A Comedy of Errors

On Tuesday we were treated to a wonderful performance of ‘A Comedy of Errors’ by the RSC First Encounters tour. During the performance 20 of our talented KS2 children performed an ensemble piece during the opening scene of the play. The children had spent weeks rehearsing for the part and we all agreed that they did an amazing job and we were all so proud of them. Well done to Alana, Ella, Matthew and Mitchell from Year 5 who took part in the performance.

Take a look at the article and more photos which were published in the Blackpool Gazette last week… Gazette article

Year 5 have worked on Shakespeare’s ‘A Comedy of Errors’ for a number of weeks and showed a good understanding of the play. It was a joy to see Year 5’s faces light up when they heard speeches they recognised.

Year 5 recording their reviews of the play in their ‘A Comedy of Errors’ diary.

Reading Champions!

Well done to our Reading Champions for last half term who read regularly and completed their reading bookmarks. Keep up the great reading Year 5 and next half term I’d like to see all of Year 5 do the same.

Well done to Ellie and Ella who won our Golden ticket raffle for great reading.

Fieldwork and fencing

It’s been a busy week in Year 5…

On Tuesday and Wednesday the children undertook fieldwork around the local area to answer some geographical questions we have been discussing in class. The children worked in six groups and on Tuesday they were investigating land use in different residential areas around our school. The children made their own maps and looked at different physical and human features that were in the area. On Wednesday the groups then went to different areas around Squires Gate retail park to look at land use around there and to conduct research through questionnaires. I was very impressed with how well the children worked and particularly impressed with the confident and polite manner at which they approached the general public. Well done Year 5! Now the children will analyse the data they collected in order to answer our geographical questions about the local area. Take a look at the photos…

After our fieldwork on Tuesday the children enjoyed a fencing workshop. The children were shown the basics of fencing and how to score and got to wear the gear. It was so much fun! Take a look…

On 2nd November, straight after school, parents are invited to a presentation in Year 5 with Hannah from Headstart. Hannah is the resilience coach who is delivering the Bounce Forward resilience training to Year 5. At this meeting she will be able to talk you through the programme and answer any questions you may have.

Don’t forget the children break up this Thursday and Parent’s day is Friday. Please make sure you make an appointment so I can update you on how your child is settling into Year 5.

Thank you for all your contributions for Harvest, it is very much appreciated and so important to help our local community’s food bank. If you still haven’t brought in your contribution, then it’s not too late - please bring in on Monday as the food bank will be collecting all contributions then. Thank you!

Well done to all our award winners this week…

Golden award - Riley J

Last week’s Maths award - Mitchell

Last week’s Minificate winner - Kyle M

This week’s Minificate winner will be drawn on Monday

A Comedy of Errors and more...

This week Year 5 finished writing their free verse poems about the classroom. Through use of poetic techniques and inclusion of similes and metaphors they’ve been able to build vivid images of a classroom at the end of a day. Poems are not the easiest to write but Year 5 worked very hard and I’ve been very impressed with their efforts - they should all be really pleased with themselves!

In English we are now studying Shakespeare’s “A Comedy of Errors”. We are very lucky to have been given special diaries from the Grand Theatre and the RSC, where the children will be able to record their learning journey of the play. Through active approaches we intend to explore the play and we will use this work to develop our own writing. Today the children took part in a Whoosh activity to get to know the story of the play. Take a look…

On November 6th the RSC are bringing their First Encounters with Shakespeare Tour of Comedy of Errors to our school to perform for the children in the afternoon and then again in the evening for the local community. Talented children from our school will also be performing a scene alongside the RSC actors and I’m very proud to say that Alana, Ella, Matthew and Mitchell from our class will be performing too. Tickets for this performance have now gone on sale at the Grand Theatre so get your tickets before they sell out!

Our Bounce Forward workshop this afternoon was all about identifying our strengths to get us through the tough times. The children made badges to remind the children how their strengths can make them more resilient. Please ask your child which strength they chose and how it makes them more resilient. What resilient moves will you make this week?

Don’t forget that next week we will be on our fieldwork trip.

Well done to all our award winners this week…

Golden award - Fayth

Writing award - Joshua

Last week’s Maths award - Joshua

Minificate winner - To be drawn on Monday

Reading, writing, resilience and awards

Wow! I can’t believe we’re already more than halfway through this half term. The children have made a good start to Year 5 and have been working hard in all their subjects. I’m particularly impressed with the work they’ve been doing in our English work. We’ve been looking at free verse poems and are now writing our own poems about the classroom using poetic techniques such as personification, alliteration, similes and metaphors. I’m really looking forward to reading them when they’re finished.

