It’s the penultimate week of term and Year 5 have been really impressing us. Year 6 had their SATs this week and, since Year 5 are so close to Year 6 classrooms, we had to be very mindful of our noise levels which Year 5 took very seriously. It’ll be them before they know it!

English
In English this week, we have been acting as inspectors tasked with writing reports on the state of a Victorian workhouse and the character Grimy Nick. The challenge was to imagine that we were corrupt inspectors who had accepted generous bribes to put a positive spin on such dreadful places and people!

The children had to think very carefully about how to “bend the truth” without actually telling lies. This led to some wonderfully creative writing, where subtle word choices completely changed the tone of a sentence. We focused particularly on using colons correctly and choosing precise verbs and adverbs to influence the reader’s opinion.

Next week, we will be writing non-chronological reports about the charity Barnardo’s.

Maths
In Maths this week, we have been converting fractions into decimal numbers. We began by recapping what numerators and denominators actually represent before exploring how fractions involving tenths, hundredths and thousandths can be written as decimals.

The children showed great confidence when spotting links between fractions and place value, helping them to understand how decimals work more deeply.

Next week, we will build on this knowledge by converting fractions and decimals into percentages.

Thematic
This week, we have been learning about the geographical history of Ramsgate’s coastline. Using Google Earth, we explored how the coastline has changed since the 1940s — yes, it really does go back that far! The children then used geographical vocabulary to describe and explain these changes.

We also looked ahead to how our coastline may continue to change in the future by learning about the Sea Link Project and discussing both the advantages and disadvantages it may bring.

Next week, in RE, we will be learning about important stories from Christianity.

Spelling
Our spelling test will take place on Thursday next week, so please continue practising this term’s words at home.

Mr Oxley and Mrs Mirza’s groups have been learning:
cemetery, aggressive, disastrous, determined, nuisance, persuade, desperate, average, stomach, opportunity

Challenge words:
suffocating, whistling, shovelling, rhythmic, exhausted

Miss Isaac’s group have been learning:
where, here, poor, children, clothes, caught, special, potatoes, naughty, difficult

Love to Learn
As we will be learning about percentages next week, we would like the children to keep an eye out for where percentages are used in the real world.

This could be recorded by taking photographs, making a list or in any other creative way they choose. It will be really useful for the children to begin developing a sense of percentages before we explore the mathematics behind them.

Messages

 

 

Dates to remember:
 

Monday 18th May – Year 5 and 6 Viking Games at Upton (packed lunched required for year 5 and 6 and these children to wear sports kit)

Tuesday 19^th May – CATs test for Year 5 in the morning. Please arrive by 8:45am.

Friday 22nd May – Be here, be you, belong parade on top field from 2pm. Children to wear clothes that they feel express who they are, this could be from an outfit from a hobby they have, to bright colourful clothing. All parents invited to watch.

Friday 22nd May – End of Term