Today the children spent the day in an amazing Ancient Greek workshop. They started the morning with an assembly where our workshop leader told the children about different Ancient Greek myths and had them act out exciting parts of the story. We learnt that the city of Troy was in fact burnt to the ground and was found to be covered in a layer of ash. After our assembly, we took part in three fun activities. One where we went head to head with each other playing a board game of Athens v Sparta, this activity taught us the skills warriors would need; perseverance, patience and being able to think two steps ahead. Another included using the classroom and capitalising on the Ancient Greek information boards to answer questions of a fascinating quiz….we learnt so much. Did you know the brand Nike is named after an Ancient Greek Nike who was the god of victory? The wings have also been flipped on their side and now look like ticks! Finally some Maths, we used our problem solving skills to create a rectangle using different shapes…it was really tough but we persevered. This helped us gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of some of the Maths problems the Greek philosophers helped the world solve. We ended the day all together as a year group and went head to head in a warfare game, learning about the skills and equipment of the hoplites (soldiers). Have a look at the pictures to see how immersed the children were in their Ancient Greek Day.

What an afternoon! I would like to thank all the parents again for their participation and attendance at 5S Art’s Fortnight. The children worked so hard to produce artwork and a dance that they were proud off. We pushed ourselves even further and created a stop motion animation of the story of Icarus which was a HIT. If you were unable to attend the animation will be uploaded later this week for all to see. Our performance was the story of Icarus and his downfall shown through dance. Some of my favourite parts were where the children lifted Icarus and then all participated in a trust fall depicting the part when Icarus fell to his death and when at the start when Icarus was putting on his wings showing that he was headstrong and ready to leave captivity. Our artwork consisted of water colour paintings showing still scenes of the sky Icarus would often fly beneath, sketches of the children with wings telling you where they feel free and relief artwork where the children created 3-D feathers. Have a look at some of the images below to see the journey.

For National Poetry day the children performed and analysed the poem ‘On the Move Again’. We looked at how the poem told a story of the different parts of a refugees journey and what they may been thinking/feeling throughout. We then went outside and the children acted out parts of the poem in groups. On Friday afternoon, we got the chance to attend the Virtual Author Event with acclaimed poetry and illustrator duo Nicola Davies and Petr Horáček who shared their new book The Star Whale. We even got a shoutout towards the end of the QandA session where we asked if the poet ever got writers block and how she overcame this.

The children put their hockey skills to the test and played some team games. Earlier this week, children practiced passing, dribbling, shooting and defending the ball. We will slowly build up to larger team games strengthening striking and defending skills. Watch this space!

In history this week, we learnt about the difference between primary and secondary sources and how they contribute to what we know about the Ancient Greeks today. We looked at vases, statues, mosaics, architecture and informational texts. Have a look at the children below showing everything they can learn just by looking at ancient artefacts.

We have had a fabulous first week in 5SV. The children have really settled well and showed so much dedication and excitement towards their learning. Have a look below at the cyclops origami the children created earlier in the week which made them even more excited to delve into our Ancient Greece term topic. We also got together as a class to decide what was important to us and agree on some non-negotiables.