This week in 5/6

Today has been Christmas Jumper Day and the children (and staff) all looked fabulous in their range of jumpers. 

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to our chosen charity. We have raised £289.02.

This year the School Council decided to donate the proceeds of our Christmas jumper day to Action Aid. Through this scheme we will sponsor a child to go to school and help support their community. We have already been paired up with a 6 year old girl from Malawi in Africa. Her name is Thoko and we have raised enough funds to support her education for an entire year! We will receive updates throughout the year of her progress which we will share with you and our children. Many thanks to you all for your continued support in supporting children's rights on a global scale.

This week in English we have been writing a description narrative with a Christmas theme. 

In Maths the children got quite a treat when we asked them to draw on the tables - and yes, we said draw ON the tables!The children asked us a few times if we meant actually on the tables. They were amazing at working collaboratively and rather enjoyed this lesson. We wanted them to use their knowledge of rectangles and other shapes to find missing angles and lengths. 

I wonder how many you can find.....?

The homework pages this week are: 

Year 5

Maths p58-59  English p64

Year 6 

Maths p60-61  English p70-71

THIS WEEK IN YEAR 5/6...

Christmas has arrived at Down Hall!  The tree is up and the postbox is already being used.  Christmas jumper day next Friday! Ho ho ho!

Homework pages:

English: Y5 p48-49     Y6 p44-45

Maths: Y5 p50-51       Y6 p50-51

This week in Year 5 and 6...

Most of Year 5 and some Year 6s attended and performed at Rayleigh Lights this week. We were all a bit nervous at first. The songs that we sung were O Little Town of Bethlehem, Auld Lang Syne and The 12 Days of Christmas. The teachers were proud of us just like all of our parents. All of us were full of pride when we stood up there and for our performance. 

By Amy and Josef (Year 5)

The homework pages this week are:

Year 5: Maths page 23 and English page 86

Year 6: Maths page 13 and English page 88

This week in 5/6

This week started off with an assembly by Mr Richards for Anti-Bullying Week which supports Article 39: You have the right to help if you've been hurt, neglected or badly treated.

We have used this stimulus when writing this week in English. The children read a story about a girl called Frankie who was being bullied at school. We discussed the scenario in class and what Frankie should have done. After this, the children have then written the story in their own words focusing on using dialogue to convey character and advance action.

We also had a non-uniform day today for Children in Need.


The homework pages this week are:

Year 5:   Maths page 15 and English pages 62-63
Year 6:   Maths page 25 and English pages 56-57

This week in 5/6 ... 2.11.18

In Maths this week we have been looking at the written methods for addition and subtraction. We will be continuing this next week and then moving on to multiplication and division. 

Our school calculation policy can be found here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1F37T8TVQJWNXBybkRKWEFZNkE/view

You can support your child at home by following our calculation method and playing a game that the children have been playing in class this week called dicey operations: (More ideas are available on the Nrich website)

Take turns to throw the dice and decide which of your cells to fill.
This can be done in two ways: either fill in each cell as you throw the dice, or collect all your numbers and then decide where to place them.
 

Game 1

Each of you draw an addition grid like this:



Throw the dice nine times each until all the cells are full.

Whoever has the sum closest to 1000 wins.

There are two possible scoring systems:

• A point for a win. The first person to reach 10 wins the game.
• Each player keeps a running total of their "penalty points", the difference between their result and 1000 after each round. First to 5000 loses.

You can vary the target to make it easier or more difficult.

Game 2

Each of you draw a subtraction grid like this:



Throw the dice eight times each until all the cells are full.

Whoever has the difference closest to 1000 wins.

There are two possible scoring systems:

• A point for a win. The first person to reach 10 wins the game.
• Each player keeps a running total of their "penalty points", the difference between their result and 1000 after each round. First to 5000 loses.

You can vary the target to make it easier or more difficult, perhaps including negative numbers as your target.

If you do not have dice at home, there are apps that can generate numbers such as 'Dice Roll' available on apple and android devices.

In English this week we have been looking at information texts and learning about tanks that were first used in WW1. Next week we will be continuing this and the children will be writing their own information text.



Homework this week:
English Y5 26-27   Y6 16-17
Maths   Y5 12-13   Y6 7

Year 5/6 The Shakespeare Company Visit

The Shakespeare Company Play

The Shakespeare company are a group that  come into schools and retell Shakespearean plays for kids.  On Wednesday 16th October we were lucky to be able to see MacBeth in action.              

           

Last year they performed Romeo and Juliet to Year five and six and this year they performed MacBeth.

The whole year group were amazed at how they managed to engage all the children in the play by giving them parts. It was also good to see the ways they had to express how the characters might be feeling because of the decisions they made.

MacBeth is a tragedy play so there were lots sad moments and  happy moments.

We would really like to thank all of the actors and actresses that were involved - it really was a great performance!

                                                     By Ruby Noble and Alex Bowyer

We wish you all a very happy half-term break. Please enjoy and stay safe.

Your homework pages are as follows:

English Y5 p 21         Y6 p 8-10

Maths Y5 p 14        Y6 p 12

This week in Year 5/6...

Leading up to Remembrance Sunday, Year 5/6 have been focusing on World War I and World War II in English lessons.  We have written letters from the point of view of a child evacuee and will be writing wartime poetry next week.

