Year 5

Friday 26th April

Homework

Maths on Atom Learning - Positions and Transformations

English - Word meanings and apostrophes

Spellings - words with the -ough letter string

though, although, dough, doughnut, through, cough, trough, rough, tough, enough

Year 5 began the week by dissecting lilies - identifying and labelling their reproductive parts and describing how plants create seeds and reproduce. Following that, we moved on to animal life-cycles, comparing and contrasting the development of different classes of creatures. We were interested to see the process of metamorphosis in many amphibians.

Children have written a piece putting forward arguments for and against eating meat - they approached the debate with respect and maturity which is reflected in their writing.

In maths, translating and reflecting shapes has been the order of the day and we have spent time revising much of the vocabulary associated with geometry.

We look forward to seeing some of you at the Maypole dancing on Thursday - hopefully the weather will have warmed up by then.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester and Miss Smart

Friday 19th April

It was lovely to have the children in school again on Monday, looking refreshed after their Easter break. We were excited to see glimpses of that elusive yellow ball in the sky - otherwise known as the sun, in our Active 30 sessions this week.

We plunged straight into our Sow, Grow and Farm topic by investigating how plants reproduce in different ways. Children chose their favourite plants and created wonderful scientific drawings of their life-cycles. We will move on to looking at the life-cycles of amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals - making comparisons between the different creatures we study.

In English, we've begun reading Charlotte's Web. Miss Smart has been discussing Wilbur the pig's dramatic antics and naive posturing with a view to writing a diary entry from his porcine point of view. We have also been debating the merits and drawbacks of eating meat ahead of writing a balanced argument on the topic.

In maths, we've completed the chapter on geometry and have moved on to co-ordinates and translating shapes. It is important that the children recap some of their maths vocabulary: polygons, quadrilaterals, equilateral triangles and regular or irregular shapes.

Finally, we enjoyed the visit from Tom Mitchell and his interesting talk. Many of the children are keen to read his latest book How to Stop the End of The World - in a slight change of plan, we will now be reading this for our Book Club on 16th May.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester and Miss Smart

HOMEWORK

Spellings - see attached. We have been practising Week 1's words all week and these will be tested on Monday.

Maths and English Homework on ATOM LEARNING.

Thursday 28th March

HAPPY EASTER - HAVE A LOVELY BREAK

Easter homework is on Atom Learning.

Friday 22nd March 2024

Hi all,

In Class 5 this week, the children have begun a new Maths topic focusing on geometry. This topic explores angles: measuring angles, the investigation of angles on a line/point and drawing angles and angles in common shapes. The chapter will end with the children solving problems involving angles and investigating angles inside regular polygons.

On Fridays this term the children have been learning about how to write narrative poetry. They created a class narrative poem using the fairy-tale, ‘The Three Little Pigs’ (a photo of the poem will be posted).

The class have thoroughly enjoyed analysing, acting and sketching artwork, based on the narrative poem ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes. 

The children have been lucky enough to have Jessie come in from Altru Drama to deliver a Shang Dynasty workshop. She has helped the children learn and recall interesting historical facts about their topic 'Dynamic Dynasties'. For those of you who were able to make it to the performance – we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

I attempted to attach the video that was recorded, however the file size was too large so please enjoy some pictures of the children taking part and loving the workshop!

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Smart 

Friday 15th March

We've had a great week in Year 5. The Bore Place trip was very soggy but that seemed to make it all the more enjoyable for the children. We had a good look at the calves, learnt about how an organic farm works and had a full tasting session of some of Bore Place's dairy produce. The children made delicious butter and tried it with salt and herbs added - the salted butter and full cream, organic milk were the most popular.

We were very grateful to Abbie Carnegy who came in and gave the children a workshop on creating beautiful paintings of cherry blossom trees. The results were stunning.

In maths, we've been converting decimals and fractions into percentages and our ancient Chinese myths are ready for marking.

We have a drama workshop on the Shang Dynasty on Friday 22nd which will culminate in a short performance to which parents are invited. It will start at 3pm.

Finally, a reminder that next term's Book Club is on Thursday 16th May between 3:30 - 4:30 pm and we will be discussing M G Leonard's Danger at Dead Man's Pass.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Hester

Homework:

Maths and English on Atom Learning

Spelling: 

Friday 8th March

It's been another busy week in Year 5. We started with maths - adding and subtracting decimals, and moved on to thinking about how to structure a myth set in ancient China.

