Friday 9th July 2021

This week was Local Geography and Sports Week. The children learnt about the local area and created a detailed map including: key features, a key and compass directions. We had a CSI online workshop on Road Safety where the children learnt about the important steps we can take to keep safe when crossing roads or riding a bike. 
The children took part in a variety of Olympic themed sporting activities (long jump and shot put) and really enjoyed learning some Indian dance moves during Dance Day.

In maths, we have been planning our class party the children compared costs across five supermarkets and calculated averages and ranges of items, in order to find the best deals.
The children have also following the EURO championships and have created some informative posters on our class sweepstake countries.

In creative writing the children completed their espionage books creating book covers and blurbs as well as proofreading and editing their stories.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend( hoping England wins! )
 

Shabbat shalom

Ms Dalwai

Friday 2nd July 2021

This week was STEM week and the children took part in numerous challenges. On Wednesday they completed a CSI-themed forensic activity. They had to solve a series of clues to figure out who had stolen Hendrix the dog. We also had a newspaper challenge involve designing and creating an item using one newspaper and some masking tape.

This week the children completed an SRE program, the children may have more questions relating to the sessions they had. They are more than welcome to come to us with their questions though we encourage you to discuss any queries they may have.

In creative writing, the children continued writing the next chapter of their extended writing story-adding a plot twist or surprising element.

In maths, the children completed their Maths mystery games I have been so impressed with their focus and imagination.

On Monday, we will be recording our end-of-year show, If your child wishes to wear a costume could they please bring them to change into.

Wishing you all a restful break.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Friday 25th June 2021

This has been a busy week. The children all completed a series of 11 plus Mock exams to evaluate target areas, to focus on over the last few weeks of term. I will relay this information to you individually next week. The children have had an amazing week, coming third in the ETGAR competition out of over 170 plus teams. Our year five team also came first in the National General Knowledge Quiz- a huge congratulations to them all. 

This week the children continued writing their espionage stories during creative writing. In mathematics, the children have been creating their own maths mysteries applying their mathematical knowledge to create a series of clues.They have been so enthusiastic, making mysteries relating to Harry Potter to the EURO football championships.

Next week is STEM week and we have some exciting activities and challenges planned including a CSI themed Forensic day and Whole School STEM newspaper challenge.

Wishing you a restful weekend,

Shabbat shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Friday 18th June 2021

We have had a very busy week. We held our School election on Monday and Scarlett Ison was selected as the new School Prime Minister. On Wednesday, the children had a Body Image workshop reflecting on positive ways we can speak about ourselves. Just a reminder that next week will be Bike Ability, please make sure your child comes into school with their bike and a helmet too. All children should wear their full PE kit and bring in a waterproof coat.

Next week we will be performing a series of Mock Exams using the Atom learning Portal. The tests will include Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning, and Non-Verbal Reasoning.

Friday 11th June 2021

All the children have returned to school after the half term break enthusiastic and ready to learn- we have had a busy (albeit rather humid) week!

In maths we revisited the  topic of geometry. The children discussed , estimated , measure and constructed a variety of angles and learnt geometric rules, including those relating to angles on parallel lines. The children used these rules to solve problems and justified their reasoning.

In English, the children began to write an extended story with an espionage theme. We also looked at irregular plurals eg. stimuli and viruses and discussed the Latin and Greek roots of these words. 

In geography we began a topic on London and our local environment the children went on a virtual tour of London and created fact files on their top 5 attractions. 

This week the children really enjoyed their forest school session, please do look at the Forest school blog to see some of their exploits. The main focus this week was on resilience, collaboration and perseverance. 

This week we began the process of the Year 5 Prime Ministerial Election. The children have all been focussed and have showed great collaborative skills. They have created well executed campaigns and manifestos. Each Party produced a Party Political Broadcast and took part in a question time-styled interview. Polling will be taking place on Monday morning, with the Prime Minister being announced at 2:45pm. I wish all candidates the best of luck.

