out that metals tend to be the better conductors.

In our investigation we had to consider what would impact on our test and ensure that certain factors did not change such as: amount of water, lengths of time and the size of the equipment we used.

Year 5 and their Reception 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! Responsibility is our value for September, so what better place to start! In working together, 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:
Herbie – ‘It was great to see who I was paired with. I liked how it was sorted out. My Buddy showed me around the Reception class and I followed their lead.’
Sam – ‘I think ‘Buddies’ is a great idea as the new Receptions can get warmed up to the older kids in school.’
Evie - ‘I think ‘Buddies’ are a great idea because you can watch the Reception children grow and play with all of their friends.’

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