Welcome to the Class 5 web page.

Check this page regularly for updates, class information and photographs of all the exciting things we will be getting up to.

Recommended Reading List Year 5

Just in time for World Book Day!

Please check out the recommended reading list for Year 5 pupils by clicking on the link below.

Search results - Peters

Challenge - How many books on the list can you read?

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Easter Holiday work Class 5 (23/03/23)

English homework:

Comprehension book page 32-33

Grammar book page 19-31 (including pages 19 and 31)

Maths- Fraction booklet and calculation test pages.

Science independent project: Famous Scientist project.

In the block below are examples of project work by past pupils that can be used as a guide to expectations for the Famous Scientist Project.

The finished piece needs to show the ability to present information gathered after research in a clear, creative and exciting way. The finished project should be something that the children are really proud of and could be used as evidence in appeals if required in October.

The examples below are almost entirely handwritten, which is preferable as this confirms that the work is their own, although the original task did ask for a combination of handwritten, word-processed, diagrams, pictures, photographs etc which would be evidence of being able to present in a variety of ways.

The three projects are about three different scientists although I have not included all the pages of the last one and have edited them to make it anonymous. I have shown this one because the student made it really original by looking at each of Fibonnaci’s theories, found evidence in nature to support his claims then photographed the evidence and presented it in the project.

Class 5 2022 - 2023

Spring Term 2023

Don't forget poems for the poetry competition after half term. We will listen to the performances on the first Tuesday after half term, allow time for making improvements, then perform again on Wednesday before selecting the three finalists for Thursday.

Bromley Festival Creative Poetry Performance.

We have allocated lines for our poem as follows. Obviously the school poetry competition comes first so should be a priority when we get to half term but the festival performance is most likely to be on Saturday 18th March in the morning so we want to be prepared.

We have opted for black clothing with no brand labels as this is what most of the class have already. As long as they can move easily for the movement sequence, anything goes. 

Stonehenge Revisited

The earth is cradled in a grave (Freddie)
The sky is buried in the earth (Kundai)
The stones are hanging from a thread of light (Ryu)
And everyone here has been here before (Mya)
And everyone has come a long way (Mo)
And those who love meet those who hate (Saskia)
And those who breathe air breathe stone (Theo)
And those who are fire are dust (Yonah)
And those who are clay shall be wine (Nehemiah)
And those who arrive meet those departing (Gabby)
And children find their mothers (Toby)
And fathers reconcile with sons (Hezekiah)
And the old meet themselves in the young (Isla)
And the young discover a road (Yusuf)
And round the heavenly clock time is as nothing (Jiya)
And we cluster for warmth
At the brief fire of a thousand years (Avisha)

Salvatore Ala

Stonehenge

I remember Stonehenge
in the days where you could still
get close to the stones. (Saskia, Gabby, Yonah, Kundai)
I remember being there, seeing their bulk
and feeling their solid substance. (Theo, Yusuf, Hezekiah)
It was the past brought close, (Ryu)
I could hear the tick of time,
the heartbeat of history. (Jiya, Isla, Avisha, Mya)

If only the stones were transmitters,
they could broadcast their story, (Toby, Freddie, Nehemiah, Mo)
answer the ‘whys’ of Stonehenge, (Saskia, Gabby)
why Salisbury Plain gained
such a monument, (Theo, Yusuf) why it was built, (Hezekiah)
was it temple (Yonah, Kundai) or tomb? (Ryu)

It only we could summon solutions
from the sky,(Isla, Avisha) the clouds, (Mya) the hills, (Ryu)
from those witnesses to the march
of these monoliths, (Toby and Freddie) to their positioning (Mo)
and their raising.(Nehemiah)

And if only we knew who built this circle, (All)
who mourned the winter sun
as the solstice darkened the day. (Boys)

Did they ever imagine the puzzle
they were leaving behind? (Girls)

And I wonder again at the thread
between present and past, (Jiya, Isla, Avisha, Mya)
at all those who have stood
by these stones, (Theo, Ryu, Hezekiah, Yusuf plus J, I, A and M from above)

hoping to hear
some sort of message (Saskia, Gabby, Yonah, Kundai join with others)
to the living (girls) from the dead,(boys)
so one of history’s mysteries
might be solved at last. (All)

Brian Moses

Autumn Term 2022

FRIDAY 30th September

Please remember to practice your two lines for our Harvest Festival Poem!

You will need to recite it, without looking at your printed copy, in the church on Monday morning.

The initials of the person speaking are next to each rhyming couplet.

Autumn Calling

AC I must go down to the pond today to the wind and ochre leaves

Where dragonflies dance, the leaves fall, floating on the breeze

JV And the squirrel’s feet and the wind’s song and the bright leaves shaking

And the grey mist before my face and tasty home baking.

YH I must go down to the woods again to see the colourful leaves

And all I ask is for comfy, warm boots and to observe the trees.

YG And the apples soften, rotting away, the conkers bright and glossy,

The hedgehogs hidden in their nests, dank and dark and mossy.

NI I must go down the lane again to the lonely riverside

For the otters dance in sunshine warm then diving where they hide.

FE The meadow grass, the robins dart and the sound of woodmen sawing

The smell of the furrows freshly ploughed and the tractor engines stalling.

GM I must go down to the woods again to the damp and muddy floor

To find the luscious fruit that grows around my bright front door.

KM And all I ask is an Autumn breeze and to see the branches sway

The highest reach a golden crown on such a windy day.

TS I must go into the valley again to find abundant fields

And the warm sun, its glowing rays, falling down on me.

MA The greenest leaves, the highest trees and the sharp wind blowing

The cooler days, the darker nights and the bonfires glowing

IL I must go down to the fields again to the azure glistening sky.

As the horses gallop, the trees sway and the lonely buzzards cry

HO And orchards full, at harvest time, fruit falling to the ground

And apple pie, hot and sweet to eat without a sound.

SA I must go up to the hills today to find the crunchiest leaves

To go outside, I wrap up warm or I might truly freeze.

TS Jackdaws stab the barren ground and loud gulls flying high

And feel the Autumn ageing and see the white geese fly.

ME I must be heading home today because it’s apple season

Misty mornings, the fog’s haze, I need no other reason

RP Fresh cut hay, foxes hunt and the carpet of crunchy leaves

A radiant sun, the wind’s breath and the web the spider weaves.

Friday 9th September

DT Edible Gift.

The children in Class Five have been working hard with me this week on their first DT task of the new academic year. We always block our time in this way to coincide with Roald Dahl Day on the 13th September.

We have designed our Roald Dahl-inspired sweet and plan to make these on MONDAY afternoon.

We will leave them to set overnight in the fridge, then finish them off and package them before taking them home on either TUESDAY or WEDNESDAY.

We aim to make a batch of between 8-12 sweets and the children have been adapting their recipe to this quantity as well as listing the equipment needed.

I will supply greaseproof paper, a sieve, measuring mugs and jugs, weighing scales, icing sugar, cocoa powder, rice krispies, digestive biscuits, marshmallows, cooking chocolate, butter and egg white.

All other ingredients they will need to bring in themselves as these are likely to be quite individual according to their design. They should have a copy of their ingredients in their school bags. 

