Summer 1

Week 3:

It has been another action-packed week in Year 5, with our pupils diving deep into their roles as mathematicians, scientists, and historians. This week, our focus remained on mastering equivalent fractions. To help bring these abstract concepts to life, the children used Dienes blocks to visualise the relationship between fractions and their decimal equivalents. As chemists, we continued our investigation into solids through experiments. The children discovered that insoluble materials such as sand and paper clips can be separated from water by filtering and sieving but soluble materials, such as salt and sugar cannot. We finished the week by travelling back in time! We were joined by ‘Portals of the Past’ for a spectacular Maya workshop where the children were fully immersed in the culture and beliefs of this ancient civilisation. Highlights included: Competing in a high-stakes game of Pok-a-Tok, exploring Maya rituals and daily life and in a dramatic finale, Mrs Catterall was "sacrificed," with her beating heart offered to the Maya Gods to ensure the sun would rise again tomorrow!

Week 2:

Continuing to develop their map reading and orienteering skills in PE, Year 5 students have been practising the ‘Point-to-Point’ strategy, navigating specific routes to visit markers in a precise order. As chemists, the children have applied their observational skills to investigate solubility, determining which solids dissolve in water to form a solution and which do not. In Mathematics, our pupils have been deepening their understanding of equivalent fractions. They have discovered that if the vertical or horizontal relationship between the numerator and the denominator remains consistent, the fractions are equivalent. Finally, as musicians, the year group has been exploring the rich history and unique structures of Ancient Maya music.

Week 1

Enjoying the spring sunshine, Year 5 began the term by developing their map reading and orienteering skills in PE as part of the Outdoor and Adventurous Activities (OAA) module. Revisiting and recapping their knowledge of materials from previous years, the pupils used the scientific enquiry skills of identifying, grouping, and classifying to sort materials according to their magnetic, transparent, electrical, and thermal properties. As mathematicians, the children explored how to use multiplication and division to solve comparison problems, using concrete resources such as Cuisenaire rods and elastic.