It was lovely to have the opportunity to meet with so many of you during our Secondary Transfer Meetings and I look forward to meeting, those of you remaining, next week.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

Friday 28th May 2021

I can't believe we are now approaching the final few weeks of year five. This half term has flown by and the children have really begun to mature and show their potentials. We will be having our Secondary Transfer meetings straight after half term. I look forward to meeting you all then.

We would like to encourage the children to  start thinking about year 6 and have given the children a special positive report card. These will be used along side their individual applications to select prefects next year. These report cards can be filled by any teacher who observes a child showing the qualities we would like to see in a prefect. 

This week in English, we discussed adding extra information and interest to our writing, the children wrote a number of short pieces incorporating skills to enhance the quality of their pieces. In creative writing the children write an invisibility-themed story.

In maths, we focussed on converting metric to imperial units. 
In science the children designed and performed experiments to test out a variety of questions relating to our topic on dissolving.

Wishing you all a lovely half term.

Shabbat Shalom

Ms Dalwai

Friday 21st May 2021

This week we took part in a walk to school week. We discussed the important benefits for both our health and the environment that this small step can make.

In English, we looked at the story of the Invisible Man by HG Wells. The children were exposed to some challenging vocabulary and will be creating their own invisibility-themed stories next week. Our grammar topic this week was the use of adverbs to describe adjectives e.g. the sun was extremely hot. 

In Maths we looked at maths reasoning and the children applied their maths skills to solve a Maths Mystery relating to a missing Football shirt. The children worked collaboratively to find solutions and enjoyed being detectives. 

In Science, we looked at Dissolving and the children tested out a variety of materials to see if they dissolved in water. We also established the difference between dissolving and melting.

This week we also completed our NVR and VR end-of-year assessments.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Shabbat shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Friday 14th May 2021

This week the children began an art topic on Architecture and learnt about Iranian Architecture and created pencil sketch drawings. The children looked at perspective and capturing intricate details.

In Maths, we continued our statistics topic and the children explored creating frequency tables to display data and extracting information from them(including the mean, median and mode). 

In Literacy, we continued exploring poetry from the book Cloud Busting the children learnt about the uses of kennings and limericks in poems. In our grammar topic, we looked at adverbs describing adverbs and parenthesis ( brackets/dashes/ commas) to add detail.

In Creative writing, the children wrote a script and a story titled 'The Cheat'. The children are continuing to develop their perspective writing skills and describe in more detail.

In Science, we looked at irreversible change. The children performed two experiments to explore this topic and develop an understanding of the scientific vocabulary used to describe reactions(e.g. acid-base, reatcant-product).  In our first experiment, the children mixed milk and vinegar to produce casein. Secondly, the children used bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to produce carbon dioxide. Please see the videos in the blog.

Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend.

Chag Sameach

Ms Dalwai

Jewish Studies – week beginning 3.5.21

Year 5 have been busy this week! The children successfully completed their Etgar test on the ‘Mishna and Talmud’ chapter and are now ready for the next test, all relating to the land and State of Israel. We have touched on key dates in the run up to the establishment of the State in 1948 and we have also looked at famous Israeli faces from the past 73 years. We have also made progress by staring Wordlist 5, which the children will focus on until the end of the year.

Friday 7th May

This week the children continued preparing for our upcoming Year 5 elections. The children have been busy preparing manifestos, posters, and pamphlets as well as creating an advert for their party. I have been so impressed by their enthusiasm and work ethic.

In mathematics, we looked at averages and the children learnt how to calculate the mean, mode, median and range from a set of data. The children really enjoyed applying their learning during a dice game and rose to the challenge of some complex word problems.

The children completed a VR test via our new portal of atom learning and have an NVR test as homework. These tests are adaptive to each child and are timed so please make sure your child has enough time to complete them before they start the test.

In creative writing, the children wrote scripts and will be acting these out next week. In English, the children

read the next chapter of Cloud Busting and wrote their own Haiku poems. Our grammar focus this week was extending sentences and we discussed the use of subordinate clauses to add information and detail.

In Science, we continued our Changing States of Matter topic and tested out different materials insulation properties, in order to design a lunch box.

In our Christianity topic, we looked at religious leaders and holy books.

This week in PE the children played netball and cricket.

In music, the children recorded musical slogans.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend.

