Friday 12th April

Dear Parents,

It has been wonderful final week of the spring term. Wishing you all Pesach Sameach!

They took part in the model seder on Thursday. The children sat with their siblings in house tables and celebrated pesach together. They loved ‘selling’ their chametz, drinking four glasses of wine (grape juice) and singing song after song accompanied by Rabbi Louis on the piano. A few even gave wonderful dvar torahs, showing their risk taking skills by standing up in front of the whole school and delivering their speech.

In maths the children revised how to convert between different measurements of time e.g.minutes, hours, seconds, weeks, months, years etc. These questions became more complex as the week progressed as they then needed to convert hours and minutes into decimals e.g. 0.2=12 minutes. They also completed their GL assessment which was a mental arithmetic and written exam. Year 5 took part in the maths quiz club team selection quiz. In the new term, we will announce the children who have been selected to take part.

In English, the children explored narrative poetry and were able to determine which poetic devices were used as well as what they added to the poem themselves. They also completed their GL assessment which was a spelling and grammar test, followed by a fiction and non-fiction text with comprehension questions to answers.

In art, the children continued their understanding of clay and how to easily manipulate it without it drying out, breaking apart or cracking. They were given some clay to explore their newly learnt skills and some further challenged themselves to recreate an Alberto Giacometti inspired sculpture. In music the children sang pesach songs and discussed their meaning. In PE the children practised their attacking and defending skills and played games of netball in small groups.

Over the holidays, we are sending out optional, additional learning for the children to do for maths and English. This will be available on atom learning and doodle maths and spell.

Coming up next term:

VR/NVR GL assessments- please take a look back on our google classroom to see what skills have been taught. Atom will also be available

We hope you have a restful holiday and we wish you a chag kasher v’sameach.

Shabbat shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 5th April 2024

Dear Parents,

It was great to have the children back in the classroom this week. After the long weekend, it seems as though they have all recovered well and were eager to jump back into their usual routines.

In English, the children analysed Lord Tennyson’s parts three and four of the Lady of Shalott. They were introduced to pathetic fallacy- a technique that is often used by authors to reflect a characters mood through the description of the weather. We discussed the importance of pathetic fallacy and how it often foreshadows a narrative. All children then wrote a short description/story using pathetic fallacy to accurately reflect a character’s mood. In guided reading, the children sat in the library and enjoyed some reading for pleasure time. We also looked at the song ‘I’ve got a dream’ from the film Tangled. Here they were able to summarise various characters and find the moral within the lyrics. For our spellings, the children were tasked with locating and completing words with silent letters.

In moths, the children used their understanding of fractions and related this to percentages and decimals. We explained that per cent means ‘for every 100’ and that if a decimal is written, they will need to think about the numbers and their place values e.g. 0.57 has 57 hundredths. They then completed fluency and problem solving questions where children needed to convert between fractions, decimals and percentages.

In history, the children were introduced to a brand new topic- Baghdad 900CE, particularly how the Jewish community came to settle there. To begin their learning journey about Baghdad, Year 5 were set with the challenge of a treasure hunt. They had QR codes to find in common areas around the school to uncover interesting information about Baghdad. The children needed to: find out neighbouring countries of Iraq, to make a timeline of known key historical events, including when Jewish people settled in Baghdad and later on when Israel was proclaimed a Jewish state, to understand and learn about the Abbasid Caliphate and to demonstrate research into Baghdadi culture. In computing, Year 5 had a discussion about the ways in which people communicate with one another. They recognised that there were so many tools now available to use to do so e.g. social media, messages, voice notes, phone calls, FaceTime etc. This followed on from our previous lesson where the children understood the effects of negative language and how that when something is written, typed or said, the words can stay with someone for a very long time. This week, they put all of their learnt information to good use to create resolutions for different social dilemmas. They then acted these out to the class to reveal how they thought the dilemma should be resolved. In art, the children began to develop their understanding of clay. They even got their hands dirty when trying out some interesting techniques to knock out any air bubbles by kneading and wedging the clay. Next week, the children will try out other skills, learning how to join pieces of clay together so they do not break off easily.

Coming up next week:

Maths and English assessments- I have put extra work on atom learning and doodle maths and English this week.

Shabbat shalom

The Year 5 Team

Day 3:
Our final day has come to an end. The children laughed to no end and pushed themselves to their limits with the Leap of Faith! We were all so proud of their resilience and flexibility of mind when facing these personal challenges.

The children have packed and are ready to come home tomorrow but not before they finish their last activities which will be posted on our coach drive home. If all goes to plan we will be back between 3:30/4. 
 

Day 2:

The sun was shining the birds were singing and the children woke up well-rested believe it or not! Today we started the morning with games in the playground followed by fencing,laser tag and problem solving. The snack of the day were biscuits which went down a treat! We then headed back to our lunch spot to consume the pre-made sandwiches. After lunch, the rain came and washed us all away towards the 3G swing! The children used collaboration, persistence and resilience during the swing, communicating with each other about the height they wanted to be raised to. Dinner was definitely a winner- pita, shwarma and salads. I could hardly take a photo of anyone’s meals as they wolfed it down so quickly! They then had an evening filled with riddles, ropes and other exciting challenges. See more pictures!! 

Dear Parents,

Rest-assured, the children have all had a brilliant time so far! After a quick journey on the coach, the children arrived at Kingswood. They settled into their rooms and took part in a few (quite muddy) activities! These activities were all about collaborating in small teams. Please see photos attached of the activities, shlapping a suitcase and our dinner time!

According to the class these were the results of who were the muddiest and cleanest children after the activities.

Muddiest: Jamie

Cleanest: Hannah

As we are on the fields for the majority of the day it may be tricky to post online during the day. However, the Year 5 team will certainly try our best to upload wherever possible.

Best wishes

Miss Weiner

Dear Parents,

I am sure you and your children are counting down the days until our Year 5 residential on Monday. The adults are raring to go, having organised all of the necessities for the trip ahead. In preparation for Monday, the children decorated masks which they will be wearing when sharing mishloach manot with one another upon arrival in Kingswood. Throughout next week, please check our blog for updates and photos. 

In English, the children revised modal verbs, using them within a short write to build tension or to include the thoughts of a character. They then revisited the poem ‘Lady of Shalott’ and read the rest of Part II. There was some unknown vocabulary in Part II of the poem such as: surly, churls, damsel, crimson and plume. After reading through the text in smaller groups, the children were able to decipher some of these words using their inference skills. Year 5 then answered questions around the text where they were asked about the character The Lady of Shalott, thinking about how Lord Tennyson described her thoughts and feelings. During guided reading, children were split into groups and were each given a non-fiction texts to read. They discussed the texts at length and were then able to draw evidence to include in their answers. For our comprehension, the pupils read and answered questions about the second part of the Painting text. They were excited to hear the rest of the story and learn more about the characters.

In maths the children continued with their revision of fractions, focussing on subtraction of fractions with either the same or different denominators as well as mixed fractions. They developed their understanding of exchanging whole numbers to calculate the questions more efficiently. The pupils also completed worded problems, finding out which operation to use, either addition or subtraction, within  Please ensure children complete additional fraction Doodle assignments at home and revisit the topic to consolidate their understanding.

In science, the children learned about the lunar phases and features of our moon such as the terminator-the invisible line on the moon to show the lit side from the unlit side. They then made diagrams in their books where they had to draw/stick in photos of the moon at its different phases before labelling it. Once they had completed this, they then researched  the Apollo 11, finding out about what it was and why it is memorable. In history the children finished making their non-fiction Invention booklets. Please view some images below of their work!

Looking forward to seeing you all bright and early at 8:15am on Monday.

Shabbat shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 15th March

Dear Parents,

In maths, the children looked at the topic of fractions. They needed to order fractions, find equivalents and convert improper and mixed fractions. The children then moved onto adding fractions with either the same or different denominators. There were a handful of children who displayed a strong understanding of addition and therefore moved onto subtraction, exchanging mixed numbers to support their calculation. To consolidate their learning, we then introduced different fraction-style games using dominoes and dice to create fractions for Year 5 to manipulate.

In English, the children reviewed present tenses, distinguishing between simple, progressive, and perfect forms. They then practiced by transforming a past-tense paragraph into present tense. Year 5 delved deeper into "The Lady of Shalott," analysing descriptive vocabulary portraying the woman in the tower and recording their insights in their English books. Spelling lessons focussed on understanding hyphens, with students exploring their usage and spotting examples in various texts. Looking ahead, next week's focus will shift to revising prefixes like re, dis, co, over, mis, and de. For our comprehension this week, the children were given a text to read entitled ‘The Painting’. They were asked to identify unknown vocabulary and answer literal and inferred questions about the text. Please discuss what the text was about  with your child at home. This week’s WOW words were: Illicit, irate, intuitive, instigate and irrational. Please revise these with your children.

In history, the children continued to research different inventions from the the Victorian period. They then had to adapt the research they found and re-write it into the non-fiction books they made in the previous lesson. In science, the class took part in a shadow investigation. They methodically measured the distance of light cast upon 2D shapes, conducting comparative investigations by adjusting the light source’s distance. This experiential exploration not only deepened their understanding of shadow formation but also provided a tangible connection to celestial phenomena.  This tied in well with our guided reading on annular eclipses which the children found absolutely fascinating.  In art the pupils made sculptures in the style of Alberto Giacometti. They first sketched their designs and wrote about the different proportions of their sculpture in their books before going on to creating them out of foil. The outcome was incredible as you can see by the photos added below.

