5IB
Class Teacher: Miss Bryant
LSA: Miss Winter
Welcome to 5IB’s class page.
The children from 5IB have had a brilliant start to their year and are already working hard. The children show real enthusiasm for their learning and I am really looking forward to seeing our learning journey unfold this academic year.
Below is some key information that you may find useful.
Reading Books
We have now set up a new system for our reading books called Accelerated Reader. Once every term, children sit a Star Reader assessment which helps in identifying an appropriate book level for them. Every day, the children are given time to read a book of their choosing (based on their suggested book level). Once the children have read their books, they can sit an AR quiz which, if they get above 80%, means they can go up a book level. We ask that they spend some time reading at home - whether that’s their AR book, or in the form of a comic, magazine or a non fiction book on cars (anything that sparks their interest in reading). So far in 5IB, many children are making rapid progress through the book levels and one child has gone up a total of 19 levels.
We ask that you ensure you record any reading that takes place at home with a simple comment inside your child’s Reading Record. If the children read certain books from our reading recommendation list, they earn a sticker and 5 house points.
Spellings
Spellings are handed out and tested once a week. Please make sure the children are practising their spellings every week. Children can practise their spellings in any way they like. Below you can see a selection of suggested techniques to help in learning spellings.
Times Tables
At the start of the year, all children in Year 5 started on their 3 times tables. It is essential the children practise their times tables regularly as they are tested 4 times a week with each test lasting 3 minutes. When the children have answered all 60 times tables questions correctly, they can then move up to the next level. We currently have 6 children on their 6 times tables! I have attached a couple of recommended websites for children to use to help with learning their times tables below.
Spring 2
English
In English, we are focussing on writing non-chronological reports based on elements of our current science and topic work. The children are enjoying researching animals from the Grand Canyon (desert biome). We are continuing to build on our SPaG knowledge, particularly word classes, modal verbs and subordinate clauses.
Maths
The children continue to build on their arithmetic skills, taking an arithmetic paper every Monday to help increase stamina and to address any misconceptions. Many children achieve personal bests each week. We are continuing to work on fractions for most of this half term.
Science
‘Living things and their habitats’ is the current focus in science this half term. The children have learnt about the life cycle of reptiles and mammals, they have learnt about the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction and, more recently, they have learnt about the different parts of both flowering and non-flowering plants.
Topic
Topic for this half term is centred around biomes. The children have been given a top secret mission set by scientist, local to the Grand Canyon, in the hope that Year 5 can help prevent an all important, vulnerable species from becoming extinct through their research.
MFL
We have been learning common phrases in French as well as learning vocabulary relating to family, parts of the body and colours.
Art
Focussing on the work by Austrian - New Zealand artist Hundertwasser.
RE
We are focussing on the different celebrations in the Jewish calander; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur as well as the coming of age ritual bar/bat mitzvah. More recently, we have researched synagogues.
Keeping safe
A good effort from 5IB for World Book Day!
Healthy Futures Session 2: The importance of good dental hygiene
Healthy Futures Session 1: Introduction to Healthy Futures from Mr T and the Bleep Test
The children loved having our work experience student come and help them every Friday. Today marked her last day with us so the children wanted to send her off with plenty of well-wishes and one last photo.
The children absolutely loved the chance to hear a talk from author, Julia Edwards. They had scores of questions for her when she visited 5IB. We were lucky enough to even have a short lesson from her on direct speech.
5IB love having stick insects as a class pet. Every lunchtime, children give up their own social time to come in and clean out the vivarium as well as handle them.
Spring 1
English
In English, we have been focussing on developing our setting description skills and applying various figurative language techniques (such as simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia and hyperbole) to improve our writing. We are continuing to build on our SPaG knowledge, particularly pronouns, modal verbs and subordinate clauses.
Maths
The children continue to build on their arithmetic skills, taking an arithmetic paper every Friday to help increase stamina and to address any misconceptions. Many children achieve personal bests each week. We are continuing to work on the four operations and have started to work on fractions.
Science
‘Living things and their habitats’ is the current focus in science this half term. The children have learnt about the life cycle of reptiles and mammals, they have learnt about the difference between sexual and asexual reproduction and, more recently, they have learnt about the different parts of both flowering and non-flowering plants.
Topic
‘Medieval Monarchs’ is our overarching theme in topic. We are learning about England in the Middle Ages. The children have been learning about monarchs such as Henry VIII, King John and Edward I. We have learnt about the feudal system and the children have discussed the key qualities of a good ruler.
MFL
We have been learning common phrases in French as well as learning vocabulary relating to family, parts of the body and colours.
Art
Focussing on the work by German artist Anselm Kiefer.
RE
We are focussing on the different celebrations in the Jewish calander; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur as well as the coming of age ritual bar/bat mitzvah.
For many, this art lesson gave them the chance to experiment with media they don’t always get the chance to use in a technique new to most. Chalk background, oil pastel foreground and etching with wooden sticks to create work inspired by Kiefer.
As part of learning about Judaism, the children were really excited to learn about Shabbat and later got the chance to make their own challah bread.
In between the rain clouds, Year 5 stepped outside and took part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.
Stick insects: 5IB are demonstrating real responsibility, care and commitment to our new additions - even if they are a little creepy.
Understanding the Norman conquest of England between 1066 - 1071 through role play.
A wonderful day out at the beautiful Dunster Castle to conclude our Autumn 1 topic on Medieval Britain. Safe to say the children enjoyed themselves, especially when they were given the chance to pretend being young pages and squires.
The students from Blake hosted Year 5 for an MFL morning. The children had the chance to learn multiple languages including Arabic, Bengali, Greek and Hungarian.
Using counters, dice and a number line to help in understanding negative numbers.
Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the whole school were treated to a visit from the circus. The children thoroughly enjoyed the chance to watch a circus performance as well as having the chance to learn some circus skills in a follow up workshop.
For our English Wow reveal about the story of Perseus and Medusa, the children got to decorate cupcakes like the head of Medusa.
Autumn 1
English
In English, we have been focussing on our defeating the monster tale text, Perseus and Medusa, and are currently working on developing our character description skills and building on their SPaG knowledge (specifically what is required in simple, compound and complex sentences). Our Wow reveal involved decorating cakes to look like Medusa’s head in order to inspire us to write our character descriptions.
Maths
Place value and number sense has been the focus in maths so far. We have delved into the world of negative numbers, rounding and Roman numerals.
Science
Human growth and development is the focus in science. We are learning about the lifecycle of a human from prenatal through to old age. Data handling and generating graphs to document growth of babies is something we have been exploring in recent weeks.
Topic
‘Barbarous Battles’ is our overarching theme in topic. We are learning about England in the Middle Ages. The children have been getting to grips with key events such as the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings as well as debating about which qualities a good leader must have.
MFL
Our starting point in French has been in learning greetings, classroom commands and the alphabet.
DT
To extend our topic knowledge, the children are learning about the structural components of medieval castles. The children are currently in the process of constructing their own castles made of card. The process involves intricate cutting skills, following detailed instructions, a huge amount of dexterity and a tonne of patience.
RE
We are focussing on the notion of incarnation within Christianity and what the term ‘God is with us’ means to Christians.
Transition Day