They will also need to bring in their own equipment. This is likely to be an apron, bowl, spoon, possibly a rolling pin, baking tray or fairy cake tin to put the finished sweets in before storing in the fridge. A few children want to melt their chocolate to decorate their sweet so, with this in mind, could you please check that the bowl that they bring in to use is safe in the microwave? Their list of equipment is also on the plan that they have in their school bag.

I have seen some very inventive designs and am fairly sure that they will all taste as good as they look.

Kind regards,

Mrs Saul.

Wednesday 29th September

Over the next couple of weeks we will be making a Scarecrow - the theme this year is a 'Book Character'. The class voted and decided on Skullduggery Pleasant (Joshua's design). We have made an equipment list for what is required, so if you have anything at home that will help that will be much appreciated! I have told them to ask before bringing anything in....! The equipment list is:

Fedora hat (black) 

Black Suit – blazer and trousers 

Black tie

(Black) belt

White shirt

PVA glue

Newspaper

Balloons

Sticks? Bamboo?

Shoes

Hay/Straw

White ribbon for the hat

String

Tights

Black gloves

Black paint 

The class are all working on a poem for the Harvest Festival - they will be reciting this during the service on Monday morning. We will hopefully see you, and at the Macmillan Coffee morning afterwards.

On another note, you should all have received the Target Sheets this morning - please email me if you have any questions.

Have a good day,

Mrs Broadbent

Wednesday 1st September

Just a note to say I am looking forward to seeing Class 5 in the morning.

I've uploaded the Class 5 timetable and the homework timetable for you to have a look through.

Mrs Broadbent

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Below is the long-awaited 'CAT' video. I have had to reduce the quality in order to upload it so hopefully, it will be OK. 

This week has been an interesting one for Class Five. Not only have they got the CEM testing under their belts but they have also started working on their Charles Darwin projects and tried to curb their excitement for the week ahead. 

I am really looking forward to taking them away and seeing them tackle new activities, push themselves outside their comfort zone and develop their confidence and independence.

Friday 14th May

On Wednesday, Class Five really enjoyed brushing up on their map reading skills whilst joining Class Six on an outdoor adventure. I have shared some photographs taken on that afternoon.

They gave a competent performance of "Macavity the Mystery Cat" to the rest of the Upper School and I will be checking the recordings that I made earlier to see if any editing needs to be done before sharing this with you.

Next week is test week for Classes Four, Five and Six. We test half a class at a time so I have set several open-ended tasks and a science project that can be completed without too much intervention from myself as I will be supervising the Class Five children in the ICT room.

The independent science project that we will be working on will chronicle the life and legacy of Charles Darwin. We are hoping that we can visit Down House later this term to see where much of Darwin's research and writing took place. Then we can add photographs and personal reflections to our projects that will make them more meaningful. 

Friday 7th May.

Class Five are feeling excited about performing Macavity the Mystery Cat in their Class Assembly on Thursday.

If they could rehearse their lines a few times over the weekend that would be wonderful.

They will need to bring whatever black items they have found to wear with them on Thursday and leave them in school overnight for Friday as I will record on both days and select the best to share with parents and enter in the Sevenoaks Festival. 

This coming week we will be presenting our class assembly to the Upper School (and hopefully also making a recording for you to enjoy).

The class chose to perform the poem "Macavity" the mystery cat and have brought home an annotated version to enable them to practice any lines either individual or spoken as part of a group. 

We are hoping to include movement as part of the performance and record a version for entry into the Sevenoaks Festival as well. 

I know that many of them will have plain black T-shirts, vests, thermal leggings, joggers, footless tights etc so I am hoping that they will all be able to find something black to wear for the assembly on Thursday. If T-shirts have Logos on, they can always wear them inside out. What many of them wear under their sports gear is absolutely fine and especially suitable as it is easy to move around in. 

I have, over the last week, assessed the pupils in English, Maths, VR and NVR and will share those results with you when I have converted them to standardised scores.

This will be a valuable indicator of how they are progressing in those areas and enable me to target the areas that we most need to revise this term. 

As I mentioned at the end of last term, we are aiming for weekly opportunities in comprehension, individual and group reading, English Grammar, mental maths and spelling tests, Schofield and Sims maths and, of course, Planetbofa.

From a homework perspective, I have taken out any topic-related work to ensure that we concentrate on the above and have attached an updated timetable to help organisation of time so that nothing becomes too onerous. 

The extra time that we currently have in class in the morning can be used for short tasks, challenges and catching up with Planetbofa if needed.

One of the two Tuesday English homeworks will be started (and probably finished) in school that morning so it is likely that only one book will be brought home.

A great website for the "Poetry By Heart" competition that is no longer open but has a wide range of poems for anyone who is still finding it hard to choose. 

I find it easier to use the "Mix It Up" section and click on the images to read the poems. The 11+ age section is probably best for us but there are some more challenging choices to be found in the 7+ area.

Saturday 12th December

The last few weeks of school have flown by and Class Five have worked so hard and certainly deserve a relaxing and restful Christmas break.

There are no spellings or 11+ maths homework as we have completed all required for this term.

Planetbofa (all sections) can however be dipped into whenever they like. 

I have given them all a new reading book that I would like them to finish over the holiday period but would also be expecting them to dip into a variety of reading material that they have chosen themselves.

I was hoping to give them a few more origami instruction sheets to go with the paper that I bought them for Christmas but ran out of time. I will see what I can find to copy and then send it to them via Teams with a link or as an email attachment. There are also many YouTube, follow along type, videos that they might find useful. If they choose to make animals they have googly eyes in the bag to use as well.

As Mr Abbott said in his end of term letter, all gifts given to the children from staff had been purchased at least two weeks ago and kept in school until given out to adhere to gift-giving guidelines. 

Thank you so much for the very thoughtful gifts. I will of course put them all to good use.

I hope that you all have a restful Christmas and look forward to seeing the children revitalised in the New Year.

Mrs Saul

Monday 7th December

There are no spelling lists for the Christmas holidays so no definitions or sentences for homework this week. 

Please use any homework time to really getting stuck into Planetbofa 11+ preparation.

Dip into any area, maths, English, VR or NVR. All test feedback is sent to me so I can see how everyone is doing and practice questions set when needed to reinforce knowledge before retesting.

I do not restrict access or set dates for the completion of tests so that everyone can work at their own pace.

Mrs Saul

Friday 4th December

Hopefully, all the children have brought the pack of cards that they were given in school today, home with them.

Their weekend homework is to learn a new card game that they can then teach to someone else in class on Monday. This is to support their work in English on writing and understanding instructions.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Friday 27th November

There is no specific homework set for the weekend, just to keep reading their guided reading books so that they will be finished before the end of the term and have a new one to start over the Christmas period.

If anyone finishes before that time then they should choose a book from the class library to last for the next two weeks.

Thank you for the efforts made to keep reading diaries up to date. There should be something written on each day with a comment from either the reader or, on a few occasions, the person that they have read to. This could be parents, relatives or siblings.

Science homework for next Thursday is to collect food labels. There is no need to bring in the whole packet, especially if it is on a large box of cornflakes for example. Just cut around the labels, at least three each, which we will compare and sort into groups in class.

I will be on an outdoor learning course next Friday so the two lessons where I teach Class 5 in the morning will be covered by Mrs Fenning.

