PUBLISHED 26 June 2020
In maths this week we’ve been busy converting units of volume and solving some very tricky worded problems. Thankfully, the children’s secure knowledge and application of ‘Bar Method’ to represent commodities and amounts, served them well. A special mention to Amelie who persevered to show a perfectly constructed model calculating the capacity of an unknown 3D box from worded clues – you did it! In fact, all the children should be very proud of themselves, with just a short unit on Roman Numerals outstanding this year to be completed next week, the children will have ticked off all the Maths learning objectives for the Year 5 Curriculum. Surprisingly, we will have one double lesson left over, perfect to sit an end of year assessment! What do you think Year 5? Only teasing, would we really do that to you?!
In science this week, the children have been deepening their understanding of ‘natural selection’ and writing some very impressive definitions. The children can now explain what ‘survival of the fittest’ and ‘advantageous features’ means in the animal Kingdom and how Mother Nature’s hand keeps the balance of species in order. Also, the children now know how the ‘flightless Dodo bird’ became extinct, falling prey to the Dutch sailors arriving on the shores of Mauritius and later by pig farming eating their eggs. The children have enjoyed getting to know this cumbersome fearless bird, though I guess we’ll never know what they tasted like – Kentucky Fried Dodo I expect! Well done Fred and Milly for working hard and completing all the ‘greater depth’ tasks this week!
In history, the Olympics has been the name of the game this week, as we race towards the end of our incredible exploration of the ancient Greeks. Following a terrific PE lesson and javelin throwing contest with Mr Moretti, the children learned about the Olympiad, the symbols, the prizes, the games and even the origination of the term marathon! I’m not going to mention the chariot racing… it’s a sore subject! Moving on, the children then compared and contrasted modern day Olympics starting from 1896, and even watched real live footage! Next, they learned about the very first ancient Greek Olympics in 766 BC! The children really enjoyed discovering the similarities and differences and even created a wonderful ‘Venn diagram’ to show the relationships between the ancient and modern-day event. Well done Johnnie for his comprehensive Ven diagram and analysis - super effort. Other children chose to complete an alternative task, writing a newspaper account for the ‘Athens Star Daily Tribune’ as if they’d been a reporter present at the very first ever Olympic Games, capturing the ambience of this spectacular event. Great work Reya, Anika and Annabel who even included lots of direct speech, persuasive language and parenthesis!
Finally, heads were rolling in French with Mrs Yelland this week, as the children translated the story of the French Revolution, learning all about the historic events of this troublesome time. Although cake was off the menu during the lesson, we all enjoyed a lunchtime cookie - and some even doubled up with a brownie too… you know who you are!
Next week we’ll be watching some of your fitness videos, (with your permission), and then listening to your ‘Poet-tree’ recitals. It’s going to be a fun week!