Shabbat shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Friday 30th April 2021

This week was assessment week and the children completed our formal external tests in Maths and English. 

In Maths, we revised negative numbers and the children solved problems and explained their reasoning. Completing number puzzles and crosswords involving negative number calculations. Next week we will be looking at our Averages topic, including calculating the mean, mode, and median.

In creative writing, we looked at several pieces of work on bullying (including a very powerful piece from Barack Obama's autobiography) and created a piece of writing from the perspective of a bystander.

In English, we continued to discuss adverbials and looked at predicting plot in our Class text - Cloud Busting. The children are really enjoying this text and the poetry styles it contains. 

In Science, we looked at the properties of materials and the children tested out different properties including permeability, insulation, and magnetism on a variety of materials.

In PSHE, we are currently learning about Christianity as part of our World Religion topic.

In Art, the children practiced their perspective drawing skills by sketching a road scenery.

We have started using the portal of Atom learning to assess Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning. All children were given a login last week and will be set NVR or VR homework every week on this portal. Please be aware once the children start this homework they must complete it in one sitting, as it is a timed activity. 

The children are now preparing for the Year 5 elections which will take place later this term. I have been so impressed by their enthusiasm and planning and am looking forward to sharing their efforts with you in due course.

The children now have 4 pieces of homework per week which are set Monday to Thursday. Each piece of homework should take approximately 30 mins.

Wishing you all a lovely Bank Holiday weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Jewish Studies - week beginning 19.4.21

This week in Year 5, the children were challenged to present the order of 6 books of Mishna into a memorable format. We also continued and finished our learning of Etgar Chapter 6, learning all about the Written and Oral law and the Mishna and Talmud. We now look forward to Chapter 7 – which all about Eretz Yisrael.

Jewish Studies - week beginning 12th April

In Year 5, the children returned to a Jewish Studies schedule that was bursting at the seams! For starters, we have discussed Sefirat HaOmer and returned to our Etgar preparation - hoping we will all be able to attend this year’s competition in person. We then celebrated Rosh Chodesh Iyar on Tuesday, followed by a meaningful Yom HaZikaron service on Wednesday and a fabulous day of activities to mark Yom Ha’atzmaut on Thursday! We have also enjoyed the return of singing together in our respective classrooms, which everyone has found uplifting.

Friday 16th April

We have had an exciting start  to the Summer term. We celebrated Yom Haatzmaot taking part in  fun filled  activities from travelling the trail of Israel to playing Machanayim.

We also commemorated Yom Haazikaron. The children attended a special assembly led by Year 6 and learnt first hand about the life of a soldier from Morah Neta and Moreh Ophir.

In maths, we revisited remainders looking at word problems in context and converting remainders into decimals and fractions. Next week we will be reviewing all the topics of the year.

In English, we looked at the spelling patterns learnt this year and discussed adverbs of manner.

In creative writing, the children learnt how to write an essay and in particular the layout and structure.

In science, the children started our Summer topic on Changing States of Matter. We performed an experiment on evaporation and the children wrote a more formal scientific write-up. 

In PSHE this term we will be looking at World Religions and our focus will be Christianity. 

Next week we will be returning to our homework schedule. Wishing you a restful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Year 5 Jewish Studies – week beginning 2^nd Nissan/15.3

In Year 5 this week, the children have continued with their mini Pesach handbook, using their initiative to write practical instructions and ‘deeper meaning’ insights for the 15 steps of the Pesach Seder. Please allow them to indulge you and ‘wow’ you with their knowledge on Seder night, thus sharing in their learning experience.

Friday 19th March

I can't believe we have reached the end of the term already. I have really enjoyed having the children back in school the last two weeks and returning to a sense of normality.

This week the children enjoyed Forest School and built structures to support each other, they worked collaboratively and thought out of the box!

I would like to congratulate the General Knowledge Quiz team on winning their heat beating 50 schools to earn their place in the next round in June. 

In Literacy, we revisited adjective order and the spelling pattern -ible. The children wrote a Lost story and have really been focussing on improving their handwriting and presentation.

In Maths, we continued our topic of position and direction focusing on Reflection. The children really enjoyed writing secret messages with coordinates and solving a maths mystery! 

