St Cassian's

Year 5 had an amazing time at St Cassian's and thoroughly enjoyed taking part in all the activities!

Butterfly Life Cycles

In Science, we have been looking at life cycles. We have been observing how caterpillars change into butterflies. We watched while the caterpillars grew and turned into chrysalides. After 8 days they decided to emerge from the chrysalides. We saw many of the butterflies emerging, it was fantastic to watch. Finally, we released them into the wild.

Holy Spirit Day

For our Holy Spirit Day we had Rev Brian Stocker visit class and teach us about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. We made a 3D model of a tree with the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, we wrote prayers about Pentecost and used different prayer spaces with Bridgebuilder Trust. To end the day we had a creative RE lesson using wonder boxes. It was a great day!

Deforestation Debate

As a class we learnt all about deforestation. We split into two groups to put together an argument and had a debate on whether deforestation is a good or bad thing.

PE – Basketball

We have been lucky enough to have a Basketball coach from St Paul’s come into school and teach us new basketball skills. We have learnt how to throw and pass correctly and accurately. It has been lots of fun!

The Living Rainforest Trip

We have been learning about South America and the rainforest. We visited The Living Rainforest near Newbury to discover more about the plants and animals that live in the rainforest. We saw monkeys, birds and reptiles to name a few. We had a great time!

Rainforest Art – Wonder Boxes

To start our art topic ‘The Rainforest’, we used the wonder boxes, which had lots of different materials in to create a picture. We were given the word ‘Rainforest’ and could create a picture that we thought related to the given word.

Class Assembly – Maundy Thursday

Holy Thursday is a very sad and solemn time because Jesus knew he was going to be betrayed and crucified. However, Jesus still acted as a servant to all of his friends and to all of mankind. We reflected on Jesus’ journey and the events of Maundy Thursday. The assembly allowed us to reflect and think how Jesus would have felt.

Air Resistance

As part of our forces topic we have looked at air resistance. As a creative lesson, we used the wonderboxes, which had lots of different materials in. We could use any of the materials and in any way demonstrate what air resistance meant to us.

Viking Quest

We looked at a BBC quest simulation which involves making a choice at each stage of a Viking raid. We applied knowledge from the previous round and played the simulation quest again to see if we could improve our score. It was so much fun!

Science Day

We had a great time on Science Day! Our topic was Discoveries and Exploration. We learnt about the layers of the ocean and what was the best material for an astro-nappy. We also made Viking poo! It was a fun filled day.

St David’s Day

We listened to and reflected on the hymn - David of the White Rock - for St David’s Day.

Bring me my harp,"
was David's sad sigh,
"I would play
one more tune before I die.
Help me, dear wife,
put the hands to the strings,
I wish my loved ones
the blessing God brings.

Last night an angel
called with heaven's breath:
David, play, and come
through the gates of death!
Farewell, faithful harp,
farewell to your strings,
I wish my loved ones
the blessing God brings.

World Book Day

On World Book Day, we dressed up as our favourite characters. We showed off our outfits and discussed our favourite books. We were very lucky to visit different teachers and complete lots of exciting activities. We had lots of fun on World Book Day!

Bread Making

Our DT topic this half term has been bread making; we worked alongside Mrs MacQueen to make bread. We used a basic bread recipe and then added savoury ingredients to our bread, such as garlic, cheese, herbs, spices and even chilli! The breads turned out delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed our baking experience.

Area and Perimeter

In Maths, we have been looking at area and perimeter. We drew simple and compound shapes on large pieces of paper and our partners worked out the perimeter and area of each shape.

Shadow Investigation

In Science, we have been learning about Earth and Space, including shadows. We investigated why our shadows change, and why we have day and night. We measured our shadows throughout the day. It was great fun!

Researching Other Denominations

In our RE lessons we have been learning about the similarities and differences between different denominations. We researched four different Christian denominations Anglican, Pentecostal, Baptist and Quakers, using books and the internet. We found out lots of interesting similarities and differences.  

St Andrew’s Church Visit

In our RE lessons we have been learning about the similarities and differences between different denominations. We visited the local Baptist church, St Andrew’s, to learn more about their beliefs and the similarites and difference to the Christian faith.

Orrery Making

In Science, we have also looked at the solar system and how the planets orbit the sun. We have made an orrery.

Relative Size Of Planets

In Science, we have been learning about the relative size of planets. As a class we looked at the distance of the planets. It is hard to visualise the distance so we used our bodies to see how far the planets are away from each other. We used food items to help us visualise the relative size of the planets.  We used maths to create the planets out of plasticine to understand the relative size.

DT - Bread Tasting

This half term in DT we are making our own bread. We researched lots of different types of breads, from pitta to olive bread and fruit loaf to focaccia bread. We looked at the calories and salt and sugar levels in each bread. We then tried the breads and evaluated them on taste, texture and appearance. This has given us a good idea of the bread that we want to make.

Invisible Ink

We looked at how invisible ink worked and created our own invisible ink. We observed what happened with the invisible ink.

