The journey was bumpy, the sun was blistering but the visit was spectacular. Have a look at what we got up to at Malham Cove.

We had a very busy week here in 5A. We delivered the donations we received from our successful appeal to British Red Cross and they were very pleased! We planted cuttings from a geranium plant in groups and will be observing how it grows over the coming weeks. Lastly, we drew self portraits Julian Opie style and enjoyed being introduced to the world of Tablas. Here are some picture from our week!

The children started this week by celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. They
enjoyed a picnic with the rest of the school in the sunny weather followed by
games on the field, here is how they got on:

This half term our topic Strangers or Neighbours has focused on looking at refugees and activism. Across Year 5, we have started an appeal for the Ukrainian refugees (more details can be found on this weeks ParentMail and the newsletter) to help with the crisis. Children answered our Big Question – What makes an activist?

We spoke about notable activists such as Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Greta Thunberg, Malala and their specific causes. The children agreed that activists have played and continue to play a vital role in being the voice for the voiceless

‘The qualities and activist must have are integrity and determination for whatever it could be that they’re fighting for! Confidence, bravery and resilience is also needed. An activist’s work is vital because they combat helplessness and hopelessness, they stand up for people being mistreated and those suffering.’

Harry Holmes, 5A

Our Incredibles this week are……..

Harry – For his contribution to our parachute investigation in Science. Harry compared different ways a paper fell to the ground and compared them by recording results in a table. He then looked at the forces which may have been acting upon them.

Sara – For good use of her reasoning skills in Math when looking at decimals

Niamh – For amazing effort and determination in her learning this across all subjects but particularly Maths

Ellias – For his continued effort to improve his writing and always focusing on what he can do to make it better.

Our Incredibles this week………

Harrison – For his fabulous input during our Science lesson on our Forces Topic and for his determination and effort in participating for the Spelling Bee.

Shi Ying and Sophia – For using fantastic modal verbs and emotive language in their persuasive short burst write.

Ezra – For always going above and beyond when it comes to helping his peers.

In music we were exploring ternary form, sometimes called song form, a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section, a following section and then a repetition of the first section.

Our Google classroom code is:

For more information about our learning from this week, please see the Parentmail!

Have a great weekend!

The children thoroughly enjoyed their visit to the local woodlands where they built dens and explored the area. Here are some pictures of how they got on:

Our topic this term has been Earth and Beyond. We have been exploring the mysteries beyond our own planet. Our learning included a shadow investigation, creating to scale models of the Solar System, a project where children made 3D models, fact files about ‘hidden figures’ in the STEM field and learning about the mysteries of Stonehenge. Here are some pictures of our work!

I wish 5A a Happy Easter! I hope you have lots of fun and a well deserved break 🙂

Through dance, drawing, platicine, clay, silk painting, collage and construction, 5A captured the beauty and magnitude, resourcefulness and plight of animals native to the United Kingdom as well as both Poles.

The traditional drawing technique of scaling-up was employed on a number of occasions, culminating in life-sized polar creatures.

Our fortnight commenced in the United Kingdom, with 5A choosing native animals to incorporate into their illustrations. These drawings became the inspiration for their clay tiles and silk paintings. Red squirrels, hedgehogs, foxes and owls were popular choices with stags, robins and hares making appearances too.

5A were encouraged to use a viewfinder to select a section of their illustration that they thought would work compositionally. Their clay slabs represented their chosen view. The relief was made by using the skills of cross-hatching and applying slip to attach the clay shape onto the slab. Once dry, they were then painted with acrylics.

For the silks, this view was then scaled-up. Using a pencil and ruler they drew a simple grid (4 x 4) on the image selected and then transferred onto a larger 4 x 4 grid. Working one square at a time, they copied the lines until the animal slowly appeared. Then working with a partner, they made their silk frames by pinning the silk onto the wooden frame so that it was taut. With their scaled-up drawing beneath the silk, they then used gutta to draw the outline of their creatures. The gutta acts as a barrier, so that the silk inks do not bleed into each other when being applied unless a conscious decision. The results were impressive.

The life-sized polar creatures required research on behalf of 5A. What were the measurements of their creature? They then took a simple image of this animal, drew a simple grid over it and transferred onto corrugated card. This card had been cut and assembled together to allow the  length and height measurements of their polar creature to be drawn. A grid on the corrugated card –similar to the process for the silks but much bigger- was then drawn

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The polar creatures were decorated with newspaper.  By tearing and cutting the sheets of paper texture was created and definition of the features was made by adding tissue paper. This process required team work and patience. In order to go again the next day, we watched ‘Austin’s Butterfly’. Through constructive critique and descriptive feedback from their peers, each group had areas to work on. The results were fantastic!

Once again, it was wonderful to invite 5A’s parents and interested adults to share in the arts celebration. The following feedback gives you a little insight into how incredible our young people are:

‘I am proud of Sara’s beautiful drawings and her dance. It showed me how much she has gained in confidence and how she is stepping out of her comfort zone.’

‘I am really proud of seeing how much Ezra has engaged with all the learning and how much he has enjoyed it. Some fantastic work and it’s fantastic to see how much he enjoys all aspects of arts fortnight. It’s something he always looks forward to.’

‘It was really good to see or witness what kids do and learn at school 🙂 especially art work!! Amazing.’

‘I have found how much Jayden’s imagination has come on. A very happy boy. The children seem happy with each other. Fantastic work. Well done.’

‘I am very impressed with how confident she was throughout the performance.’

‘Emily’s art work is full of expression. I can tell how much she has enjoyed completing it.’

‘I am proud of how Riya and her class have pushed themselves creatively.’

We have had a fantastic week in 5A this week! The children have been building up our toolkit for writing explanation texts as they work towards their goal of creating their own about how animals survive in the harsh conditions of the poles.

In order to help us gain a bit more insight into what life is like there we had the opportunity to talk to someone who has made several scientific expeditions to the Arctic! The children were all fascinated to learn about the amount of equipment required in order to survive the trip, and everything someone would need to do in order to survive those conditions. Our visiting explorer was kind enough to pass around some of his equipment for everyone to see first hand, and the children all enjoyed trying on the big thick boots and coat. Harris was even lucky enough to be pulled across the classroom in a sled!