Admirals (Year 5)

Welcome to Year 5

Our class is called Admirals. We are taught by Miss Pott and supported by Miss Hardy.

PE Days

Admiral class will be taught PE on a Tuesday and a Thursday  (swimming). Children will need to wear their PE kit to school on Tuesday. They will not need uniform to change into. On Thursday they will need to bring their swimming kits ready for the pool!  Please ensure your child has the correct kit so they can participate successfully. 

Library Slot

Your child will get an opportunity to visit the school library on Wednesday afternoons. Here they will have the chance to borrow a book that they are interested in: a book they will read for pleasure. If they wish to take a book home, this will need to be returned on a Wednesday ready to change.

Home Learning

Reading

In years five and six, children may choose to read independently at home. This should be for at least ten minutes and should be recorded in their reading record daily. Your child's reading record must be handed in every Friday. At Margaret Wix our children are all aiming to be 'Reading Ambassadors' at the end of the year, reading a whopping 275 times.

It is important that you talk to your child about what they have read; you will find some question stems that could be used to support such conversations on our reading star above. Here you will also find a list of recommended texts for Year 5 that are suitably challenging.

Times tables 

Times Tables (and the associated division facts) are a vital part of mathematical knowledge and understanding. It is crucial that your child practises these skills at home by logging onto the Times Table Rockstars website daily, for at least ten minutes. Additionally, there are opportunities to practise maths skills in day-to-day life, such as when measuring ingredients for cooking, or counting change at the shops. You will find this resource on the maths star, which may help you to structure mathematical conversations.

Spelling

In school, we will teach the children spelling patterns and rules. At home, we would like the focus to be on  learning and practising the Year 5/6 National Curriculum words (you can find these by clicking on the spelling star at the top of the page.)

English and Maths 

Each week, your child will receive a grid of homework for maths and English that will focus on revisiting current learning, tracking back to learning completed the week before and then jumping forward to the learning they will be covering in the week ahead. Please be aware that this homework should only take them a maximum of 20 minutes and won't include any new learning. If your child needs any support with their homework, please do let me know by finding me on the door or writing a note in their homework book. Not only will this homework be a great way to consolidate any prior and current learning but will support your child in becoming more independent and will inevitably help to prepare them for homework in secondary school.

Summer 2 update

It has been a fantastic, final half term in Admirals’ class. I am reminded every day just how special and unique every single one of your children is. Not only this half term, but the whole year, the class have impressed with their determination to succeed and their desire to reach their full potential.
 

The children have shown such maturity in some of the more formal discussions that have taken place this half term. In PSHE in particular, we have had mature discussions revolving around changes in our bodies and the feelings we may experience when moving on to new classes. The children have been able to express their views clearly in whole class discussions and have been able to listen and respond to differing viewpoints. To watch the class mature over the year has been a pleasure. They show kindness and respect towards others and are feeling more and more confident to express their own, well-thought out views.

In religious education, we have delved into the world of commitment and what is the ‘best way’ to show commitment for Christians. We compared our understanding here to the commitment of Sikhs that we studied last term. We discussed why, if you are religious, it is important to show commitment to your faith. We responded to children who needed support when finding it hard to commit to their God, ranked the 10 commandments, wrote out own commitment poems and much more.

In Science, we learnt all about animals including humans. We explored the life cycles of animals, the differing gestation periods of mammals and other classifications, the changes that occur during old age and the different phases of the life cycle. The children demonstrated such curiosity by asking the necessary questions, all be it sometimes embarrassing, to move their learning on further.

In English, we looked closely at authorial tone. We used the text ‘Outer Suburbia’ by Shaun Tan as a vehicle for our learning. We looked at how Shaun Tan creates a clear ‘voice’ for his narrators and decided to imitate his tone by bringing a water buffalo to life (a story present in the book). We used an informal tone to express the buffalo’s feelings and emotions. Additionally, we experimented using dashes for asides and used precise language choices to indicate informality. Furthermore, in English, we explored the brilliant text the ‘Promise.’ A story about a young child, who lives in a dull, dark city. The young girl steals a bag off an old woman and finds that the contents are countless acorns. The young girl makes a promise to plant all of the acorns and make her city vibrant again. The children used this story line to write their own narratives with sustainability and responsibility at the heart of the story line. They showcased their learning over the year by using ambitious vocabulary and sentence structures whilst writing to suit the desired audience and purpose.