In our topic work, we considered primary sources, looking at artefacts found in ancient Chinese tombs and recreating some of the first writing invented by copying simple Chinese characters onto paper replicas of 'Oracle Bones'. Children were interested in the detail and craftsmanship revealed in the bronze and jade used in China thousands of years ago.

World Book Day was a triumph - the costumes and jars were fantastic - thank you for your input and effort - the children walked over to Chiddingstone Nursery to read to the younger ones which they thoroughly enjoyed.

On Monday afternoon next week, we are lucky enough to have Freddie's mum coming in to give the children an art lesson. Acrylic paint will be involved so please could you send your child in with an old shirt or apron to protect their uniforms.

Tuesday is our trip to Bore Place. Please drop your child off for 9am and they will be taken back to school in the minibus by around 1:30 pm. They will need to be wearing comfortable home clothes, suitable for walking round a farm. Can they also please bring a snack, water, packed lunch and spare, clean pair of shoes to put on inside - no uniforms required on Tuesday.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK

Spellings: English and maths on Atom Learning

Friday 1st March

What a week it's been in Year 5! Swimming, a science show, a visit from an author and more swimming!

See above for some science show pictures; thank you Mr Cahill.

The science show was the most spectacular, taking us on a whistle stop tour through the powers of liquid nitrogen - the children were brilliant - engaged and very well behaved. Thank you to all the parents who helped with this trip and with swimming - we couldn't have done without you.

Swimming has been fun and I have no doubt the children will be exhausted. Last but not least, the visit from J C Clarke was inspiring and enlightening - she was really impressed with the children and thoroughly enjoyed talking to them.

There hasn't been much time for anything else but we have squeezed in a few lessons on decimals and story-writing.

Don't forget, World Book Day on Thursday - dress as your favourite character and bring a 'Book in a Jar' into school.

Attached are some details on Times Tables Rock Stars. I hope the children will come home today with a letter in their school bags detailing their logins. We are trialling this so please do send feedback.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK

Comprehension, grammar and maths on Atom Learning

Taskmaster Club

There were some strong contenders for the most impressive natural thing and three teams ended up with equal points by presenting this Taskmaster with an enormous conch shell, a bronze cast of Buddha's head and a bouquet of blooms in my favourite colour. A photograph of a Venus Fly Trap came a close second.

The main task was to create the best portrait of the original Taskmaster, Greg Davies, using only leaves. The winning entry, submitted by the 'Marshmallow Destroyers,' will be emailed to Taskmaster Education to compete against entries from other schools.

Next Friday, we will meet for the final time and the Take Home Task is to bring in the best... bendy thing!

Friday 23rd February

It's been lovely to have the children back in school this week.

We've begun investigating the Shang Dynasty, its location, traditions and hierarchy and the children have been doing some of their own research and asking questions which we will answer as the term progresses.

In maths, we've been working on decimals and their fractions and on comparing decimal numbers. As ever, times tables are crucial.

Chinese myths and legends have been absorbing us in English. The children loved Pangu and the Chinese creation myth and they were also fascinated by the myth of the monster, Nian, explaining the reason for the Lunar New Year traditions of red banners, loud banging and fire crackers. We're looking forward to writing our own myths.

Don't forget, swimming next week - trunks or swimming costumes, goggles, swimming hats, towels, large snacks and water.

Happy weekends!

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Atom learning English Comprehension and Maths.

Spellings to follow

Taskmaster Club – Enjoyable, Remarkable, Unbelievable Football

Having shown off their goal celebrations, children took it in turns to try and knock over a glue stick with a ball. The first team to miss was eliminated and the distance was increased for the remaining players. It wasn’t as easy as it looked, but hugely enjoyable nonetheless.

The next challenge was to keep a ball moving for as long as possible without the team touching it. Several groups thought it would be clever to enlist the help of adults in the room, but in the end chasing the ball around the playground with a broom proved to be the most effective method and twirling a ball round on a piece of string came a close second!

Next week, we have asked children to bring in the most impressive natural thing.

Each group will also need a bagful of leaves.

