In Year 5, we have had some visitors in school this week. Ally from Usborne Books welcomed us into Buccaneers to explore her books. We have also had a rap workshop. First, we had to say our names and something about us. For example - I have a brother or sister. Then, we had to make a rap with words that we came up with which Andrew supported us with. 

We had fun in the Boxercise session this week doing different exercises. In Music, we have been carrying on with our Grime tracks but adding in some audio. The final result was very successful. 

In Science, we conducted an experiment to find out how much gas was produced as part of the non-reversible reaction between a vitamin C tablet and water. We had to use film canisters and put a quarter of a vitamin tablet in it with water. When we turned them upside down, the film canister shot up like a rocket because of the chemical reaction that took place. Next, we tried half a tablet, then three quarters and finally a whole vitamin tablet. Some of them went higher than the roof! It was definitely one of the best science lessons we have had. 

In Art, we have been doing our final portrait designs using oil pastels, pens and a picture of ourselves. We had to use all our ideas to make a multi-media creative self-portrait.

To finish the week, we had an online workshop about AI. We then worked as a group to create a poster about how to use AI safely.

In Year 5 we have been very fortunate to have David from Junior Sharks Sports Coaching, who has been teaching us boxing through different methods. We did exercises and drills through the hall, played Connect 4 using cones and used the gloves and pads. As well as boxing, we have also had Andy from Savage Martial Arts teach us, Martial Arts! We learnt how to jab, cross and hook. He told us about the importance of listening to the sensei (teacher). We played a game to test our listening called ‘Here, There and Everywhere’. This involved listening to instructions rather than following where he pointed.

In Science, we started our new unit about Materials. We first had to sort different materials that had been mixed up by making a sieve to separate the items from each other. In our second lesson, we investigated which of the solids dissolved in water using some everyday objects: salt, sugar, bicarbonate soda, and sand.

In Art, we have been learning about portraits. We have been creating our own portraits of ourselves using poems as outlines.

Written by Poppy E!

In Y5, as part of our new unit about Robert Falcon Scott the Antarctic explorer, we were asked to bring a blanket (or a sleeping bag), a card game or a book and plenty of warm clothes. We took out the parachute and made a big tent. While we were inside, we spoke about what it would have been like for Captain Scott and his men. We also spoke about how they may have passed the time. During Science this week, we did an experiment testing how fast different liquids travelled down a piece of cardboard. Different liquids moved at different speeds. Some were really slow like paint and PVA glue. In art we have been looking at the work of Fredreich Hundertwasser. We created some patterns inspired by his love of wavey lines and natural shapes.

In literacy we have been finishing off our work on the book Cosmic (Frank Cottrell Boyce). We are starting to plan our own independent writing based on the ending of the book. The character has pressed a button in the car which can transform it into another vehicle. We have thought about what our vehicle could be, where it could go and a big event that we could encounter. Also this week, we were visited by Carol Lilley who came to speak to our classes about body image and self-esteem. We drew ourselves as superheroes and gave ourselves unique super powers. In our Mini Police workshop this week we learnt about Online Safety and how to keep ourselves safe. We have also been hard at work cutting wood for our bridges. We have been using a tenon saw to cut wood to 100mm and we will be glueing them together to make a Truss Bridge.

Written by Poppy Edgar

Year 5 started off the week with an exciting Literacy lesson- Mrs Toal brought in her dog Rupert and we had fun playing with him on the school field. We used our observations of him to gather and develop  vocabulary for our independent writing. We have enjoyed writing our own stories based on a short animation called The Present. 

In Design Technology, we have been busy making our soft toys that we designed with our parents early in the term. 

We also got the opportunity to visit the Three Horseshoes Bowls Club at Shephalbury Park. We have had a number of sessions at school run by experts from the club and it was great to actually get to play on a bowling green. 

To start off our 2^nd summer term, Year 5 have been immersing ourselves in our new topic on Victorians by using the street child in literacy to inspire a balanced argument about whether they think Jim should try and escape his workhouse or not. We have noted down the positives and negatives and created a conscience alley to help him make up his mind. 

Also, we have had coaches visit from the Three Horseshoe Bowls club, who have come in to teach us how to play Bowls. On Wednesdays, we have been going out and taking part in a number of activities to improve before visiting the green in a couple of weeks.