In maths, we have worked extremely hard to overcome the challenges that shape, irregular polygons, statistics and time graphs bring. We showed great self-belief and resilience when tackling these harder concepts. We explored which graphs are most effective when dealing with discrete and continuous data and evaluated different ways to illustrate information. We then moved on to reading timetables and consolidating our understanding of time. I have been so impressed with Admirals’ resilience to succeed this half term and I know they will continue to demonstrate these traits into year 6.

In our Geography learning, we learnt all about rivers and how important they are to our environments. We first studied the River Axe and the different features it possesses. We learnt lots of new tier 3 vocabulary and practised them playing charades, which was great fun! We moved on to a local study of the River Ver and compared similar features. Next, we explored the important role rivers have in the water cycle and later, developed our understanding of the devastating effects that flooding and draughts can have on countries around the world.

In PE, the children have been working on their athletics skills. Mr Tate has been hugely impressed with the progress the children have made in their fitness over the half term. I definitely was a very proud teacher when I watched the children sprinting to the finish line on sports day. Additionally, the children have enjoyed working as a team when playing rounders and learnt the necessary skills needed when batting and fielding.

As the year draws to a close, I am grateful to have got to know such a special bunch of little people. I have enjoyed watching them flourish in confidence and thrive in our little team. Each day, I am reminded how kind-hearted, special and thoughtful they all are. It has been an absolute pleasure to teach your children this term and they are a real credit to you! We’ve learnt lots, laughed lots and made some special memories that will last forever! Thank you again for your ongoing support; we really are a partnership! I hope you all have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing all those smiley faces around school in the new academic year.

Miss Pott :) 

Summer One Update

Admirals have had an extremely successful and productive half term. The children have worked hard to demonstrate the school values and continue to make me proud of our little Year 5 family. They have shown such perseverance with tricky maths problems, kindness when including each other in their games and self-belief when facing fears at our school camp out.

This term has seen so many fantastic opportunities for our class. We were lucky enough to have Active Adventures come and run evening sessions with us. The children had the opportunity to take part in some fantastic sessions such as: archery; making a fire; eat creepy crawlies and sleep on the school field! The children had a fantastic time and I’m sure will hold these special memories with them forever.  During the camp, the children demonstrated what great role models and ambassadors they are for the school. I felt immensely proud when the instructor informed us that our camp was the best he had completed!

In English, this term, we delved into the world of the Planetarium. The children began by reading the beautifully illustrated book and practised numerous different grammatical techniques. These included learning how to use prepositional phrases, using multi clause sentences, understanding the different between scientific and ambitious vocabulary and many more. Following this, we watched a clip based on the bewitching, mythical planet – Pandora. We then used this information to put into practice all we had learnt in our unit. We wrote a non-chronological report all about the planet. We included its appearance, position in space and some interesting facts.

In maths, we have consolidated our work on percentages and fractions. We practised using percentages in context; learnt how to calculate percentages of amounts; and studied the most efficient way when calculating. Once we had mastered these skills, we applied these to more challenging word problems, which tested our understanding. Although we found percentages challenging at first, we all persevered and have mastered it. Following our learning on percentages, we moved onto transformations. Here we focussed closely at translation. We learnt that when translating shapes you couldn’t squash them, rotate them or change their shape. We began our learning by consolidating prior understanding on coordinates. Once we had mastered that skill, we learnt how to move shapes through given translations. We are now confident with translating shapes through all four quadrants and we are able to describe how shapes have been translated! After we had mastered this skill, we moved onto reflection: a skill made easier with the use of mirrors. We learnt how to reflect shapes through horizontal and vertical lines of symmetry. To finish the half term we looked closely at angles. We practised naming, identifying and drawing different angles. The children worked hard to use a protractor accurately and used their problem solving skills to work out missing angles around a point and on a straight line.

In science, we delved into the world of animals including humans. During the unit, we learnt about the changes humans go through as they grow and develop from birth to old age. We looked at the different stages of growth in a foetus and were fascinated at how quickly they grow! We moved on from this to learn about the changes that we go through during puberty. As well as focusing on physical health, we have developed our knowledge of mental health and strategies for looking after ourselves and others.

