Year 5

This week was a special week as we went on our first school trip outside of school! On Wednesday we went to the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon where we had a fascinating talk by a practising Buddhist Monk. We had our own experts in year 5 (Saffron and Kirinta) who gave their classes a special tour around the gardens. If you are interested, the temple is open for the public to visit and I am sure your children could tell you a lot about the artwork retelling the story of the Buddha. Back at school we have finished Beowulf in English; it was a thrilling journey and the children finished their journey by writing and presenting their heroic poem. The way the children read their poems was inspiring. Our next book is ‘Father Christmas Goes on Holiday’ by Raymond Briggs. You may know another Raymond Briggs’ story - ‘The Snowman’. The excitement the children are feeling for this story is palpable. Maths this week started with the children taking their arithmetic and reasoning assessments; there was a focus on using the whole time in order to check their work and we observed some ambitious children using every second! The children have engaged incredibly with the Viking Invasions topic and this week we finished with the reign of Alfred the Great. The only King in England to be known as ‘The Great’. You can ask your children whether they think this title is deserved! Next Wednesday is the carol concert for Year 5 and 3 Emerald class. It will begin at 9:30 and finish at 10:30. Hopefully see you there!

            

Key Messages

• Key vocab: Alfred the Great, shield wall, intonation, improper fraction, mixed number.

• KIRFS: halving and doubling numbers to 100

• Carol concert will be on Wednesday at 9:30 - 10:30 at St Matthias church. Only two adults per child please so that all people can fit in the church.

• Orchestra concert at 2-3 on Tuesday next week.

 

Year 6

The highlight of this week must be our trip to The Imperial War Museum. There was a lot of walking and so much to take in, making for a very busy day. Here are some recollections and reflections from children in Jet Class:

“I saw a gigantic tank and some war planes that were once filled with parachutes and fearless soldiers. We learnt so much about WW2 and all that happened for example: raitioning, sharing and donating clothes and recycling old pieces of metal for planes. Now I’d love to find out more about how they designed gas masks and how the use of radar helped to win the war.” - Agnes

“For me the best part of the museum was the section on WW2 because it was so interesting to look at all the tanks, weapons and all the things that people had to do to protect themselves. We saw two different types of air raid shelter - one that you would have in a garden and another underneath a table.” - Mia

“Going to the Imperial War Museum was really fun and there were lots of interesting artefacts to look at. There were massive rockets hanging from the ceiling and ancient cars (even Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s car that started the war!).” - Vera

Continuing the festive preparations, we spent time in English lessons writing a persuasive letter to Mother Christmas responding to a job description and applying for the position of Christmas elves to help with this year’s grotto. They have also been penning some Christmas raps and songs and are looking forward to entertaining the younger children in the school next week. We’ve also been doing some research into people who inspire us and are planning biographies that detail their chosen person’s personal life, main achievements and legacy. Finally, we have been preparing for our D & T day next week by building prototypes of our birdhouses. This has helped to refine our ideas and know what further materials we might like to bring in.

Key Messages

• Key vocab: imperial measures, legacy, evaluation, hacksaw, clamp

• KIRFs: common factors

• Spelling rule: suffixes - Change ‘y’ to ‘i’ before suffix

• Please make sure the children are bringing healthy snacks for breaktime. 

• Reading diaries and homework will be checked on Monday

• Monday: D & T day - we are providing materials but some children may want to bring in some extra materials for their bird box designs. 

• Orchestra concert at 2-3 on Tuesday next week.

Carol concert will be on Wednesday at 11 - 12 at St Matthias church. Only two adults per child please so that all people can fit in the church.