| Year 5
In English lessons, our writing has been linked to the picture book: ‘Here We Are’ by Oliver Jeffers. Our first learning journey inspired by the text resulted in the children writing narrations in the style of David Attenborough. We then presented our narrations using Adobe Spark Video, which allowed us to add voice-overs for our writing. We were delighted to see and hear the children presenting their learning with a brilliant level of expression: we think Sir David Attenborough has inspired some budding wildlife broadcasters!
To bring this half term’s learning journeys (linked to our planet) to a close, Year 5 have been working towards writing mockumentaries about ‘The Majestic Plastic Bag’. Inspired by a short video clip, the children have re-written the mockumentary to describe the plastic bag’s journey from a supermarket to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean. It has been wonderful to see the children engaging with a piece of writing by injecting humour and personality to engage their readers. Please have a look at the video clip we have used, as well as some examples of writing.
Today we will explore the amazing life cycle of one amazing creature. Now we zoom into the great yet dangerous city. Maybe, if you are lucky enough, you will see the most intelligent creature inhabiting California… the amazing Plastic Bag!
The plastic bag begins its journey in a shopping trolley (but not for long). Soon, the cheeky creature will escape from his terrifying enemy. Then the elegant but humble plastic bag becomes airborne and flies into the skies above (following his many brothers and sisters). However, this poor little fellow meets another obstacle on its way to the Pacific ocean… the wall that blocks its path. It looks like the plastic bag will never reach its final destination, but of course this is not a problem for something so clever as our little friend. Therefore, soon the plastic bag will carry on his - full of adventure and enemies - journey.
No matter how scared and unsure of himself this little soul is, he will still (with some help from the wind) move across the city and through the air.
Now the unsure and sly plastic bag is forced to make an emergency landing in the grounds of the local park (where this little creature will meet many enemies, great and small). Swiftly gliding and exploring - without even suspecting how dangerous this place is - the poor little fellow is caught by the most merciless animal… the Teacup Yorkie! However, thanks to its small size and deft movements, the plastic bag (with a winning look) is able to escape from the Yorkie! Trying to find his way out of the park - as well as avoiding Park Services- the plastic bag, that has lost any hope, is able to get out of this once terrible place.
- By Anastasia, 5S
In recent Theme lessons, Year 5 pupils have been exploring the threats to the world’s waters. Initially, we discussed the physical features of our world, including various landscapes and landforms. We then started to discuss the patterns of currents in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, which will lead us to an enquiry into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
We were delighted to welcome Dr Reed, one of our parents, to join us in a recent Theme lesson. Dr Reed is a marine biologist with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the deep-seas. We were shown many interesting creatures that he has come across, including the sea pig, which we would certainly urge you to research yourself! We also explored some of the threats to our world’s waters. Dr Reed’s time with us was incredibly inspiring and we were all full of questions to ask him at the end.
Year 5 have been exploring a range of different games in their lessons. We have played variations of tennis in two forms: one inside as a more regular version of tennis, and one outdoor version, which can be played with up to 8 players. The children in year 5 have enjoyed this outdoor version so much that they organise games and play for themselves in their lunch and break times.
In ICT, the children have been exploring how databases can be used to organise data and search for information. They have practised sorting information by using the ‘find’, ‘sort’, ‘group’ and graph tools before creating their own databases to share with each other. After sharing, the children have taken it in turns to answer questions created by their peers about their own databases using each function.
Throughout their Creative Arts lessons, the year 5 children have been exploring dragon eyes. They have sketched an eye, looking at how they can use a variety of shading effects to create a level of realism, looking at how the shape of the eye they sketch can affect the personality and appearance of their dragon. As the term has progressed, they have moved to mixed media to combine their techniques, improving on their techniques with pastels, water colours, paint and crayon.
