Return to Children

Year 5

Staff: Mrs Littleford / Mrs Kay /  Mrs McLoughlin 

Contact info. – carolyn.kay@panshanger.herts.sch.uk    laura.littleford@panshanger.herts.sch.uk

Music with Mr Dan Mitchell on a Tuesday

Summer 1

RE Synagogue Trip – We attended a local synagogue where we learnt about some of the different Jewish symbols, the Torah scrolls and the mezuzah. Also, during the visit we role played a Shabbat meal and discussed the main elements of Shabbat. It was very interesting and the children asked lots of thoughtful questions.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Coaching Sessions – We were lucky to have 2 football coaching sessions run by Tottenham Hotspur. Through engaging activities, the children focused on increasing their knowledge, competency, and confidence of controlling the ball and game tactics.

Dance – The children have been exploring expressive dance using the poem The Highwayman as a stimulus.  As usual they have worked with enthusiasm and enjoyment to produce performance pieces of a very high standard. They have also learned a whole class dance, which was performed dramatically and with careful timing. Well done Year 5!

Science – The children have now completed the unit on Changing materials and had great fun using a range of working scientifically skills. They compared the insulating properties of different materials in order to measure heat lost by bottles of hot water over time. Log boxes were used to record temperature data. Overall felt was the best insulator whilst newspaper and bubble wrap were both poor insulators. Other investigations included how to speed up the rate at which sugar dissolves and how to clean a sample of dirty water using different methods such as filtration and sieving.

Art – The children are currently learning how to use one point perspective which is a technique that enables the artist to represent objects / landscapes as if they are disappearing into the horizon (or into space!) They enjoyed exploring how to line up objects with a vanishing point and will continue with this technique next half term.

Knex Challenge – In pairs, the children took part in a STEM workshop focusing on the engineering element. They had to construct a model bulldozer that will push the earth out of the way using only Knex pieces. The teams were scored on their presentation, communication, teamwork, problem solving and operation, function and design. It was very challenging but great fun. Congratulations to the winning pairs –

Third – Anika & Molly

Second – Yusif & Harvey

First – Katie & Izzie

Spring 2

DT Moving Toys – The children had great fun creating their moving toys with a cam mechanism. They had to plan, measure, saw, build the frame out of wood and then evaluated their final product. It was hard work and took a while but I am sure you would agree that they look amazing!

Geography – To introduce the topic ‘Rivers’ the children had to create/build a model of a river showing all the different course and some other key features such as a waterfall, a meander and an estuary. It was noisy, team work but great fun.

Science – We started a long unit which will continue in the Summer term. So far we have been investigating insulators and conductors and tested a range of materials to compare their insulation strengths. We used log boxes to measure heat loss through a range of materials and recorded our results. Our data showed that felt was the best insulator and bubble wrap was the worst.

Year 4 & 5 Production – A huge well done to all the children for their performance of ‘Hansel & Gretel’. They all performed with confidence and enthusiasm. It was a great show.

Spring 1

History Trip to St Albans Museum We took part in 2 workshops. The first one was reenacting a real case of a girl from 1864. The children got a chance to play the role of the clerk, judge, witnesses and defendant and explore the original holding prison cells below the court room. In the second workshop, we looked at several real criminal case that took place in St Albans and handled some artefacts such as handcuffs and a police truncheon from the 1800s. This really shocked the children as the crimes were so petty but the punishments were so harsh. After lunch, we explored the local area looking at some historical buildings. A very interesting day. 

PSHE Dream Jars – As part of our PSHE Jigsaw unit, we started the look at our dreams and goals for the future. The children created their own dream/goals jars and wrote their dreams/goals for their future. They are all so unique and special.

Rugby Session The children took part in Tag Rugby session with a Premier Sports Coach. They learnt about passing, tactics, how to hold the ball and teamwork, playing in their house teams. Next term, we are planning another session that will include a mini tournament in their house teams at the end. Well done to Blue and Purple teams for winning the competition.