RE – The Visitation

Look at some of our beautiful Visitation work!

Reversible and Irreversible Changes

In Science, we have been learning about reversible and irreversible changes. We observed lots of reversible and irreversible changes, such as cooking an egg, mixing flour and water, inflating a balloon with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda and using glow sticks. 

Science - Rusty Nail Investigation

In Science, we have been learning about reversible and irreversible changes. We investigated what liquid would rust nails the quickest. We used lots of different liquids and conducted a fair test. We then discussed if a rusty nail was a reversible or irreversible change. It was great fun!

Dance – Christmas Performance

For our Christmas Performance this year we have been learning a dance to an 80’s medley. We have had so much fun learning the dance!

Music – Musical Theatre

This term we have been lucky enough to have a music teacher, visit us each week and teach us Musical Theatre. We have learnt a variety of songs, such as ‘When I Grow Up’ – Matilda and ‘Food Glorious Food’ – Oliver Twist. The children have loved learning the songs and performed to Years 3, 4 and parents. Well done Year 5M.

Advent Wreaths

We made an Advent Wreath and learnt the symbolism of the wreath, the different candles and the leaves.

Judaism Week – Passover

We were very lucky to have Mrs Elijah come in to school to talk to us about Passover. We learnt about the story, the traditions of the festival and tasted food from the Seder Plate.

Holy Souls

November is the month of Holy Souls, when we remember people that have gone before us. We remembered and prayed for family members that are no longer with us.

Ancient Egyptian Mummification Drama

It was very important to Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs that the human body was preserved. A method of artificial preservation, called mummification was developed by the Ancient Egyptians. Mummification was a complicated and lengthy process which lasted up to 70 days. We chose to freeze frame, act or create a television news report on the process of mummification.

Ancient Egyptian Day

We had a fantastic day, making Egyptian bread, creating Pharaoh inspired masks and having a Royal Egyptian feast!

Rosary Visit

Mrs Simmons visited the class to explain the parts of the Rosary and the Mysteries. We prayed one decade of the Rosary.

No Pens' Day

Year 5M had a fantastic day on No Pens' Day. We used calculators to learn a couple of tricks on the calculator and looked at patterns with numbers. We answered calculations that made words and cracked codes using our calculators. We also competed in the debate,  ‘should children be allowed to wear googles when learning to swim’. During the week we discussed the proposition and opposition, noted reasons for and against and wrote up an argument for the debate. We went head to head with the proposition winning! Another fun filled day!  

Ancient Egyptian Papyrus

The Ancient Egyptians made their own paper by flattening and crushing stalks of the papyrus plant. They placed the stalks running left to right, then placed another layer on top running from top to bottom. The more layers, the thicker the paper. We made our own Ancient Egyptian papyrus and have written our name on in hieroglyphs. It was great fun!

Outdoor Classroom Day

During Outdoor Classroom Day we spent time learning about Hieroglyphs. We used chalk and stones to create our names, words and simple sentences. We had to guess what our partner’s sentences were. It was great fun and taught us about the Ancient Egyptian form of writing. 

Science Investigation

In Science, we have been learning about the properties of materials. We have learnt about conductors and insulators. We investigated what material would be the best insulator for the lining of a lunchbox. We used lots of different materials and conducted a fair test.

Ashmolean Museum

We have been learning about the Ancient Egyptians. We went on a trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford to discover more about life and beliefs in Ancient Egypt. We held real artefacts (for example a mirror) and looked at lots of artefacts in detail, including mummies and tombs. We had a great time!

Maths Multiples and Factors

In Maths we have been learning about Multiples, Factors and Prime Numbers. We used the LearnPads to understand the terminology, played games and completed challenges. 

European Day of Languages

This year we learnt all about Germany, we looked at the foods they eat and tried sauerkraut and bockwurst. Delicious! We also learnt the nursery rhyme ‘Incy Wincy Spider - Die Klitzekleine Spinne’ in German. During assembly we performed this to the whole school. Also Miss O’Loughlin taught us some Arabic phrases, which were difficult but we all had a good go at the pronunciation. We had a great day!

Ancient Egyptian Timeline

We started our topic with understanding the Ancient Egyptian timeline. We went outside and made a human timeline. We used maths to make sure that we made the timeline comparable. 1 step = 100 years. This showed us how long the Egyptians ruled for. 

Art Self-Portraits

In art we have been drawing self-portraits and have used different mediums such as pencil and charcoal. We have learnt how to draw a face and realised there is a lot of maths behind it, for example splitting the face up to using fractions. We have also looked at different artists, such as David Hockney and Man Ray. We will be linking this to our Ancient Egyptians topic to create an Egyptian Death Mask out of clay.

Spanish Cooking

In Spanish, we have been looking at food. We have learnt lots of different fruits, we used this knowledge when we made our own fruit salads. In cooking we learnt different ways to chop fruit, the claw and bridge method. Mrs Walter also told us to make sure our fruit did not rock and roll, reminding us to cut the bottom off, so that it was flat and easier to chop. We had great fun and our fruit tasted delicious.