In Science, the children identified the advantages and disadvantages of the types of reproduction in plants. We looked more closely at the forms of asexual reproduction and next week the children will be planting their own tubers to observe the process more closely.

Just a gentle reminder that only stud earrings should be worn and no other jewellery.

Next week we will be partaking in some fantastic Pesach activities including the Matzah Bakery.

Shabbat shalom,

Ms Dalwai

Friday 12th March 2021

It was so lovely to welcome the children back to school this week. They were all enthusiastic to see each other and to return to the classroom environment. Due to the impact of lockdown, we have had a particular focus on wellbeing this week and taken part in activities relating to emotions and togetherness. 

In Mathematics, we began a topic on position and direction, and our focus this week was coordinates and translations. The children applied their knowledge of translations to solve a chess-themed logic puzzle. I also introduced the topic of algebra which we will be revisiting next term. 

In Literacy, our spelling pattern was -ture  and our grammar topic was adjective order. In Creative writing, the children wrote a story based on a dialogue with an emphasis on expanding sentences with description.

In our Shared text lesson they looked at a mysterious piece based on Fair and Isle. in the Shetlands we looked at literacy techniques and the power of a descriptive text. 

In Science, we introduced the topic of plant reproduction discussing the names and function of parts of a flower and the process of pollination.

The children took part in National Science Quiz and had a fantastic time competing with other schools in the country.

Looking forward to seeing you all next week.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ms Dalwai

January 29th 2021

This week was Mental Health Week, the children discussed a variety of topics including gratitude, resilience and mental health. We also pondered the importance of a moment of mindfulness and relaxation.
 

This week we began a focus on Poetry which we will continue for the rest of this term. To enable Mrs Sondhelm to join us for these lessons, I will be altering the Thursday morning timetable. I will share the new timetable over the weekend. Please make sure your child is aware of the changes to the Thursday timetable. Some children may have to go straight from Maths to Poetry and will have to complete any set work later in the morning, they will be allocated time to do this.
 

We have selected our teams for Quiz club and we will be having weekly practise sessions starting from next Friday at 12 pm.

Next Monday we will be hearing the children’s manifesto speeches in line with our school Prime Minister election 2021. Please do encourage your child to practise their speeches over the weekend if they are nominating themselves. 
 

Shabbat Shalom, 

The Year Five Team 

January 15th 2021

It has been another busy week of homelearning and the children continue to be focused and motivated to learn which is a pleasure to see. We have a very busy schedule and the children have been coping very well.

It has been brought to my attention that some children are working in groups to complete tasks which is absolutely fine as I am sure they are missing each others company. However I would like to encourage children not to share their work with others so I can gage each individual child's understanding of concepts.

We have quite an intensive intervention timetable please make sure your child knows when and where they need to attend. I would like to encourage the children to be more proactive in preparing for lessons and making sure they have printed sheets and have equipment ready.

From next week Mrs Sondelm will be joining the Year 5 team and teaching along side me for additional maths and literacy lessons. This will allow us to further differentiate lessons. Looking forward to next week. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Ms Dalwai

January 8th 2021

It has been wonderful having such a smooth transmission into homelearning. From my end it has been great to be able to see the children fully engaged with their learning and completing all work to the best of their ability.  I am always online during sessions to give any additional support and Mrs Goldfarb is in the Break out room. I am also contactable through email or the google classroom if they need to have a private conversation with me.  The online, whole class sessions have been a fun, new way to keep the class connected with their peers. Each week I will be checking in with them to see how they are finding things. If your child is taking part in any interventions you would have received an email from me and they will begin from Monday. I think the children would all benefit from having a print out of the timetable so they can annotate when and where they need to be e.g reading sessions or interventions.

Monday's work will be posted to the classroom at 7pm on Sunday. 

All other work will be posted the day before also at 7pm.

Shabbat Shalom

Ms Dalwai

Friday 11th December 2020

We have had a very busy week of home schooling.

This week in Literacy, we focussed on proofreading and adverbs. The children also revisited identifying the subject, verb and object in a sentence. The children read a story called  ‘Fire girl’ and answered questions about the text.