History, this term, has been centred on the Maya Civilisation. We explored how the Maya lived and how this is different from how they may live today. We learnt all about the occupations they carry out and the different types of food and drink they ate. We travelled back in time to look at famous sketches of the different pyramids and temples and wrote diary entries, writing as if we had been an exploring the famous ‘Lost Jungle Cities.’ Following this we learnt exactly what each of the impressive structures was used for. These included sacrifice sites, bathing pools and columns to observe the stars and phases of the moon.

In computing, we have been using micro bits and crumbles. With the help of Townsend, we were able to use sophisticated circuit-making equipment to make complex circuits, which included motors and sparkles. We first learnt how to construct the components together to make a working circuit and then attached these to the computer. It was here were we used the computer software to offer commands to our circuits. With this programme, we were able to make our sparkle light up different colours and our motor move in different directions and at varying speeds. Although challenging and very complex at times, it was so fantastic seeing the children persevere and a pleasure to watch their smiles when they manage to make their circuits light up and move!

In DT this term, we have been focusing on cooking and have made spaghetti Bolognaise. We cut, chopped, mixed and cooked the various ingredients while working safely and hygienically. We learnt how to adapt a basic recipe to meet specific tastes and preferences. This term, in art, we have focused on our drawing skills. We created texture with oil pastels and created vibrant emu pictures based on the story 'Edward the Emu.' We furthered our skills with self-portraits in the style of Frank Auerbach; we focused on where light will add features to our faces. We then created tone and shade through a single use of a pencil to add details on our colourful rabbits.

In PE, the children have enjoyed practising our athletic and cricket skills. We had to work hard in a team and mastered the different skills needed to bad and field. The children were really up to the challenge when it came to running and impressed Mr Tate with their pace in the 100 m sprint.

Our PSHE lessons have been focused on positive relationships. We started our topic by thinking about our self and self-esteem. We discussed the importance that before having any positive relationship it is important to have a positive relationship with yourself. Throughout our learning we spoke about the different relationships we have in our lives and what makes them successful. We spoke about the how the relationships with our parents and friends may look different from a relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend.

I hope you have a wonderful half term filled with fun and some well-deserved rest. Let’s hope the sunshine makes an appearance too! Admirals, well done for all of your hard work and I look forward to seeing you in a week! Thank you parents and carers for your continued support in helping your children to reach their full potential – it’s always appreciated!

Miss Pott J

Spring 2 update

This half term has continued to provide Admirals with challenges and opportunities to flourish! The children have, once again, impressed with how adaptable and resilient they can be. They continue to work extremely hard to consolidate their number fluency, improve their vocabulary and sentence structures and grow in their curiosity and problem solving skills. As always, we have also taken part in some fantastic extracurricular activities. We completed a yoga session based around Global Goal number 3: healthy body and minds; took part in International Women’s day; raised money for charity for Red Nose Day; immersed ourselves in a drama themed Greek workshop and visited Holy Trinity Church in St Albans.

This term, Admirals have enjoyed exploring a range of texts and completing a variety of genres of writing. The first text we focused on was Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho Yen. It is a graphic novel about Ade, who is a just an ordinary boy with an ordinary life. He loves living at top of a tower block and he loves his life, but one day a building falls randomly near his home, an incredibly stable building. Luckily, no one is hurt, but the buildings keep falling with no reason whatsoever. We were gripped from the beginning and loved the mystery as it unfolded in the story. We wrote many different pieces based on the story including diary entries; newspaper articles; first person recounts, description and, to conclude, our own mystery stories. Following this unit, we then created our own guides to survival: explanation guides supported the reader in how to survive in hostile, treacherous terrains. We designed our books and then wrote using complex sentences to bring our guides to life.

After this, we enjoyed everything that Book Week had to offer: we read a wonderful text, ‘Journey’ that touched upon refugees, their struggle but also prosperity, courage and bravery. The children were extremely mature in their discussions and it provided us with a fantastic platform for some of the children in our class to talk about their experience of moving away from their country. We were inspired by the story and the resilience of refugees that we wrote our own letters of persuasion encouraged councils across the UK to welcome all refugees in our schools. We also paired up with Hummingbirds, which was fantastic. We shared stories with them and helped them to read tricky words when they stumbled. We also wrote book reviews to send to another local primary school and were lucky enough to be read to by a mystery reader (thank you so much Thomas’ mum!)

We’ve continued to work hard in maths this half term, tackling a range of topics. We began our learning with fractions. Although we found this tricky, we continued to persevere and quickly realised they are not as challenging as we once thought. We worked hard to find equivalents; add and subtract fractions; convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions and solve fractions of amounts questions. Once we had fully mastered fractions, we moved onto to area where we practised our multiplication skills and then onto to converting measures and volume.

