Year 5
Year Five Lisbon is taught by Catherine Elliott. Year 5 Padua is taught by Amy McMahon. The Year 5 TA is Magda Grabarczyk. The Year Five classroom is upstairs in the St Francis building and they share the back playground with the rest of KS2.
Weekly Class Updates
Mountfitchet Castle
Year 5 spent the day visiting Mountfitchet Castle in support of their recent history topic.
Science- Irreversible Changes
In year 5 the children have been exploring irreversible changes, the mixed vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. They found that the more amount of vinegar they used, the more gas was produced.
Harry Potter Studios
Art
First, children compared some Artists whose work portray landscapes. They then used their sketchbooks to explore different techniques and media, taking inspiration from the artists they had studied. They enjoyed exploring water colours, ink, soft pastels, charcoal and graphite.
English
In Year 5 the children have been reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. They each wrote an angry letter to a character from the story and then transformed these into howlers.
Cross Country
In November the year 5 children took part in a cross country competition at Watford Boys playing fields. There was great sportsmanship shown amongst all our pupils and they proudly represented our school.
Science
In year 5 the children have been exploring irreversible changes, the mixed vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. They found that the more amount of vinegar they used, the more gas was produced.
MicroBit Workshop
We were very lucky to have Herts SetPoint come in to work with us. This was exploring MicroBits after we had done some learning with them in our Computing lessons. We had to try and code the MicroBit to open up a safe and to display different messages.
Our Rivers Topic
Year 5 have been working on the enquiry question; “What is a River?” In this lesson, the children have been tasked with piecing together the River Axe in the correct order from source to mouth. The children looked at what they already knew about how a river forms and the land it covers before it reaches the sea. After this, the children looked at some new subject specific vocabulary, such as river banks, river island, estuary, stream and meander. They matched this vocabulary to different sections of their ‘river puzzle’. At the end, the children looked at the correct order and enjoyed seeing if they were correct.
Harry Potter Day
Year 5 had a fantastic day where the children dressed up as characters from Harry Potter. They completed different activities throughout the day and even enjoyed their own butter beer. The children looked amazing!
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Day
Year 5 took part in a STEM day this week. They worked with Roseanna, an industry volunteer, and were challenged to construct a bulldozer using Connex. They were not given any instructions. At the end of the session winning pairs were selected from both classes.
Stations of the Cross Retreat
The Year 5 children visited St. Michaels and All Angels Church in March. They started the day by visiting each devotion of the Stations of the cross and the children worked in small groups to lead a prayer and class reflection. Taking inspiration from the stations of the cross in the Church, the children created their own artwork using clay and then pastels.
Visit to Warner Brother Studios
In February the Year 5 children visited the Warner brother studios Harry Potter tour. They started the day with an Art workshop where they learnt about the process of costume distressing. The tour brought to life the Harry Potter books which we have been learning about in our English lesson. The children all had a great day!
Music
This half term the children have been learning about the genre, jazz. They have listed to various pieces of music, listening carefully to the instruments they can hear, the melody, tempo and the beat, or pulse. We are learning to play ‘The Three Note Bosa’ using the notes G, A and B. We have used glockenspiels to play along with the main melody of the song, and then used these notes to compose our own solo. One of our children plays the guitar, so they played the notes on their own instrument!
‘Ourselves’ Liturgy
During our Liturgy we reflected on our learning during the topic of ‘Ourselves’. We offered up our thank you prayers that we had carefully planned and written. These were based on Hosea 11:1-4.
We passed our special thinking stone around the circle and either spoke out loud a quality that we possess we are proud of, or offered our thoughts silently to God. Some children took charge of reading some of the prayers that we had written out loud.
St Joan of Arc
Both Year 5 classes visited St. Joan of Arc School. As part of our commitment to outdoor learning and healthy lifestyles, our staff walked with the children across Ebury Way to St. Joan of Arc school. We were met by the Deputy Headteacher, Mr. Lee, who was our guide for the day. The children had a range of experiences starting with a period of reflection in the school chapel with Deacon Liam. They then participated in some music activities with Head of Year 7, Mr. O’Reilly, before going to the drama department for some role-playing activities with Assistant Headteacher, Mr. Woollatt. After lunch, the children did some science experiments with staff from the science department. We returned via Ebury Way, getting back to school at 3.30pm.
Judging by the responses of our staff and the children, this was an extremely positive day. We were all very grateful for the welcoming and friendly atmosphere as we toured the school. We want to thank our friends and colleagues at St. Joan of Arc for arranging these experiences. A special thank you to the Sixth-Form students who supported the children in the science lessons and to our ex-pupils, Lilia, Florence, Sammy and Taylor who helped and guided the children throughout the day.
