Amazing Christmas Crafts!

Thank you to Mrs Tennant and her all the wonderful helpers for our fantastic Christmas Craft workshop! We love all the items we made!

12 Days of Christmas

We are so proud of our whole school '12 Days of Christmas' hall display.

We made the lettering for the display. We blanket stitched around each of the letters - they look fabulous!

Then every child in the school made a star to go around the lettering.

These are close-ups of the 12 panels:

Computer Control Workshop Day

Thank you so much to Mo Follis from STEMworks and Al from TT Electonics for a brilliant Computer Control Workshop!
We started the morning thinking about what computer control means, what engineering is and what an engineer does. We learnt that an engineer solves real world problems that improve the world around us. Al shared with us some of the work his company does and we realised that engineers do not get designs right first time! They solve problems by continually testing and improving their designs.
We then split ourselves into groups of 2’s and 3’s and made our 15-minute robot.

Once our robots were built we were set a series of challenges. Each challenge was worth a different number of points.

Challenge 1 – STOP  (worth 20 points)
We had to start with our robots in the STEMworks box, program our robot to travel forwards in a straight line and stop with the 2 front wheels exactly on the black line at the stop sign.

Challenge 2 – PARK  (worth 30 points)
We had to start with our robot in the STEMworks box, program our robot to travel forwards to the end of the mat, turn right, travel forwards and park the whole robot inside the other STEMworks box.

For the afternoon session we were given 4 different challenges. We had to complete as many of these, as accurately as possible, in the time given. Each challenge was worth a different number of points with 120 points in total up for grabs! We had to write and test each program. When each program was ready it was judged by Mo or Al and we were awarded points. We had to adapt our robots to complete these challenges. Some of the changes we made included adding sensors, adding lights, adding a push button and building scoops.

Challenge 1 – ULTRA  (worth 30 points)
We had to start our robot on the coloured lines and program the robot to move forward until it sensed an object in front of it (using the sensor), reverse and then make it do something amazing (dance, turn it’s lights on, make sounds)

Challenge 2 –  GOAL  (worth 50 points)
Three balls were placed in the centre of the mat. We had to start our robot in the STEMworks box and program the robot to move into position and push the balls into the goal. The robot was not allowed to touch the goal – if it did points were deducted!

Challenge 3 – PUSH  (worth 20 points)
We had to start with the robot in the STEMworks box and program the robot to push the 2 cups over the stop line. However we needed to program the robot to stop on the opposite side of the line.

Challenge 4 – DANCE   (worth 20 points)
We had to start with the robot in the STEMworks box and program the robot to travel into the oval in the middle of the mat and perform a ‘dance’. The dance had to finish within the oval.

After additional points were awarded for team work and how well we dismantled and tidied our Lego all the points were added and the winning team announced.

To finish the day we thought about how many skills and subjects areas we covered in our day’s computing work. It was an extensive list which covered aspects of English, Maths, Science, PSHCE, and D.T. as well as computing skills and engineering skills!

Jam Making

Today we made jam using ingredients from the school garden. Yum!

Class Assembly

Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning for our class assembly. We hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot about the Stuarts, the Great Fire of London and the plague! These are some up close photos of our paintings of the Roundheads and the Cavaliers.

Gears, Levers and Pulleys

We have been exploring how mechanical devices such as gears, levers and pulleys allow a small force to have a great effect.

Van Gough Sunflowers

Look at our stunning sunflowers painted in the style of  Van Gough!

Fun with Forces

In Science we have learnt about gravity and friction, including air resistance and water resistance through lots of fun practical experiments.

Team Building

We started the term by completing some team-building physical problem solving activities. We worked in groups to spell words, making the letters with our bodies. We ordered ourselves according to different criteria on benches without speaking or stepping off the benches! We also solved maths problems and showed our answers by putting that many body parts into a hoop. These are the answers to some of our maths problems. What could the questions have been?

Welcome Back

Dear Parents/ Carers of Year 5 Pupils,

We hope that you have had a really enjoyable summer. It is lovely to be back in school and we are delighted with how quickly the children have settled in Year 5.  We hope that you find this letter and pack of information useful.

