Welcome to Mrs Dixon's Year Five Blog!
W/B 18th July
Wow! I can’t believe that I am writing the last blog post of this year. It has been a fantastic year and the children have done so well and worked so hard. I am so proud of how the children have developed and grown, they are so ready for all the challenges that lie ahead in Year Six and I am sure that they will all be fantastic! Good Luck everyone!
Thank you to all of the parents for your constant support.
Have a lovely summer everyone and see you in September!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 4th July
Hello Everyone,
In History this week, we have been continuing with our learning all about the Maya Civilisation. We learnt all about their number system. The Maya people were one of the first civilisations to recognise the importance of Zero as a place holder and they uses symbols of a shell, stick and pebble in order to represent numbers. Their number system was based on a base-twenty positional number system. We had lots of fun reading numbers and solving problems using the Maya number system.
In Science, we have been learning all about the major organs of the human body. We then made our own diagrams of the human body in groups and labelled the major organs.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 27th June
Hello Everybody!
This week we have been very busy in English writing our own stories that all began at a haunted house, the children have been working on refining some of their writing skills and I am very impressed with the imagination and passion that the children have shown with their writing. We have been working on using conjunctions and adverbials to build cohesion in our writing.
In History this week we have been continuing with our learning on the Ancient Maya Civilisation. We found out all about the beliefs of the Maya people and the different Gods that they worshipped and wrote our own fact files.
Miss Hitchen has really enjoyed working with the class this term during transition lessons; she is really looking forward to September.
Homework for the remainder of the term with be the homework set by Miss Hitchen, this is due in on the 8th July. We are looking forward to seeing some fantastic projects!
Have a lovely weekend everyone! Looking forward to seeing you all at the school fair!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Summer fair Friday 1st July
Homework projects due 8th July
Please can all children have full PE kit in school, PE is on Tuesday and Friday
W/B 20th June
Hello Everyone!
What a busy week we have had in Year 5!
On Tuesday we had a great day at Lancashire County Cricket Club Schools Open Day! We had so much fun trying out all of the activities and watching a real cricket match!
This week in English we have been working on our story writing skills. The children wrote some fantastic setting descriptions using all sorts of sophisticated writing features such as metaphors and personification. Next week we will move on to the next part of the story!
We also held a debate this week all about the EU referendum. The children had information to consider and chose a side to argue. After our debating was finished the children finished off with their own speech that outlined their own views and reasons. They debated passionately and were very knowledgeable about current affairs in our country! Well done Year 5! Next, we took a vote and the class voted to leave the EU, with a 70% majority!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Sports day postponed until further notice (a dry day!)
Summer fair Friday 1st July.
Bouncy Castle Friday 1st July £2 per child- children will have time during the school day to have a turn on the bouncy castle.
Cake Sale- If anyone would like to donate a cake for the cake stall at the summer fair please send them into school on the morning of Friday 1st July.
W/B 13th June
Hello Everyone!
It has been a fantastic week, our very first residential trip! We had a fantastic time at Condover Hall. The children were absolutely brilliant and made me feel very proud.
After we arrived and unpacked on Monday, we had two challenges; an aerial trek and climbing wall. These were not for the faint hearted! Even Miss Abbott and I had a go and we were really scared once we got up there! The children were so brave and it was lovely to see them all challenging themselves and encouraging each other!
We then took part in ‘Team Challenge’, these were a range of problem solving and team building exercises designed to encourage the children to communicate with each other. The children were literally tied up in knots! There were a few tricky challenges, but we got there in the end by working together!
We then had a lovely dinner and after an energetic quiz; headed back to our rooms for the night. The children were very excited to be in their bunk beds, it was a little bit of a late night but that didn’t stop us getting up early the next day for breakfast and our last two challenges.
We had to climb the ‘Gladiator Wall’ a series of aerial obstacles not only did the children have to climb, but they also had to work in a belay team, which ensured the safety of their classmates! Again, the children amazed me with their determination and team working skills! Our last activity was 'Conquest' a laser tag game! The children had so much fun!
Well done everyone, what a perfect trip to get you ready for the challenges ahead in Year 6!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Cricket Trip Tuesday 21st June- Please come in full school uniform and bring a waterproof jacket, hat and sun cream (weather dependent) and a packed lunch (please ensure all contents can be thrown away as we will have nowhere to store things.)
Sports Day- Friday 24th June
Summer Fair Friday 1st July
W/B 8th June
Hello Everybody,
It was lovely to see the children after their summer break, it sounds like everyone had lots of fun in the sunshine with their families! The children have really impressed on their first few transition days in Year 6! Keep up the good work children, you all make me feel very proud!
This week we have had lots of fun celebrating the 90th birthday of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. We took a trip to church where we learnt lots about the Queen’s life, her family and all about the coronation and the traditions of that special day. We were really happy to see our class artwork displayed around the church and enjoyed looking at the beautiful art presented by art students from Haydock High.
