Year 5 Friday 28th January 2022

Date: 27th Jan 2022 @ 4:40pm

Welcome to this week’s Year 5 class blog

The Year 5 class have been working really hard this week to settle in quickly and moving around school in a calmer manner. They have done so well, they have had comments from numerous teachers on how well behaved they have been.  Keep it up Year 5!

This week in year 5

In Maths we finished looking at digital clocks and converting between analogue and digital, then concentrated on the value of numbers and decimals places.  We first looked at the value of numbers up to 3 decimal places; that the 4 in 35.746 has the value of 4 hundredths, the 5 has the value of 5 ones, the 6 has the value of 6 thousandths etc.  They were very good that this.  We moved onto comparing numbers with similar digits, to 3 decimal places e.g. 12.401 and 12.104 and placing them in order.  We finished the week by rounding decimals to the nearest whole number.  We managed to achieve this to 2 decimal places. Some children also worked on reasoning problems to push them further.

In English we have focused on different types of sentences, to help up with an extended writing piece.  We have been practising expanded noun phrases, prepositional phrases and adverbial phrases.  The children have used these to plan, write and edit a missing chapter of Street Child, which tells us what happens to Jim’s sisters.  Incidentally, there is a second book in the Street Child series that tells the sisters story. Many children were keen to read this so I here is the information, should you wish to purchase it -  Berlie Doherty Far From Home.  The Sisters of the Street Child.  There are second-hand copies online for less than £2.

In Science, the children had a busy lesson, undertaking a comparative test.  We went to the outdoor classroom to investigate carrier bags.  We had a letter from Booths asking us to investigate the best sort of carrier bags.  They wanted a bag that could hold 5kg, didn’t dig into the hand and that was environmentally friendly.  The children carried out investigations using bags, weights, hooks and clay to find these things out.  Finally they made a conclusion and wrote this up, using their findings.  Excellent work! (Photo Gallery on class page)

In RE, the children continued their topic on Mission. We looked at Jesus’ mission and how that is carried on today in many ways. We compared different parts of the scripture and how they are relevant to us today.

In French, we have started to write our own descriptions of the planets in French. The children have done really well so far. Next week, we'll finish and illustrate our work. Wait until you see it - you'll be impressed at how well they've done!

In PE, the children were again split into 2 groups’ one playing hockey and one practising gymnastic techniques.  The children continued to improve their hockey techniques, passing, stopping, dribbling and shooting.  In gymnastics we looked at counter balancing.  The children tried different techniques to counter balance their partner and then made up a routine where they moved into a counter balanced position and out of it again. They really work hard in these sessions and take it very seriously.  Their finished routines are always of a great quality.

In Art the children finished their final piece.  Wow! They have done an amazing job! The children sketched out their cityscape and then used watercolours to add colour.  They were able to use more or less water to create texture and shade to their work.  Many of the children experimented with water washes in the background, where they didn’t want a lot of colour but didn’t want to leave them blank. Again, WOW! (Photos of the children working in gallery - I will post the artwork, once it is displayed)

In computing we continued with our nesting loops topic in coding.  This is a really tricky undertaking and needs resilience.  The children worked really hard on working out the algorithm to make different shapes on the screen in a repeating circle.

DON’T FORGET

Topmarks clock online to practise telling the time.

Additional warm clothes for PE sessions.

I told the children they could keep their Holy Communion folders at home but we are going to use them in the offertory in our class mass. So please could you send them back into 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 7s and 0.7s. Give the children a number to start from and they must continue to count from that number in 7s or 0.7s, either forwards or backwards.  A strategy we use is bridging e.g. if the number is 46 and we are adding 7 we would use 4 to bridge it to the next 10 first – 50 and then add the remaining 3.  If subtracting we would again subtract to the nearest 10 – this time subtracting 6 to get to 40 and then subtracting the leftover 1.

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

horribly, incredibly, possibly, forcibly, impossibly, responsibly, visibly, arguably, comfortably, considerably, miserably, probably, remarkably, dependably, believably

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 number.

Spellings words containing ‘ably’ and ‘ibly’.

The children have produced some outstanding work this week, I have been so impressed.