Friday 20th November

Many apologies that this is a late posting. There is no homework other than reading this weekend.

I will listen to children individually next week so they may read as far as they wish in their guided reading books but with a minimum of ten pages.

Almost all of them remembered that I would be checking that they were making daily entries in their reading records. I will do this every Friday from now on to see how much they have read and from which book. Own choice readers can also be included and a comment if possible especially if reading to another person.

"Did not read today" is not an acceptable comment as they should be, and I know that they mostly are, reading every day.

Don't forget International Day on Tuesday. Come wearing red and white to represent the Peruvian flag.

We will be looking at culture, crafts and historical monuments and artefacts, culminating in a joint craft activity in the afternoon.

There will be time in the morning for everyone to share what interests them about Peru and, as I mentioned last week, this can be done in whichever way they choose. No longer than five minutes each though please. 

Friday 13th November

The only homework set for the weekend is reading. Each group knows where to read up to and if anyone reads more it isn't the end of the world. Sometimes it is hard to stop when you want to know what happens next. 

Please could everyone remember that there should be a record of daily reading in reading diaries? I have not been checking these as often as I should but will make this a more regular occurrence from now onwards. 

I did say to the class that I wasn't expecting them to do retrospective comments but to make more of an effort, if they hadn't been doing so already, from now on.

We are all looking forward to International Day. We have a week and a half to prepare and our focus will be......... PERU.

I have chosen this country from the South American continent for its diversity and cultural/historical interest. The children are encouraged to find out something about the country and present what interests them most in whichever way they wish. For example, a short speech or presentation (PowerPoint is allowed) or poster. They may wear clothes that reflect the colours of the Peruvian flag (red and white) We will be focussing on traditional arts in the afternoon, culminating in a joint craft project for display.

Tuesday 10th November

English Homework today is to add descriptive words to the sheet of pictures of objects found in a stately home.

We will be using these as a starting point tomorrow.

History/ICT homework for next Tuesday is to create a Life of Queen Victoria timeline using any software you like. Just choose events that would have had a significant effect on Victoria. 

Monday 9th November

A few children are forgetting to bring their green vocabulary books on a Monday morning.

We always stick our new spelling list into this book before using the time before registration to get started on handwriting our definitions in our purple handwriting books.

If they could check that they have packed them in their bags before leaving home on Monday it would be much appreciated. 

Friday 6th November

That was certainly an action-packed week!

We are looking at Las Vanitas in our Art lessons and will be trying to recreate a still life of our own in the style of 16th Century Dutch Painters.

I will bring in some of my artefacts from home and a few children said that they would like to bring in something themselves to add to the arrangement.

Please don't send in anything valuable but lemons, a scarf, a bowl, for example, can all be brought in if wished.

The Mountains PowerPoints went down well with Class Six who gave us some very sound and useful feedback.

A few children had technical issues but these seem to be resolved now and they will present to Class Six on Monday afternoon.

I have given everyone a new guided reading book and homework for this weekend is to read up to whichever chapter  I suggested to them in class.

Thank you for your continued support.

Friday 16th October

Half Term Homework.

11+ Maths Book, Tests Six and Seven.

Mountain PowerPoint (see Teams Assignment for guidance)

Finish guided reading book.

Take a wildlife photograph (or two or three) as an entry into our school wildlife photograph competition.

Here is a link to the results from this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year that Mr Abbott shared with the children in our Friday assembly.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/54522837

Comprehension, grammar and mental arithmetic books have come home even though the last piece of work is unmarked.

This is just in case we are unlucky enough to find that we have a "circuit breaker", a short lockdown.

There is no requirement to do anything from these books unless I set it at a later date.

I hope that everyone has a restful half term.

Mrs Saul

Friday 9th October

We enjoyed making our Japanese paintings in response to "Kensuke's Kingdom" this week. 

I have added some close-ups of finished pieces as well as photographs of the work in progress.

Thank you everyone who has been looking through the spelling sentences this week to make sure they are written to show that the meaning is fully understood. 

We have been putting our documents into our school accounts this week so I am hoping that we will all be able to finish off our Peaks Homework for next week. (Tuesday if possible)

I will be checking through all the accounts tonight as I copied everyone's mountains document onto a USB to transfer to Outlook should I not find the document in their area. 

I have had to remind a few children of the consequences of not doing homework. (missing break to complete it and visiting Mr Abbott when three pieces are not handed in) I am hoping that anyone who has a piece outstanding will endeavour to catch up as soon as possible.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Monday 5th October.

Homework today is, as usual, spelling definitions in the purple handwriting books for Wednesday and Sentences in the yellow challenge books for Friday.

Mental Arithmetic next test. for Thursday.

Apologies that several books came home unmarked. I was hoping to go through the last test but some books weren't handed in. I think that this may have been because I had them for Parent Consultations then they accidentally went back into bags or trays before I had a chance to mark them. I will endeavour to mark two in one go next week!

Friday 2nd October.

There is no homework set for the weekend.

We have finished reading Kensuke's Kingdom and will have new guided reading books next week.

I didn't post a time scale for the Geography Peaks of the British Isles homework as we didn't have time to practice using Office 365 and our school email addresses to access documents on the school system.

We have done this now so all the children should be able to log in and find their documents this way which cuts out the need for a USB for saving documents in school.

There will be a mountains PowerPoint to work on over the half-term break so the Peaks of the British Isles needs to be completed before then.

It was lovely to see many of you via Teams this week apart from a few technical internet/outlook issues, all went well.

I will be sending you all a summary document this week with the main targets that we discussed added to the form for reference. I hope that you find this useful. 

The Geography Assignment is on Teams.

Friday 25th September

A very productive week.

Homework is to rehearse the Autumn Poem for Monday's Harvest Assembly.

This will not need to be off by heart as we will have the poem stuck onto card but obviously familiarity and having the confidence to look up will give a better performance.

The children should be bringing the poem home but if anyone does forget, the poem is To Autumn by John Keats.

Monday 21st September

Homework.

Definitions for Wednesday (purple handwriting book)

Sentences for Friday (yellow challenge book)

Planetbofa maths if the Logins are working. If not, the next test in Mental Arithmetic books. (for Thursday)

Friday 18th September.

We all had a great time on Thursday creating out Roald Dahl inspired sweet then finishing the decoration off the next morning.

I hope that they all tasted as good as they looked!!

As you know, they all chose a basic recipe to follow then adapted it to suit their design. I was really impressed with their enthusiasm for experimentation! 

There were some lovely photographs taken that I will put together and add to this page as soon as I can.

No extra homework was set on Friday just a reminder about the Science Poster for next week(Thursday)

Monday is a spelling test day so the purple handwriting book (where we keep our definitions) and green vocabulary book (where we keep our spelling lists) need to be in school that day.

To ensure that we all remember how to use Teams I will set homework for today as an assignment in Teams.

In case you are unable to logon, or the assignment is not yet showing, I can share with you that the Science task for handing in by next Thursday is to create a poster showing the 7 life processes.

All the children have brought A3 paper home. They are welcome to substitute this for a different piece as long as it is A3.

We use MRS GREN or MRS NERG to help us remember the seven processes so her name needs to be included with the process each letter represents and some form of diagram or picture to illustrate each one.