In Maths we completed our fractions topic first this term and focussed on reasoning  and problem solving strategies.

In Science, the children researched Stonehenge and discussed theories about its purpose. The children had to decide if they supported or refuted the idea that Stonehenge was an astronomical clock and form their own opinions based on the  theories they read.

In Music, the children designed a musical instrument.

In Art, the children looked at colour,  line and texture as techniques used in art. They looked at several art pieces depicting a winter scene including pieces by Monet and Gaugin. They then sketched their own winter scenery.

This week we finished our Greek History topic and the children researched and compared the Modern and Ancient Olympic Games. Please be sure to watch the Winter Show! The children were such enthusiastic actors and we are so proud of them.

Wishing you all a wonderful Chanukah and looking forward to seeing you all in January.

Chanukah Sameach,

The Year Five Team

Jewish Studies - week beginning 23.11

This week was filled with mass excitement, as the children received their Etgar books! We have set straight to work on the subject and the children will be busy reading Chapter 2 for homework! In Chumash, we analysed Pesukim 1-7 in order to give our opinions on what Joseph and his brothers' might have been thinking or feeling. just before he tells them of his dreams.

Friday 27th November 

This week the children have continued the Greek topic, the children reread the story of the Seven Pomegranate Seeds and have spent the week writing a script for our end of term show. The children have really enjoyed this topic and are so excited to show you their efforts. Next Friday we will be having our Greek day and the children will be coming in costume, these can be as elaborate or as simple as they wish. In History, the children learnt about the roles of specific Greek deities.

In Science, we watched the David Attenborough style documentaries we definitely have some budding documentary makers. This week we learnt about the life and work of Alexander Fleming. The children made scatter graphs of penicillin experiments and drew their own conclusions. 
 

In Mathematics, we started our fractions topic, exploring equivalent fractions  and comparing and ordering fractions.
 

In Literacy, we looked at figurative language such as metaphors, similes and personifications. Do ask your children to explain the differences to you.

We really enjoyed meeting you all this week to share all the achievements of your children, and hope it will be in person next term. The children have all been given their reports to take home and have emailed themselves their favourite pieces of work to share with you.

Wishing you all a restful weekend. Shabbat shalom.

 The Year Five team.

Jewish Studies - week beginning 16.11

This week in Jewish Studies, the children have learnt a great deal more about the family dynamics of Ya'akov and his sons (the 12 tribes). We have explored Rashi's explanation over the course of Pesukim 1-4 in the story of Yosef, filling in the answers to some important questions we had. We have also learnt the text of Pasuk 5. Our Middah (value) for this week was the importance of Tefillah. As long as the Jewish people remain steadfast in prayer, we will always be protected. Shabbat Shalom!

Friday 20th November 2020

This week has been Anti-Bullying week and the children created kindness stones. Created a kindness jigsaw piece. Wrote a poem from the perspective of a bully. We also discussed cyberbullying and how not to be a bystander when we see behaviour we know is not nice.

In Maths, we continued our topic on measures; revisiting accurate measuring and completing worded problems. We also completed some Greek word problems in line with our current History topic. The children took part in the Primary Maths Challenge we gave all the children in Year 5 the opportunity to take part if they wished too. 

In Literacy, we wrote a poem called ' It's OK' and completed a comprehension of the Titanic disaster. The children were very knowledgeable on this topic. In Creative Writing, the children learned techniques and startegies to add length to a sentence. We discussed varied sentence lengths and the impact this has on their writing. Our shared texts this week were based on Greek mythological stories including King Midas. Please do ask your children if they know the moral of the story?

As part of our Greek topic, the children learned the Greek Family Tree and discovered some interesting facts.

In Science, we looked at David Attenborough's life and work. We have asked the children to write a script and create a documentary in his style about a specific animal. We look forward to seeing these next week.

The children heard and voted for their favourite Letter to MP Mike Freer and we have posted all of the children's letters to him. We look forward to receiving a response.