In verbal reasoning, the children revisited word meaning and statement logic questions. Please look back on the classroom to go through the questions with your child to explore new vocabulary. In NVR we revisited merging shapes which proved quite challenging for the children. The trick is to focus on a small pattern and how this can be drawn/ added to the second pattern. We also looked at nets and the children had a go at making their very own Matza boxes- these will be finished next week.

Kingswood:

We have asked children to anonymously put down names for our Kingswood trip. They are not to share their choices with other children in the class.

Reminder: nail varnish, necklaces, bracelets and hoop earrings are not permitted as part of the school uniform. 

Best wishes and Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 8th March 2024

Dear Parents,

Non-fiction book week hosted a variety of learning opportunities ranging from shared reads with different teachers, reading with their Kerem house team, to learning about non-fiction texts. The author, Nikki Sheehan came to speak to Year 5 about creating biographies/autobiographies and explained to the children how to best capture an audience's attention. Throughout the week, Year 5 engaged in a variety of stimulating learning experiences aimed at enhancing their understanding of non-fiction texts. They had the opportunity to participate in shared reading sessions with different teachers, as well as reading alongside their Kerem house teams. One of the highlights was a special visit from author Nikki Sheehan, who shared invaluable insights with the children on the art of crafting captivating biographies and autobiographies. Some of the non-fiction characters they wrote about were themselves, including significant figures and themes such as: Albert Einstein, David Attenborough, the human skeleton, Gordon Ramsey, a footballer, Coco Chanel and many more! Please encourage your child to continue their reading over the weekend and please ensure they bring these books to school on Monday.

In mathematics, our focus remained on statistics, with students delving into the interpretation of line graphs and pie charts. They also tackled worded problems related to these graphical representations, and had the opportunity to create their own line graphs. While some found this task challenging, we emphasised the importance of accurately plotting their data before connecting them with a ruler.

In English, the pupils revised  the past tense, identifying examples of simple, progressive, and perfect past in exam-style questions. They then applied this knowledge by crafting short stories, ensuring consistency in their use of past tense throughout. We explored the nuances of different past tense styles, discussing how certain choices can enhance suspense and action in writing. Additionally, students continued their exploration of Lord Tennyson's ‘The Lady of Shalott ’, expanding upon the poem's second stanza with descriptive setting narratives. To further stretch their creativity, pupils were tasked with composing a third verse in the same style as Tennyson himself. The class were also challenged on how well they knew their WOW (word of the week) knowledge. They were tasked with writing both the definition of the word and using it in a sentence. I will be posting these words below each week so you can discuss them with your child.

WOW:

Harangue

Harass

Hindsight

Heartfelt

Hypocrisy

Here are some other words the children looked at previously: adhere, astute, belligerent, beseech, cacophony, capacious, drivel, dire, equivalent, effervescent, feasible, fleeting, gaff and goad.

For verbal reasoning, Year 5 revised how to sequence using letter codes and how to decode between letters and numbers. Please go through these with your child each week for extra revision practice. In non-verbal reasoning, we looked at how to merge shapes to create a new symbol as well as combining 3D shapes. The papers are on google classroom for you to take a look at with your child over the weekend.

In history, the children looked at Victorian inventions and were able to create interesting non-fiction books filled with their findings. In art, the class continued to look at Alberto Giacommeti’s sculptures, exploring his style of the human figure in more detail. In science the children made fact files based on a planet in the solar system.

It was lovely to see so many parents at the showcase this week. The children are so proud of their work and love being able to show it off to you.

Please ensure that your children are able to buy stationary they need for their pencil pots. We have had many children without pens this week and it is somewhat disruptive to their learning. We suggest that they have 50p in their bag so that they can replace an empty pen in a timely manner.

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 1st March 2024

Dear Parents,

In maths the children revised data handling, where they discussed how information can be presented so others are able to read data easily. We then took a look at bar graphs and pictograms where children had to analyse data and compare results. Children were given the challenge of looking for features of graphs e.g. labelled axis, key, title, as well as describing patterns they saw in a graph without being given any information. This was then followed by a pictogram/graph drawing lesson where children used a tally and frequency chart  to gather data within the class e.g. eye colour, shoe size etc, to develop their own graphs. Many enjoyed drawing their graphs and inputting the information gathered.

In English, the children were introduced to the concepts history and legend, where they needed to decipher between the two. We discussed the meaning of a legend and examples of them. The children were able to come up with a wealth of ideas, some of which being: the boy who cried wolf, Robin Hood, Zeus, Pandora’s Box and many more! One legend we looked at in more detail was King Arthur’s sword in the stone where the children learned about the story of King Arthur. This legend links to a poem we will be looking at next week- The Lady Of Shalott. Following on from this lesson, the children were then tasked with the challenge to write a script for a movie trailer based on the legend they had learnt about. They were introduced to the layout of a script, character names in the margin followed by a colon, inserting stage directions in brackets, not using speech marks and also changing the setting for different scenes. Once they were shown the layout, children were put into small groups to make a movie trailer based on the script they had written the previous day. The quality of these movie trailers were outstanding. If you take a look at the QR code, you will be able to view each group’s movie trailer. For guided reading this week, we read the beginning of Peter Pan and discussed the idea of Neverland. Their spelling tasks this term have so far been related to Yr5/6 misconception words. Next week, we are going to review all of the misconception words before moving onto learnt spelling rules.

In art, the children were introduced to a sculptor named Alberto Giacometti. They observed some of his artworks and discussed the quote: ‘If we master a bit of drawing, everything else is possible’- Alberto Giacometti. In history, the children learned more about Victorian schools and were able to use their experience of our trip to Gunnersbury Park Museum to guide their understanding of what life was like for children during the Victorians Times. In computing, the children discussed the concept of Cyber bullying and what to do when they see this happening online. They came up with many excellent solutions such as speaking to an adult, either at home or at school; speaking to the person who had the comments directed towards them to offer support; and if they are not sure, to leave the conversation by exiting the group or muting it. Instead of PSHE, this week we had another world religion lessons carried on from before the half term. During our session children were tasked with finding out about religious leaders in the Christian religion such as a bishop, pope and priest. They also completed a Who wants to be a millionaire- style quiz about the bible. We discussed comparisons between the bible and the books within the humush.

Reminders:

-Residential forms for the Year 5 trip need to be handed back today.

-For those who have not yet signed up to our secondary school transfer meetings, we urge you to do so.

-Upon coming back to school, children have either lost or have needed new stationery. Please ensure they have an extra 50p in their bags to buy pencil pot equipment.

Coming Up Next Week:

• Next week is Book Week and we are looking forward to sharing a number of engaging activities with the children, including the non-fiction dress-up day on Wednesday. Please refer to the email sent on 16th February for more details.

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Dear Parents,

Last week was an enriching journey for our students as they delved into various aspects of Russian Jewish culture. The children had the opportunity to listen to the compelling life story of someone who immigrated from Russia to England. They asked insightful questions, gaining valuable insights into the experiences of being Jewish in another country. Additionally, the students expressed their creativity by crafting their own Babushka dolls in Ivrit, immersing themselves in the rich traditions of Russian culture. To top it off, they even tried their hand at the Russian bottle dance, showcasing their enthusiasm and talent. Please see some photos below.

In our English sessions, the children  delved into the realm of relative pronouns and clauses, mastering the art of identifying and utilising these linguistic tools effectively. After completing the Chimney Child text, the students honed their analytical skills by summarising its themes, characters, and storylines. Some even took on the challenge of creating graphs to analyse readers' perceptions of certain characters. Building on this foundation, the students engaged in a thrilling exercise where they accumulated witnesses and suspects, crafting character accounts and bringing them to life through class performances. Please watch some of our videos!

In maths, the children engaged in individualised revision opportunities tailored to their learning needs. Working in small groups, they revisited key topics covered throughout the term, including multiplication, division, area, perimeter, and volume. Through collaborative learning experiences, the students strengthened their understanding and filled any gaps in their knowledge. As a reminder, we encourage parents to support their child's learning by ensuring completion of Doodle Maths at home over the half term for continued reinforcement and practice.

History came alive as the children delved into the Victorian era, exploring the lives of children during that time. They learned about influential figures such as Dr. Barnardo, whose legacy continues to impact society. Through informative posters and heartfelt letters to Queen Victoria advocating for children's rights, the students demonstrated their empathy and understanding of historical contexts. Additionally, they engaged in comprehension activities focused on the plight of child chimney sweeps and factory workers, gaining a deeper appreciation for the struggles faced by past generations.

The week culminated in a hands-on exploration of the solar system, where the children brought science to life through a 3D model using food items and an umbrella as the sun. They marvelled at the differences in planet sizes and measured the distances between them, gaining a tangible understanding of astronomical concepts.

We hope you have a wonderful half term and are looking forward to the upcoming residential in March. Please ensure you send back consent and medical forms by the 26th February.

Shabbat Shalom and happy half term!