Landscape or portrait and pens may be used.

Tuesday Homework 

Comprehension 3 pages 6 to 7 for Thursday.

Practice House Vice-Captain Speeches for Thursday assembly.

Make sure that all ingredients and equipment for sweet making are in school by Thursday as we will make the sweets in the afternoon. Equipment may be stored from tomorrow at the back of the classroom if required.

Monday 14th September

I was hoping to set some Planetbofa maths work today but several of the class told me that they could no longer remember their passwords so I will get the information needed to them as soon as possible.

Friday 11^th September

Our first full week on timetable has certainly been action-packed.

We have designed our Roald Dahl inspired sweet and now plan to make these on THURSDAY afternoon.

We will leave them to set overnight, then finish them off and take them home on FRIDAY.

We originally planned to make our sweet on Monday in an attempt to be as close as possible to Roald Dahl Day but decided that it was better to wait until we were sure that we were well prepared before embarking on our task.

All the children have a basic non-cook recipe that they have adjusted to their own design.

I will supply icing sugar, cocoa powder, rice krispies, digestive biscuits, marshmallows, desiccated coconut, cooking chocolate for decorating and eggs.

All other ingredients they will need to bring in themselves as these are likely to be quite individual according to their design. They should have brought a recipe home with them where the ingredients are listed.

They will also need to bring in their own equipment. This is likely to be an apron, bowl, spoon, possibly a rolling pin, baking tray or fairy cake tin with paper cases, presentation bag or food storage container to put the finished sweets in before storing overnight.

I have not asked the children to read any further in their guided reading book this week as they may need time over the weekend to practice reading their House Vice-Captain speeches before presenting them to the school on THURSDAY morning.

Welcome, everyone, to a new academic year!

Class Five are becoming accustomed to the new practices around the school and have, on the whole, settled into the routines and requirements with enthusiasm.

They have all be so pleased to see their friends again and to make new ones. (Welcome, Aarnav)

I am hoping that you have by now had a curriculum information email sent from the school which should include the timetable, homework timetable and curriculum overview.

I will also attach them to our class page as well for ease of access.

Our first full week back will keep to the timetable but is likely to include in-class assessments as well as CEM testing for those who were unable to do this in June.

The other change from the timetable will be the inclusion of our blocked DT module this week and next week on a Monday afternoon.

We always tackle our Autumn DT task straight away because the task involves making an edible gift inspired by the works of Roald Dahl.

We will be planning our non-cook sweet this week and making it the following week.

I will be able to supply some basic ingredients such as icing sugar, Rice Krispies, cocoa powder, desiccated coconut and golden syrup, but the children will ask you if you can supply anything that they need for their invention that is over and above the basic ingredients.

They should bring a recipe home early in the week so that you have time to collect what is needed.

Aprons, bowls, spoons and baking trays or cake tins will also be needed to ensure that sharing of equipment does not take place.

We are looking at Roald Dahl’s autobiographical works, “Boy” and “Going Solo”, in our English lessons, and his birthday is celebrated on the 13^th September each year enabling us to gain much from this cross-curricular link.

The link below will take you to the part of his website that shares information about his life should you or the children wish to look at it.

https://www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl

I will try to post a short message at the end of the week to let you know what we have been up to in class and include pictures of practical activities if I can.

Monday 16th March.

Please bear in mind that I have set enough mathletics tasks for three weeks of homework with a handing in date of Thursday 2nd of April. This can be worked through in any order with approximately 10 to 12 tasks spread over each week.

Mrs Saul

Friday 28th February

Thank you for coming to our PESE meeting on Tuesday. If there are any further questions that you have please feel free to contact me by email. The presentation should be available shortly and sent out via the school office for anyone that could not attend.

At that meeting, it was obvious that some children hadn't fully appreciated the requirements of the Charles Darwin project so I have extended the deadline to Monday 9th March and reminded them that despite this they shouldn't leave it until the last minute.

If the A4 folder that they present their work in is of the loose-leaf or slide-in display book variety then it will be easy to add extra pages at a later date if needed.

Therefore there will only be spelling and Bond maths homework next week to allow time for the project. 

Regards, Mrs Saul.

Friday 7th February

Please use some time this weekend to choose a poem for the school poetry competition.

A copy needs to be left with me before we break up on Friday.

Please make sure it is a poem that reflects the age and ability of the children in Class Five.

Any one preparing for a LAMDA exam or Bromley Festival performance may use those poems in the school competition. Those who have already chosen could use the time to practice.

If anyone needs help choosing I will be happy to help next week.

Mrs Saul

We have certainly hit the ground running in Class Five this term and I hope you will enjoy looking at the Artwork in progress and our Victorian Invention Poster display.

The "Green Man" inspired artwork came about as a result of a discussion of current affairs and the children sharing their concerns that our green world is becoming more and more synthetic. They plan to show the face made of natural material becoming grey and more man-made as they work across the face of the painting. 

The Victorian posters are the result of the Christmas research that they undertook as well as classwork which involved recognising the features of persuasive texts and advertising. They took care to produce their final piece in the Victorian style.

We will finish our history block at half term and turn to Geography looking at world weather events and climate change.

Our English focus continues to be journalistic but will turn to poetry ( on the theme of cats) after half term to coincide with the school poetry competition and the Bromley Festival. 

Mathematically speaking we continue to practice decimals, percentages, fractions, ratio and proportion with more of a focus on worded problems as a starting point. I am also introducing more high-level maths challenges, algebra and open-ended questions. Mental maths tests will now take place every Friday and will focus on secure times table knowledge and questions asked a variety of ways e,g Half of  25, ten percent of 63, three-fifths of 40, fourteen squared, 15 multiplied by 40, nine divided by 6, etc

Apologies that our homework books haven't always been available for spelling sentences at the right time over the last two weeks. My homework handing in tray becomes very full on some days so I have been marking the sentences then putting the books in the bookcase folder to save space. I confused some of the class in doing this and they had put their books straight into the bookcase folder so I didn't see them to mark. Hopefully, we will have this new routine all sorted by next week.

I look forward to seeing all of you for our parent consultation next week.

Anne Saul

BROMLEY FESTIVAL

Just a reminder that the closing date for The Bromley Festival is soon after the start of next term and entries need to be in the school office by Friday 10th January please so they can be collated and posted before the closing date on the 14th.

Entry for this festival by our pupils is voluntary but I know many of them have expressed an interest in entering verse, prose, drama and musical theatre sections so I have attached the syllabus for you to look through. I also usually enter a musical theatre group and a Class 5 dramatic poem set to music which we can work on as part of our performance poetry in our English lessons next term. 

All pupils who choose to enter will be given extra coaching and opportunities in school to practice and perform their pieces including during the school poetry competition in February.

The festival dates are Saturday 14th and 21st March as stated in our school diary dates.

I will post ideas for the verse and prose sections on here over the next week as we have to state choices on the entry form and these cannot then be changed.

Anne Saul

Friday 13th December

Class V Holiday Homework.

I have sent Bond English and Maths books home for two tests in each to be completed.

I have also asked them to read as much as possible including finishing “The Railway Children.”

They have two pre-printed calendars that they can use to stick on anything they wish as gifts or for themselves.

