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.