The Year 5 Team

Friday 9th February

Dear Parents,

This week was children’s mental health week and during this week the children put together a poster/collage of things that matter to them such as the state of Israel (represented by the Israeli flag), favourite hobbies and people. It was interesting to see what each child was interested in and influenced by and we know that they will enjoy discussing these with you over the next week. Please see their pictures below! For PSHE the class discussed the different rights and responsibilities of a child and explained why it is important for children to share their opinions, be listened to and taken seriously. We talked about the impact certain children have had on our world today such as Malala who, despite all the difficulties she faced, still managed to peacefully create change for others around the world.

In DT, the children made an amazing Victorian Sponge Cake fit for a queen! They all had such a fantastic time in the STEAM lab developing the recipe of the Victorian inspired dessert and each child collaborated well in their groups. It was a joy to watch them working in the kitchen, using utensils safely and letting each other have a go at mixing or measuring the ingredients. Once the cakes had cooled after baking, the team who worked on the fillings helped assemble the cake ready for tasting. I hope the children took a lot of understanding and appreciation away from the task of making the cake and working together. It seems that they particularly enjoyed tasting their creation too! Please see photos on Instagram and Facebook.

In  maths, we began our topic on Volume. The children learnt how to calculate the volume of a 3D shape. The children also completed several challenges asking them to apply these skills to more challenging worded questions. On Friday, the children applied their learning to complete a challenge where they were given a variety of shapes and asked to estimate their volume, they then went on to build the shapes to ascertain if they had been correct. We also revised the topics of perimeter and area, which still seem to be an area of difficulty for some pupils.

This week, the children enjoyed an immersive theatre experience. They watched and took part in A Midsummer Night’s Dream- a Shakespeare play. In English, the children read the final chapters of our Chimney Child text where they found out surprising character developments. We will continue to review these  next week. They also completed a short comprehension activity, quoting from the text in some instances when answering in full sentences. Children must continue to read over their answers to avoid careless errors. This week the children completed a creative writing piece- Lost- where children utilised their writing techniques such as ADD SPICE to enhance their writing.

In history, the children completed their ‘day in the life’ descriptions of what it would have been like to have a particular job role during the Victorian Era. Next week the children will look at Dr Barnardo and how he supported people (particularly children) in the Victorian Era, as well as discuss important questions which the children will be discussing in an essay format.

Coming up next week:

Faces of Israel week

Questions to ask your child:

What was your role when making the cake?

Tell me about the Shakespeare play you watched.

How do I measure the volume of a 3D shape?

What did you draw on your poster for well-being week?

Shabbat shalom

The Year 5 Team

Dear Parents,

The Israeli theatre yesterday was outstanding and the children really had a great time watching a live performance all in Ivrit.

In our mathematics lessons, the focus was on the concept of area. The children revised the calculation of the area of regular and compound shapes, and also revisited perimeter. To make it more interactive, we used shapes that the children arranged in order to distinguish which ones had a larger area. It was a hands-on experience that enhanced their understanding of spatial concepts.

In English, the children delved into the intricacies of different tenses, particularly perfect and progressive tenses. This is an ongoing learning process that will benefit from continued revision. Additionally, they learned new Year 5 misconception words and had the opportunity to create acronyms for tricky words, aiding in their memory retention. Our literature exploration included reading Chapter 4 of "Chimney Child" and reenacting scenes from it, combining both fun and educational elements. Creative writing saw the children developing their use of figurative language and applying the ADD SPICE technique to create a descriptive piece about Southern Burgundy in France. Their imaginative skills were truly impressive. In guided reading, the challenge continued with the text from "The Secret Garden," exposing the children to a wealth of challenging vocabulary.

Furthermore, in verbal reasoning, we explored strategies for determining meanings of words that are either closest or opposite in meaning. This skill proved to be challenging for some, and I encourage you to practice this at home to reinforce their understanding.

In the realm of science, the children embarked on a journey through our solar system, discovering fascinating facts about each planet. They not only learned the planets in order but also devised their own acronyms for better retention. To bring the learning to life, the children created model planets using plaster of Paris, which will soon be decorated and ordered for our orrery.

In DT the children were asked to review key ingredients and cooking utensils used in the Victorian Times to make their very own Victoria Sponge Cake, which they will all get a chance to make next week! In addition to making a dish at school, for homework next week, I would also like them to make one of their own researched recipes they completed for homework a few weeks ago. They will then need to take photos or a video documenting the cook. Children will be reminded that they can only use the kitchen if supervised by an adult.

In history, the children gained a deeper understanding about work in the Victorian Times. We started off by discussing the increase in population in the 1800s and how many families in rural areas came to work in factories in the city to gain more money. The children compared what the towns and cities looked like in comparison to the countryside and discussed the types of jobs you would expect in both of these areas. They were then given the task to match up different job titles with their definitions which they will then need to incorporate in their own ‘day in the life’ description.

In PSHE, the children developed a deeper understanding of listening. For this we began with a game where each child had to follow a set of unspoken but mimed instructions. They followed these quickly and quietly. I asked them what they felt the aim of this lesson was and each child shared their perspective of events that took place in the game. A conversation was then modelled to the class and they had to document what they believed to be good/poor listening skills. The children then had a go demonstrating some of the poorer listening skills which was then followed by the observer feeding back. Next week the children will begin our session with demonstrating active listening skills and will discuss how this can affect friendships.

Coming up next week:

Shakespeare workshop- Tuesday

Please ensure children are completing daily Doodle activities for Doodle Maths and Doodle Spell and that they are reading at home.

Homework is now being posted in a separate Homework Classroom on Google Classroom which will hopefully support children to find and complete their assignments.

Questions to ask your child:

What does area mean?

Which character did you play in Chapter 4 of the Chimney Child?

What is the meaning of fruitless and futile?

Can you tell me the acronym you made to remember the planets in order?

Why did the population in London increase in the Victorian Times?

What does WWW stand for?

Best wishes and Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 26th January

Dear Parents,

What a fantastic week celebrating Tu B’shvat! The children’s hair looked amazing, with elements of green, brown, white and pink in their hair. In the classroom the children were asked to research facts about an unsual fruit and present these to the class- some of these facts were quite fascinating! They learnt the brachot and even got to attend a Tu B’shvat seder where they tried 15 different types if fruit! The children seemed to have a wonderful day.

In maths the children revised the topic of perimeter. On Monday we discussed the features of 3D shapes, observing how many vertices, edges and faces each had. They were also challenged to think about each of the shape’s names and were able to identify ‘like shapes’ e.g. types of prisms, pyramids and hedrons. We then moved onto working out the perimeter of 2D shapes where they were challenged with finding missing sides of the shape. The children were then given worded problems to solve to find the perimeter of certain shapes. This involved imagining the shape as well as working out the method/steps needed to solve the perimeter. On Friday, the class completed arithmetic style questions, revising fluency questions of topics we have covered already this year.

In English, the children revised when to use parenthesis in their writing. Types of parenthesis include using commas, hyphens/dashes and brackets. We then read chapter 3 of Chimney Child which they all found thoroughly interesting. Their challenge was to continue the story in the style of the author, so we discussed tenses, whether it was in first or third person, the tone and type of language that was used to make the story interesting. The children came up with brilliant story predictions in their continuations and even managed to use elements of ADD SPICE, which we looked at last week. We then read through ‘The Secret Garden’ for guided reading which I felt the children were really engaged in. Please ask your child at home what they thought about the book and whether it would be something they would continue reading.

In science, the children made enquiries linking to facts they already knew about space. They were able to disprove some facts they once thought were correct through this process. Next week we will be finding out interesting facts about each of the planets. In DT the children continued to develop an understanding of food in the Victorian Times compared to now. They were able to share the differences between their diets as well as explain which foods are now more readily available than they were back then e.g. buying most foods from a supermarket rather than going to individual shops. In computing, the class continued to work on their presentation skills using slides. We discussed why some techniques were more effective than others and as a class gave positive comments and helpful suggestions.

In history, the children delved deeper into the life of a Victorian and were able to find the differences and similarities between a rich and poor Victorian. In PSHE, we talked about fake news online and how with all of the different media platforms available to us, it is difficult to know what is true or false information when it is published by someone online. The children took part in an interesting activity where they each wrote something true that had happened to them yesterday. However, 6 people, who were randomly selected in our class choosing out of a hat, picked out a piece of paper where they needed to make something up. The class then had to guess whose statement was not true, which they found quite tricky. The overall message of the lesson was not to believe everything you read online.

Shabbat shalom

The Year 5 Team

Friday 19th January

Dear Parents,

Year 5 started off their week as true Victorian children completing a usual Victorian day at school. They read, wrote in cursive script and completed arithmetic work, converting pence, shillings and pounds. Some of the children played different roles when re-enacting life as a Victorian child and were told ahead of time that they were going to try on dunces hats, wear a paddle for slouching and be ‘caned’ if they misbehaved. The children stayed in character which helped make their experience memorable and fun for everyone! Following on from the classroom, we headed into the Gunnersbury Park Museum for a self-guided tour. The children discovered new inventions, what Victorians wore, ate and played with in their spare time. Please view the photos on Facebook of your children in their Victorian attire taking part in the day’s events.

In English, the children read through chapter 2 of Chimney Child and were amazed to learn that Vic ( a young chimney sweep) was in fact a girl named Victoria. We discussed language such as eerie, mudlarks and quay to give them further knowledge of the text before moving through comprehension-style questions. Writing diary entry from the perspective of either Vic or Albert.