In science, we built upon last half term’s learning when finding out about living things and their habitats. We found out how living things are sorted by observable characteristics and that scientists all over the world observe their and ask questions to find out about these species. We looked particularly and Jane Goodall and David Attenborough. We also learnt all about pollination and how pollinators are so vital for our environment to flourish and produce fruit and vegetables for us to eat. Spring 2 also brought us Science Week, which was a great opportunity for Admirals to showcase their curiosity. We looked at the question, ‘What would happened if you ate the same food every day?’ We were fascinated by this and learnt all about healthy, balanced diets. We learnt all about the benefits and different food groups and even explored what Premier League Football stars eat before a big game. We created menus for footballers; balanced plates; smoothie recipes; and even followed the journey of the famous banana from Fair Trade Countries. It really was a week to remember!

 Our geography topic this term has seen us explore the physical and human importance of a biome that covers one-fifth of the world’s land surface – mountain! The study of mountains enabled us to comprehend key concepts of physical geography such as plate tectonics and the formation of different rock types, as well as erosion and geological deep time. We created informative videos about how fold mountain ranges form and got to grips of how fossils have been found on the summit of Mount Everest.

In computing, this half term, we have learned about flat-file databases. We first created paper databases before moving to online databases. We learned about records and fields and how to sort data and search within a database. Finally, we found out how databases are used in real life.

In Design and Technology, we have been exploring the use of electronic items and have been exploring the components needed to complete a full circuit of electricity. Admirals explored what to do if their circuit did not work and how to use process of elimination to find the faulty part. The children can confidently create circuits that employ a number of components (such as LEDs, resistors, transistors and chips) including a switch.

In Art, Admirals have delved into our textiles unit. We created wall hangings out of different fabrics and explored how to hang them. We practised construction and destruction skills, whilst layering different pieces of fabrics over one another. Additionally, we have painted portraits of King Charles, ready for the coronation and used straws to created beautiful, vibrant butterfly art.

In PE, Admirals class have tackled tennis with ease. They have developed their control with the racket and ball l and practised their skills in a real game set up. The children have really impressed me with their self-belief in their swimming lessons. I was particularly pleased with their determination during their sponsored swim; I was lucky enough to watch them in this event and felt immensely proud.

In RE, this half term, we have been investigating and evaluating the key question: How significant is it for Christians to believe God intended Jesus to die? We are learnt to to question whether God intended Jesus to be crucified or whether Jesus’ crucifixion was the consequence of events during Holy Week. We began our sequence by thinking about our plan and whether we have a specific purpose in life. We then transferred this thinking to Jesus and explored different clues in scriptures that suggested Jesus was aware of his purpose on Earth. We completed our learning by thinking about influential figures in the world who seemed to have a clear purpose, path or destiny in life.

Our PSHE lessons have been focused on the topic ‘Healthy Me’. We have learned about the risks and effects of smoking and alcohol on our bodies. I was extremely impressed with the considered discussion and thoughtfulness surrounding these mature themes. The children enjoyed learning and putting into practice basic emergency aid procedures – we even used our own Anni to practise on. In addition, we have had some extremely thoughtful discussions about body image. We learnt how important it is to show kindness when talking to or about others. We looked at celebrity pictures that have been altered by the media and the effects these could have on young children today.

As you can see, Admirals have had a full on half term and have continued to show just how resilient they can be. They have shown kindness, demonstrated self-belief and worked hard to reach their full potential. As always, thank you for your continued support too. I hope that everyone has a restful and enjoyable break and has some cheeky chocolate too!

How can you support your child at home with preparation for Year 6?

Since we are fast approaching year 6, I am becoming increasingly aware of the need to prepare the children for this. Please look at the list below, which outlines non-negotiables for your child’s learning. These are key skills that MUST be rehearsed and practised at home.  

1)   Times tables – these feed into every aspect to maths learning and are a crucial skill in everyday life. Please practise times tables every day on times table rockstars website or the below link. 

