You'll be pleased to know that I am not even going to attempt poetry this week... last time seemed to be more than enough!

In English this week we have been exploring the world of sentences and phrasing, through looking at the book, Animalium - a compendium of specific animals and their near relatives. The class have been fantastic at picking out and writing their own examples of some very tricky literary techniques, such as passive and active voice, complex sentences and parenthesis. For examples of Year 5's parenthesis know-how, see the photos below.

Maths has been a story of grit and determination, with the class tackling multiplication head-on, and gaining confidence with different multiplication techniques as the week progressed - culminating in Friday's multiplication and division word problem session. Each pupil did an excellent job and I could not be happier with their attitude and progress!

Topic saw the continuation of the Benin Kingdom topic - and yet more acting - as we delved deeper into the bygone civilisation. Homework this week includes poster making to allow the children to develop their interest and research what they think is most important about the topic.

In extra-curricular news, Lego Club continued with the children making remote and sensor-controlled vehicles - I snuck in to see the two year 5s at work.

What a great week!

Have a good weekend,

​Mr Pester
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And so we reach the end of the term - Christmas around the corner; ready to say hello to 2022... but there was work still left to do!
Maths
Area and perimeter - our last of the year.
A test nearly caused panic, but the class did not fear,
Their drive and hard work came to the fore,
And each was rewarded, with a very good score.

English
Reaching Monday with the write-up not done
We need to get it finished before all the fun!
Beautiful stories. They'd make Kipling proud,
If you have a chance to read them I'm sure you'll be wowed.

Friday
Finish off the sewing - some wonderful trees!
Out for a game of dodgeball - a few scuffed knees.
Christingle service - how nice to be together,
Singing and smiling - hooray for the weather!

Now maybe my poem is a little contrived,
But that's all I can muster, sat here in Year 5.
It's been a lovely week, and an excellent term,
We'll see you in January - there's much more to learn!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Mr Pester

​Photos below: finishing of 'Just So' stories; Christmas sewing with Mrs Bonnett and Mrs West; Christingle service with year 5's '12 Days of Christmas' posters.
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Well, it has been a long and hard week for the children of Year 5 but here we are at the end of it, with Christmas on the horizon. This week has been jam-packed with assessments, starting with spelling on Monday, then maths assessments on Tuesday and Wednesday, ending with a reading paper yesterday. The class were not deterred, and faced the challenges with optimism and a positive attitude - they have all done themselves proud, and myself and all of the Year 5 staff are proud of them too - well done everyone!

Friday was left free of assessment to give the class a nice end to the week - with problem solving Friday being a big hit as always! They worked through some tricky questions in teams and had fun along the way (photos are below).

The Christmas hamper is continuing to grow, and is looking splendid - who knew that so many tasty and exciting things were purple? We have done a fantastic job of selling raffle tickets and I am looking forward to finding out which lucky person will win our hamper. The deadline for hamper money and ticket return is Monday, so there is still some time to frantically sell over the weekend if you have any tickets left!

Next week we will finish the 'Just So Stories' unit of English, and I am very much looking forward to reading the children's finished pieces. Afternoons will be increasingly reserved for Christmas activities as the excitement builds for the festive period!

Thank you for your hard work this week and have a good weekend,

​Mr Pester

I will begin with an apology for the lack of a blog post last week. As such, this will be a bumper edition.

Last week was bookended with science! On Monday afternoon, the children began their 'slippy shoe' experiment report, laying the groundwork for the next lesson by thinking of their own hypotheses to explain what they think will happen when a shoe is dragged across a variety of surfaces at a variety of different angles. What they were all waiting for happened on that Friday though - the experiment! Working in groups, the class excelled at measuring the force taken to move the shoes and showed fantastic teamwork to complete the task - well done everyone!

Art this week led to some very sticky situations - glue, glue and more glue, as the class were tasked with testing their pottery designs by making models using PVA and newspaper. Some designs looked more like pots or vases than others, but all had a great time experimenting and creating (it is much harder than it sounds).

The last two weeks have seen the start of a new English unit based upon Rudyard Kipling's 'Just So Stories'. The class now know the stories inside out. On Thursday and Friday, we began planning for our own animal-based story, and the ideas so far have been imaginative, funny and creative. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished pieces.

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So here we are at the end of another week - and what a week it has been!

English this week has been full of rhyme and rhythm, simile and metaphor, personification and contemplation - poems were been created. The class have all made their own poems about our walk to Cosdon Beacon, some as a team with Mrs Bonnett, some writing independently (with a sprinkle of help), and some, who sadly couldn't make it to the walk, have written their own poems about their family walks. Each pupil has done an excellent job and I can't wait to see them decorated and on display. Well done Year 5!

​Maths has been a challenge, with multiplication and division being a tough nut to crack. The resilience and attitude the pupils have shown has been fantastic and I could not be happier with how they have approached this new unit.

Then we reach the elephant in the room, Friday's pyjama extravaganza to raise money for Children In Need! The children had a great, slightly more relaxed day, beginning with a Joe Wicks led workout plus stickers to be awarded (everyone got themselves a sticker). We had another problem solving Friday in maths before we ventured into the world of Magdelene Odundo for art, ending with golden time and the first whole-school assembly in the hall in a long while.

What a fantastic week, I think year 5 have earned themselves a good rest over the weekend!

Mr Pester
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Last week, we began a new English topic based on, 'Where My Wellies Take Me...' by Clare and Michael Morpurgo.

The story book began as a collection of poems about the countryside, loosely based on Clare's childhood walks in and around the village of Iddesleigh. The story of a walk, taken by the character Pippa and written by Michael Morpurgo, links the poems together. Illustrations by Olivia Lomenech Gill help bring the story to life.

We went for our own local walk on Friday, up to the top of Cosdon Beacon, with a Dartmoor Ranger. On the way we looked at the countryside around us, learning about trees, animals and the formation of the beacon itself. Here are some photographs from our day:

Starting with a quick flashback to last Friday, Year 5 had great fun when they were challenged to solve multi-step mathematical problems. The results were fantastic, with every pair succeeding in solving at least one complex question.
Early this week, Year 5 set about finishing off their Macbeth news articles. Once the draft was completed, they then produced a neat copy - I think you'll agree they look brilliant! Great work everyone!
On Wednesday, the moment finally arrived for Year 5 to have their long awaited free afternoon. With games, colouring, snacks, smiles and laughter, the afternoon flew by. A truly wonderful afternoon.

As part of our Space topic this week, Year 5 pupils were challenged to create their own spacecraft for landing on Mars (or, on this occasion, a lander to enable an egg to be dropped and land safely without damage). I think we must have a class full of budding engineers because all eggs were successfully landed without a crack - well done everyone!