Friday 9th February

HALF-TERM HOMEWORK - maths multiplication and division activity on ATOM LEARNING to be completed by 19/2/24

A huge thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend our 'Book Look' in Year 5 on Thursday. The dried locusts, crickets and mealworms received a mixed response but the children were clearly delighted and proud to be able to show off their work.

It's been a busy term, packed with a great deal of learning which is made more meaningful when the children have the opportunity to share and explain it so thank you, as ever, for your support.

Apart from completing the maths homework, please could you ensure your child is fluent in all times-tables up to the 12s. Attached are some games and resources that may help. If these do not appeal, try downloading times-tables songs and singing along in the car, or spending 10 minutes a day going over any tricky tables that your child is finding hard to retain. Below are links to online apps etc that may be useful.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.timestables.co.uk/times-tables-memory.html

https://keystagefun.co.uk/times-tables-apps/

Have a lovely half-term.

Mrs Hester

Taskmaster Club – This Doesn’t Quite Add Up

The last Taskmaster Club of term featured a Take Home Task that required children to bring in the most pleasing square thing. Many entries were in fact cubes, but as these feature squares – six of them to be precise – there could be no complaint. As always, there were lots of imaginative ideas and even more creative and persuasive explanations – but there could only ever be one winner. Look at the photos and take a guess!

Before the main task (in which children were given shopping bags which they had to make as heavy as possible and hang up for ten seconds without breaking), teams had to find the heaviest unique, blue thing. Mrs Edwards gamely draped herself in a shawl and allowed herself to be entered. Another team had a similar idea however and, under the rules of the game, if one team chose the same item as another group, they were both disqualified. Ouch! The winning heaviest unique, blue thing was therefore a bin full of bibles.

Next time’s Take Home Task is to perform the ultimate goal celebration.

Friday 2nd February

February at last and the days are getting lighter! It's been a fairly uneventful week. The children made a brilliant job of writing their persuasive letters  - they are all now on Mrs Haysom's desk awaiting her judgement so watch this space.

In maths, we have completed our chapter on fractions and children are becoming increasingly competent at manipulating fractions and mixed numbers in all sorts of ways - well done Year 5.

We're looking forward to seeing as many of you as can make it for our 'Book Look' from 3pm on Thursday 8th and don't forget Book Club on Wednesday 7th between 3:30 - 4:30 pm.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Maths and English on Atom Learning

Spellings: 

Taskmaster Club - A Beginning, a Middle and an End

Can you write a ten word story with a beginning, a middle and an end while hopping, jumping, twirling and occasionally walking backwards on command? Not easy. But our game club members gave it a go.

Having warmed up their imaginations (and counting skills), the next challenge was to write a dramatic 50 word story involving Little Alex Horne, a rubber duck and a caravan. The results all contained an element of horror, but the tale of an upside down raffle ticket gave the best listening experience and was therefore voted the winner. Limerick writing was the If-You-Have-Time task. Here is a particularly successful one which shows tremendous knowledge of the Taskmaster!

There once was a club at our school

The Taskmaster was terribly cool

She drinks lots of tea

Has a wobbly left knee

And is good at following the rules!

Next week's Take Home Task is to enter the most pleasing square thing! Good luck.

Friday 26th January

What an exciting week it's been! Insect eating proved hugely popular with the majority of the children. There were a few abstentions which was understandable, but, on the whole, the crickets, mealworms, locusts and buffalo worms that we tried, went down well. Children felt they had a slightly nutty flavour and they enjoyed the crunch.

Mrs Haysom gamely agreed to join us for the activity and munched her way through a large handful of grubs undaunted!

The children have begun their persuasive letters and are carefully considering the structure and language to produce effective arguments in favour of including insects on our lunch menus.

In maths, we are adding fractions - as with most of maths, times tables are crucial. Please do spend some time with your child ensuring they know their times tables inside out.

India and the UK were the focus of our geography enquiries this week, as well as knowing the location of New Delhi and the Ganges, the children are all now secure in their knowledge of the four countries and capitals of Great Britain - phew!

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Spellings - 

Maths - adding and subtracting fractions on Atom Learning

English - conjunctions- Atom Learning

Taskmaster Club - Take Home Task

In Week 3, the task was a simple one - impress the Taskmaster. Attempts included card tricks, flattery, maths wizardry, gymnastics, a fluffy ball (in my favourite colour), tap dancing, dog obedience, an impossibly long paperchain and ownership of a chunk of the moon. Was I impressed? Indeed I was!

