Another busy week in Year 5.  We learnt so much about the Windrush Generation as part of Black History Month.  It was very interesting to learn about the reasons why so many people emigrated from the Caribbean shortly after the end of World War 2 and came to Britain.  We spoke about the contribution that has been made to the United Kingdom by those people and their children and grandchildren over the years.  It was also very thought-provoking to learn about the different experiences of those people who have come to our country - some of them positive and some of them less so - over the years.  In science, we investigated why there are so many craters on the moon.  We wanted to find out if the speed of the collision between objects in space, such as meteorites, and the moon affected the size of the crater.  We replicated what happens with a tray of flour and a ball dropped from different heights as frustratingly a meteorite is too big to fit into the classroom!  

Year 5 are really enjoying their reading.   We are hearing adults reading to us in the classroom, spending time reading our own quality pieces of fiction and improving our comprehension skills as a class.  We have already focused on developing our vocabulary and inferential skills.  We all know how important it is to read at home-at least half an hour each evening!  Next week we will be answering questions on our reading at home as part of our homework.  

Year 5 have been familiarising themselves with our new class text - The Lost Thing.   The book might be a metaphor for a dystopian society or it might just be a story about a big, red teapot thing!  

The penultimate week of Year 5 has been another very busy and productive one. In addition to our sports morning, the children have completed their learning all about human lifecycles in science. We were fascinated to find out how women's football has changed in the twentieth century and we interviewed our own primary source, Mr Lancaster, to find out more about changes in the women's game.  The children have really enjoyed finding out through their parents and grandparents or family how cinema has changed in the 20th Century and they used the chromebooks to create information about the next 'big thing' to entice audiences back to the cinema.

This term, we have been learning about human development and this week in particular we focused on the milestones a person reaches as they grow from a baby to a 10-year-old. There was lots of excellent discussion, especially from the children who still have babies or toddles in their households. We also reminisced about our favourite nursery rhymes and the children in 5H taught Mrs Snedden all about Little Rabbit Foo Foo! The children added their new information to their ever growing timeline. You can imagine from the picture above just how long the timeline will be when complete it. 

We have had a very busy week in Year 5 with a lot of learning in geography and science. We continued to learn about coastal erosion on Monday. The children recreated a beach using sand trays. They observed what happened to the sand when the waves approached from straight on and then from an angle (using the Isle of Wight as an example). The movement of the sand when the waves approach the beach at an angle is called Longshore Drift. The children then investigated what would happen by adding barriers along their "beaches" and looked how these "groynes " are used along beaches to slow coastal erosion.  In science, the children have begun their learning about human lifecycles. We have been extremely impressed with the discussion this has generated and the way in which the children have used the science vocabulary to describe the beginning of the human lifecycle and the reproduction of humans.