In maths the children were learning about the properties of a square and rectangle, finding our about perpendicular and congruent angles, parallel lines and bi-sectors/cross-sections. They then discussed the properties of regular and irregular polygon, using their knowledge of angles, number of sides and symmetry to differentiate between shape properties. On Thursday, the class then revisited 3D shapes, discussing their features e.g. how many vertices, edges or faces each have, before distinguishing the 3D shape from its net. Today the class completed arithmetic and modular maths questions to revise learnt techniques such as formal addition/subtraction, division multiplication, decimals, fractions and percentages.

In DT the children discussed and read about different meals that Victorians would have if they were either lower, middle or upper class. The children used their knowledge about seasonal foods from our previous lesson to accurately develop their own menu for their chosen societal classes. We watched two 30 second clips which were about ‘mock turtle soup’ and about how to make a Victorian dessert using a range of ingredients. To their surprise the outcome of the dessert looked very appetising, many even saying they would give it a try! In a few week’s time, the children will be asked to create a recipe which they researched for homework which they will then bring in for a Victorian Bake-off.

The children had a terrific time at gym (as usual) and cracked on with trying out a range of activities such as trampolining, beam walking and forward rolls. In PSHE the children took part in a few activities based on developing their self-esteem and confidence. We all played an introductory game whereby they shared something unique about themselves, which was followed up by questions about what makes them special. As a class, we then recapped what makes us special in our own rights and why it is ok to have differences. The girls will have an extra session each week with either myself or Mr Portnoi to strengthen their friendships and build self-esteem. We also completed a general knowledge quiz to select children for the quiz team. Well done to everyone who participated. Children who were selected for the quiz will be shared next week.

Our class are taking part in the exciting Doodle Back-to-School Competition! This runs from today, 19th January, until 2nd February, and is a great way of ensuring the children adopt the habit of regular practise of their skills. Please encourage your child to stay in the ‘green zone’ by practising using Doodle Maths/ Tables/ Spell little and often. We could win some great prizes!

Dear Parents,

In maths, the children revised the topic of division, calculating for fluency, identifying how to solve worded problems as well as how to use long division to calculate questions that were dividing by two digit numbers. Children were told to use both the bus stop and long-division methods when tackling a variety of division questions

In English the children began ‘The Chimney Child’ story which was set in the Victorian Times. This week, in creative writing the children applied techniques to add spice to their writing. ADD SPICE stands for: adverbs, description, drop in clause, simile, preposition, ing words, ed words. They wrote a piece entitled 'If elephants ruled the world' and ticked off these skills as they wrote which led to some amazing pieces of writing. In our comprehension lesson we explored giving evidence to support our answers. Our guided reading text was ‘Street Child’ which was also set in the Victorian Times and gave children a clearer understanding of what life was like for poor families living in this era.

IN VR/NVR, the children learned how to use the alphabet to find the next code in the sequence and were able to look at which features shapes had in common to identify what certain letters symbolised. Their homework reflected what they did in the lesson and it is useful practice for the children to continue to work on the code areas for both topics to strengthen their understanding.

In PSHE, we recapped the zones of regulation and developed a classroom display that the children will frequently use when they are demonstrating the different zones. We discussed how the zones can be helpful and took out their chatterboxes to remind them of the zones.

In history, the children discussed facts they knew and ones they had researched about Queen Victoria and created a timeline based on each of these. 

This week the children had their first trip to the gym. They practised some key techniques when completing gymnastics such as stretching and learning key skills.

Coming up next week:

Monday- Victorian Outing- Please ensure children are wearing extra layers (Victorian classrooms can get very cold!)

Questions:

What does feasible mean?

Explain the technique for calculating alphabet codes.

What would happen if elephants ruled the world?

What does ADD SPICE stand for?

From what years did the Victorian Era begin and end?

Shabbat Shalom 

The Year 5 Team

Dear Parents,

What a wonderful start back to the term with a whole school tefillah with many parents in attendance.

Over the past two days, the children have slowly but surely settled back into routine after the holiday break. Please remind your children to wear their school badges and to bring in a snack for break time. All scheduling changes have been added to the blog under Year 5- Useful information. Please view this for book suggestions, timetabling, homework schedules and PE/ Gym days for this term.

With exams in mind yet in the distant horizon, the children were introduced to new groupings  for English, maths and non-verbal reasoning which will support the needs of every individual. We have explicitly told the children that these groups are flexible and can be amended if they feel that the pace is too quick/slow or if the work itself is too easy/challenging for them. The teacher for each group will rotate frequently.

Today we had a speaker named Mr Freer who is an MP and is an under-secretary for the ministry of Justice. This linked with our previous learning about the Houses of Parliament where the children researched the House of Lords and House of Commons and learned about our current and past Prime Ministers. Mr Freer spoke to Years 5 and 6 about his role and the children were able to ask him questions about what life is like working in the Houses of Parliament.

This week we revisited the topic of multiplication. So far the children have practised column method for multiplying one and two digit numbers by 3 and four digit numbers. For our stretch and challenges, children were expected to estimate and use trial and error to solve more complex reasoning questions.

In English, the children reviewed a poem entitled, The Chimney Sweep Poem by William Blake, where a young child narrated his life and different events that have taken place. Throughout the text, we discussed when it was set, they summarised each stanza, discussed unknown/interesting vocabulary and developed an understanding of chimney sweep children. Next week, the children will begin the beloved Year 5 text- The Chimney Child- which links to our history topic on the Victorians.

In PSHE, the children were introduced to a topic based on the Zones of Learning. These zones can be related to our everyday feelings and emotions. There is a blue, green, yellow and red zone of learning and children were able to identify and pinpoint when these zones are in use. Children then made chatterboxes based on the 4 zones of learning and came up with methods for improving their feelings- linked to each zone.

Coming up next week:

Year 5 will have their first gym session on Wednesday- please ensure they have PE kit for this day.

Reminder- Our Victorian trip to Gunnersbury Park Museum is on Monday 15th January, please send your child to school in Victorian attire to fully immerse in the day itself (as mentioned in the trip letter sent on 24th November).

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Wednesday 13th December

Dear Parents,

The children sang brilliantly at Hammerson house yesterday. The residents were thrilled to receive Chanukah cards the Year 5s created and to hear the children sing and chat to them. Please see pictures on our Instagram page and below. The class also took part in an amazing olive oil workshop today which ties in with the wonderful learning the children have participated in in class. 

In English the children revised all previously learned spellings and grammar skills and planned and wrote a creative piece of writing based on a photo. They proof read their stories before sharing them in front of the class. In maths, the children finished their angles topic, answering missing number problems. The children finished evaluating their bridges/structures topic in DT and recapped all they have learnt about the Ancient Greeks in history and forces in science.

Coming up next term:

-Mrs Sharman will be joining Yer 5 to support with 11+ preparations.

-Our topic homework will change to VR/NVR homework (please review the new schedule on the Year 5 blog page under useful information)

-Gym will begin in Spring term and will take place on Wednesday afternoons. Children will need to come to school on these days in PE kit. Please see the dates below:

10th Jan    17th Jan     24th Jan   31st Jan

7th Feb.     14th Feb      28th Feb

6th March   13th March 20th March  27th March

-As children will attend the gym they will now have PE on a Thursday. Children will need to wear PE kit for these lessons as usual. There will be no PE on Tuesdays.

Chanukah Sameach and have a wonderful December holiday.

Miss Weiner and the Year 5 team!

Friday 8th December

Dear Parents,

It was lovely seeing many of you attend today’s Chanukah Show. The children have been practising in their music lessons and have worked hard to deliver and act out their lines confidently. I am really proud of all their efforts and I can see that they have made themselves proud as well.

In English, to broaden the children’s vocabulary, they explored a range of Ancient Greek non-fiction texts selecting words that have Greek origins. We discussed the prefix and suffix they contained as each had a different meaning e.g. ology= the study of and archeo= old or ancient. In guided reading, the children read a text entitled: A girl called Owl by Amy…. They were asked questions about the characters we were introduced to, including those who we do not know a lot about yet. The children were able to make predictions and discuss the language used in the story. On Wednesday, we delved deeper into Ancient Greece and together came up with some features that tourists may want to visit and discover. They created a persuasive description about Ancient Greece and developed their up levelling skills (improving/editing word choice, spelling and punctuation).

In maths, the children spent the whole week learning about angles, comparing, identifying, estimating, measuring and calculating them! They discovered new facts such as: angles around a point= 360 degrees, angles in a triangle or on a straight line= 180 degrees, opposite angles are equal and even how to accurately use a protractor. It was brilliant to see each child develop these skills and take a hands on approach to their learning when it came to the estimating and measuring lesson. Yesterday, the children were looking at the differences between regular and irregular polygons as test papers can often ask about the angles for different shapes e.g. hexagon or octagon etc.

In DT the children finished constructing their bridge structures and the results were just amazing! They took the time to plan, measure and carry out their designs- all of which came out more or less as planned. They have taken their creations home today for you to see and I have also included pictures for you to view below of them working on  their designs. In science, we carried out a compass experiment where we magnetised a paperclip and measured the angle it pointed to (skewed North) which is a result of the Earth’s magnetic field pull.

Coming Up next week:

Trip to Hammerson House (Tuesday)

Questions to ask:

Tell me one word derived from the Greek language?

How many angles make up a triangle?

Which is larger an acute or obtuse angle?

What went well when constructing your bridge?

How might I up level a piece of work?

How have you included others in playground games?

Tell me something you are proud of this week!

