Manchester Museum 

Year 5 had a fantastic time on their school trip, which provided the children with first-hand experience of our history and science units, which wouldn't otherwise be possible in a classroom environment.

Our line of enquire was the 'Big Question' Are birds dinosaurs? The children had thoughts of their own before the trip and then conducted research once they arrived. We looked closely at the exhibits and the information in the museum. The children recorded information, asked questions and made connections from their studies.

Once back at school, we collated our information, presented our evidence, using theorist and theories of their own. 

Spring Term

Science

During our science lessons we have been comparing and grouping together everyday materials on the basis of their properties. next we measured their thermal effectiveness through developing an experiment to test that materials (insulators) are better at slowing down the movement of heat than others. the children concluded , through fair testing that some materials were better than others, We also looked at anomalies and discussed our theories. 

Design and Technology

During our DT lessons the children learnt all about where their food comes from through, :farm to Fork'. The test tested a supermarket Bolognase sauce and a homemade Bolognese sauce. Using their maths skills, the children collected their taste test data and presented it in a graph. This then informed their next steps to plan and cook a  dish that only use ingredients sourced locally or from within the local region, e.g. Lancashire. Compare this to dishes that only use ingredients sourced from overseas with a minimum number of food miles. Next they, researched recipes and created their own healthy version, which included at least five vegetables. 

Almost every child made and enjoyed their creations. They took copies of their recipes home, to cook with their family!

History

During our history lessons we have been finding out about the Anglo Saxons.

We have used the school timeline to locate their chronology . We have found out where they came from and questioned theories around why they came. We have also looked at village life, designing an Anglo Saxon village and making Anglo Saxon houses as part of our homework. 

We will also be looking at some religious and ethnic aspects of societies studied and giving reasons why there may be different accounts of history.

Computing

During our computing lessons, the children have been using their coding skills to program games, using, ;Scratch'.

Autumn Term

The children have really enjoyed listening to Science Fiction stories this half-term. Following this, they have been inspired to write their own Science Fiction stories, from the Novels, 'Aquila' and 'Beegu'. The children in Year 5 also used their knowledge of the planets, in our Solar System to influence their descriptive writing of settings. 

During our geography lessons, we used Mapzone | Ordnance Survey to name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom. We really enjoyed this interactive site, which used games and puzzles to learn all about the six figure coordinates, Ordnance Survey symbols including 1:50K symbols. It also helped them to know that different scale Ordnance Survey maps use some different symbols. We used a wide range of maps, atlases, globes and digital maps to locate countries and features studied.

 The children also designed and created a 3D model of a mountain range to help them described and understand key aspects of:

• physical geography, including rivers, mountains.
• human geography, including: types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. We could also link these skills to our learning in history about Mesopotamia and the House of Wisdom in Baghdad CE 900. 

History

During our history lessons we began to recognise and describe the nature and extent of diversity, change and continuity and suggest relationships between causes (e.g. by understanding which countries Baghdad AD900 influenced and how they influenced devices and technologies we have today).

English

During our English lessons, we were inspired by our class novel, 'The Invention of Hug Cabret ' to write stories about an invention that goes wrong. We explored themes of loss, heroism and friendship within and across the novel. We also used speaking, listening and drama to make comparisons between the characters’ viewpoints during the same events.

Art and Design

This this half-term, the children have developed their understanding of the human form. By extensive drawing, their understanding of human proportions have been developed and then challenged by creating a 3-D form in sculpture. 

We explored both historical and contemporary artists such as Alberto Giacometti and Patricia Coates, who inspired and guided the children from the initial drawing and investigating stages to developing their sculptures. First, the children explored mark making and tones through drawing to music. They were able to use their emotions to guide them. Next the children used questioning and observation to identify similar mark making patterns within their studied artist's sketches. The children also developed their understanding of how to use a journal as an investigative tool.

Year 5 were inspired by their English class novel, 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret' and used the characters from the book to inspire their sculptures. 

Computing

During our computing lessons, we have used idraw and sketchpad to understand that digital tools can be used to create images.

We learnt that vector images are made up of shapes and lines and used digital tools to improve detail in image.

We were very proud of our digital artwork and showcased them during our Year5 assembly.