Over the next seven days, the challenge is to locate or create a picture that would inspire the best story.

Friday 19th January

Thank goodness this week is over and assessments are all completed. The children were incredibly focused and motivated and worked hard to complete their tests. They should be proud of their commitment.

Forest School is proving popular in spite of the cold. This week we carried out a study of the woodland around our school, considering the 'biome' in which we live and identifying different trees. We were also delighted to come across two tame little robins in the playground who seem very interested in the general goings on in school. Part of our topic is to consider the flora and fauna native to our country and compare it to those of other areas of the world.

We are still working on fractions in maths - comparing the size of fractions by making the denominators the same. In English, the children have written up their animal reports which are interesting and beautifully presented. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Homework:

English and Maths on Atom Learning labelled Maths/English 19.1.24 due 26.1.24

Spellings: 

Taskmaster Club - Take Home Task

This week's Take Home Task was to present the most surprisingly edible thing. The competition was fierce with spiced cactus, a monstera deliciosa (corn-on-the-cob fruit), yogurt dyed to resemble shoe polish, tongue, a shiny piggy-bank cake and paper snowflakes among the offerings. 

Having proved adept at hiding a wooden spoon on their person as a warm up task, teams were challenged to create an appealing looking meal out of things you can't eat. Somehow, they managed to construct stunning pasta dishes, fast food feasts, fruity milkshakes and a hot chocolate with whipped cream topping.

For next week, club members have been asked to bring, do, show or tell us about the most impressive thing they can think of. 

Friday 12th January

Apologies for the delay in publishing this page; I hadn't realised it didn't save.

We've had another interesting week in Year 5. The snow provided an exciting distraction but its failure to settle was a relief to some and disappointment to many.

Fractions have been the focus of our maths lessons - proper and improper fractions, mixed numbers and equivalent fractions to be precise. The children are making good progress in spite of a few initial wobbles.

In literacy, we are well underway with the construction of reports on a chosen Amazonian animal. Children are very motivated by this writing and have enjoyed doing their initial research. I look forward to reading their completed versions.

The Explorer is proving a popular novel and has inspired more research on Brazil and its human and physical geographical features.

We have English assessments coming up next week as well as CAT tests on Tuesday. Please ensure the children have substantial snacks next week to ensure they are able to stay focused.

HOMEWORK:

`I have noticed several children haven't completed the homework set last week on Atom Learning. Please could it be completed by Friday. I won't set more work this week until all children have caught up.

Spellings: Creating nouns using -ness suffix

Taskmaster Club - Take Home Task

This week’s Take-home Task is to come up with the most surprisingly edible thing! It might be something that looks unpleasant but is actually edible, it could be a strangely edible thing (like stinging nettles) or it could be something that doesn’t look like food at all but actually is.

Children can bring an item in or they may prefer simply to tell us about it.

We look forward to hearing about five surprisingly edible things.

Friday 5th January 2024

Happy New Year to you all and a huge welcome back to school.

We have kicked off our new book, The Explorer, in literacy, and completed our work on graphs in Maths. Hopefully, Forest School went well - I look forward to hearing about it on Monday.

Just a reminder that Taskmaster Club begins next Friday. Based on the hit Channel 4 TV show, it is a great way for the children to get creative, take on new challenges and work as a team. The club runs for eight sessions at a cost of £5 per session and it will take place in the Y6 classroom for an hour from 3:45pm on Fridays (except Friday 16^th February). The club is open to children in Y5 and Y6 and a few places are still available. To register your child for Taskmaster Club, please visit https://taskmastereducation.com/clubs, scroll down to ‘Find a Club’ and use the following information:  

• Unique School Number B7A0M
• School Name: Chiddingstone CofE Primary School

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Spellings - see attached for the term's spellings. We'll be starting at week 1 (obviously!)

Maths and English homework are on Atom Learning due for Friday 12th Jan. I have removed the time limit following feedback which should hopefully make things easier.

Friday 15th December

Well done everyone - we've made it to the final couple of days in one piece! We've had a brilliant term and packed a huge amount in  - as usual, the children have been fantastic.