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check 

2)   Telling the time – in the age of the digital clock, we are becoming more and more aware that our children cannot tell the time on an analogue watch. Ask your child what the time is at every opportunity e.g: It’s dinner time, what time is it? How long is it until your bedtime? What time is it now? Etc. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=telling+time

3)   The use of four operations (addition, multiplication, subtraction and division). These methods should be practised and rehearsed daily. Use this website to guide you on the sorts of questions. 

https://myminimaths.co.uk/year-6-arithmetic-practice-papers/ 

 

4)   Reading – please encourage your child to read every day and/or read with them. This is so vital in ensuring your children are exposed to a variety of different text types as well as ambitious vocabulary.  

Your children practise these skills daily in morning work and daily fluency sessions, however we need your support to ensure your children reach their full potential. Please come and talk to me if you would like any support with this; my door is always open.  

Thank you so much for all of your support,  

Miss Pott  

Spring 1 update

What a fantastic half term we have had in Admirals class! The children have proven, once again, that they have embraced our Margaret Wix values and are continuously working hard to live by these powers in school.

They have shown resilience when tackling hard maths challenges; self-belief when striving to reach their goals; curiosity in abundance when asking thought-provoking questions across the curriculum; and kindness whilst supporting their friends during new challenges like swimming.

This term has seen so many fantastic opportunities for our class including: taking part in an Ancient Greek Workshop; exploring our mental health through a retune session; and even trying some new foods for Lunar New Year.

In English, this term, we began by looking at the text ‘The Boy in the Tower’ by Polly Ho-Yen. A story of triffid-like plants are consuming and collapsing buildings and their deadly spores are preventing the emergency services performing a search and rescue. This book provided us with some great opportunities to practise writing with a mystery theme. We wrote diary entries, news reports, notes and speeches. The children used some fantastic, ambitious vocabulary to write their own mystery stories. We experimented using a range of sentence lengths to build tension and atmosphere.

In maths, we have worked hard to tackle short division. Although we found this challenging at first, we all persevered and have mastered it. Admirals are now able to express remainders as fractions, decimals and decide which remainder would be most appropriate in different contexts. We have also worked hard on representing fractions pictorially, creating equivalent fractions and adding and multiplying them too!

In science, we delved into the world of ‘Properties of materials.’ Each lesson we acquired more knowledge by planning and carrying out investigations. We tested which materials were insoluble and soluble. We investigated which materials were reversible by heating and filtering and we even managed to separate an abundance of materials using magnets, scissors, blue tac and cello tape (that really was challenge). The children have loved the hands on side to learning and demonstrated such curiosity whilst investigating the properties of different materials.

History, this term, has been centred around the Ancient Greeks. We were studying the key question, The Trojan horse: historical fact, legend or myth? In order to answer this question we first learnt about the story. We practised our drama skills to act out the key events and then retold the story  using a comic book strip. Next, we explored different sources and investigated how reliable or unreliable they were. We designed Greek pots and used these to create our own reliable piece of evidence. To end our unit, we had to think deeply about our enquiry question and decided whether the Trojan Horse story was in fact a myth, legend or historical fact.

In computing, we practised numerous skills relating to vector drawing. We learnt how to manipulate shapes, zoom, duplicate, copy and paste, rotate and order in order to produce a range of fun and intricate vector drawings. To end the unit, we were tasked with creating our own vector drawings using the range of skills we had acquired in the unit.

In Art. We focussed on the skill of collaging. We first explored how to layer different materials to create the desired effect. We practised doing this with a range of materials to create texture. Once we had completed our trial, we used collaging to design our own Trojan horses. We discussed using neutral tones to suit a horses colouring and used materials like string and hessian for the mane and tail.

In PE, the children have enjoyed swimming lessons, improving both their technique and stamina. The swimming teachers have been very impressed with the effort and determination to succeed shown in every lesson. I have been particularly impressed with the determination and perseverance shown by all the children! Well done Admirals

Our PSHE lessons have been focused on our dreams and goals. We started our topic by thinking about our long term goals. We discussed that these needed to be realistic and that we would need to work hard to achieve them. As a class, we thought of the logical steps we needed to take in order to reach our potential. We then looked at a range of jobs and salaries and discussed which job profession we felt contributed most to society. We then had to fill out our own job applications for our dream job. As well as our discrete learning in PSHE, we took part in NSPCC number day, Safer Internet day and Children’s Well-being week!

I hope you have a restful and well-deserved break over the half term, Admirals.  Well done for all of your hard work and I look forward to seeing you in a week! Thank you parents and carers for your continued support in helping your children to reach their full potential – it really is a team effort!

