Year 5 have worked hard throughout the year to learn to play the ukulele with Mrs Mason. 

10th July 2025S Admin (Biddick Hall Juniors)

Year 5 have worked hard throughout the year to learn to play the ukulele with Mrs Mason.  We held a concert on Wednesday 9th July for our parents and carers. Our first song was called my dog has fleas. This was the first song we learned to play and uses a strumming pattern with open strings. Our second song, a sailor went to sea, used the chord c and demonstrated musical dynamics. We learned that, in music, the letter F means ‘LOUDLY’ and the letter P means ‘play quietly’. You could hear the change in dynamics when we played. Our next song was three little birds by Bob Marley and we used chords C and F in the chorus. One of our favourites was Shotgun by George Ezra. It was the trickiest because of the timing. In this song we used plectrums and a strumming pattern called the island strum. Our penultimate song was the Wellerman song which was a real crowd pleaser! Our final song was country road by John Denver. Our timing was great and we changed chords accurately and fluently.

Great Athletes Sponsor Event

10th July 2025S Admin (Biddick Hall Juniors)

Our Great Athletes Sponsor Event took place and what an event it was! GB Wheelchair Tennis player, Antony Cotterill, visited our school to lead us in our sponsor event. Everybody tried their hardest with the circuit exercises (even the teachers!) before settling down to hear about Antony’s story.

In 2003, Antony broke his neck, leaving him unable to walk and using a wheelchair full-time. Inspired by watching wheelchair tennis during his recovery, he took up the sport and has since represented Great Britain at the Paralympic Games, winning numerous singles and doubles titles worldwide.

The whole school were fascinated by Antony’s experiences and definitely left feeling inspired. Well done everyone!

HEALTHY BOLOGNESE!

3rd June 2025S Admin (Biddick Hall Juniors)

In Year 5, we learned about food hygiene and how to safely prepare different vegetables including onion, garlic, courgette, pepper, mushroom, celery and carrot.  These vegetables were then added to a pan – carrots and celery first, then onion and garlic, followed by peppers, then courgette and finally the mushrooms. then where they were sautéed in olive oil.  We added chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and a small amount of beef stock and then blended it to make a smooth sauce. We added this sauce to browned mince and cooked it for another 20 minutes.  We mixed it with spaghetti and enjoyed!

Mayan Day in year 5!

8th May 2025S Admin (Biddick Hall Juniors)

On Tuesday 8th May, we were visited by Robbie (Big Nose) from Past Productions who brought the Maya to life. We learned how to say ‘My name is…’ and how to count to ten in Mayan.  We learned about sacrifice, why it was seen as an honour and the different ways in which it could happen; your beating heart being ripped out being one of them! We found out why maize was so important to the Maya – it was over 80% of their diet and they believed that humans were created from maize by the gods. We looked at some Mayan artefacts and produced our own museum cards with an image and a short synopsis of what it was. Using drama, we showed some of these rituals and stories. We had a great day and learned loads as history was brought to life!

Year 5 visited Sandhaven beach in South Shields to conduct some Geography fieldwork.

7th April 2025S Admin (Biddick Hall Juniors)

Year 5 visited Sandhaven beach in South Shields to conduct some Geography fieldwork. We have been studying Oceans, why they are important, how we use them, why they are in danger and how we can look after them. As part of our topic, we have looked at the impact that humans have on the oceans and we wanted to see how littered our local marine environment was.  We drew a sketch map, selected 3 data collection points and then did a tally of the different types of litter that we found in each location. On the whole, the beach was very clean, and the litter was either in one place where some careless individuals hadn’t put their rubbish in the bin, or it was tangled in seaweed which means that it had been washed in by the sea. The second element of our trip linked to our Art study of landscapes. We sketched the beautiful coastal landscape using willow charcoal and chunky graphite pencils. When we returned to school we used the different techniques we’d been exploring to create a final landscape piece. Our end pieces were really impressive and they are going to be used to create a display in the corridor.