We are so very lucky to have such a supportive bunch of parents and I am eternally grateful for all your help and support over the past few weeks. Thank you to those who have been able to volunteer to come into the classroom and accompany us on trips. It is enormously helpful and enriches all the children's experience in school.

I will , no doubt, see many of you at the Christmas Service on Monday evening (drop and go from 5:40) but, if I don't see you, have a wonderful, restful Christmas and a healthy and happy 2024.

Mrs Hester

NO HOMEWORK UNTIL JANUARY.

Friday 8th December

The highlight of this week was a webinar we attended set up by Waterstones Booksellers in which the brilliant children's author Katherine Rundell talked through her fascinating inspirations for her various books. Please do watch the webinar again with your child if you wish - see link. I highly recommend her new publication, Impossible Creatures; although you might want to wait until it comes out in paperback.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sj7ZbYJtGg

Maths has left may children scratching their heads this week as we've been looking at time-tables (as in train, gym class, bus time-tables). If your child is a little wobbly on time - please do have a look at an analogue clock with them and discuss how many minutes there are between, say, 9:33 and 10:00 am. The tool in the link below is useful - click on the clock and you can manipulate it and ask questions.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/time/teaching-clock

The children have now completed their powerpoint presentations on the planets and have begun to show them to the class. They are impressive and beautifully put together and reveal their IT skills as well as their ability to assimilate and present information.

We will be making toys next week - please bring in a cereal box or similar if you have one - any help will be gratefully received in the afternoons (apart from Wednesday). Please contact the office if you can come in.

Don't forget; Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day on Friday.

There is no homework now until next term.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Friday 1st December

December!!! As I write, preparations are underway for the Christmas Fayre. I am very much looking forward to seeing many of the children manning stalls and selling their wares tomorrow. I hope everyone enjoys themselves. 

The children thoroughly enjoyed their trip to The Lion King and behaved impeccably.

In the classroom, we've opened advent calendar doors and begun to practise for the Christmas Service on 18th December. Please see the attached lyrics and go over them with your child if you can find the time.

In maths, we've been learning the bus-stop division method and in English, the children have been put into groups and are researching a planet ahead of producing Powerpoints to present to the class, and possibly others if time allows.

I have set maths and English homework on the Atom Learning website this week. Please let me know if there are any issues with it as it's a new tool.

DON'T FORGET YEAR 5&6 BOOK CLUB ON THURSDAY AFTER SCHOOL - OUR BOOK IS VARJAK PAW BY SF SAID

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Spelings: from the statutory word list:

vegetable, vehicle, bruise, soldier, stomach, recommend, leisure, privilege, occur, neighbour.

Maths and comprehension on the Atom Learning site 

https://app.atomlearning.com/school/homework

Friday 24th November

Another week completed and the sun has finally appeared! Thank you to those who turned up on Zoom for our second lot of Consultations. It was lovely to see the children presenting themselves and talking about what they have covered so far this year.

We had a visit from Dr Hester this morning. Unlike me, he is a physics expert and gave the children a talk on solar flares, lunar and solar eclipses and the effects of air resistance on falling objects. We watched a fascinating Brian Cox clip on what happens when two objects with very different masses are dropped in a vacuum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43-CfukEgs.

The children will be devising their own experiments next week to test the effects of air resistance on objects with different masses but the same shape OR objects with the same mass but different shapes. Perhaps you could have a conversation about what type of experiment they would like to try.

I hope the maths homework goes well. I am hoping to set English homework using the same tool so I have put the comprehension books on hold for the moment.

Don't forget, the children are going to see The Lion King on Wednesday. They will need red hats, snack, water and a packed lunch.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Spellings: words ending in 'ment'

equipment, environment, government, parliament, enjoyment, document, management, movement, replacement, statement.

Maths: https://https://app.atomlearning.com/public/

Friday 17th November

It was good to see many parents at our consultations this week. Thank you for coming along and listening to the children's presentations - the support you give the children, and therefore the school, is very much appreciated. I look forward to next week's meetings.

We have continued our Earth and Space topic by considering the reasons why we have fewer hours of daylight in winter than in summer. We also looked at the way the sun hits the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at different times of the year - some of our brains were frazzled with these new concepts!

In maths, we're working on short multiplication with larger numbers and in English we've been planning a new chapter based on the competition winners in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and COSMIC - I look forward to reading the results.