Trampolining – This term, we started weekly trampolining sessions, delivered by a specialist instructor who brings in all the equipment. The children have worked hard but its great fun! They have been learning how to gain control when jumping and stopping, trying out some simple shaped jumps and seat landings. We will continue into next half term.

Art – Cats, cats, cats! – Yes you’ve guessed it, our topic was cats which we linked to our class reader Varjak Paw. The children explored how different artists such as Paul Klee and Picasso have depicted cats. They explored continuous line drawing, press printing and finally used the reduction press printing technique to make a print in the style of the Paul Klee work ‘Cat and Bird’. The outcomes were great and the children used techniques and materials well!

Life skills assembly – In our weekly class assemblies the children have been – wait for it ……. Learning how to FOLD their clothes! The results speak for themselves – I hope you reap the benefits at home!

Autumn 2

PSHE/Jigsaw – At part of our unit, Celebrating Differences we create anti-bullying board games. The children explored the definition of bullying and the different types of bullying. The they looked at things that could make the situation worse and things that could make it better. These were all added to their games. It was a great way to explore this topic.

PE – Dance – The children have loved learning a range of dances from different eras including the Hand Jive, Rock and Roll and the dance from Saturday Night Fever!  They picked up the mini routines very quickly and were a delight to watch!

Science– Science – Flowers, flowers, flowers! The focus has been on naming and identifying the parts of a flowering plant and the function of the parts in the plant life cycle. The class really enjoyed cutting up real flowers to identify the parts. They then went on to use their new knowledge to make a collage of a flower which included the parts we cannot usually see. After finding out how seeds are dispersed in different ways, the class investigated the distance travelled by different length seeds. They had to measure distances carefully and record the data to make comparative statements.

Spanish – The class has worked incredibly hard to learn and apply different grammar rules for verbs, nouns, adjectives and articles. All the children have grown in confidence when speaking and enjoy asking each other questions that are a focus of the lesson. I am very impressed with their pronunciation and accents which demonstrate their lack of inhibition and enthusiasm for language learning.

English –The children wrote non-chronology reports about their mythical creature and later shared their final work with Year 1. The younger children were so engaged. All the children were able to practice their speaking and listening skills. Some even explored role-play to express how the creature might move and sound. It was such a lovely way to spend the morning and all the children were proud to share their work.

Santa Dash – The children showed great stamina and enthusiasm during the Santa Dash this term. Many met their target and some even surpassed it! A great performance all round. Well done Year 5!

Autumn 1

DT

The children really enjoyed their DT unit exploring savoury crackers. This included a taste test of shop bought crackers, a class survey to inform our decisions on what type of cracker to make, baking our own versions culminating in a class competition (won by Harvey, The Star Baker!). We finished the topic by looking at packaging and creating our own.

Viking Models

As part of the children’s history homework, the children created super models of Viking Longboat or a Viking Longhouse. They worked so hard and the detail was amazing. The models made a great display and we also shared them in assembly.

National Poetry Day

The class performed a poem to Y1 and Y2 about Christine Crump eating crisps! The performance was lively and enjoyed by all. After this, back in class they wrote their own versions about munching muffins, sucking sweets and gobbling gummies.

Art

We have been looking at how artists suggest motion in their work by using different styles and techniques. A focus artist was Keith Haring and his colourful lively ‘jelly baby’ figures. The children worked collaboratively over a few weeks to complete their group collages in his style. We also explored body art using large symmetrical arm movements to create large pieces of art. It was great fun and the outcomes were amazing!

Basketball House Competition

The children took part in a basketball coaching session followed by an intra-school tournament between the different houses in year 5. During the morning session, the children learnt the key vocabulary, the different passes, and the tactics of the game before playing mini matches in the afternoon. Congratulations to Blue House who won! Well done.

RE

In RE we have been looking at Judaism. We learnt about Shabbat, which is the Jewish Sabbath and we acted out a Friday night ceremony which some Jews take part in to welcome in Shabbat.