They have also brought home A3 paper and some research about a Victorian invention with the intention of planning a poster advertising their product. (They do have some ideas already) They will then draw it out and complete the task in school during the first week back in January.

I hope they enjoy the riddle/puzzle book that I gave them for Christmas and also get some well-earned rest.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and the generous gifts that you sent.

I have promised to let the children know what I spend my voucher on when I see them in the new year.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mrs Saul

Friday 6th December

On Tuesday we will be testing foods for starch and fat.

The children have decided in groups what foods they would like to test and have made a list of what to bring in their homework diaries.

There should be no more than 4 foods per person and only a small amount of each needed for testing (for example half slice of bread, a crisp, half a biscuit is adequate)

Friday 29th November

On Tuesday in our English lesson we will be planning a new chapter for our Gothic Horror parody.

I have asked the class to find out the meaning of the following architectural words ( as well as the ones on the printed sheet that they are bringing home) as they might be useful to use as settings within their story.

Stately Home Vocabulary

Folly, orangery, ha-ha, priest’s hole, obelisk, cascade, maze, oubliette, moat, battlements, grotto, courtyard, well, tower, spiral staircase, portico, pantheon, trompe l’oeil.

14th November

Rather than set Bond Maths homework today I am giving Class Five time to prepare for International Day next week.

The theme for this year is Africa and they are free to choose any aspect of African Life (Art, dance, food, animals, geography for example) and find out what they can and then present their work to the class in whichever way they wish (poster, discussion, picture, etc) on Monday afternoon.

This will form the foundation for our class assembly on Thursday and be developed through the workshops taking place on Tuesday.

They may, of course, dress up if they wish or bring in items of African food as long as they remember we are a nut-free school.

Tuesday 5th November

What a fantastic night that was! The children were brilliant yesterday! I was amazed that they were so alert today considering the late-night but they clearly enjoyed themselves immensely. They spent much of the first hour of the rehearsal looking around (and up) rather than at the conductor as they just couldn't take in the vastness and beauty of their surroundings. I was really proud of their commitment and performance. I am so pleased that those of you who I did see afterward enjoyed it so much. 

We did not find time for a spelling test today so as time is short this week I have decided to do the spelling test on Wednesday and then wait until Monday to give out a new set of spellings for defining.

Our Mountain peak powerpoint needs to be finalised ready to present next week (either Monday or Tuesday). Two, one hour, lessons need to be put aside for this. They will present their work to Class Six and Miss Hannan.

Finally, as I mentioned last week, I will be at the ISA Autumn Study Conference in Leeds with Mr Abbott on Thursday and Friday. The class will be covered by Mrs Gordon and Mrs Bramley both of whom know the children well.  

Monday 28th October.

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn Term.

Instead of maths homework today I have set Art research homework to be completed by next Monday. (or Tuesday morning as we are at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 4th November)

I have asked the children to produce two A4 sheets of homework explaining the meaning of "Las Vanitas" which must include two examples of late 16th/early 17th Century Dutch paintings and a description of the objects used in the paintings and what they symbolise.

This may be word-processed then saved on a USB and printed out at school in the ICT suite.

Spelling definitions and sentence work are as usual but the test will be on Tuesday rather than Monday of next week.

Mrs Saul

Friday 11th October 

Class V Holiday Homework.

1. Make a final version of their Autumn Poem

The class has been experimenting with descriptive sentences and the children have attempted to create their own poems in the style of “Sea Fever” by John Masefield. The edited copy of the original has come home for refining and to see if they can recreate the rhyming pattern. There is no need to produce a beautifully presented copy of their final poem (unless they want to of course) as we will be using it as a handwriting exercise in our first English lesson back.

        2.Two Bond maths papers.

We intended going through the last Bond maths paper together but completely forgot on Friday so I apologise for the fact that the last test isn’t marked. Please can they do the next two and I will rectify this after half term.

        3. We have started working on our World Mountain Peak Powerpoint and some many of the class want             to add to their presentation over the holiday. Although we will be moving to working on our history                   topic after half term, we will still have time to finish our Powerpoint in our ICT lessons ready for                       presentation to Class 6 during the week beginning 11^th November. I have suggested between 8 and               12 slides and approximately 2 minutes speaking time.

         4.Barnardo’s backing tracks are on our school website under the Upper School Choir heading. We will              need to be able to sing at the concert without our word sheets so I suggest some extra practice over              half term. I am attaching the words document in case anyone has left theirs at school.

          5. If anyone still has a piece of digital artwork that they wanted to enter in the ISA digital art                                competition, the closing date is next Friday, so as long as a copy reaches me (attached to an email)                by then I can organise entering.

Friday 4th November

We seemed to have packed so much into this week!

We started with our Harvest Festival including a very competent recital of our Class Autumn Poem in the Church. We then helped afterward by checking the sell-by dates on all the produce which was much appreciated by the Parish who sent the children a lovely letter of thanks for their efforts.

We are continuing with our focus on observational poetry which will culminate in each child producing a copy of their own poem illustrated in watercolour for display in the classroom.

We should have finished our A4 information leaflets on the Highest Peaks of the British Isles by now but several children haven't. I do not need them to complete this at home (unless they want to) as they can use the ICT room occasionally during breaks for this purpose. For each peak they need one page of A4 which should include the obvious facts (Name of peak including alternative names, country, area/ mountain range/ National Park, height in metres and feet, one or two good images, perhaps a map and some interesting facts of their choice. If they do wish to work on it at home I suggest that they print out at school and save your ink cartridges!!

We will be moving on to creating an individual Powerpoint on one of the Seven Summits (well eight really as we have separated East and West Europe ) and this will be presented to Class Six after half term. More details to follow.

Fabulous news that we raised just over £100 by selling our Roald Dahl sweets. 

Well done to all of Class 5!!

Friday 27th September

Class 5 have been working hard this week on a poem and prayer to perform in the Harvest Festival at St Mary's |Church on Monday.

Their homework for the weekend is to practise their lines so that they feel confident when performing off by heart.

The poem and prayer are in an attachment after this text box.

We hope to see many of you at the service, not forgetting the Macmillan Coffee morning afterwards.

Mrs Saul

Friday 20th September.

Apologies that our edible gift (Roald Dahl inspired sweet) did not come home today.

 We did not complete the packaging to our liking so have stocked the school fridges/ airtight containers and will be bringing them home for you to sample on Monday.

The remaining sweets will be sold on Monday at afternoon break to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

I hope you will agree on Monday that they were worth waiting for.

We will be moving onto observational poetry in our English lessons next week, culminating in an original class poem to perform at the Harvest Festival on Monday 30th September.

Our maths work continues to explore a variety of calculation strategies in all four operations and fractions with Mrs Broadbent.

If, when completing Bond maths homework, anyone finds a question that we haven't recently covered in class, please allow the children to either leave it to have a go at later or give it a go with your support if necessary. Just note in their books if you did this or if they found the question difficult. I can then find opportunities in class to go over these areas.

Enjoy your weekend.

Mrs Saul

Friday 13th (Roald Dahl Day)

Class V have been planning their Roald Dahl inspired non cook sweet and will be bringing their planning home with them so that you can see what equipment and ingredients they will need for next week.

Due to room allocations we have postponed our  making until next THURSDAY afternoon.