Please note - there is science homework this week about the phases of the moon. This is instead of a comprehension.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK

Spellings: words with silent letters

wrestle, wrapper, castle, yacht, guarantee, guilty, island, debris, mortgage, aisle

Maths: in green books for Tuesday.

Science: have a look at the BBC Bitesize web page in this link and complete the attached sheet for Friday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8c9q6f/articles/z846p4j

Friday 10th November

Well done everyone for getting through our first week back.

We had a brilliant trip to The Royal Greenwich Observatory. The Planetarium show was the highlight, closely followed by our workshop on the Earth, moon and sun. We spent this morning discussing the fabulous facts we learnt and recapping on how the Earth takes 24 hours to spin on its axis, which gives us day and night.

Our Remembrance Act of Worship was thought provoking and poignant. Perspex cutouts of the men who died in the First World War took up many spaces in the pews of the Church and the children were respectful and silent throughout.

In maths, we've been looking at squared and cubed numbers and in English we've been enjoying COSMIC and planning a description of the main character based on what we've read so far.

The only homework this week is spelling practice 

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Spellings: 

Words with silent letters: doubt, thumb, autumn, column, solemn, knuckle, knot knight lamb debt

Friday 20th October

HAPPY HALF-TERM EVERYONE!

We've had an excellent term in Year 5 - lots of hard work with a few enjoyable bits thrown in. The Reading Cafe was a real highlight - thank you very much to all of you who were able to attend for coming along and supporting the children. The cakes were stupendous!

Have a fabulous couple of weeks.

Mrs Hester

Homework:

Design an original book cover for a favourite book

Comprehension: P 4 Astronaut for first Friday back

Maths: keep up your times-tables and do the sheet in green books for first Tuesday back

Spellings: have a look at the statutory spelling sheets for Years 3/4 or 5/6

Friday 13th October

It's been another interesting week in Year 5. Our trip to Radnor House to see Jack Meggitt-Phillips was excellent. He proved an entertaining and delightfully eccentric speaker which the children enjoyed; we did some lovely writing as a result. The Beast and the Bethany books seem to be going down well.

In maths, we're focusing on factors and multiples so times-tables are crucial. The concept of a common factor or multiple has been difficult to grasp. Attached is a game you may want to play with your child to try and embed these tricky concepts.

We're looking forward to our first ever Reading Cafe on Friday 20th at 2pm. Please do bring along a favourite children's book if you have one. It can be anything from non-fiction to poetry to picture books to children's novels. There will also be an opportunity to look through the work we've been doing this term.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Homework:

Spellings: we will stick to the same spellings for another week as not everyone is secure with how to use the various homophones. I will introduce some new words next week.

Comprehension: We still need to mark last week's work so there is no comprehension homework this week.

Maths: in green books for Tuesday. Factors and multiples game attached 

Friday 6th October

Another week has flown by and we've been hard at work as usual in Year 5. Our ghost stories based in Hampton Court have been written, proofread, edited, refined and polished and are now beautifully typed-up, or handwritten, ready for display around the school. We hope no-one finds them too spooky.

We spent a very pleasant morning today, sharing our biographies of Henry VIII with the Year 2s. Their topic is Magnificent Monarchs so the older children were very happy to impart their carefully researched knowledge to a younger audience.

In maths, we've been solving addition and subtraction problems of increasing complexity. Word problems present the greatest difficulties as it is often hard to work out which operation to use.

We're looking forward to our trip to Radnor on Tuesday morning. Please ensure the children are in School as close to 08:30am as possible so we can leave promptly. Don't forget to send them in with money (£7/book), or a bank card ,if you feel you can trust them with such a thing.

We are planning a reading cafe to which parents are invited from 2pm on the last Friday of term. Children will share their favourite books with you, tea and cake will be served (any cake donations gratefully received!), and there will be a chance to look at this term's work. 

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Homework:

Spellings: 

Comprehension: In usual books Pp 2-3 Portrait of a Dragon

Maths: In yellow books for Tuesday

Friday 29th September

As we near the end of September, it is excellent to see Year 5 hitting their stride and really beginning to embrace the level of effort expected of them. Congratulations to them all on their clear and confident presentation in the Harvest Festival on Wednesday and a huge thank you to parents for your generous donations and support in attending the service.

