On Wednesday, we had a visit from Read Leaders. 8 activities. 28 children. 2 Weeks to prepare to teach the games to the Year 2s. It was all action and excitement - each group displaying excellent skills in communication and collaboration.  I know that they will do an excellent job! Thank you to Stephen from Real Leaders for his help and guidance. Below are some action shots of the day.

On Monday, Year 5 started their 3 lesson block of dance classes! Nothing could dampen their spirits, as they boogied and woogied through the pouring rain. Well done everyone!

No Ballet Shoes In Syria is proving to be a popular English unit, with an engaging story spawning activities that are accessible for all! Due to our PGL week, this unit will continue after half term. 

Our History continued, which has thus far taken us from the Israelites exodus from Egypt to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and in Science we returned to the world of changing materials by examining melting chocolate and ice, and whether these processes are reversible.

On Friday afternoon, the Year Rs once again visited to meet up with their Year 5 buddies. The Year 5s scribed, as the Year Rs regaled them of their theatre trip. It is always brilliant to see how the Year 5s show unwavering patience and support for the younger children. You are all a credit to yourselves!

Here's to another great week ahead,
​Mr Pester, Mrs Bonnett, Mrs West and Ms Watts

What an incredible three days and two nights spent at PGL Barton Hall.  The children were amazing. They tried new activities, they pushed themselves out of their comfort zones and learnt new skills.  The staff at PGL were awesome, very motivating and encouraging!

Well done everyone, we are very proud of you too! 
Year 4 / 5 Team

(Thank you to the children who gave their drawings and helped edit the video)

A great week that ended in a delightful way - Year 5 returned from the Easter holidays ready and raring to go.
The new English unit, What a Wonderful Word', seems popular, with the children creating their own definitions of uncommon words or definitions of their own imagined words. 
In maths, decimals have returned and after the massive success that Year 5 had with them last term, I am not surprised at all that they have hit the ground running with many pupils attempting Year 6 level decimals.
In Art, we began looking at how artists use their sketchbooks to take snapshots of the world they see. The children had 30 seconds to sketch an object or person in the class - then they had 30 seconds to add further detail. After this we moved on to look at drawing people and animals specifically, in a sketched cartoon style. To finish, the challenge was to turn a randomly drawn squiggle into a vehicle or animal of their choosing. As you can see from the photos below, the class produced a brilliant range of ideas and styles!
What is crowded, noisy and unendingly heartwarming? No it's not Paul McCartney's Glastonbury set; it's the Year 5 and Year R buddy system! On Friday afternoon, the Year Rs dropped by to meet their buddies. Each Year R has a Year 5 buddy who will read with them and look out for them at lunchtimes. Year 5 were accommodating, gentle and all round fantastic and the adults in the room were extremely proud of how they welcomed the Year Rs and showcased the school's SCARF values.
You have done yourselves proud this week Year 5 - a huge well done to you all!

Mr Pester, Mrs Bonnett, Mrs West, Mrs Dunn and Ms Watts

As the children cheered to celebrate the end of another term, I took a moment to reflect upon the work of the past week and the past term as a whole. What a hard working class Year 5 are! In just the last week they have completed the last of the termly assessments, written a companion piece for their haikus in English and finished the science unit with a playscript-style write-up. And that is far from all. Just today, the class created their own "through the portal" style stories, where an intrepid, and sometimes unwilling, adventurer is thrust into a magical voyage through all six of the biomes we have studied! Some extracts of pupil work are below (a quick apology that some have appeared sideways) but everyone could have had their work presented! Some children opted to attempt the (far less interesting) essay option - an example of which is also below.

It hasn't all been hard work and no play though. This morning Ms Watts hid 29 mini Easter eggs around the playground. The children then scampered around trying to find all 29. Every child found at least one, although some eggs were extremely well hidden - well done Ms Watts and well done Year 5!

The school wished a fond farewell to Reverend Mark during assembly today. he has done so much to support the school and will be missed. Good luck to him in his new parish.
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Thank you for all your hard work Year 5 (and Year 5 parents); have a fantastic Easter break and we will see you in two weeks time!

Mr Pester, Mrs Bonnett, Mrs West and Ms Watts
 

A rare Monday blog post today!
Maths - last week we carried on with the decimals work, which the children were getting the hang of, and have now moved to the long awaited percentages part of the unit, that the class had been asking about for a week (who know percentages could be so exciting?). 
Decimals and percentages will continue to be supported and focused upon in the lead up to Easter.

English  - the class have started a new unit, 'Earth Verse', based around a poetry book containing a series of Haikus. The children have enjoyed making Haikus so far and I am looking forward to seeing what they create over the next week.

This coming week, the plan is to start some art to support the children's Haikus, and to continue the Biomes unit of topic. We also have some assessments to tackle, but I am confident that the class are up to the task!
Lots of classroom activities means nice photos to compensate for this photo-less edition.

Mr Pester, Mrs Bonnett, Mrs West and Ms Watts
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