We had an amazing name with Robbie (Aka Big Nose) and learned lots about the Maya people. We learned how to say hello, and we counted to ten. We learned about their beliefs and creation story. We loved taking part in a drama session where we got to re-enact an area of Maya life from sacrifices to chocolate! Robbie brought some Maya artefacts for us to look at and we had the opportunity to ask questions about them as well as use our artistic skills to sketch them.
Year 5 enjoyed a trip to the Laing Art Gallery. They took part in a print making workshop. They enjoyed a tour of the gallery and loved engaging and interacting with the art works.
As part of Science Week the whole school took part in a competition that centred on this year’s theme ‘Time’. Children could be creative in their presentation of this poster with some choosing life cycles over time or how over time, the planet is being destroyed as their focus. There were winners chosen from each class who were presented with an award and congratulated for the excellent efforts. Winning entries were also sent to the British Science Week 24 and we await to hear if we have any winners in early summer.
Katie came in during Science week and Year 5 had a go at being chemists. We learned about equipment such as beakers, test tubes and pipettes and how to use them successfully to get accurate results. We were talked about acids and alkalis and how they react with the same liquid (vinegar) which was used as an indicator. We were challenged to make certain colours by using different levels of acid and alkali.
This year’s World Book Day was focused on how children are more likely to enjoy reading when their choices are championed and we make reading fun.
Children and staff were encouraged to wear a costume relating to a book character.
For the full day lessons were focused around WBD. As part of this pupils were given the opportunity to take part in a school competition where they had to create a blurb and a front cover for a book that they would like to read. Additionally, they could enter another competition for which their entries will be sent away, this involved them design a national book token.
As part of World Book Day an author called Paula Fowler visited our school to tell us what inspired her to start to write books. She lives locally and is a self-published author of Wizard Beano and Pals.
We had great fun finding out about the two books she has written so far and finding out about the characters in her stories and how she created them. The themes of the stories are friendship, adventure, helping save the planet and looking after our wellbeing. We also found out a little bit about the book she is currently writing.
Year 5 and Year 6 visited the Vertu Motors Newcastle Eagles arena to look at how STEM is involved in everything we do in sport. We looked at data analytics and watched a video to work out shooting percentages. We then carried out our own on-court experiment where we had to shoot and work out or own percentage of shots made compared to shots taken. We also considered the effect that forces have on dribbling, passing and shooting as well as the importance of technology and engineering in developing the correct footwear.
On Friday the 8th March the winning basketball team played a semi-final game against Forest View. Unfortunately we lost and got knocked out. However, it was a great experience. We stayed to watch a Newcastle Eagles match and we all received a medal.
On Thursday 15th February, some of Year 5 visited the Vertu Motors Arena where we took part in a basketball tournament with other schools from South Tyneside. We took 3 teams and the all played exceptionally well, with all 3 teams making it through to the quarter finals. Unfortunately, 2 of our teams were knocked out, but one made it through to the semi-finals! These are to be held on Friday 8th March before the Newcastle Eagles play their match. If we make it through to the final, the game is played at ½ time in front of thousands of people! Watch this space for an update on how we did!
In Year 5, our DT topic in the Spring first ½ term was to make a soft toy. We created cardboard templates, cut the body from felt (2 identical pieces) and then we sewed on some appendages (fins, eyes, ears, noses etc). After that, we used a blanket stitch to join the two edges of the front and back together. A blanket stitch is a strong and decorative stitch, so it was perfect for our projects. Lastly, we stuffed our toys and then used more blanket stitch to close the stuffing entrance. We are so proud of our end products and couldn’t wait to show them off!