Autumn Term Curriculum

Here is an outline of some of the areas of learning that we will be covering in class this term within the topics of ‘Forces, Fire and Fighting’ and ‘Dig it up’

Maths	Place value (reading, writing, ordering, comparing, rounding) Calculations (+ - x ÷). Written and mental methods Measurement (converting units of measure) Area and perimeter Time Word problems
English	Fables Non-chronological reports Play scripts Narrative Poetry
Science	Feel the Force Earth and Space
R.E.	How should believers live? What do religions say? Focus on Christianity and Islam.
Computing	Understanding how search engines work and using the internet with discernment. Programming, including a computer control workshop day on 10th November.
P.E.	Games (Wednesday) Dance (Thursdays)
Topic (History, geog, art, D.T.)	‘Forces, Fire and Fighting’ This will include historical focus on the Stuarts, in particular the battles, the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London. ‘Dig it Up’ This will include historical focus on the Anglo-Saxons.

How you can help at home

Homework

Year 5 children will receive one English and one Maths homework weekly. Most homework will be completed in the orange Maths or English homework books.  It is really helpful if you can encourage your child to complete homework in a quiet place where they can fully focus. If your child has any trouble with homework, all they need do is come and ask us (where possible before the due date!).  It is also appreciated if you could help encourage children to take responsibility for their own homework- if it is not going to be handed in on the due date then children should tell us themselves. Maths homework will be due in on a Tuesday and English homework will be due in on a Wednesday. We will set some MyMaths homework tasks as part of the Maths bubble homework. If you do not have access to the internet at home children are welcome to use laptops at school to complete these tasks during Friday lunchtimes.

In addition, the children learn a spelling rule each week and will receive a list of spellings that follow this rule (every Monday) which they will need to learn for a weekly spelling test on a Friday.

The children will also be tested on a list of 15 half termly spellings at the beginning and end of each half term. We would appreciate your help in supporting your child in learning these tricky words. Thank you.

We also offer an optional homework every term for those children looking for an extra challenge.

Reading

As you know children hugely benefit from reading regularly, every night where possible. It is still important for children to be reading with an adult on a regular basis too. We have listened to all children read individually and in the front of the homework planner have made an individual suggestion of how often your child would benefit from reading to an adult. Of course this is a guide and if you wish to do more reading with your child than is indicated then that’s great.

Planners

Thank you for your support already in using the homework planners. We hope that you find them useful in helping your child organise themselves. The children are using their planners to record homework tasks but can also use it as a personal diary. Please could you check your child’s planner at the end of each week and sign the bottom of the page. Please feel free to make your own comments. Your child should take responsibility for asking you to check and sign- it. We will collect the homework planners each Monday and Friday.

P.E

We will have P.E sessions on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Sometimes our timetable has to change so P.E kit should be in school each day please. As the weather is unpredictable it would be useful for the children to have both outdoor trainers and plimsolls (or clean trainers) as part of their kit so that we can use both the hall and outdoors. When it starts to get colder, joggers and jumpers may also be needed.

Art aprons

Children will need to have an old shirt or apron for art. Please ensure your child has one in school at all times. Thank you.

Planners, reading books and homework books.

Please have all of these in school each day. Thank you.

We look forward to working closely with you. Please don’t hesitate to come and see us if you have any questions.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Michelle Parkin and Mrs Marika Hortop

ICT

We have had a brilliant ICT computer programming day today with Alison Kelly from STEMworks.
We started the morning thinking about how robots are used in everyday life. We then split ourselves into groups of 2’s and 3’s, choose a team name and made our 15-minute robot.

Once our robots were built we were set a series of challenges. Each challenge was worth a different number of points.

Challenge 1 – Making the robot move 
This challenge (worth 10 points) was to program our robot to travel forwards and stop at the stop sign.

Challenge 2 – Making the robot move and turn 
This challenge (worth 15 points) was to program our robot to travel forwards to the stop sign, turn right, travel forwards and stop in the STEMworks box on the mat.

Challenge 3 - Using the sensors
This challenge was worth 50 points, with up to 25 points for making the sensors work, up to 15 points for making the robot dance within the blue and yellow oval (the dance floor!) and up to 10 points for the dance. We had to program the robot to move forward until it sensed an object in front of it, reverse and then make it dance! We were also challenged to include sound and use the light sensors.

Challenge 4 – A choice of 2 challenges (each worth 50 points) 
We were allowed to adapt our robots for these challenges.

Choice 1 – The Football Challenge
This challenge was to start with the robot in the STEMworks box and program the robot to score a goal. Each goal scored was worth 10 points. We needed to score as many goals as possible in 2 minutes. BUT if we knocked the goal posts we lost points.

Choice 2 – The Egg Cup Challenge
This challenge was to start with the robot in the STEMworks box and program the robot to knock the egg cup into the box. We scored 50 points for knocking the egg cup into the box. BUT if we bumped into the box we lost points and if the egg cup fell off the box and onto the floor you lost points.