Chanukah Sameach!

The Year 5 Team

Friday 1st December 

Dear Parents,

It was lovely seeing many of you at parents evening yesterday.

Thank you for bringing in gifts for the Chanukah Gift Project this week. The children each created a bag to put their gifts into which will be sent to Israel where they will be enjoyed by children who have been displaced by the war. 

This week also marked the election of six children to the Kerem Cares committees. The students participated in a secret ballot, providing them with a firsthand experience of the election process. We commend all the children for their hard work in crafting speeches and displaying bravery when delivering the speech in front of the class. While not every candidate could be elected, we are proud of each child who took the initiative to put themselves forward.

Well done to our new Kerem Cares members:

Tzedakah- Lyla and Annabelle

Kehilla Council- Ben and Noah

Tikkun Olam Council- Josh and Joey

In our maths lessons this week, we continued to learn measurements as well as imperial measurements using them within worded problems. The children must remember to read the question carefully, to exclude irrelevant information, to calculate how many steps they need to carry out and lastly which operations to use. This topic will be revisited later in the year.

In English the children finished their newspaper articles based on the Ancient Greek Myth, The Legend of Troy. These will be displayed outside our Year 5 classroom for all classes and staff members to see. Following on from this, the pupils began a creative writing where they had to create their own greek myth. Some children based theirs on the three myths we have viewed already in class while others made up their very own in the same style. Our spelling rule this week was looking at exception words for I before e except after c. Please ask your child which words they came up with!

In science, the children experimented with magnets to explore the principles of attraction and repulsion. Through this engaging activity, they systematically tested various materials to observe and analyse how they interacted with the magnetic force. In our history lesson, the children continued their learning about the different greek gods and goddesses, drawing their family tree and finding out what they each represent. In PSHE, we continued our discussions on recognising our emotions. We highlighted the nature of feelings, and during our session the children were encouraged to openly share their emotions. This promotes self-awareness and a supportive community where emotions can be expressed freely.

It was wonderful to see the children's crazy hairdos today for CREAZY HAIR DAY! Please see photos below. 

Coming up next week:

Chanukah show (Friday 8th December)

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 5 team

Friday 24th November

Dear Parents,

In maths, the children learned to convert different metric measures for : length, mass and capacity. It was important to show the children how the different measurements linked to one another for example, getting them to look at their ruler and to recognise that 10mm is equal to 1cm. We also discussed how we could estimate the measurements of different objects by thinking about our measuring equipment- this proved quite challenging and could be something that you could ask your child over the weekend e.g. how long is your bed? They then had the opportunity to measure the length, mass and weight of objects around the room and record their data as they went. For this lesson, they were given, rulers, metre sticks, measuring tape, scales and water jugs and cylinders. It was great to see children actively using maths around the classroom!

In English, the children planned their very own newspapers about the Legend of Troy. At first we discussed what they would label the different features like the title of their newspaper, how much it costs, date etc. This was then followed by planning the lead, body and tail for their newspaper. The children first used their plans to structure and write out paragraphs for their articles in their books and  have now begun to type them onto docs, formatting their work into columns and including a photograph and caption. These will be published next week and shared on the blog. Our spelling rule this week reviewed ei and ie words. Year 5 have been set additional assignments on Doodle Spell if they wish to practise these at home.

In science, the children continued their learning of Isaac Newton and his discovery of measuring in Newtons (N). The class were given various Newton Meters to measure the force of different objects around the classroom. They presented their results in a table and completed questions which asked them about their findings. In DT the children were taken into the STEAM lab to build their own bridge structures. They needed to measure the different components, mark their measurements on the wood before sawing it to get the correct lengths. Each child worked carefully and used flexibility of mind when measuring and cutting each piece. Next week the children will assemble their bridge structures, thinking about the design as well as the strength of their bridge.

Coming up next week:

Parents Evening- Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

Preparing for Kerem Cares Council- Children should prepare a short presentation about why they want to be on Kerem Cares, and what they feel they could offer the role. The three to choose from are our Kehilla council, Tzedakah Council and Tikkun Olam Council.

Questions of the week:

What is your Greek newspaper title?

How many mm are in 9.6cm?

What bridge have you begun to make?

Which object was the heaviest when weighing in Newtons?

What words can you think of with ei or ie?

Estimate the length/mass/capacity of….

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Jewish Studies 4th Kislev - 17th November

It was lovely to see so many parents at our Rosh Chodesh learning session - thank you so much for joining us! Also thank you to those who were able to join us for Tefillah yesterday morning.  I was so proud of how beautifully your children participated, having only learned to sing Acheinu this past week.  

It seems like it was only last week that we were sitting in our Sukkah, and now we are about to begin learning about Chanukah - time really does fly!  Wishing you all a peaceful, relaxing Shabbat and a good weekend.

Shabbat Shalom.

Friday 17th November

Dear Parents,

A big thank you for joing us for Rosh Chodesh on Tuesday morning. We are really pleased you were able to attend and sit with your child to discuss this week’s parasha. Additionally, it was lovely to see many of you on Thursday for our whole-school tefillah. Seeing so many of our families come together to support each other reaffirm that we are not just a school but a unified community. These tefillahs will continue until the end of term.

The theme for our anti-bullying week this year was ‘kindness’. On Monday children proudly showed off their odd socks in support of our week. They took part in a drama workshop where children revisited the empowering concept of being an up stander as well as reviewing other roles that people often play within certain situations such as being an outsider or assistant. The class created scenarios in small groups where they were able to reenact the different roles others play in these situations and how they can be resolved. In addition to the children wearing odd socks, they were also asked to decorate a pair, thinking of kind words or phrases to do so. This allowed each child to reflect on what kind words they could be saying to each other and to other pupils and adults around the school. Children in Year 5 and 6 also had the opportunity to decorate bookmarks during lunchtime.

Mitzvah Day ( held on 19th November), a global Jewish-led initiative champions the ethos of "Tikkun Olam" or "repairing the world." Annually celebrated, it calls people to unite through acts of kindness, emphasising our shared responsibility to make the world a better place. This year at Kerem, our contribution was to create a joke/puzzle book for children that will be sent to one of the Great Ormond Street Hospital children's wards. Children from Years 1-6 have contributed jokes, riddles, and puzzles to entertain the children during what must be a very difficult time. We are also planning to translate the book into Ivrit, over the coming weeks and send it to a hospital or hospitals in Israel.

Please do ask your child about what they contributed.

In our English sessions, the children revisited the use of apostrophes for singular and plural possession, as well as for contraction and omission. Additionally, they explored the concept that some words may simply be plural, as in the sentence "I went to the shops" (indicating more than one but not belonging to anything specific). The students engaged in a creative writing exercise incorporating both direct and indirect speech where many of the children were able to incorporate apostrophes. Our aim for this week was to collaborate as a class to plan a newspaper article centred around the Ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Our shared planning process covered essential elements such as the lead, describing the when, where, how, and why of the event. We also used knowledge from our use of speech to generate quotes for characters in the myth.

In maths, we embarked on a division treasure hunt, where students solved division questions and represented remainders as fractions or decimals. This was an excellent learning opportunity to revise their understanding of division from the previous week. To reinforce their skills, the children also worked on solving word problems, which is an area they are encouraged to revise at home. Extra homework on google classroom was provided for this purpose. Furthermore, the students learned about the decimal equivalents of fractions and vice versa.

In our history lessons, the children delved into significant facts about Ancient Greece. Additionally, they engaged in a comparative study of Athens and Sparta, exploring the unique characteristics of each. In science, the focus was on the renowned scientist Isaac Newton and his groundbreaking discovery of gravity. The children read and discussed information about his life and developed an understanding of Newtons (N). They will be using these newton scales next week to measure various items in the classroom. In DT, the students took on the task of designing a model for their bridge structure, showcasing their creativity and problem-solving skills. I demonstrated how to use the tools in the STEAM Lab such as how to use a hacksaw. They enjoyed being in the STEAM lab where next week they can begin to build their own bridges with the tools and and materials provided.

Shabbat Shalom

The Year 5 Team

Questions:

What is the lead of a newspaper?

Which bridge structure did you choose?

Who discovered gravity?

Complete the division question as either a fraction or decimal - 65 divided by 2

What is the capital city of Greece?

What is the difference between Athens and Sparta?

Friday 10th November

Dear Parents,

I hope this email finds you well.

In our math lessons, the students delved into fractions. They explored equivalent fractions, using their instant recall timetable facts to support their understanding. Once they had a strong understanding of equivalent fractions, they then learned how to simplify them, using their division facts. Using both skills, children were then able to compare fractions less than 1 and put them in sequential order. Lastly we reviewed fractions larger than a whole (improper/mixed fractions). They used diagrams to support their understanding. Children should continue to relate their understanding in everyday life such as what fraction of pencils were left in the box etc.

In English, children identified the differences between indirect and direct speech. This ties in seamlessly with our discussions about how news is reported, drawing from people's accounts about what was said. The children engaged in a short comprehension exercise on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The students explored spelling rules involving "-ible" and "-ibly." They were tasked with filling in the missing words in sentences, providing them with a practical application of these rules.