Miss Pott

Autumn 2 update 

Year 5 have had a productive second half to the Autumn Term. This term has been full of lots of opportunities to grow as little people and learn about the importance of speaking out when we feel unsafe or uncomfortable. We showed such bravery and respect to others when sharing and listening to our peers. As a class, we took part in ‘Speak Out and Stay Safe’ Week as well as ‘Just Talk’ Week. During these weeks, we spent time focussing on our mental well-being and creating strategies of how we can help ourselves and others if we feel we are struggling. We were lucky enough to take part in a workshop too by NSPCC volunteers, which was hugely insightful and useful.

In maths, we have consolidated our understanding of place value and we are able to regroup more flexibly to solve calculations. We moved on to tackle mental strategies for multiplication, addition and subtraction. We explored which methods were most efficient for calculations and which methods would not be the best suited. Mental calculations are a great way to estimate answers but also can save us a great deal of time. We then applied our learning to formal written addition and subtraction. With this, we spotted mistakes, solved missing number calculations and investigated word problems; these tested our understanding and provided an opportunity to show case their understanding 

We have been busy in English this term and have written some excellent, extended pieces of writing. It was so great to showcase some of our learning during wondrous writing week and we hope you enjoyed it too! The children first studied the story of the spider and the fly and emulated the author’s tone by writing persuasive letters to other flies warning them about the cunning spider. We practised lots of different techniques in order to be successful in our persuasive tone including: flattery, multi clause sentences, repetition, strong and precise language and many more. We then moved on to look at the fantastic poetry book, ‘The Lost Words.’ Between the magical pages of this book are poems written about aspects of nature that have been lost in the children’s dictionaries. It was our job to conjure them back to life and we created our own class version of the lost words by writing poems and creating illustrations. The poems were extremely emotive and the children showcased their deep understanding of figurative language.

In Science, the children have spent time learning all about forces. They have really enjoyed partaking in experiments every week! We have planned, observed, tested and concluded and really have become experts in forces! We’ve designed and tested stream-lined boats, made pendulums and tested their swing, tested the souls of our shoes and the force of friction they hold. The children have definitely lived by our value of curiosity in science this term and have been so inquisitive about their learning. They have all thoroughly enjoyed the hands on side to learning and have really impressed me with their deep thinking!

In Geography this half term, we have learned about volcanoes. Miss Charnock kick started the learning with a great hook. She bought in her very own volcano and made it erupt with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The children were hooked from the beginning and their curiosity only grew stronger throughout the unit. They have learnt all about the locations of volcanoes in the world, the make-up of volcanoes, how they are formed and much more. We even tested our tectonic plates separating and jelly (lava) spilling out from in between.

Computing lessons have focused on video editing this half term. We began by looking at filming techniques including camera angles and types of shot before using a storyboard to plan a video of our own. We then filmed our videos in groups. The children showed that they were adept at using technology to create their videos.

In PE, we mastered tag rugby skills. We began our learning by playing a variety of games to practise dodging and attacking. We then put this into practice in a whole class game. The children have worked hard to play well in different teams each week and have really challenged themselves even when it has been a little chilly! We are so looking forward to going swimming next term! Please remember your swimming kit each week!

For our PSHE lessons, we learnt all about tolerance and the importance of celebrating difference. We looked at children with different cultures from our own. We held mature discussions about sensitive topics such as Hate Crimes and Black History. We learnt that groups of people are discriminated against because of perceived different and discussed how we could overcome these conflicts. I was so impressed with how mature all the children were in talking about these subjects and expressing their views to others.

As the term draws to a close, I am reminded of just how much we have achieved as a team and as the very special Margaret Wix family! The Christmas spirit has definitely taken over and our elf on the shelf has really caused some mischief. He has hung from tinsel, stolen our class book and even been fishing for our rubber duck advent calendar. ! It has been so lovely to see the school filled with Christmas cheer; we wore Christmas jumpers, ate Christmas lunch, decorated the tree, took part in the Christmas, music concert and watched the panto too!

I hope you have a restful and well-deserved break Admirals. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, if you are celebrating! Well done for all of your hard work and I look forward to seeing you again in January! Parents and carers, thank you for your continuous support in helping your children to reach their full potential!