We will let them cool/set in the fridge overnight and then sell half and pack the other half for bringing home on FRIDAY.

I can provide icing sugar, digestive biscuits, cocoa powder, egg whites, rice crispies, marshmallows and golden syrup.

All other special ingredients will need to be brought in from home.

I do tend to bring in some cooking chocolate, food colouring, and flavourings but just in case someone forgets something.

We will only have access to the microwave for melting chocolate or sugar/butter mixtures.

They all have a list of equipment required as well (bowls, spoons, aprons etc) which can be brought in in a "Bag for Life" which they can then bring home afterwards.

We will do our best to wash bowls and spoons but this is tricky with just two sinks in the Art room.

It is acceptable to substitute ingredients if you can't get what they have in mind.

They will, I am sure, be brilliant.

Mrs Saul

Class Five performed a very touching farewell song n Assembly which was very much appreciated by Mrs Birtwell, Mrs Swaffer and Mrs Clarke. I think I can safely say that they did not leave the hall dry-eyed!

Well done everyone! A fantastic example of teamwork. 

Don't forget that I am available next week should you want a more detailed break down of this year's test scores.

As you just have three overall standardised scores it is impossible for you to tell exactly which areas may need extra practice and, equally, those where the children did particularly well.

I am happy to send this information in reply to an email so please do get in touch. I also have standardised scores from recent paper tests which, for those who find the computerised tests more stressful, may give a better picture of current attainment.

If you wish to speak to me personally, after the production on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday would be preferable as there is still much to organise before the big event!

Fingers crossed for the sunshine to continue but we are ready with our rainproof ponchos should it change.

Mrs Saul

Apologies that I didn't spot the errors in the spelling list before it went out!!

I wanted the class to learn the past tense hence dispelled is correct but there is of course an "A" in indispensable!!!

Well done, Class Five , that was an excellent performance at the Sevenoaks Festival today! 

Just be prepared, we may be asked to perform at the Prizewinners Concert in the Ship Theatre on Saturday evening as we have a rather large trophy to collect!!! 

The adjudicator obviously really appreciated our attempt to give the poem some solemnity and then jubilation at the end and she made some useful comments to help us improve for the next time we perform.

A big thank-you to Atanas who covered some lines at the last minute when we unexpectedly found ourselves two men down. I was so pleased that the adjudicator pointed out the benefits of performing in this way as it will build your confidence and enable you to take on all that life throws at you in the future.

Well done to everyone who performed over the last two days whether in the Choir, Ensemble, solo events or Musical Theatre. There was so much to be proud of!!!!

A big thank-you from me!

Mrs Saul

8th June.

Our class performance of the poem Carillon by Lawrence Binyon is scheduled for 9.30 am next Sunday (arrival by 9.15 to ensure we are all seated in the Hall for the start). For those in the Musical Theatre Group, our class is immediately after the choral poems.

After talking to the class we have decided that as movement is involved we would like to be dressed in dark plain clothing rather than our uniforms. Many of the class already have plain, black leggings, joggers or tights and black T-shirts that they have worn for drama or mime events earlier this year. These would be perfect. Otherwise anything plain. or if it has a logo, that can be turned inside out, preferably black and that can be easily moved in by our performers would be suitable. The poem itself is sounding excellent now so we will just need to concentrate on the movement part next in our English lessons as our focus for the week will be choral performance poetry.

The Chamber Choir is performing at 9.15 (arrival 9 am) next Saturday and singing second so those who need to be away for another class or event could do so at about 9.30 am.

There are only three choirs in our section as the class has been split into two halves to accommodate the large audiences that this event attracts. We will probably be finished by 10 am.

Chateau Beaumont 20^th-24^th May 2019

What a fantastic week that was!!

We were so lucky with the weather and were absolutely shattered by the end of each day having packed so much in.

The children loved all the excursions and activities.

It was interesting talking to them about their favourite experiences of the week.

They were overwhelmed by the scale of Mont St Michel and the Chateau de Fougeres and loved being on the beach after ice cream at St Malo.

Archery, Fencing and the Night Line also proved very popular, the evening entertainments well organised and the food was fantastic.

The staff at Chateau Beaumont were very complimentary about the behaviour of the children during the week and our coach driver, Nigel, said that he had really enjoyed their company and thanked them for keeping his coach so tidy!

Here are a few photographs from our fabulous French Residential Week.

Some of them are of my activity group but as soon as I have copies of photographs, from Mrs Swaffer and Mr Rushby, I will put some of those on our class web page as well. I will also try to send you a few via your school contact email so look out for those.

Remember that there is plenty of time to complete the Scientist project after half term so don’t do too much written work this week. However, if you have the opportunity to visit either the Natural History Museum or Science Museum for inspiration that would be fantastic.

I hope everyone has a restful time this week after our action-packed adventure in France.

Regards, Mrs Saul. 

Wednesday 8th May.

There will be no spelling set for Homework this week due to the Bank Holiday Monday, Herstmonceux trip yesterday and the disruption caused by traffic issues this morning.

We were unable to take our test until this afternoon which hasn't really left enough time for a new list to be handed out, definitions and sentences by Friday.

I will give out a new spelling list next Monday.

Easter Holiday Homework! 

Bond Maths (2 Papers), Bond English (2 Papers), no spelling or notes for short story writing but instead collect exciting and/or interesting vocabulary in green vocabulary books when reading own choice readers or the guided reading book, and finally revise times tables, decimal/percentage/fraction equivalents, properties of shapes and 12/24 hour clock for once a week mental maths tests next term.

I hope that you all have a lovely Easter break.

Mrs Saul

Firstly can I thank you for your understanding last week when I was unable to mark some of the homework due to other commitments during our school inspection.

Your children were a credit to you. One of the inspectors who visited us made a point of telling me what a lovely class they were and how helpful they had been.

She praised their presentation and standard of work in their books as well as in displays around our room. She particularly liked our calm working environment.

As a result, we are a little behind with our DT musical instrument design so I have decided to tackle this immediately upon our return after Easter.

This will also give them more time to collect items that would be suitable for use in their outdoor installation.

Please do not buy anything for them to use. The focus is on recycling and reusing so materials lying unused at home that will withstand outdoor weathers would be ideal.

The children are working either individually or in small groups but all know what materials they are hoping to collect. Anything that they can’t find will just need a bit of adjusting in their design.

I am not setting any project work for the holiday as I prefer to utilise half terms and the following weeks for this purpose.

Our next project for research will be on a famous scientist or mathematician, in case you want to start collating information and planning useful museum visits.

Bond books will come home, as usual, no spellings but a notebook for collecting short story ideas and a guided reading book to read.

I hope that they will all read other books of their own choice during the Easter break, especially from our school reading list.

Friday 15th March.

Many apologies but in my haste to ensure that I had everything prepared for those class members who are performing at the Bromley Festival this weekend, I completely forgot to hand out the next guided reading book (weekend homework) to those who have not entered. Please could they read from their own choice reader over the weekend and I will rectify this on Monday.

Class Five will be getting their new Bond Maths books this Thursday. They brought their old books home this week to check for any missed questions or corrections that need to be completed.

We will continue our English Cat's poetry focus, building on the skills learned during last week's performance opportunity and return to short story writing when we are finished.