I’m really pleased to see those children who are reading regularly at home and collecting their bookmark stickers, completing quizzes and earning our golden tickets for reading. At the end of this half term we will pick out our golden ticket winners and reward our reading champions. Please make sure your child is reading regularly at home to ensure they make good progress in this area. Remember Year 5, good readers = good writers!

This week has been the fourth week that our resilience coach, Hannah, has been coming in to class to teach the children about being more resilient - this will continue till December. Soon I’ll be inviting you in to school so that Hannah can talk to you about what she has been teaching the children. Please ask your children about these sessions so that you can support them in their quest to become more resilient - you'll be surprised at how much they know already! Ask them about the special potions and what resilient moves they will be doing this week to improve their resilience.

For more information/support, please see these recommended websites:

HeadStart

Boing Boing  

Well done to all our award winners this week…

Golden award - Jessica

Writing award - Archie

Minificate winner - Natalie

Swimming starts next Tuesday

Yesterday Mrs Ramsden, our new swimming teacher from Palatine, came to meet the children and talk through what they need to know. Swimming will be on Tuesdays (please see letter you received home today) and the children will be accompanied to the pool by Miss Evans and Mrs Hodgkiss. The children will need to come in their school PE kit for the day and will need with them their swimming kit in a separate bag to their school bag. Girls will need a one-piece swimsuit and boys will need swimming trunks (please see photo of acceptable type as baggy swim shorts are not allowed), a towel, swim hat for all girls and boys who have a longer hair style or fringe, and goggles if you return the signed goggles letter. The children will not need shampoo or shower gel as they will only have time to rinse and get dressed quickly ready to return to school. Please can the health forms be returned before Friday so they are ready for collection by the swimming teacher. If your child has asthma, inhalers will be taken to the pool by the teachers so please make sure your child has an up to date inhaler in school as soon as possible.

On PE and swimming days earrings will need to be left at home to avoid losing them as children are not allowed to swim or do PE with them in. 

Thank you. 

Welcome to Year 5

Welcome to Year 5. I trust you have all had a wonderful Summer holiday and are feeling refreshed and ready to start a new school year. I look forward to getting started on our new learning journey together and getting to know all of you better.

Our main topic this term will be Space. We will be exploring Earth and Space through Science  our creative writing will also link in with this topic. I hope to also arrange a Space related school trip later in this term which will be very exciting!

Just to let you know that Year 5 will have PE on Friday afternoons and swimming will take place each Tuesday morning throughout Year 5. The children will have their swimming induction with their swimming teacher in class on the first day back and will start swimming on Tuesday 11th September. Year 5 will be able to come to school on a Tuesday and Friday wearing their full PE kit. Please make sure that your child's PE kit, including jumper, is named to avoid confusion. 

Look at our amazing art work!

Today we had the privilege to have Mrs Williams, Leon's mum and secondary school art teacher, in our class for the whole morning. She came in to teach  art inspired by the work of Dean Crouser, Poul Beckman and Damien Hirst. The children worked really well and used the techniques Mrs Williams taught them to create some amazing art work that they were all really proud of.  Thank you Mrs Williams!

Have a look at what Year 5 produced...

Where is the time going?

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! We're almost at the end of the year and we're now busy learning about our last few topics in Year 5 before they move onto Year 6.

Year 5 have been studying materials and their properties in science and this week they have investigated irreversible changes - through our experiments we made casein plastic and carbon dioxide. In geography our focus is on North and South America and we have organised an itinerary for a specific group of travellers with particular interests. The children have chosen and located the places on a map and we are now learning about absolute location using latitude and longitude. In English the focus of their writing is play scripts and once they're finished, they'll hopefully get the chance to act them out to help evaluate the effectiveness of their stage directions and speech.

Can I just remind all of Year 5 of the importance to continue with their home reading? Let's see how many more quizzes you can all complete between now and the end of term. We'll continue to check diaries and award golden tickets for their efforts.

Just a few dates for your diary...

Sports Day - Thursday 5th July at approximately 9.30am

Water safety practical lesson - Tuesday 10th July (School swimming lesson) The children will need their usual swimming costume but they will also need a pair of shorts and t-shirt that they can swim in.