Miss Pott :) 

Autumn one update

Admirals have had an excellent, productive first half term back to school. They have settled back into their routines and have shown me just what enthusiastic, reflective learners they are! This half term has been packed full of learning and lots of amazing opportunities to take learning outside of the classroom and tor bring it life including our fantastic trip to the Space Museum in London. Admirals’ class demonstrated respect for others whilst out in the public and were great ambassadors for the school. We had great fun exploring the wonderland and seeing the model of the Lunar Capsule, which we had just written about in Science! We even had time to practise our PE skills with an amazing quidditch session! Additionally, our charity committee (made up of numerous year 5’s) showed great kindness by loading the vans packed full of food from the harvest assembly!

This half term, in English, we have been enjoying a range of fantastic, high quality texts, including Zerraffa Gerraffa and Dragonology. The children’s excitement and enthusiasm towards our non-chronolgocial reports about dragons has been such a joy to watch! From the moment we opened the mythical pages of the non-fiction book the children were hooked. They showed just how curious they were as we explored each page by asking questions in abundance about the mythical world of dragons! The book has some amazing illustrations but most importantly, it is littered with ambitious vocabulary that the children have been able to soak up in every lesson. Through the weeks we have practised grammatical structures including, multi clause sentences, cause and effect adverbials, propositional phrases and many more. Through each lesson, we have built upon our prior learning and then had the chance to create and sketch our own dragons to write about. We created our own reports on a dragon of our creation. We wrote formally about their diet, personality, appearance and habitat. This fabulous book is one of many in the series, please do ask your child about the collection we have in the classroom and see for yourself how they can be used to inspire reading and writing.

In maths, we have tackled the hugely important unit on place value. The children have ordered numbers, placed them on number lines, predicted mystery numbers and rounded them too! The children have persevered when faced with new learning and challenges and have demonstrated our new learning skills brilliantly! We moved onto exploring negative numbers. We learnt about where we would find them in a real life context, how to add and subtract negative numbers and how to read different intervals in scales. More recently, we have been learning how to divide and multiply by 10, 100 and 1,000. The children used speaking frames to support their understanding of the number growing larger or smaller and exactly how the digits move through the place value columns.

We have had very productive and busy afternoons too. In History, we kicked off our unit on Ancient Egypt. We discovered the hierarchy in Ancient Egypt and created our own mnemonics to remember the order in which society was ranked and learnt about the importance of after life in Ancient Egyptian times. We practised drawing hieroglyphics, wrote instructions on how to mummify a pharaoh and made our own Canopic jars out of clay. It really has been so fantastic to see the children so immersed in their history topic and we are so excited to share it all with you in our sharing assembly. We hope you enjoy it too!

In computing, we have been learning about electronic systems and sharing information. We studied how these complex systems work and where we would find them in the outside world. We created teddy bears with different complex systems inside of them and studied important systems like pelican and puffin crossings. We then looked at sharing information effectively and created our own PowerPoints on our favourite zoo animal practising viral skills in communication. 

In PE, the children developed their basketball skills and practised working as a team. Their attacking and defending skills have progressed and Mr Bird has been impressed with their sportsmanship.

In Science, we delved into the world of space: The children found out about how the model of the solar system wasn’t always as we know it today. We discussed theories of those who thought the world was flat, we observed how to planets rotate on their axis as well as orbit the sun. We even learnt a catchy rap to remember the order of the planets and information about them too!

In art, Mrs Campbell-Pugh practised printing with the children. They created prints in Styrofoam using hieroglyphics, just like the Egyptians. In textiles, the children have begun making their own Egyptian head dresses! They used their measuring and cutting skills with increasing accuracy.

In RE, we learnt all about commitment. We explored the five pillars of Islam and how Muslims use these to demonstrate their commitment to God. We discussed how each pillar holds great importance and then thought about which pillar, we thought, was showing greatest commitment. After the half term, we will be comparing the commitment Muslims show to Allah with those that Christians demonstrate.

In PSHE, we begun our first topic ‘Being Me in My World.’ We explored our hopes and dreams for the upcoming term and moved on to learn all about children’s rights. We explored every bodies rights to be safe, have access to clean water, a safe place to live and the right to learn. We thought about our rights at school and how we can all show responsibility by upholding these rights. Additionally, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day and learnt just how important it is to care for ourselves and others. We wrote positive affirmations, played a mental-health bingo game and designed bunting to support others in keeping positive. 

Your children have worked so hard this half term and have lived by our Margaret Wix values. I hope you enjoy a restful break Admirals and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Miss Pott