Year 5 - 14th January 2022

Date: 13th Jan 2022 @ 5:17pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

The children have had a busy week working hard.

This week in year 5

In Maths we have learnt some new strategies to use when multiplying – the compensation strategy and grid method.  The children enjoyed both and have been using them in their work.  We have also done lots of mental arithmetic this week, deciding whether to work it out in our head, use jottings or a written method.  We have also practised multiplication and division reasoning problems.  These were really tricky and needed lots of concentration. The children have worked really hard.

In English we have continued to read the plight of Jim Jarvis in Street Child; poor Jim has ended up in the workhouse.  The children have written notes (in character), they have written descriptive pieces of Jim’s time in the workhouse and they had to write a persuasive piece, whether Jim should run away from the workhouse or not.

In Science, the children looked at the different sorts of enquiry that we use in Science and came up with potential questions that related to each enquiry.  This was particularly tricky but the children listened well and thought about each enquiry carefully.

In RE, the children attended church and learnt all about the preparations that have to be made for Mass by both the priest and community members that help him.  The children were able to ask questions to Father Michael and Catechists and find out more about being a member of the Parish.

In French, we started a topic on Les planetes. Over the next couple of weeks, the children will build up their space vocabulary in French and learn to construct sentences about the planets. We will finish with a piece of writing about the planets and it will be amazing! Good start, year 5!

In PE, we split into 2 groups. One for learning how to hold the hockey stick safely and then learnt passing and stopping the ball. The other group were inside learning gymnastics.  The children were fantastic.  We were using mirroring and matching poses. They had to pair up and show poses that were first mirroring one another, then matching.  They then paired with another pair and had to teach their pose to one another.  These were then turned into a routine with moves in between the poses.  I really was impressed with their teamwork and skills.

In Art, the children practised sketching cityscapes, using YouTube videos.  They were able to carefully follow the lead of the artist on the screen.  Then they looked back at their inspiration art, from Jo Quigley, and sketched out a plan for their final piece.  They have all focused well and have great ideas to create a cityscape of London. I look forward to sharing their final pieces in a couple of weeks.

In PSHE we focused on money matters.  We looked at the cost of various items a child needs throughout their life and the cost of this.  We discussed budgets and why sometimes grown-ups have to be careful with their money.  We discussed things that are essential that need to be budgeted for first and things that we would like that maybe we have to save up for.

DON’T FORGET

Sacramental folders need returning for church on Monday.

Additional warm clothes for PE sessions.

On Tuesday the children will be using the outside area and helping to plant saplings that will grow into a hedge.  Please send in wellies, in a named plastic bag, to save their school shoes getting muddy.  If you don’t have wellies, please send old pumps or trainers that you don’t mind getting muddy.  Please send in a bag so the muddy wellies can be put in a bag and not on the carpet in class.

Home Practice all relates to this week's learning - These are the tasks to be completed.

Reading - You all have a Home Reading book for year 5 so reading every night for 15-20 mins is essential. You also have a Reading Journal/Diary that must be completed and signed. Some children had a break from reading over the holidays but please ensure this is made a priority now that we are back at school.  Practise is vital to improve in all areas of English.

You can change your reading book on any school day (book bags to be left on Mrs Mulgrew's desk)

Maths – please ask your child what their times tables target is and help them practise this in order for them to progress.

I’d also encourage you to do a daily count with your child.  This week we are counting up in 9s, 0.9 or 0.09. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 9s, 0.9 or 0.09 either forwards or backwards.  A strategy we use is adding 10 and then taking 1 away if counting up, or subtracting 10 and then adding 1 if subtracting.

Spellings words ending ‘ance’. We will look at these in more detail in school next week, they should be practised at home, ready for the test on Friday. 

acceptance, appearance, assistance, balance, distance, ignorance, importance, performance, substance, vengeance, endurance, disappearance, circumstance, extravagance, attendance

Don’t forget the children have a big list of Common Exception words to learn, these can be practised each week to push your child further.  You should all have received a sheet with these words on by now, I have highlighted the words that your child wrote correct in a spelling test before Christmas. This will give you an indication of how well they are remembering these spellings. Don’t worry if they don’t know many, they can practise them this term and will be assessed again near Easter.

Sumdog challenges

PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILDREN TO COMPLETE THE SUMDOG CHALLENGES, MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ACCESSING SUMDOG.

Please encourage your child to complete the Maths and Spelling Training.  As you know, we set weekly challenges that are linked to the learning that takes place in school.  As an extra feature, the maths and spelling training sections will provide a tailored challenge for your child to practise skills, facts and words they find difficult.  Once the diagnostic challenges have been completed Sumdog will set challenges to aid improvement and development in the appropriate areas for your child.  Once you have completed the class challenges, please use this feature for extra challenge in both maths and spelling.  Many children have still not completed the diagnostic section.

Times tables have been set to reflect class targets

Maths the children have been set activities relating to multiplication and division strategies. 

Spellings words ending ‘ance’.

The children have had a great week, working hard.