Our Geography work will focus on extreme weather around the world and we will be compiling a world weather event diary.

Mrs Gordon has returned to her weekly maths session with Class V and she will continue to work on fractions, decimals and percentages with ratio and proportion also included. 

Maths will become much more problem solving and data handling based this term with children being expected to decide which operations to use to solve a problem and present their working out and answer clearly.

Well done to all of those who performed their "Cats" poem during the week leading up to the Final of the school Poetry Competition on Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday we were treated to a wide variety of poetry performances from Wordsworth to Eliot. All participants were given feedback from both myself and their peers. They were then given a chance to improve on their performances overnight before sharing their choices again on Wednesday when Mrs Birtwell was present.

She was particularly impressed by those who had chosen a lengthy or more sophisticated poem showing that they were prepared to rise to the challenges and expectations of performance in Class Five. (After all, next year they will be expected to both perform and write their own monologue as well as present a piece by William Shakespeare.) 

It was a little disappointing however that from a total of six children only in the entire school who had not learned a poem, four of them were from Class Five.

We are committed at Steephill School to giving children opportunities to present and perform in a variety of ways thus building their confidence and do expect them to engage in all these compulsory activities. 

Mrs Birtwell has suggested next Thursday assembly time as an opportunity for those who were not able to perform last week to present a poem. I have chosen a cat poem for them to prepare for the occasion.

A huge well done to Ciara who was the overall winner, although Mr Abbott said that the Year Five class was the most difficult to judge as Samhita and Emily also put in fantastic performances. Their poems were all very different yet equally demanding. They all performed with good pace, excellent diction and brilliant expression. Well done!

Class V Spring Half Term Homework.

SpringTerm Project.

Following on from our Autumn Term RE focus on the Islamic faith and life’s journeys, the subject of our next project is Pilgrimages.

Choose a place of pilgrimage as the subject for your project. Find out all that you can about the significance of your place of pilgrimage.

Include where it is found, for which group of people it is important, what is to be found there (what structures were built), how many people visit each year, why they visit, what significant event happened there, how pilgrims travel there and any other facts of interest.

The project needs to be presented in an A4 folder ( file or presentation wallet) and must include a cover title, contents page, chapters, index, glossary if required, diagrams, photographs, handwritten information, printed charts, facts shared in a variety of ways.

Handing in date is Monday 11^th March giving 3 weeks to complete the project so this could be started during half term.

Please finish the last few tests in our Bond Maths book.

Finish reading The Railway Children.

Thursday 31st January

On Friday we will be having a Police visit and be given an opportunity to ask the police officers a question each.

This links with our current PSHEE Topic of Rights and Responsibilities.

Today we have watched a short Powerpoint highlighting the role of the Police. I have asked each child to think carefully and come up with their own question for our visitors tomorrow.

Next Tuesday will be our Science focus day where the challenge will be to "Beat the Flood"

Class V will work in teams with Class VI and will not know their groupings until Monday.

They will then be given some time to plan the making of a house that will withstand heavy rain and flooding. It may be a good idea to have a think about methods they can use to make their house waterproof and flood resistant. The materials should be readily available in the school and surrounding countryside, with a focus on natural materials wherever possible i.e not plastic construction bricks, pre bought lollysticks but sticks, bark, clay, or recycled materials for example.

Thursday 17th January.

This Spring Term has certainly got off to a flying start!

Thank-you to everyone who got their Bromley Festival entries to me promptly. I have spent the last few days collating and cross-referencing and the forms were posted this afternoon.

Everyone seems to be happy with their choices so now we will need to find break and lunchtime sessions when we are all free so that we can start rehearsing. We are all looking forward to it.

Our main Science focus this half term is "mixtures" and our first investigation involves looking at waters from a variety of sources. These could be from a spring, lake, river, pond, water but, puddle, tap, bottle, estuary or the sea. Everybody will need to collect some water and bring it to school in a labelled bottle ready to set up the experiment next Thursday. We will be allocating water types tomorrow, (only one type per child is required) but if you do find it impossible to collect your child's chosen type over the weekend please make a sensible substitution.

I will be attending an ISA Art Coordinators meeting in London from lunchtime tomorrow so my afternoon lesson with class V will be taken by Mr Rushby. Expect something practical!!

Mrs Saul

Happy New Year Everybody!

Welcome back and to a new term in Class V.

I have not set the usually spelling test for homework this week as without a full week to complete handwriting, definitions and sentences this seemed unreasonable.

I have instead set some homograph definitions to be completed in homework books and asked them to select and prepare their eight favourite verses from our Autumn poem to write up in a handwriting assessment in school.

We need to assess handwriting this week as it was noted towards the end of the last term that several children were not achieving the base standard required in year five, meaning that many pieces of work whilst of good content were very difficult to read.  We will be offering a handwriting support session once a week to anyone who needs guidance to ensure that we have evidence in our exercise books of the best standard of work from each child. 

We have also been completing assessments in maths and English to inform any changes that might take place in groupings and much thought has gone into target setting. The children will share their new targets with you shortly.

There has obviously been some good research going on over the Christmas break. I hope everyone enjoyed finding out the answers to all the quiz questions. Results will come home on Thursday.

I would also like to say a big thank you for your thoughtful gifts at Christmas, they were much appreciated. I haven't yet spent my voucher but I will let you know when I have and what I have bought.

It would be great to have some entries to the Bromley Festival from Class V especially as they are such talented performers. I am more than happy to help children choose a poem or section of prose before the closing date next week or maybe some of them would like to enter musical theatre or mime classes.

Please feel free to get in contact with me if you would like further information.

We have a busy term ahead!!

Mrs Saul.

Class V Holiday Homework

I have set two Bond maths papers and spelling (definitions and sentences) as usual.

There is a Christmas Quiz to be completed. Some answers will be straightforward others will need research before answering.

On completion, all answers need to be memorised before returning to school and repeating the quiz without reference to any notes made on the original quiz sheet.

Our guided reading book, Peter Pan, will be coming home for finishing over Christmas and there will be a guided reading task for homework during the first week back.

It would also be a good idea to read another book from the Year Five/ Six reading list. Please remember to keep a record of all books read in the reading diaries. These will be checked and signed on the first Friday of the term and each Friday after that.

We will continue with our history focus on Victorians after the Christmas break. We have been looking at Victorian Inventions and everyone has chosen one of these to research further.

Our first English assignment of the Spring Term will be to create a poster to advertise our Victorian Invention. Everyone has information already gathered in school and I have sent home a copy of a checklist of features of an advertisement with prompts so that everyone can give some thought to the persuasive comments that can be used for the poster. 

I will be giving everyone a pack of cards for Christmas and I would like them to learn a few card games over the holiday so that each person in the class can teach the others to play their chosen game or games. This is to support their class work on following and delivering instructional texts.

We have also been reviewing the first term and setting targets for the Spring Term. When these are revised and refined the class will bring a copy home (in the new year) to keep you informed of their progress and let you know if there are specific areas that made need extra practice.

Most importantly I hope that you all have a fantastic Christmas Holiday and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

Mrs Saul

Just to keep you updated, I have brought forward our ICT module on E-Safety so that it happens over the next two weeks.

This would normally be covered in January but as a result of our informal chats and the children asking questions about how best to stay safe online, it became clear that it would be sensible to explore this further sooner rather than later.