Christmas cards will be coming home on Monday 15th October. These will be available to order online. Details to follow...

Please remember parents evening is next Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th.

Fun with Maths!

Last week in Year 5 and 6 we made the most of the remaining warm weather and completed our Math's lesson outside.
This involved the children going on a "Treasure Hunt" to complete clues relating to our work on Multiplication, Division and Place Value.
We loved the fact that the children were able to learn at their own individual pace, whilst having an element of competition too!
Outdoor Learning is a fantastic approach and adds another dimension to our Math's Curriculum.

Last week at school the children have been learning about classifying living things in science this week.

Perhaps they could look for examples in their own back garden or on the beech / in the woods. Any drawings and information gathered can be used on science displays in class.

In PSHE we have been looking at British citizens, with a focus on which children's Rights were being met in the photo or denied.

This week at school, the children will be looking at legends and thinking about how these are different to the myths we have looked at.

Our first week back after the summer holidays

After the Summer holidays, the children returned to school this week looking extremely smart and with a positive attitude to their year ahead.

On Wednesday, the children settled in to their new classes. We discussed their holidays by completing an alphabet linking each letter to something they did over the six weeks. We also discussed their Rights as a child and used these Rights to support in making our Class Charters (an agreement between Rights Holders and Duty Bearers to follow within the classroom).

Next week at school, the children will continue learning about numbers and place value (focusing on Roman numerals, negative numbers and rounding) in Maths; we will start our English genre of writing which is on Myths and Legends (linking it to our Project on Ancient Greeks) and continue our Geography-focus in our Project lessons, interpreting maps on Greece and Ancient Greece.

Goodbye and Good Luck Year 6!

On behalf of all the Year 5 and 6 staff we would like to extend a huge congratulations for all your hard work. We wish you all the very best for the future.
Enjoy your Summer. Have fun!

Essex Schools Food and Farming Trip

Yesterday,years 5/6 went on a trip for a Food and Farming day.

At 9:30am, we all got a coach to get to the Essex food and farming trip at the Writtle University College. On that day 3,000 children had attended from all different schools and all submitted a scarecrow into a competition. Ours was Henry the eighth and his six wives.

45 minutes later,we had finally arrived. As we walked into the green field, I could see five humongous white tents dotted around the field.

We had four leaders;the actual leader was called Cristine who showed us around. The first place we went to was the Countryside tent and in that there were different things to do. For example, one was making a mini-beast out of clay, sticks and leaves -I made an ant. It is a shame because I would of liked more time in this tent.

After we went to the Crop zone which had some edible seeds we could try and we could of got up close to some that we had never seen.

Next,we had to get into our groups to move onto the Live-stock.

When we reached the Live-stock, we all sat down and watched a man teach us on how to shear a sheep. I found it quite weird because I had never seen it before.

Our time was up at the Live-stock, so then we all moved to the food zone and in it was where we learnt how crops turn into real food.I found that quite interesting because it shows what seeds we actually eat.

Finally, we got to the last place which was the Machinery zone. There were two men explaining to us about how farmers get rid of their seeds and how they plant their seeds. Everyone who stood there had to stand behind a silver barbed-wire fence.

At the end, we finally found out who won and we came third

; our prize was a £50 voucher and a watering can.

At 1:45, we walked back to where our two coaches were and left to come back to the school.

Overall,I enjoyed the day there and I learned a lot more new things.

by Leila (Year 6)

Who dun'it?

Today during Celebration assembly, a suspicious incident occurred in the 5/6 classrooms.

Upon returning to each class, we were shocked to see what had happened.

We are currently gathering a list of suspects!

Could it be Mrs Hurley? She was seen leaving the assembly early.....

Miss Sharman? She left to get her whistle...

Miss Hedges? Did she arrange someone to do it?

Mr Richards covering for Mr Webb? His assembly went on longer than usual....


Was it a pupil?


The plot thickens!

Maths at the Movies - Monday

This week in school we are taking part in 'Maths at the Movies'. 

In Year 5 and 6 we chose the film Sing!

On Monday, the children planned a dance routine using their mathematical knowledge of position, direction and angles. 

They then gave their instructions to others to follow, practise and perform during their P.E lesson. 

Over the week, the children will be doing different activities related to the film. 

Stay tuned...

Celebration Assembly

Last week, Mrs Nelson was unfortunately losing her voice. Therefore, speaking in celebration assembly was not easy so she needed someone to assist her.

Emily (being Mrs Nelson's assembly helper) stepped in and did a fantastic job of announcing and handing over the 'Pupil of the Week' certificates.

Traditional Stories and Playscripts

On Friday the 19th of January,  the Year 5/6 classes (Ruby, Sapphire and Topaz) walked to Amethyst (for Ruby), Emerald (for Sapphire) and Diamond (for Topaz)  classes - which are one of the three Year 1/2 classes - to share our writing with each other; Years 5/6 had been doing playscripts based on traditional stories (with a twist) and Years 1/2 had been doing traditional stories with a twist also.

When we arrived, we found a partner of a different age and started to discuss our work. After, we read one-another our writing and the year ⅚ tried to teach the Year 1/2 what a playscript was. Once we had finished, we went back to our classrooms. I found this very interesting because we get to learn all about the people around the school’s work. The Years 1/2 work was very good and they wrote a lot - one to one and a half pages.

by Seren and Emily