Sumdog success!

Well done Year 5 for competing in the Blackpool Sumdog contest, I'm very proud of you all! The children came first place and won a 6 month premium Sumdog maths subscription. 

Well done Year 5 and now make sure you take advantage of this wonderful prize - get on Sumdog as much as you can to have fun and improve your maths!

Reading champions!

Well done to our reading champions for this half term. Keep up the good work Year 5!

Well done to Maysie and Nathan for being our Golden ticket winners for reading...

Pop idol

Congratulations to Eva in Year 5 who represented our school in the Blackpool Music Service Pop Idol competition on Tuesday night at Montgomery High School. Eva auditioned against a number of children in school over the last month and then went on to win our in school semi-final, performing in front of the whole school. The competition at Montgomery on Tuesday was fierce with lots of talented performers across Blackpool. Eva gave the most beautiful and confident performance, singing "Hallelujah", and we're so very proud of her achievements. Eva was presented with a medal from the judges, Radio presenters Ged Mills and Scott Gallagher.  Watch out for Eva in the future, she's going to be a star!

It was so lovely to see so many of Eva's friends and their families who came to support her - Eva certainly had the biggest fan club! Thank you to all of you who came and a special thank you to Jessica for the wonderful banners.

Our Lenten promise fulfilled...

Thank you Year 5 for all your contributions to Barnardos charity as part of our class Lenten promise. Barnardos supports and encourages disadvantaged children to achieve success in their lives.

Year 5 reading champions

Well done to all our reading champions this half term who completed their reading bookmarks for reading at home. Some children even managed to complete two! 

A big congratulations to Daisy and Matthew who were this half term's golden ticket winners for reading. Well done!

We completed our Lenten book challenge!

Monday afternoon Year 5 celebrated finishing their Lenten book challenge. We sat in groups and enjoyed chatting about the book we had read. Well done Year 5!

Our Good Friday reflection assembly

On Wednesday at 9.15am Year 5 will lead the whole school in a reflection on the Crucifixion of Jesus. We would like to invite those parents and grandparents who are able to, to join us in this short reflection of the events of Good Friday. Thank you.

Sumdog Blackpool School's contest

Well done to all the children in Year 5 who completed their 1000 Sumdog questions! We were in 1st place for half of the week and on the Friday we were awarded a certificate of merit for being a daily winner. Well done! Overall, at the end of the competition, we came 4th place in the competition and we are determined that we will get 1st place in the Summer term by ensuring we all complete all the questions. Well done Year 5!

Reminder of our Lenten challenges

Year 5 can bring in their item of clothing to donate to Barnardo's charity as part of our class Lenten promise and on Thursday when we break up, I will take the donated items to Barnardos on Cherry Tree Road. I'll post some pictures of our collection. Many thanks in advance.

Children should also have completed their Lenten book challenge book by Monday too. Well done to many of Year 5 children who really challenged themselves and are now on their third or fourth book from our chosen Lenten challenge books. Year 5 will celebrate their accomplishments with a book club party where we will all share our thoughts on the books we have read - the teachers included!

Bikeability

For those children who are taking the Bikeability training this week, here is a copy of the letter sent home today...

Bikeability letter

Our Lenten challenges

For Lent Year 5 made their own Lenten promises which we have displayed in class to remind us to keep them… 

In class we have been looking at the qualities of being a follower of Jesus and have looked at the Beatitudes and other teachings of Jesus. It is for this reason the children have also decided to make another promise…

I would be very grateful if each member of Year 5 could donate one piece of unwanted clothing before the end of term so that we can fulfil our collective Lenten promise. We have chosen Barnardo's as our charity as it links in with "Street Child" that many of the children have chosen as their Lenten reading challenge. Thomas Barnardo first set up Barnardo's during the Victorian period when he met a street child called Jim Jarvis who the novel is based upon. Thank you so much for your support. 

Year 5 also came up with a great idea for a reading challenge for Lent. We've decided to form a book club and so by the end of term, alongside our normal reading, we - Mrs McVey, Mrs Hodgkiss, Mrs McCooey and all of Year 5 - will read one of three books. The three books we have chosen to read from are: Street Child, War Horse and The Demon Headmaster. In the last week before we break up, we will share our thoughts about the books and discuss what we liked and disliked about them. I'm so pleased with the enthusiasm the children showed - I wouldn't be surprised if they read all three!