Summer 1

History:

In history this term, we have been learning about Ancient Benin. This fascinating kingdom was founded over 1000 years ago in 900 AD. It was located in modern day Nigeria and became successful due to its powerful army and ability to trade with other nations.

We learnt all about how the kingdom came to be, what life was like under the Oba’s (King’s) rule and what spiritual practices the people of Ancient Benin followed. We also had a go at creating our own tile gifts to the Gods and recreating some of the Benin bronzes that can be found in the world’s museums today.

Science:

Our science topic this term was materials and their properties. We learnt all about what makes solids, liquids and gases different and how to identify between them. We also practised grouping materials based on their properties and learnt about what makes an object a good thermal conductor or a good thermal insulator.

Other Learning:

Some of us had fun on PGL while learning about team work and communication. We had the opportunity to try out lots of exciting activities. This often involved using our growth mindsets to step out of our comfort zones and conquer our fears.

The rest of us enjoyed some fun activities in school including pizza making, biscuit decorating and clay building.

Finally, we dressed up as Kings and Queens to celebrate King Charles III’s coronation. We learnt all about what was going to happen during the coronation and even made our own crowns!

Spring Term 2

Geography

In geography, we learnt about Brazil and the amazing Amazon rainforest. Did you know that Brazil is the largest country in South America and that the Amazon rainforest is the biggest tropical rainforest in the world? The rainforest is home to a vast number of animals and plants, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth, with over 40,000 plant species and 400 species of mammals and that is only the ones that have been discovered. In fact, one in ten of all of the world’s plant and animal species are found in the Amazon Rainforest!

The Amazon Rainforest also provides a home to millions of people, including indigenous tribes whose lives are largely unaffected by modern life. Can you imagine life without any form of technology?

Science

During our science topic last term, we looked at the life cycle of humans from birth to old age. Whilst we obviously know lots about humans already it was really interesting to break down the birth to old age process into stages. It now makes perfect sense why most of the top athletes are in the 20 - 35 age bracket. We also found out why some of our bodies have started to change and now know that this is in readiness for reproduction, once we are older.

In lessons, we did lots of scientific classification and, as a fun activity, we tried to recreate the birth to old age image in our knowledge organisers.

Some of us also took part in the EWPA annual science fair, where we got the chance to show of our fantastic scientist skills whilst, in class, we discovered what makes popping candy pop.

Spring Term 1

Last Term, Year 5 embarked on a brand new history topic: Famous Britons. We decided on the theme of inspirational Britons who have dedicated a large part of their lives for the benefit of others, in order create a better world for generations to come: William Wilberforce - slave trade abolishionist, Emmeline Pankhurst - leader of the British Suffragette movement, David Attenborough - Naturalist and broadcaster, Shami Chakrabarti - human rights activist. Ask us our opinion on these famous Britons and how the things they did (and are still doing) are impacting on our lives today.

In science, we learned all about Earth and space. Who knew that space was linked to time such as days, months and a year. We got to learn about the planets in our solar system and the order in which they are located to the sun. We also found out the difference between rotating and orbiting. Why not test our knowledge?

At the end of the term, we got the chance to do some different activities as part of Children's Mental Health Week. We looked at a beautiful book as our focus - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - and created our own versions of the illustrated artwork using watercolours. We also created rainbows and kind messages for someone else in our class and went on a walk in our field and forest school area to connect with the sights, sounds and smells of nature. As a final fun activity, we used the leaves and twigs we collected to create nature self portraits. 

As part of our writing programme, the children opted to have parents in for a Tea and Read morning so that they could show off the fabulous short stories they had written. What was especially lovely about the morning was the fact that those children whose parents could not make it were not left out as other parents rotated around the classrooms to listen to stories written by children other than their own. This was a lovely testament to the great community of parents we have in year 5.

Autumn Term 2

Year 5 have had a wonderful second term, which culminated in our fantastic Christmas production, ‘A Midwife Crisis’. We were all so proud of every child’s involvement in the show and we saw so many skills and talents develop, along with the children’s self-confidence too. As well as the brilliant singing and acting talents that we saw, we were also very impressed with the art department team, who designed our beautiful scenery, show programs and tickets.

In our Science lessons, we enjoyed finding out lots about forces this half term. We had the chance to carry out many different experiments and learnt how to plan and carry out a fair test. Through these practical tasks, we developed our knowledge of air resistance, friction and gravity. In addition, we further investigated forces by creating a simple lever and predicting what might happen if we adjusted the placement of mass on each end of the lever.

In Geography, we developed our knowledge about Europe. We learnt new map skills and we found out about physical and natural features. We used maps and atlases to find out about the countries in Europe and compared the different climates and natural resources across the continent.

Autumn Term 1

Science:

This term, year 5 has been learning all about lifecycles. To help embed our learning, we completed a wide range of activities which helped us recognise the different features of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds. As well as the usual scientific classification and sorting activities, we combined science with literacy to create an information poster, and science with art when drawing life cycle diagrams of specific animals. We also drew and labelled the parts of a fish. To help us better understand pollination and how flowering plants are fertilised, we had a fun and informative lesson where we dissected a flower to identify its individual components.

History:

During our first term, we have had the opportunity to learn about a completely new topic: migration. Migration has been happening for thousands of years so it has been great to learn about this fascinating topic in more detail. We were able to draw on our learning from year 4 (Anglo-Saxons, Romans and Vikings) whilst learning about more current migration due to a variety of push and pull factors. We have enjoyed creating migration fact sheets, timelines and mindmaps. Additionally, we used drama and freeze frames to try to capture the emotions of the immigrants who came to Britain after the first world war.We have also discovered how culturally rich and diverse our school and wider community is. For example, did you know that the first refugee camp in the world was set up on Blackheath common in 1709?

Ask us what we've been learning about this term; you'll be surprised by how much we know!