We finished off the week with a fantastic party; all of the children looked fantastic in their red, white and blue outfits. The playground looked beautiful with bunting and all our picnic tables outside so we could all eat together! We just about made it in time before the weather turned! Children from across the school brought lots of lovely things in for us to eat and we really enjoyed having our sandwiches and cake together!
We then held a special assembly, and had a very important visitor come to our school! The Queen! We sang the national anthem for her and the dance club gave some very impressive performances. Luckily, we knew that one of the Queen’s favourite songs is ‘Sing’ and we sang that beautifully in her honour! It was a fantastic day and one I am sure we will all remember for a very long time.
I hope that all the children are looking forward to lots of fun on our trip to Condover Hall on Monday morning! We can’t wait!
Have a lovely weekend everybody!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Children are to come to school on Monday dressed in their clothes ready for Condover Hall with a packed lunch. The packed lunch should be clearly labelled with your child’s name. Please ensure that everything in their packed lunch is disposable as there will be no facility to store any boxes etc. whilst we are away.
W/B 22nd May 2016
Hello Everyone!
This week we have started 'Our Wonderful World' week! We have had a cross curricular week with lots of exciting events taking place as well as fitting in our assessments for reading, writing and maths! For Science we have looked at animals around the world and on Thursday we had Rowan's dad visit us with all his reptiles. We had a great time learning about all the reptiles, finding out what they like to eat, how they grow and develop, their habitats and lots more! The children had so many questions to ask, but the best bit was when they got to hold them!
Kites for Kids Project - Further Developing Scientific Enquiry Skills.
In assembly Mrs Threlked told us about how the world produces enough food for everyone, however not everyone has enough food! 1 in 8 people on this planet don’t have enough to eat and more than 2 million children die every year because they cannot get enough food to eat. Places like Asia and Africa are were some of the children suffer the most. Over a 100 charities and organisations have come together to tell people this very important message about food and hunger across the world and we wanted to take part in this to show that we all want a better world for everyone. Everyone needs enough food and we wanted to spread this message by making and decorating kites with the children's own messages! We then used the kites for various science investigations. The aim of this was to increase the opportunity for us to raise our own questions and devise experiments to find out answers, evaluate our work and to see if our results were fair, reliable and accurate. Children measured the speed at which they moved with the kites and found out that the faster they moved the higher the kite flew!
Thank you to all parents who came to our Transition Meeting on Thursday, children will start their transition first week back, don't forget children will be entering through the Year 6 doors. Have a great holiday and stay safe Year 5!
W/B 16th May 2016
Hello Everyone!
This week, in Maths, Year 5 have been learning how to multiply fraction by whole numbers.
In English we have been writing reports about a video called 'The Last Game' When writing our reports we have been learning how to write using the passive voice.
In Science we have enjoyed learning about shadows and we have started to make our very own shadow puppet. Once we have finished these we are going to put on or own production.
Today Year 5 have been told about our exciting transition plans in preparation for when the children start Year 6. As you know this is going to be a very important year for the children. A letter has gone home tonight with all the details. In addition to this there will be a meeting next Thursday 26th May 2016 at 2.45 pm in the school hall for parents to meet the teaching team, give you further information and give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
We look forward to seeing you then.
W/B 9th May
Hello Everyone!
It has been a lovely week in Year 5 and we started off our week with some fantastic performances of the children’s fantastic poetry. The children worked in small groups to compose their own poems based on fairy tales, although some of them have a slight twist! I am sure you will agree they used rhythm, rhyme and repetition extremely well! The children were all so confident performing their performances for the whole class.
This week we have been concentrating on adding unlike fractions in maths. We need to remember to change the denominator so that we can add the fractions together. The children have become really confident at identifying and converting mixed numbers and improper fractions. Next week we will be moving on to subtracting fractions!
The children produced some lovely work for Art Day based on the work of L.S. Lowry. We liked the simplicity of his pictures as he famously paints matchstick man. We felt really inspired and made our own Lowry style pictures of our school playground. You can see our fabulous art work on display in the hall.
Have a lovely weekend everyone and enjoy the sunshine!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 2nd May 2016
This week in Year 5 we have continued our work on fractions, adding and subtracting fractions. In English we have been writing our own choral poems. This was great fun and we all got to perform our raps for each other and Mrs Hocroft and Mrs Threlkeld got to hear some too! We have also been focussing on adding suffixes 'tious' and 'cious' in words as in the words suspicious and cautious and trying to include these in our writing. How many words can you think of that include these suffixes? I will give a class Do Jo for the longest list brought in to me on Monday!
We have also really enjoyed 'Art Day' when we found out all about LS Lowy. We researched the artist and made our own PowerPoint presentations about him, working in groups. We then had a go at sketching some of the figures from his paintings to go into our presentations.