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team 

Jewish Studies - week beginning 9.11

This week in Jewish Studies, we have continued learning about the relationships and interactions between Yosef, his father and his brothers. We have identified key words that describe the characters mentioned in Pesukim 1-4 and next week, we will focus on some of their thoughts and feelings, P'G. In the Parasha, we have learnt why Avraham paid a huge fee in order to procure the cave of Machpela - so that no one should accuse him of acquiring the land unfairly or improperly.

Friday 13th November

This week the children have really enjoyed learning about the Greeks. We have been so impressed by the homework projects that have been brought in so far. The children identified and labelled the different important towns on a map of Ancient Greece. The children learnt the Greek number system please do ask them to explain which numbers they now know? We learnt about the Olympics and read some mythical stories including Theseus and the Minotaur. 

In continuation of last week we had and a Q&A session with Sam Tomlinson (who works at the Houses Of Parliament). The children asked some impressive questions and wowed me with their knowledge of Government and Parliament.

In Maths we started our Measures topic, the children measured items around the classroom and calculated the area. We learnt the formulas for area and perimeter of rectangular shapes. The children went on to solve area and perimeter problems applying these formulae.

In Literacy, the children wrote a creative piece called 'Fire' and learnt how verbs(participles) are placed in the perfect tense. We finished the shared text "Rooftoppers" and focused on character description.

As part of our Greek Topic, we would like the children to come into school as either a mythical creature, God or Goddess, Philosopher, Spartan soldier or wearing a Greek toga. We would like to do this on Friday 4th December. I have told each child which character I would like them to be. These costumes need not be elaborate. 

The following children were chosen to represent Kerem Cares:

Tzedakah-Raphy and Liya

Tikkun Olam- Amelie and Ari

Kehilla- Chloe and Jenna

All the children wrote great manifestos as part of their nominations.

Wishing you a restful weekend.

Shabbat Shalom 

The Year 5 Team

Jewish Studies - week beginning 2/11

This week we have been busy revising Yaakov's family tree and delving into the Chumash text about Yosef and his brothers. We have learnt Rashi's explanation on the first Pasuk in Parashat Vayeshev and examined the Torah's introduction to Yosef and the relationship he has with his brothers. In preparation for this week's Sedra, we have focused on the Middah of 'Emunah' (belief) in Hashem.

Friday 6th November 2020

I hope you all had a lovely half term and it has been lovely seeing all the children so enthusiastic to return to school. This week was UK Parliament week and we have been learning about the UK GOVERNMENT. The children had a virtual tour of the Palace of Westminster and partook in a live Q&A session. We discussed the importance of voting and the children were very passionate about create their own campaign speeches. 
The children have been asked to write a letter to our local MP-Mike Freer-about any topic they feel is important to them. 
In Mathematics, we focussed on short and long division and revisited multiplication. 
This term, our history topic is Ancient Greeks. The children enjoyed creating their top trump cards depicting Ancient Greek Gods or Goddesses. Our topic homework this term, will give solely based on Greeks and the children have been given a selection of options to complete across this term. In Art, the children created Greek patterned vases.
in Literacy, the children completed a comprehension and learnt about past and present participles. We also began our shared text ‘The Roof-toppers’. In Creative Writing, the children learnt to add a character’s thought and description to their writing and slow the pace in a story. 
Due to our COVID measures and to insure good ventilation, all windows are open in the classroom. As the weather gets colder, so does the classroom temperature and we would like to request all children layer up with a under-layer as well as a jumper or cardigan. 
The children were all very excited to see our new Kerem addition, Pepsi and are looking forward to seeing him again soon.

Shabbat Shalom 

The Year Five Team

Friday 23rd October 2020

We can’t believe how quickly this first half term has passed by. The children have all worked incredibly hard and deserve a good break.
This week has been assessment week and we have been very impressed with how the children have approached their tests. We explained to them that the tests were for us to see their strengths and help address which areas they need to work on. All the children were calm and focused and did their very best. The children were tested in comprehension, spellings & grammar and mathematics (both mental arithmetic and reasoning). We also assessed the children’s science topic knowledge. The assessments have now been sent off for marking and we will be able to share the results with you at Parents' Evening in November/December.

Last week the children used their observation skills to draw a self portrait, using a photo of themselves for one half and drawing the other. See the photographs below to see some examples of  their wonderful work!