This week Year 5 and Year 6 took part in the Big Debate, where they learned about how The Houses of Parliament hold political debates. In keeping with the Parliament week theme, the children had a few lessons to research the Houses of Parliament and find out about the House of Lords the House of Commons, the prime minister and the monarch. The two classes joined together yesterday to plan out their arguments and counter arguments. Today the children held a debate in the style of the House of Commons, with one side representing the government and the other side representing the opposition.  Please ask your child which debate team they were part of.

In science, the children were given a thought provoking problem to solve involving friction, whereby they had to agree or disagree with different statements and explain their reasoning. We then discussed the definition and came up with a suitable response for each statement by sharing ideas and thoughts the children had come up with. We then explored which materials created more friction by racing cars on different surfaces. They first had to make a prediction as to which material would cause the least and most amount of friction, before testing out their predictions. We also discussed how to make their experiments fair and came up with several suitable answers such as: same length of material, same starting point, same car used etc. They represented their data in a table, testing the result twice before finding the average result. All children then came up with a conclusion. Please see photos from this wonderful lesson below!

Coming up next week:

Anti-bullying week- Please remind your children to wear odd socks on Monday!

Drama Workshop- based on various scenarios about bullying (Monday)

We also look forward to seeing you at the showcases that we have next week where you will have the opportunity to view the childrens’ work in their books. These are taking place on Monday from 3pm and Tuesday from 8.15am. 

The event will include:

• opportunities to look at your children's exercise books with them, with guided questions to help you to have meaningful conversations about your child's learning 
• a main school subject showcases where you will be able to see how children's work progresses over their time at Kerem and learn more about the resources your child uses at school
• hands on opportunities to explore the technology and computing resources available for your child's learning

We understand the challenges of the past few weeks and recognise the significance of community during this period. Therefore, we would like you all to join us at 8:40 am on Thursday, starting November 16th, for Tefillah. This serves as an occasion for the broader Kerem community to come together, offering support and connection in a meaningful manner.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom.

The Year 5 Team

Questions to ask your child:

Which materials were tested in the science experiment for friction?

Give an example of an -able or -ible word

Can you name the past three Prime Ministers?

What is equivalent to 3/4 ?

Give an example of direct and indirect speech

Friday 3rd November

Dear Parents,

The children came back to school full of eagerness and excitement for our whole school trip to Legoland. The weather was terrific and the coach ride went smoothly. Year 5 had the opportunity to wander through the park to visit mainland, Ferrari world, Mythical Creature Land and even got to take part in two incredible workshops. The first one taught the children about how to make a fairground ride using motors and batteries. The children quickly understood the assignment and got to coding their very own fairground ride. They were even able to incorporate music and have their ride flash in different colours. The second workshop further developed their stop animation skills. The class were split into groups were they each needed to come up with a set design and story before taking multiple images and editing these into their final ‘film’. Please see all photos from Legoland below!

In English, the children have begun to look at features of a newspaper. At first we discussed what they knew about newspapers and it turns out, quite a lot! We discussed what newspapers were for, what they contained and also had a read of a few. They were introduced to a few new features such as: byline, dateline, headline, caption, advertisement, columns, lead etc. At first we explored where each feature could be found on a newspaper, before labelling them as a whole class. They then had a go at independently labelling these features in their books. Following on from this, we discussed what sort of information was shared in a newspaper e.g. facts and opinions. In pairs, Year 5 began sorting through the facts and opinions given to them before coming up with an accurate definition for each. We also looked at how these were included in various articles. For their comprehension lesson, the pupils answered questions relating to a newspaper, developing their fact finding skills as well as developing opinions using evidence from the text. The children have begun to review words ending in -able, -ably, -ible and -ibly.

In maths the children revisited multiplication and division, using mental methods relating to their instant recall timetable facts to support their calculations. This proved quite valuable in not only solving long multiplication and bus stop division questions but also supported them when explaining common misconceptions.

In history, the children were surprised with an artefact investigation to kick off our new topic on Ancient Greece. They were able to explore a wide range of artefacts ranging from pottery, sculptures, money and tools. In groups they had to identify the items they were given before finding out real facts about them. Please view the photos below to see what they found!

In DT, the children were given the word bridges and were asked to come up with as much information as they could e.g. name a famous bridge, draw a type of bridge and even think about the interesting links with their science topic of forces. This was a great way to see what and how much they already knew . We then moved onto discussing different bridge designs and how they compared with one another.

Timetable changes:

The new timetable is under useful information on the Kerem website where the weekly Year 5 blog is shared.

The children no longer have forest school on Thursdays, this has now changed to PE.

Homework remains the same: SPAG, English writing, Topic, Maths and optional Friday work. Children are expected to be reading at home as well as keeping up with doodle maths and doodle spell.

Questions to ask your child this week:

What did you take away from our school trip to Legoland?

What landmarks did you see in Miniland?

Can you name a type of bridge?

What fact can you tell me about an artefact you discovered?

Shabbat shalom

Miss Weiner and the Year 5 Team

Jewish Studies 5th Cheshvan - 20th October

Dear Parents, I do hope this blog finds you and all your families safe and well, whether here, in Israel or around the world. Our hearts go out to all of Am Yisrael, and we send so much love from Kerem to our beloved Israel.

This week, besides making beautiful posters of love for Israel, the children received their Etgar books.  This is really exciting for them, as it marks the start of our Etgar learning, building up to the big Etgar Quiz which will take place in the summer.  Through Etgar, we reviewed our learning of Tishrei chagim as well as comparing the Ten Commandments with the 7 Laws of Noah.  We are now working on our Jewish numbers and the children have each started to create a Jewish numbers Google slides presentation.  Please do encourage them to read their Etgar books wherever they may be over half term!

Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable half term, and a beautiful Shabbat, and may the new week bring with it a renewed peace for our beautiful State of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom

Mrs Hill

Dear Parents,

Year 5 have developed their persistence and resilience this week, trying their best when completing the maths and English assessments during assessment week. They have also engaged in various lessons, which you can see pictured below. I have added an optional VR and NVR test to Google classroom for children to complete at home, these have been attached with the answers so they can mark these straight away.

In English, the children reviewed cinquain poetry and compared this with a haiku. We discussed where both poems derived from as well as what similarities and difference they had. One unique feature they both shared was that they had a set amount of syllables per line. The children have become very proficient at counting out syllables and have developed their use of this when creating their own poems. Year 5 even had at reciting poems to the class. During our guided reading sessions, the class read ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes. They explored unknown words such as torrent, galleon, claret velvet and breeches before answering questions related to the text. We discussed how to quote from a text using single quotation marks. When completing comprehension questions, please encourage them to use quotes from the text as this provides them with a more detailed answer that includes evidence from the text.  Please ensure children use doodle spell over the half term to revise learnt words.

In VR, the class learnt how to decode word meaning questions, which in turn expanded their own vocabulary which will support future learning. This included finding synonyms, definitions and inferring meaning from a sentence.

NVR this week consisted of horizontal codes extra practice. The children worked in pairs to decode shape, pattern, line and direction.

In maths, the children revised how to multiply and divide whole and decimal numbers by 10,100 and 1000. This was great practice as many needed reminding the direction in which the numbers move on the place value chart and why the numbers changed in this way. Following on from last week where the children explored multiples, factors and prime numbers, we then looked at LCM (lowest common multiples and HCF highest common factors). They completed worded questions and discussed different methods for solving each calculation. Year 5 then explored squared and cubed numbers, where they developed their timetable knowledge. Please ensure children practice doodle tables at home over the half term.

In art, the children explored a new artist- J.M.W. Turner- who painted The Burning of the Houses of Parliament. They explored what colour palette was used, features the painting contained and the composition of the painting.

In computing, the children used the virtual reality headsets to view parts of a river ‘ion real life’. They were able to spot the source, discuss the upper, middle and lower course and recap their learnt knowledge about rivers during this session. In Geography, the children reviewed all that they had learnt this half term and compiled this information into a river information poster.

In PSHE, the children have begun to learn about what The Houses of Parliament consist of e.g. The House of commons, the House of Lords and The Monarch. They found it fascinating finding out new facts.

During our final forest school session, Year 5 started their session with a question: If you could swap places with an animal, what would you choose and why? This was a great discussion and many of the children wanted to climb or fly above the trees and so choe animals that did these things.

The first game this week was called Heads or Tails. This involved the children choosing a side and indicating by putting their hands on their head or their tail. They had to watch and think about whether they lost a life or gained a life. The next game focussed on working as a larger team. Everyone apart from one person had a sit mat, spaced out in the hall which they sat on. The group needed to move from one space to another, without the standing person being able to sit on a mat. This helped meet our need for movement and fun.

For the rest of the session, the children chose between several opportunities:

• Exploring natural items with the magnifiers.
• Creating wool bracelets using a new weaving technique.
• Drilling and whittling fungi pendants
• Using knots and lashings to make structures with hazel rods.
• Exploring animals and plants through books.

We finished sharing our achievements for this half term. Lots of children enjoyed developing their drilling and whittling skills and being creative.

Coming up after half term:

Legoland- Please ensure children bring a card game or book for the coach ride.

VR and NVR assessments

Topic- Ancient Greek

DT- Bridges and Structures

Shabbat shalom

Miss Weiner and The Year 5 Team

13.10.23

Dear Parents,

We hope this blog finds you and your loved ones in good health.  In light of recent events in Israel, we understand the emotional challenges many of us are facing. As such, I chose not to give compulsory homework this week but instead offered optional homework on Google Classroom. As a united Jewish community, we are here to support one another. Year 5 have demonstrated this through their collaborative efforts within their lessons and also in breaktimes, speaking to each other with kindness and developing their relationships throughout the week. We are proud of their resilience.