We have also really enjoyed the lovely weather this week and I am really proud of how Y5 have been working and playing together! Well done Year.
Have a lovely weekend everybody, see you all on Monday.
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 25th April
Hello Everyone!
It has been another busy week in Year 5!
In mathematics we have been looking at Fractions, we have been comparing and ordering improper fractions and mixed numbers. This was a little bit tricky at first but we found little ways of remembering which fractions were bigger than the others by looking at the denominator, we came up with the little rule; the bigger the denominator the bigger the piece. It helped us to imagine a picture of the fraction in our minds.
In English we have been looking at the features of choral poetry, such as rhyme, alliteration and rhythm. We also started to make up our own poems based on popular fairy tales; which the children will be performing next week. They are looking really good and I am looking forward to seeing the children perform them!
In Geography, the children have been looking at maps. This week we looked at the symbols that are on a map and what they might mean. We also made a key, to show the meaning of the different symbols that are on a map of our school.
Well done for your hard work this week Year 5 and enjoy the bank holiday weekend!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Letters have gone home for the trip to Lancashire Cricket Club open day. Slip due back by Friday.
W/B 18th April 2016
Hello Everyone!
It was lovely to see all of the children after the Easter break, it sounds like they all had a fantastic rest over the holidays!
In English we have started a new topic looking at Performance Poems. We have read some fantastic entertaining poems and we then went on to prepare our own poems to perform for the rest of the class. They were fantastic!
We have also been lucky to start Orienteering on a Friday afternoon. This week we began by taking part in a range of team building games. The three C’s of Orienteering are really important; ask your child if they can remember them!
This week we also celebrated a very special day for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, who turned 90 on the 21st April. In order to commemorate her birthday we all made our own portraits of the Queen and sang the national anthem in assembly. We are also going to be planning some very special school events in order to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday, which is traditionally celebrated in June when the weather is usually finer. Watch this space!
I was very impressed with the homework that the children produced over the holidays. I have read some fantastic, imaginative and creative stories! I was also blown away with the detail of information that the children were able to find out about St Helens! I have also had some fantastic pictures of the children ‘Extreme Reading’ over the holidays… keep them coming!
Have a lovely weekend everybody.
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
PE Kits should be in school. We will have PE Monday and Friday.
Please ensure that children wear black shoes for school, as trainers are not allowed.
W/B 28th March
Hello Everyone!
I can’t believe that it’s the end of the spring term! It has absolutely flown by.
This week in Maths we have been looking at Statistics and reading line graphs, some of which had multiple sets of data displayed. We were able to answer a variety of questions from looking at the graph and even made up some of our own questions!
In Science this week we have been learning all about light. We learnt all about how light is reflected from the objects around us then into our eyes, and this helps us to see. We made human models to demonstrate how this works. The string represents the pathway of the light beams, which always travel in straight lines.
Have a look at some of our human models.
We also learnt all about reflection, and explored the relationship between the angle of incidence and reflection. We carried out an investigation to find out more and we could see that the angles were always equal. We had lots of fun using torches in the dark to see these!
We also had some very exciting new books delivered to our classroom this week! A collection of classic fiction titles, that many of the Teachers (and I’m sure parents) have read during their times at school! The children were very excited to read some of the most famous stories ever told, we have already had some very enthusiastic books reviews from the children!
All of the children in Year 5 LOVE reading, in order to further promote this I am looking to gather pictures of the children reading outside of school, to be displayed in the classroom. However, there is a challenge! This project is called 'Extreme Reading!' In order to show how we love to read everything, absolutely anywhere! This could be a magazine in the park, their favourite book in the bath or in the middle of a football match, anywhere as long as they are reading something that they ENJOY! I will be giving out prizes for the best pictures. You can send them to me through the dojo and I will print them off, alternatively feel free to print yourself and send into school.
I look forward to seeing all of the children's fantastic photographs!
Enjoy the holidays everybody!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 21st March
Hello Everyone,
What a lovely week we have had in Year 5 this week!
We started off our week with a visit to Church to learn all about the Easter story. The children had a fantastic time learning all about the Easter story and asking questions. They took part in some lovely Easter craft activities, including an Easter Egg hunt! The children were extremely well behaved and I was very impressed!
On Tuesday we were lucky to have two ladies from St John Ambulance visit us to teach us some core first aid skills. The children learnt how to deal with a medical emergency and check if someone is breathing or help someone who is choking. The children thoroughly enjoyed this session and now have the skills and knowledge to potentially help save lives!
In English this week the children held a class debate, then followed this up with writing written arguments aimed at other children of a similar age to themselves. The children divided into two groups: the proposers and opposers and we followed strict debating rules. The children spoke very passionately about their debating topic and at the end we voted upon the motion.