Roald Dahl day was a great success and we thoroughly enjoyed our workshop on George's Marvellous Medicine. Some of the creative interpretations of various scenes from the book revealed a rich seam of acting talent which we hope to tap into over the coming months. Thank you to Katie Kent and Paul Hogan for dropping in to read; the children always love having a different voice and face at the front of the classroom. Look out for their book reviews and pictures in their school bags along with the Blue Peter Book Badge application form for you to fill in and send off.

On the subject of reading, please do let the office know if you would like your child to purchase any of the books in the Beast of Bethany series at the writing workshop at Radnor House on 10th October (as per the letter sent via the office earlier this week.)

There is Maths and English homework this week - see below.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Spelling: Purple words - tested on Friday. Blue words if you need a challenge

English for Friday 6th October:

Comprehension from book P 8 The Infinite

Maths:

Arithmetic sheet in yellow exercise book will be sent home on Tuesday 3rd October to be returned Tuesday 10th October 

Friday 22nd September

The highlight of our week was, without a doubt, our trip to Hampton Court Palace. The children behaved impeccably and were enthusiastic, intelligent participants in the workshop we did. They proved themselves to be careful listeners and managed to assimilate and present a huge amount of information in a short space of time - very well done!

Next week is busy one. We will be taking part in the Harvest Festival on Wednesday 27th at 9:00am. Please ensure the children are in full winter uniform. Year 5 will be doing a short presentation which we are looking forward to.

Thursday is Roald Dahl day and we have West End in schools coming in to run a drama workshop based around George's Marvellous Medicine. Children will also take part in an activity in the classroom in an attempt to earn a Blue Peter Book Badge - please see the Newsletter for details. We won't be dressing up on the day as we are saving that for World Book Day.

Finally, don't forget to send in shoeboxes, cereal boxes and the like for our Tudor Houses.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Homework: Maths and English homework will start next week - resources haven't yet arrived

Spellings: Purple words - tested on Friday. Blue words if you need a challenge

Friday 15th September

It feels as though we've achieved a great deal this week in Class 5.

In maths, we've been comparing numbers in the 100,000s and thinking about how we identify the largest and smallest numbers in a group. We've also looked at ways of demonstrating the difference in number values using bar models and number lines. Year 5 are beginning to develop their mastery skills.

Biographies of Henry VIII have been the order of the day in English. We are writing them with younger children in mind as we will be sharing them with the Year 2s. We've uncovered some fascinating and gruesome facts so far. 

We're looking forward to our trip to Hampton Court on Thursday - thank you to all those who offered to help. Don't forget to send your child in with a red hat, snack, packed lunch and bottle of water. We will try to leave by 9:00 am so please ensure your child is in school promptly.

Finally, the Year 5 Curriculum Meeting is at 2pm on Wednesday on Zoom - details will be sent out via the office.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

Homework: many children spelt 'conscious' incorrectly this week so please add it to the list. Children will be tested on the words in purple - words in blue are to stretch those who need a challenge.

Friday 8th September

Welcome to Year 5! It was great to have the children in the classroom and raring to go.

Thank you for all the beautiful book recommendation letters - we spent a pleasant morning browsing through them, thinking about the kind of books we like to read and discussing the pros and cons of different genres. It is fantastic to have so many keen readers in the class.

Maths lessons are now in full swing with a recap of place value up to the 10,000s and 100,000s - some children are still struggling to say their numbers into the 100,000s (eg 563,210). Please do practise these with them as it will help them to write numbers with greater accuracy.

English has been fun - we read and performed Shakespeare's Song of the Witches from Macbeth then created a whole class poem based on Shakespeare's rhythm - it's a close call between the Bard and Year 5! Our grammar lessons focused on revising word classes  - adverbs and prepositions are the most difficult.

We kicked the Tudors off with gusto - staging a full re-enaction of the Tudor reign on the astro-turf followed by careful research focusing on different events in the Tudor Timeline. We had an end of week quiz to test the children's knowledge and the results were good.

Please can you make sure the children have a working pen in their pencil cases.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hester

HOMEWORK:

Attached is the list of weekly spellings for this term. We will spend time learning them at school but most children benefit from a little extra input at home. Week 1's words will be tested next Friday 15th.