In maths, the children focused on understanding Factors, Multiples, and Prime Numbers. They developed their understanding of factors, creating factor trees and discussing how many factor pairs a number has. They devised meanings for each term and created videos to present these to the class.

Factor: A factor is a number that neatly divides another number. For example, factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12.

Multiple: A multiple is a number you get when you multiply a given number by a whole number. Think of it as the number's "multiples club." For 5, it includes 5, 10, 15, 20, and so on.

In English we looked at the features of a Cinquain Poem. It is a simple and short form of poetry but it sparks creativity and intrigue. Please read some examples photographed below. This was the structure we used:

• Line 1: One word (the title)
• Line 2: Two words (describing the title)
• Line 3: Three words (expressing action)
• Line 4: Four words (expressing a feeling)
• Line 5: One word (a synonym or summary of the title)

For guided reading and comprehension, the children read the poem ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ by Lewis Carroll. They enjoyed the story behind it and recognised the author also wrote Alice in Wonderland’s Through the Looking Glass. They analysed the use of language in the poem and developed an understanding of the characters, setting and meaning within the poem. Our spelling patterns this week was revising words ending in: -ant, -ance, and -ancy.

Here are some useful tips to remind the children of these spelling patterns.

• -ant: Often makes adjectives, like "brilliant" or "constant."
• -ance: Frequently turns words into nouns, such as "appearance" or "importance."
• -ancy: Also creates nouns, often showing a state or quality, like "elegancy" or "vacancy."

In art, the children explored the various watercolour techniques to create a landscape image. Many used masking tape to create shapes they could see from the photograph whereas others used it to make a border. 

At forest school, Year 5 started their session with our chant, counting and name game before our first partner activity: 1,2,3 Game. Partners worked together to count to 3, taking alternate numbers. Once we got the hang of this, we moved to Level 2 challenge, which involved swapping a number for a sound. This proved a bit trickier but provided lots of laughs when we made mistakes. Finally, Level 3 challenge was to swap a final number for a movement. Some children really concentrated hard and were able to laugh and start again if they got it wrong. 

The next game focussed on working as a large team. Everyone sat in a circle with their legs out straight in front of them. Without a pattern or order, everyone had to pull their legs in and say a number, counting up from 1. The rule of the game is that no one is allowed to say a number at the same time. We had quite a few goes at this with the children offering ways to improve game play and work as a team to finally achieve getting the whole way to number 19! We were so proud when we finally managed to do it and considered what had changed to make us able to be successful in the end. We agreed that we had slowed down and let everyone have their own moment, rather than rushing and thinking of ourselves.

For the rest of the session, the children were presented with a challenge. We recapped the needs that we have looked at this half term and considered whether birds would also have these needs. They were then presented with the challenge of being architects and designing a nest that would have an invention to solve a problem, which the children could pick. Some chose to invent a nest that would prevent eggs from falling out, others thought about ways to entertain the chicks and get food and water. 

We finished sharing our nest inventions and some children are keen to try to build them when they return to the Forest School site.

Coming up next week:

Our first world religion lesson of the year.

GL Assessments for maths, English, VR and NVR

Final forest school session

Questions:

Tell me and the Walrus and the Carpenter poem?

Who is the poem you learned about written by?

How many syllables is in a cinquain poem?

What are the factors of 532?

What is a prime number?

How many UK rivers can you name?

What are the 7 continents?

Tell me a fact about Hokusai.

06.10.23

Dear Parents,

We have had a wonderful week full of sukkah visits, whole school tefillah and sharing our time together in the school’s sukkah. It was lovely to see so many children bringing their lulav and etrog to school.

In English, we started off the week with a grammar lesson linked to using a comma to avoid ambiguity and to create clarity e.g. “Let’s eat grandma.” to “Let’s eat, grandma.” The children were able to recognise and add these commas when writing a list, subordinate clause or when adding extra information to a sentence. They were able to practise what they learnt in the following lesson where they created atmospheric openings to a story. They were given various photographs to sort and they had to decide which category they would put each picture into. After a lengthy discussion, they chose one photo to write an interesting opening about. Part of the discussion was about commenting on the weather e.g. the clouds grew larger, as they rolled towards the cabin. They then had a go at using alternate openings by using action, figurative language, dialogue and description to begin a story. Please have a read of a few below. The spellings we looked at were words ending in -tial and -cial. Please remind them to use doodle spell at home for revision.

In maths the children reviewed different methods for solving addition and subtraction calculations. Some of these included mental methods such as: rounding, partitioning, adding or subtracting 1 and using number bonds. They developed their understanding of using the inverse method to solve missing number problems and even worked through multi-step worded problems.

In geography, the children used their atlases to locate rivers around the UK. They had to use an atlas to name a river, write the country they found it in along with the grid reference, page number and town the river passes through. They enjoyed the aspect of searching through the atlas to discover rivers they had never heard of or known much about before. Please find pictures below.

In PSHE, we discussed as a class what it meant to be part of a group. The children discussed what they are apart of e.g. the Jewish Community, a sports team, Year 5 etc. These were then shared and celebrated. We ended our session with a game go 'Huggy Bears' where the children had to get into different numbered groups. They had a blast playing the game and asked to play again next week! 

At forest school, Year 5 started their session with our welcome routine and this week's carefully selected question: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? It was lovely to hear everyone's dream destinations, often including seeing or spending time with family. This can be a very emotive topic, where we want to share our thoughts about places with each other, but everyone was very respectful and listened with kindness once again today, giving space for their peers to be heard, without feeling the need to share their anecdote. The focus activity involved tuning into our senses in an activity we call Prickly or Tickly? The children all had an explore around the site to find a natural item that was both prickly and tickly. They then asked their partner to put their hands behind their back and proceeded to use their natural item to touch their partner's palm, top of hand and wrist with either the 'prickly' or 'tickly' item. The person who was receiving the experience then had to share if it was prickly or tickly and guess the item. Taking away our sight in this game really helps to heighten our sense of touch, giving our bodies a different experience. We also reflected that we really needed to trust that our partner would not scare or hurt us, building on our sense of community.

For the rest of the session, some children used the palm drills to drill into seeds and conkers to make seed people. Again this took a huge amount of patience, focus and strength to drill and connect the seeds to make the creations. It was lovely to see the pride when they finished and their conker people were brought to life. Some children also learnt how to make cordage from reed mace leaves. This is a calm and grounding activity, again requiring care and patience as the fibres are twisted together. Finally we had some keen whittlers who enjoyed shaping their wood into throwing spears.

To conclude our session we gathered together to reflect on our bodily sensations. We took time to connect with our bodies and think about the sensations we experienced. This is quite hard to identify, but can be a really useful skill in understanding our emotions and help us regulate them.

Coming up next week:

Legoland Trip information-

-In order to get the most out of the day we will be leaving school promptly at 8.30am. All children need to arrive in school at 8.20am. Tennis and mindfulness clubs will take place as normal but there will be no interventions that morning. Children will be expected to wear their full school uniform including comfortable walking shoes e.g. trainers.

-Year 5 will be completing two workshops alongside visiting and experiencing other opportunities throughout the day They will attend a robotics workshop and a Lego

camera action workshop.

Questions:

What rivers did you manage to locate in the UK?

How can I work out this calculation- 4356- ? = 1203

Can you add a comma to this sentence? On the weekend the children scurried off to the park.

What did you enjoy about the tickle or prickly activity?

Jewish Studies 21st Tishrei - 6th October 2023

Moadim LeSimchah to you all!  What a week we've had! From learning the theory of the Sukkot Mitzvot to putting them all into practice.  We've waved our lulavim north, south, east, west, up and down each morning during Hallel, having learnt the correct way to hold the arba minim.  We have also loved being enveloped in the warm hug of the Sukkah, having made lots of Sukkah visits throughout the week!  We give huge thanks to families Dagul, Zisser and Salem for having hosted the class and made us all feel so very welcome! It really has been a special week for us all!

I wish you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Same'ach.

Mrs Hill

Dear Parents,

We hope you all fasted well over Yom Kippur and are looking forward to celebrating Succot. Year 5 are excited to visit many different succahs throughout next week and I am sure it will be a wonderful experience for them all.

In maths, the children have worked so hard to secure their understanding of place value when calculating addition and subtraction questions using the formal written columnar method. Some children used place value counters to understand and explain how exchanging works for subtraction- it was brilliant to see them doing this independently towards the end of the lesson. The class also revised how to estimate various calculations before solving them. This was a great exercise as they were able to debunk common misconceptions e.g. lining up each digit underneath its correct place value. Next week we will begin to use inverse methods for solving different calculations.

In English, the children carefully planned their paragraphs for their own mystery stories. They then wrote their stories and proof read these with a partner in the editing phase. Once edited, the class then wrote up their mystery stories for display. They also completed a short guided reading session where they needed to summarise parts of a text in one or two sentences. We also discussed how they have used certain adverbs and sentence openers to add extra information and detail to a description. This week in spelling we learned about words that end with the sound ‘shul’, which is spelled -cial and -tial. Please ask your child if they can remember the vowel and consonant rule.