Enjoy the Easter break everyone!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
W/B 14th March
Hello Everyone!
Firstly, I would just like to say WELL DONE to all of the Year 5 children who have worked exceptionally hard this week with their assessments. I have to say that I am impressed with the progress that the children are making and I hope that they all feel very proud of themselves, just as I do!
Secondly, thank-you to all of the parents that came to parents evening this week. It was lovely to see you all, thank you for your continued support. As always if you do have any concerns, feel free to pop in and see me anytime!
This week in History we have been learning all about the Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. The children enjoyed using the internet to find out more information about them and were able to find lots of information!
In Science this week we planned our own investigation to find out how the temperature of the water would affect the speed at which the sugar dissolves. We found out that the sugar would dissolve faster in the hot water. The children used a range of scientific enquiry skills in order to investigate and we took various steps to ensure that our investigation was a fair test.
I have also challenged the children to send in pictures of themselves reading in unusual places, to display in our reading area and show just how much our class love reading! We love to read everywhere and anywhere. Feel free to print off pictures or send them to me through the dojo! We had a lovely time exploring all of the wonderful books for sale at the school Book Fayre, there is definitely a book out there for everyone!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders
Easter Church Visit Monday 21st March
Y5 Core skills first aid, Tuesday 22nd March
W/B 7th March
Hello Everyone,
It has been another lovely, busy week in Year 5!
In English we have done some amazing writing based on Fairy Tales. We were so inspired by World Book Day we thought we would continue celebrating Fairy Tales that we love! We discussed the well-known tale of the Three Little Pigs. We started to think about all of the characters and asked the question; what if? What if the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ was completely misunderstood? What if the Bid Bad Wolf was just a friendly wolf in the wrong place at the wrong time? We then re-wrote the tale of the Three Little Pigs from an alternative perspective, that of the Wolf! The children really impressed me with their writing, some of which will be displayed in the Year 6 corridor.
In Science this week we have been looking at dissolving, we found out about different materials that were soluble or insoluble by conducting a scientific investigation. Some of the materials that we tested surprised us, as we couldn’t understand why they didn’t dissolve. We decided that we would plan another investigation to find out more about the factors that affect dissolving.
In Maths this week we have been working on Long Multiplication. This method is really useful for multiplying big numbers; it is efficient and it will be really helpful if the children are secure with this method ready for Year 6. You can practise this method at home with your child, the video below is really useful at explaining how it’s done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jhf1ldvP-o
Next week will be assessment week, so please make sure that the children get plenty of sleep and are ready to do their best in the morning when they arrive at school. The children will be completing assessments for Reading, Maths, Writing and Spelling. We will be testing the long list of Year 5/6 words so please make sure that these are practised at home.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
Mrs Dixon and Miss Abbott
Reminders:
Book Fayre
The Book Fayre is back in school next week. It will be open Monday to Wednesday, straight after School up until 4pm and 6pm on the Thursday.
Parents Evening Week – week commencing 14th March
Next week is parents evening week. If you have returned your slip you will be receiving confirmation of your appointment today.
Willowbrook Hospice Easter Toys
We are selling small, soft toys for Easter to help raise funds for Willowbrook Hospice. Toys are priced at £1.00 each and Willowbrook have sent a new selection of bunnies, chicks and lambs this year. They will be on sale from Monday 14th March, in the hall, during morning break.
Easter
We will be selling our Easter raffle tickets from Monday in school priced at 20peach, £1 for a strip. We have lots of Easter toys and eggs for prizes! The raffle will be drawn at our Easter Bingo which takes place on Wednesday 23rd March. Doors will open at 5.30pm for a 6pm start. There will also be an Easter sale earlier in the day. See the attached flyers
W/B 29th February
Hello Everyone!
Another wonderful week has flown by in Year 5 and we have been extremely busy!
In Maths we have been looking at long and short methods for multiplication; these methods are a little tricky but we have really been persevering, because they are the fastest written methods for multiplication of 3 and four digit numbers! We will be using these skills in our problem solving next week and the children have some multiplication for this week’s homework.
In English this week we have been looking at a new genre, Argument and Debate. It all started in our classroom when one of the children decided to stand up against me (about the lack of residential school trips for our class) and a huge argument happened. I said that the children should put their argument in writing! So we began to learn all about the features of a written or spoken argument.
In Art this week we decorated our canopic jars. We looked at the colours that the ancient Egyptians used on their jars and used similar ones to decorate our jars. They were gleaming with the colours of gold, silver, bronze, ruby red and sapphire blue. I am really pleased with how they turned out!
On Friday we celebrated world book day in school and I was blown away with all of the costumes that the children were wearing, we had a lovely assembly to celebrate our love of reading and Mrs Threlkeld had all of the children up dancing in the hall singing about how fantastic it is to read books! Do you recognise any of the famous book characters from Year 5?
