Monthly Archives: January 2018

The mystery of Sutton Hoo

This afternoon Year 5 learnt all about the mystery of Sutton Hoo from the Anglo-Saxon period. The children were very interested in what it was and what was found there.

We then looked at a series of artefacts that were found at the ship burial and the children discussed what they thought each one was. For each artefact they discussed what it was, what it could have been made of, who it might have belonged to and what it tells us about the Anglo-Saxons.

Video: Presenting our findings

Year 5 continued their research on famous chemists this afternoon. It was a great chance to make sure they had all the details sorted, ready to present their findings. Some of the scientific words were baffling at first so using a dictionary effectively and efficiently was important.

The children went on to present some of their finding. Our presenting skills are getting better and better.

Times table challenge

Year 5 are getting competitive! Our times table challenge are so fast paced and exciting! The first person on the list picks a competitor to challenge, from another list, and the fastest answer gets them a point. The first to 6 moves up the board. The class are very encouraging of each other and super supportive.

Our leader board is impressive. If you beat your competitor you get to swap places with them and go up the board or stay in your place. The challenge is on.

Famous chemists

Today Year 5 were heavily researching some famous chemists. There have been a number of people around the world who have contributed greatly to the world of science. The children spent part of the afternoon finding facts about their chosen person.

There were 4 to chose from:
• Marie Curie
• Jabir Ibn Hayyan
• Linus Pauling
• Fritz Haber

There were some wonderful facts found and the children learnt about some weird and wonderful scientific discoveries:
• Synthetic fertilisers
• Cures
• Advances used in technology even today, like chemicals used in fluorescent paint!

Well done Year 5, looking forward to what comes next.

School Council election

Today the class held the election for their school council representatives.

A very democratic process was set up. All the children that wanted to stand for election put their names forward. Then they individually gave their manifesto (the reasons why they should be voted for). There was a long list of children and a wide variety of reasons they should be voted for:

• I will listen to everyone
• I will work hard to speak up in the meetings
• I will ensure the classes views are heard
• I will be a good role model
• I will represent the class well
• I have done it before so I know what to do

Well we were very impressed with how they stood up and spoke- a great skill in itself.

The children then chose one boy and one girl, secretly.

Mrs Sabir counted up the votes. She was impressed that everyone that stood for election got a vote.

There were two clear winner and showing fantastic support, the whole class applauded the winner.

Our two school councillors are…..:

Nila and Christos

Well done to them both.

The first school council meeting will be early next week and all notices about their meetings will be displayed on a noticeboard in the school.

An eye witness account

Today Year 5 had an exceptionally important visitor!

It seems as though there was a terrible incident in the local area. A “creature” was seen devastating the local McDonalds last night!

A witness to the event was found and Year 5 were lucky enough to interview her for their newspaper reports.

We welcomed Mrs Dolly Butter-Smith into our class and the children began their investigations. They were extremely professional- they introduced themselves and which paper or company they represented. We had reporters from BBC Live, BBC News, First News, The independent, The Bells Farm Bugle, The management at McDonalds and even a worker from McDonalds.

The questions were very probing. They found out lots about the incident: Where it happened, when, why, how Mrs Butter-Smith felt and exactly what she saw. She was a little emotional at times but the Year 5 reporters made sure they gained as much information as they could.

It seems this hideous creature has not been seen since and there is possibly another witness to the event which has not yet identified. Year 5 are appealing for any witnesses to come forward. Any information will be gratefully received.

Investigating Anglo-Saxon Housing

Year 5 continued with their investigation skills this afternoon and set about finding information on Anglo-Saxon housing.

Their task was to gain facts about how and where Anglo-Saxons lived. Working in pairs gave the children to share their ideas and pool their thoughts together.

Some great facts were found:

  • They made small villages
  • Their homes were made of wood
  • It took about 18 trees to make one home
  • They cleared forests to make their settlements and fields
  • The roofs were thatched
  • They all lived in 1 room
  • They had lots in one home, grandparents to babies
  • They tried to have the homes facing the sun through the day
  • They had a hearth in the middle of the room
  • These were just some of the facts found before they began to write up an advert to sell an Anglo-Saxon home!

Spelling Investigation

Today Year 5 carried out their first spelling investigation. They were sorting a list of words into groups in order to spot a pattern. They decided to group words by suffixes such as: ant, ance ancy, ent, ence and envy. The children were then able to see which endings needed to be added to each word. They loved the ‘hands on’ activity and are looking forward to next week’s lesson when they will be tested on their new knowledge.

Telling the truth

Today Kestrels discussed why it is important to tell the truth. They watched a video in which there were a number of situations where lies were told. It seemed after the first lie was told… more lies followed. The children made choices after each situation, deciding on what the characters should have done next. It was an interesting discussion.

The class then noted ideas- it was clear that there seemed to be many consequences to lying:

• It can lead to serious situations
• It is setting a bad example
• You could go to prison
• You could lose friends
• Telling the truth will help people
• Little lies can turn into big lies
• Telling the truth stops you getting into trouble

Well done Year 5, your discussions were very mature and you explored each others ideas well.