Monthly Archives: March 2017

Line drawing

Year 5 looked at line drawings today. We learnt about different pencil types and what effect they could have on our drawings.

The children then experimented with a variety of pencils looking at different effects that can be made.

The effects were easy to see and some soon began to choose certain pencils for their effect.

Mrs Sabir could hear lots of praise being given to each other for their efforts, in their curiosity of the medium, experimenting and practicing.

Well done Kestrels.

Discussing the true meaning of Easter

Kestrels spent some time discussing the lead up to Easter today. We talked about how Jesus prepared himself with his final words for his disciples. He knew he would face Crucifixion and that he would die-unlike his followers- and he wanted them to know that everything he told them was for them to be better people and to think about his words.

He told his followers that if they followed his words they would be blessed. He also wanted them to treat all people equally. He washed their feet to show them that it was not just an act for servants but that they were equal and needed to show each other respect.

Kestrels asked some very thoughtful questions and showed a lot of respect for each other, listening intently and being courteous with everyone’s views.

Through our discussions we established the true meaning of Easter and we will continue this next week.

It was lovely that Nimca contributed so well and told us what the Quran mentions about Jesus (known as Isa in the Quran) and the story of Easter. Thank you Nimca.

Sending an email to a mystery person

Kestrels continued their understanding of email. They were challenged to email a mystery person (a staff member in school) where they had to answer 3 different questions.

The questions were as follows:
1. What number fills the gap? 35 x ? = 105
2. Of which country is Washington the capital?
3. Name three Computing terms

They were also tasked to attach a single file to their emails to demonstrate their understanding of attaching files.

The mystery person will be in touch with one child to let them know if they are a winner of a prize.

Children can submit their entries from home too and will find out if they’ve won over the weekend.

Understanding email

During Computing today, Year 5 Kestrels learned about emails and how they work. They learned that an email always has the ‘@'(at) symbol.

Every email address looks like this:

Kestrels also looked at example of different email providers including Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook and Yahoo. Some of the children already have email addresses with these providers.

Kestrels then discussed the following points:
– Why do people use emails?
– Which are the advantages of using emails?
– Are there any disadvantages?
– Do you have an email account at home?

The class then discussed the risks of having email. They all agreeed that keeping passwords safe was important to ensure that no one can check your emails. And they added that hacking was another big risk in having your email.

The children then were given their own email address, which they will keep until they leave school. They will be able to use and explore email. Kestrels were so excited having their own emails and looked at the various types of folders Inbox, Drafts and Sent Items.

Children can access their emails from school and outside of school. The accounts are restricted so they cannot receive email from outside of school. And they are not able to send emails outside of the school domain. All emails are monitored.

Click here to login to your email account.

Cricket training

Another wonderful session with our cricket coach this morning.

We have been putting our previous skills into practice, wonderful bowling actions as well as batting. Lovely to see the children remember the details of how to stand, place feet and swing their arms. Keep it up Kestrels.
We have some budding bowlers in the class and Hanson managed 9 runs with a super smash when batting! Well done Hanson!

Disposition- Participating and willing to lead

Kestrels class already knew about Rosa Park and Martin Luther King

The class had lots of examples of people they believed had made changes in society.

The class knew about Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and mentioned Barak Obama. It was clear they knew why these people had stood up against issues and how change came about. A very mature and thought-provoking discussion Kestrels. Well done.

The children realised that individuals make changes because of their beliefs and as a result, social change occurs.

Risky choices

Today Year 5 discussed making choices. We discussed how we make choices all day- there are so many opportunities to make decisions.

Sometimes these decisions mean we have to stand out from the crowd. We explored the different scenarios in which these occur. We moved on from last week’s discussion and thought about being assertive.

A good, mature attitude was taken by all, everyone was polite and listened well to each other- they even offered sensible and constructive advice to each other’s scenarios.

Well done Kestrels.

Difference of opinions

During our PSHE lesson, Kestrels discussed difference of opinions.

The class had no trouble explaining, with examples, when we can have a difference of opinion with others. We discussed agreeing and disagreeing. It was clear the class knew what to do if there was a disagreement, they talked about listening, respect, valuing others, compromise and making choices. It was evident Year 5 valued the Peacemakers process of listening and finding the cause of a disagreement.

Year 5 were very mature in their discussions and showed they could discuss making choices.