This week we sent home an email regarding the children's use of non-age appropriate gaming portals, especially Fortnite. Thank you for working together with us, we appreciate your support.

Wishing you all a healthy and joyful half-term, 

Shabbat Shalom
 

The Year 5 Team

Friday 16th October

This week the children enjoyed learning about Black History Month and we had some very interesting discussions. I look forward to seeing their posters next week. 

In Literacy, the children wrote two stories varying in pace and feeling entitled 'Two Beginnings'. We continued our shared text and the children wrote a description of a scarecrow, elevating their vocabulary and using literacy techniques to add interest to the reader. We discussed figurative language and types of parsing.

In Mathematics, we looked at square, cube and square roots and revisited factors, multiples and prime numbers.

In Geography, the children researched the river Thames and created fact files.

In Art the children started their half portraits and we were so impressed by the abundance of artistic talent. 

In Science, the children experimented air resistance by testing out their parachutes. Do ask them which parachutes were the most aerodynamic?

In PSHE we discussed the qualities of a good friend.

We have one more week of term and will be assessing the children's progress next week. Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Shabbat Shalom,

Year 5 Team

Friday 9th October 2020

Dear Parents,

This week, Year 5 were able to visit and have their lunch in the Sukkah. 

In Literacy, the children explored how to build a story around dialogue. We started the shared text - The Haunting of Amelie Jones. Next week we will start exploring the text in detail. We also continued to develop our scanning and skimming skills during our comprehension lesson. 

In Maths, we began our topic on multiplication and division, the children explored prime numbers and the terms factors and multiples, including the highest and lowest terms. The children really enjoyed our Prime Number themed mystery using the skills they had learned this week to solve a crime.

In Geography, the children learned about the uses of Rivers.
In Art, we explored some of the work of Georgia O’Keefe. The children were inspired by her mountain landscapes to create their own, using similar techniques and colours. Please see some examples below.

This week we sent home the children's lunch menu cards so that you can tell them in the morning what they will be having for lunch that day. Please make sure that they should only be bringing in fruit and vegetables for morning break.

Alongside this, we are giving the children a tube of smarties, which they will need to bring back to school. This will need to be completely filled with all the 20p coins they can find and fit inside the tube! 

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom

The Year Five Team 

Friday 2nd October 2020

We have had a lovely week at school this week, although it felt somewhat shorter without Monday. We hope that you all had a meaningful Yom Tov.

In Maths this week, we consolidated the children’s understanding of addition and subtraction, extending them to solve multi-step word problems, with the introduction of basic algebra. Next week we will be visiting the concepts of factors, multiples and prime numbers and it will be beneficial for the children to be reminded of this vocabulary over the weekend.

In Literacy, we revisited our shared text and developed our inference skills in order to decipher answers to specific questions.  A copy of the book is available in the Google Classroom, under the topic 'Shared texts', for any children who wish to continue reading the story.

In Art, the children painted their river scene sketches, using watercolour paints. Please see the photographs below. We certainly have some budding Artists!

In Science we learnt about air resistance and the children spent the afternoon designing and creating parachutes to test out their theories! The children all seemed quite perplexed to learn that two identically sized objects, that weigh different amounts, fall at the same speed, as discovered by Galileo.

In Geography, the children learnt how ox bow lakes are formed and revisited river terminology.

As the festival of Succot begins this evening and extends to over next weekend,  we will limit our regular weekly homework. For this reason, we are giving the children a reduced homework schedule of just Maths and English. This will be uploaded to the Google Homework Classroom and to be completed in their respective homework books. Please ensure that no written homework is completed on the festival days. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

The Year Five Team.

Friday 25th September 2020

We have had a busy week in Year 5.

This week in Creative Writing the children wrote a piece on their dreams for next year. In Literacy, our focus this term is elevating the quality of the children’s writing and handwriting. The children reviewed the types of parsing in speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. The children all wrote an amazing short piece of writing called the ‘The Island of Lights’. Please do ask them to show you what they wrote.

In Maths, for this and next week we will be focusing on mental and formal strategies for addition and subtraction including the column method.