From researching the Japanese artist Hokusai, the children had a go at recreating his famous ‘Great Wave’ print. For this lesson, they learnt how to use salt granules and recognised how this helped them to create a ‘lift off’ effect for their paintings. They were really excited to develop the skills and techniques that they have learnt over the past few weeks in their art lessons.

Next week we will be continuing with our lessons and celebrating Succot in school in a number of special ways, including whole school tefilah with Hallel and ‘arba minim’, eating in the succah in the Max Weinbaum hall, and visiting the succahs of 3 classmates - many thanks to families Zisser, Salem and Dagul in advance.

Wishing you all chag sameach and Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 6 Team

Jewish Studies - 14th Tishrei - 29th September

This week we have moved swiftly from the seriousness of the Yamim Noraim to the happy festival of Sukkot.  Year 5 have been learning what the arba minim need to have/not have in order to be considered a kosher set.  This has included looking at the height, width, colouring, shape etc of each of the 4 different species.  Having carried out their research carefully, the children then created their own guides to buying a kosher set of arba minim. We have also started to look at what the Torah tells us about keeping the festival of Sukkot.  It is a time of happiness and celebrating our relationship with Hashem - so here's hoping and praying for a happy, warm and dry weekend so that we can all enjoying being in our Sukkah!

I wish you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Same'ah.

Friday 22nd September

Dear Parents,

In English, the children have continued to develop their understanding of mystery stories. On Monday we watched a short clip entitled ‘security lights’. To draw out descriptive language, everyone in the class got the chance to be ‘burglars’ by sneakily gathering items from around the classroom onto their desks without being caught! This proved quite challenging but many were able to use imaginative ways of travelling such as slithering, crawling, tiptoeing. The class then began to infer meaning from the clip by asking questions. The pupils then wrote about the clip using a range of sentence structures- slowly developing their description. After discussing different styles of mystery stories, the children were asked to plan their own. They then chose part of their plan to incorporate speech between two of their characters, whilst balancing this out with description. Next week, the class will be structuring their paragraphs and writing their first draft of their very own mystery story, which they will then proof-read and edit.

In maths, the children were asked to count through zero in negative numbers. They worked through fluency, worded questions and reasoning problems using number lines for support if needed. Many of them had a fantastic understanding of adding or subtracting negative numbers. We rounded off the week by revising roman numerals from two weeks ago. We will be consolidating all that we have learnt each week.

In VR, the children learnt how to ‘move a letter’ to make two new words. For example, paint and horn will become pain and thorn. In NVR, we looked at how to answer matrices questions where you have to fill in the last square in the grid.

In geography, the children finished their diagrams of the water cycle and  began to learn about the processes and features of a river. Some examples have been placed below for you to see!

In art the children continued to develop their understanding of watercolours, testing out various techniques.

At forest school, Year 5 began their session with another lucky dip question: What makes you feel angry? How do you know? Where do you feel it in your body? There were a range of answers including ‘when I'm blamed for something I didn't do’, ‘when I get things wrong’ and ‘when people make fun of me’. We thought about how this manifests in our bodies in clenched muscles and 'busy' heads where we are unable to think straight. Our bodies have a flight or fight response in these situations where cortisol and adrenaline are produced. Our bodies then need to discharge and release this through movement, or breathing. Understanding why our bodies feel the way they do when we are experiencing different emotions and recognising what we need to do to help regulate our bodies is so important in managing the different challenges we face each day. After this, we felt a need to move our bodies, so had a quick game of Ostrich Tag, before sitting down to play 'This is not a stick, it's a...' This was lots of fun as we listened to each other's ideas as the stick was passed around and became a telephone, a banana, a launcher to name but a few. This game encourages creativity, quick thinking and listening skills amongst many others and made us laugh. For the rest of the session, the children followed their interests. Last week some had shown an interest in weaving, so this week Emma brought her peg loom. Some children worked together making a start at creating some woven wool. This takes lots of patience to create something big enough and they hope to carry it on next week. Others embraced the conkers that are beginning to fall. Some used the drills to make necklaces with them, whilst others made conker games which they played together, inventing rules and scoring systems. Once again, bringing out their creativity. We had the hammocks for rest and relaxation, the play hammock for movement and the Willow workshop was open again, with some children choosing to whittle. The class finished the session with a song request, developing from last week, where we sang We Are the Wild Ones as a round.

Extra information:

-Book recommendations have been published to the school website under CLASS PAGES- YEAR 5- USEFUL INFORMATION.

-In September/ October the BBC runs a really lovely writing competition called 500 word stories. It is for children aged 5 plus. I have attached the poster below for you to view and perhaps enter.

Questions to ask your child

What is a tributary?

Can you tell me the three new words of the week?

Why is -4 larger than -8?

Can you name one technique when using watercolours?

15th September 2023

Dear Parents,

It was so lovely meeting many of you at 'Meet the Teacher' on Wednesday evening.Please check out the useful information tab above to see the homework and class timetable.

In our grammar lesson, the children developed their understanding of simple, compound and complex sentences, recognising how sentence length can be used for effect. The class were able to practice using coordinating and subordinating conjunctions in their writing- punctuating them accurately. Alongside our writing, the children looked at a few texts to give them an understanding of building tension and mystery. This continued into our guided reading session where we read the first chapter of ‘Floodland’ by Marcus Sedgwick. The children really enjoyed the story line and were keen to continue this on. The spelling rule we reviewed this week was -cious. The rule being if the word ends in ce, it can be replaced with -cious e.g. space - spacious Or grace- gracious. Next week we will practice words that end in -tious. The class split two ways for a short comprehension, where we discussed how to write in full sentences and even quote from the text.

In maths, Year 5 worked on questions relating to place value. We began with reading and writing numbers up to a million, followed by ordering and comparing numbers as well as answer reasoning questions e.g. If a number has the most digits,will it always be the larger number.  The children then explored possibilities of decimal numbers and how many digits they may have. We also looked at

In our NVR and VR  lessons this week the children were introduced to the different styles of questions. Nor being ‘Odd one out; and VR being ‘Combining Words’.

This week we focussed on breaking down the steps we use to get to our answers. We highlighted the importance of looking for patterns and effective elimination techniques. 

Below I have attached questions to ask your child over the shabbat table. I will be sharing new ones each week! In addition to this, I have attached a few questions to ask your child which can be used on a daily basis.

Questions to ask your child

Can you give an example of a complex sentence?

What does place value mean?

Did you enjoy reading Floodland?

What did you enjoy about your art lesson?

Can you name 5 rivers of the world?

What did you find challenging this week?

Can you remember the water cycle song?

If a number has the most digits, will it always be the larger number?

Shana Tova

Miss Weiner and Mr Mackinnon 

Friday 8th September 2023

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Year 5!

It has been wonderful seeing the children settle in to their new Year 5 class and classroom and readily learning their new timetable and routines.

As a class, we discussed our school behaviour expectations, explaining how they keep us safe and happy. We also spent time introducing our class worry monster, where they can share their thoughts and feelings with us on a daily basis.

At the beginning of our English and maths topics, we modelled how to present written work in their books, to ensure that it is presented to a high standard. The children had the opportunity to practice this. An important part of this work was highlighting the value of making mistakes. Far from being something to be ashamed of, mistakes are crucial learning opportunities, we all make them, and this message will continue to be reinforced throughout the year.

In maths we had lessons on identifying and writing roman numerals to 1000. We played roman numeral bingo as a class before the children used the symbols to solve sequences and missing numbers and even reasoning questions. To see what they have learnt so far, have a go at playing bingo 1-1000 with the children at home to see what they have found out this week!

In English, we began to look at using vocabulary, sentence structure and punctuation for effect. During this lesson we asked the children, ‘what makes a piece of writing effective?’. They were able to share many examples. We also read through a text together where they were able to identify exciting vocabulary and punctuation which was fantastic. Next week we are going to learn about sentence structures, and implement these in our writing. We also discussed which books the children are reading at the moment. Please encourage your child to bring their book in to school every day so that we can discuss them at the end of our reading sessions.

In geography, we introduced our first topic of the year- Rivers. The children got to experience the water cycle by viewing a mini experiment of it in class. They were able to recognise the movement of the water and together were able to label the different elements such as: water vapour, evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, collection etc. They were then able to search for these terms around the room, all hidden around related items e.g. infiltration was hidden within a plant. They had a fantastic time finding each of the labels and explaining the process.

We haven’t had a spelling lesson this week, however in future weeks spelling rules and the words we have learned will be on the blog so that children can practice them.

Please can I ask you to remind your child to wear their school house badge. If they do not have one or have lost it over the holidays they will need to collect a new one from the office. Replacing a badge will cost 50p.

Our Meet the Teacher evening takes place on Wednesday at 6.45pm, we hope to see you all there.

Shabbat Shalom,

Miss Weiner and Mr Mackinnon

Jewish Studies - 22nd Elul : 8th September

Welcome to the new school year. I have loved seeing your fantastic children again this week, and hearing all their exciting news from the holidays!

We have kicked off with learning about Rosh Hashanah, with a focus on the topic of Teshuvah and Teshuvah Gemurah (complete Teshuvah). The children created their own entertaining scenarios which led to the need for Teshuvah, showing their understanding of this concept. I was really proud of their efforts in whole-school Tefillah too, in which they really took a leading role - what a great start to Year 5!

I wish you all Shabbat Shalom and an enjoyable weekend - and looking forward to another great term with your lovely children!

Mrs Hill