In Geography, the children learnt about the various features of rivers and labelled them.

In Science, the children created a fact file on our forces topic. They identified key vocabulary and facts relating to gravity.
In Art, the children sketched a perspective drawing of a river scene. Learning how to develop depth and the uses of shading.

Fast well and see you on Tuesday

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 5 Team

Friday 18th September 2020

Dear Parents,

We have had a busy week. The children have worked hard and enjoyed the sunshine.
 

In Creative writing, the children wrote a piece called You’ve Got Mail and wrote a description of receiving a parcel or letter in the post. In Literacy, we introduced a shared reading lesson. This lesson focuses on developing reading comprehension skills and inference, as well as looking at literary techniques used by authors. This week we read the first chapter of ‘My life as a cat’.

In Geography, we continued our topic on Rivers, identifying key towns, the source and mouth of world rivers and giving the children the opportunity to develop their map reading skills and make use of indices.

In Mathematics, we continued our Number and Place Value topic, we focused on ordering numbers, identifying the value of digits and adding and subtracting 100’s, 1000’s and 10 000’s.

In Science, we introduced the children to our topic on Forces. The children learnt about the forces they encounter in daily life and learnt about the discovery of Gravity by Isaac Newton. The children learnt the difference between Weight and Mass, please ask your child which units they are measured in.

This week we have been incorporating some PSHE lessons based on kindness and respecting each other . I feel the children have really benefited from this, as the children have been happier and playing well with each other. 

There are a few requests that we would like to share with you. The first is that children should be bringing in two snacks for morning break, as they often tend to be hungry when coming in from break. The second is to be wearing correct school uniform: School shoes- not trainers unless there has been a letter written to us to let us know new school shoes are being ordered.
 

Shana Tovah and Shabbat Shalom!

Kind Regards

The Year 5 Team

Friday 11th September 2020

Dear Parents,

It was lovely 'meeting' you all on Wednesday during our Meet the Teacher evening. It definitely felt strange meeting via Zoom rather than in person. It has been amazing getting to know all the children and observing the dynamics of the class. 

We are now reaching the end of our first full week. The children have worked hard completing a variety of assessments. In Creative writing, the children wrote a piece called the Burglary and discovered one of their favourite stories was based on one. Do ask them about it? 
In Geography, we started our topic on Rivers, identifying key towns along UK rivers and giving the children the opportunity to develop their map reading skills and making use of indices.
In Mathematics, we began our Number and Place Value topic, we focussed on rounding numbers up to to 100,000.

In Science, we introduced the children to our Forces topic. The children learnt about the forces they encounter in daily life and played a game of Forces Bingo.

This week we have been incorporating a lot of PSHE lessons based on friendships and respecting each other. These lessons will be ongoing as we hope that the children can develop their attributes of respect towards one another I will keep you updated about their progress.

There are a few requests that we would like to share with you. The first is that children should be bringing in two snacks for morning break, as they often tend to be hungry when coming in from break. The second is to be wearing correct school uniform: School shoes- not trainers unless there has been a letter written to us to let us know new school shoes are being ordered.

Have a restful weekend and Shabbat Shalom!

Kind Regards

The Year 5 Team

Friday 4th September 2020

Welcome back! It is hard to believe that the children have not been together in school since March. They have settled back into the school routine and we hope that they have enjoyed their first couple of days. We have thoroughly enjoyed teaching them.

This week we have started assessing the children. They have completed a Non-Verbal reasoning paper and been assessed on their Spellings and Mental maths skills. We will carry out more assessments next week including reading comprehension and mathematical reasoning. We do not want the children to be anxious about these tests; they are simply to show us where the gaps are and where individual children need extra support or extension. Once we have marked and analysed the assessments, we will be in touch with each of you to discuss your child's results and needs.

We would like to remind you that PE is on Tuesday and Thursday and that the children should come into school in their PE kit on those days.

Please send in any homework folders as we seem to be missing a few.

Homework will begin next week- we will tell you more about it at our Meet the Teacher meeting on Wednesday.

We look forward to seeing you, albeit virtually next week and to telling you more about the exciting year ahead.

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team