Class V will be creating an information leaflet in their ICT lessons and will bring a copy home at the end of the term so that they can share with you what they have learnt.

The ThinkUKnow website is a good source of information.

Mrs Saul

On Wednesday, Classes V and VI will be taking part in the annual Carol Service at Milestone Academy.

This is led by Reverend Fletcher and involves all our local schools in sharing readings and carols for Christmas.

We are presenting Stille Nacht so need to be sure of all the words to enable us to put in a good performance on Wednesday morning.

I will attach the lyrics for home practice. There are several youtube versions to use, the best being the Vienna Boys Choir.

Well done to everyone who put a tremendous amount of effort into researching their country and presenting what they had found out.

I was particularly impressed that some of the class had chosen to use PowerPoint to present their information and on the whole, these clearly showed an improvement from their first attempt this year where they mostly read the facts from the screen.

It was lovely to see well-chosen images then discover interesting facts as they engaged the audience in their journey. One of our number even included a home shot video embedded in his presentation.

It is always great to see such a variety of ways to present facts from posters and pictures to displays of dancing and of course sharing foods and homemade treats.

Well done everyone!

Thank-you everyone who came to watch our assembly last week.

I thought the class presented themselves well, sharing much that they had discovered as a result of thorough research and improvisation.

I must also say a huge well done to the class members who performed fantastically well at the Maidstone Festival at the weekend. I was very proud of all of them.

I have given the class a little extra time to get their spelling/ definition work done in class thus enabling them to spend this afternoon/ evening practising their International Day presentations.

I'm thrilled that they all took on board Mrs Birtwell's suggestion that they should choose a country that they haven't shared knowledge about before and am really looking forward to hearing(and learning) about their chosen country tomorrow.

Mrs Saul

Class V have been working hard on their assembly this week and hope that you will be able to join us at 9.05am on Thursday to see the culmination of our efforts.

We have drawn our ideas from several curriculum areas so that whilst we are off timetable rehearsing we are still learning and enhancing what we have been thinking about in our English, History, RE and PHSE curriculum. This should make all that they have been studying more meaningful from recounting, presenting, empathising and recognising the leadership qualities that will enable them to become prefects next year.

I didn't want anyone to have to buy anything special to wear so have just suggested simple, plain clothing such as a t shirt (long or short sleeves) or shirt and leggings or joggers. As long as there are no large logos printed across the front.

During the acted parts of the assembly they are on board ship. A few have suggested ripping up an old shirt which they are welcome to do if they wish but it is not compulsory.

I hope to see as many of you as possible on Thursday. The children are really proud of their performance so far!!

Mrs Saul

Monday 5th November.

There will only be spelling definitions and sentences set for homework today.

I had a few technical issues with the Mathletics that I wanted to set so there is no maths homework today.

The children worked very hard on their Mountain Power Points and, despite being quite nervous, showed much promise in spoken delivery and choice of content for their slides.

They appreciated the feedback given by Class Six, Mrs Swaffer and Mrs Birtwell and now know what they need to do to improve their performance.

In general, there was evidence of good research, thoughtfully chosen facts, some good images and clear speaking.

Most of them did a fair amount of reading what was already on the slides so next time they must remember that the slide is a starting point for sharing further collected knowledge and should only be used as a prompt or reference point.

A really good first attempt though. Well done everyone.

Mrs Saul

Hope you all have a fabulous break this half term.

I did forget to add finishing the guided reading book to our list of homework over the holiday period. Then I can distribute new ones on our return.

Some have already done so and I would be expecting them to read either books of their own choice or from the Class 5/6 reading list over the next two weeks.

There are still some children who are forgetting to bring their books and reading diaries with them every day.

I listen to them read individually, as a group and around the class every week and this should be logged in their books along with other reading that they do at home. 

I always keep a record in my planner but like to comment in their books too. It is quite difficult having to go back to my records and then copy what I have written into their reading diary when they give me their book on a different day to the one that I originally heard them read on. 

If they could have their reading diaries and books with them every day on their desks that would be so helpful.

Friday 12th October

Just to confirm that half term holiday homework is as follows.

Bond Maths 2 tests

Spelling practice

Bond NVR 1 test

Bond VR 2 tests (A few people didn't hand these to me in time for marking so please just complete the next two tests and I will endeavour to mark the first one at a later date)

Springboard English 2 pages.

We have been working on our Mountain Powerpoint in our ICT lessons. There will be one lesson in the first week after half term to finish these off but anyone who wishes to finish their Powerpoint during half term and practice to an audience can do so. They will have to present this towards the end of the first week back. 

(Should anyone have technical issues opening what they have done already, please don't worry. They could create prompt cards to go with their slides as they know that one very important thing about powerpoints is that they should be adding extra interesting facts for each slide, not just reading what is there on the screen. I have suggested 8 to 12 slides as a guide.

They have their Maths already and will bring the others home on Friday.

I hope everyone has a well-deserved break and the weather enables all of us to get out and about and visit some interesting places.

Our history focus for next half term is Queen Victoria and life in Victorian times so if you have an opportunity to visit any Victorian attraction or a museum with a good collection of Victorian artefacts it would be most beneficial.

Class V worked really hard last week to prepare their poem for our Harvest Festival. After much exploration and gathering of ideas the whole poem came together on Friday afternoon enabling us to have a quick run through before hometime. According to Mrs Eyre, it sounded fantastic. Fingers crossed for Monday!

I also spent sometime talking to the class about our homework timetable.

They all appreciated that, unlike last year, when many tasks were shorter and needed to be handed in the next day, some of my tasks are more involved and take longer to complete hence the longer time allowed.

I know from the conversations that we have in school, that many of them are involved in all sorts of exciting out of school ventures. I have allowed all of them to come up with a personal homework timetable which includes any clubs that they might attend or other out of school commitments.

We all agreed that on the whole it is best to do homework on the day it is set but when this is not possible they should have a second day in reserve to complete what has been started. 

We have taken Science out on a Thursday as I felt that it was unnecessary due to the non-subject specific task set on Friday which will cover a range of topics including Science.

They should have brought their personal timetable home with them. I hope that this helps.

Mrs Saul

Friday 21st September

Weekend homework is to finish the investigation started in our ART lesson earlier in the week.

I would like two A4 sheets of paper in total.  On one, a description of Dutch Still Life painting with particular reference to "Las Vanitas". On the other , two good examples of paintings from 16th or 17th Century.

We have looked at examples in school and understand a bit about the symbolism involved. We have done some cutting and pasting of useful information, saving it on a USB.

They can either write the results of their research by  hand or word process it as long as it is in their own words.

They can save the images on a memory stick then print them out in school on Monday.

Friday 14th September

Science Homework due in on Thursday is an A3 poster illustrating the seven life processes and using the mnemonic MRS GREN or MRS NERG (whichever preferred) 

The poster should use diagrams, colour and written facts to explain each process. It may be portrait or landscape and A3 paper or card may be taken home from school to work on. 

Thursday 13th September.

Class V have really enjoyed their Roald Dahl inspired sweet task and here are some pictures of the work in progress!!

Firstly planning.

Friday 7th September.

DT

Class V have designed their edible gift (non cook sweet inspired by the writing of Roald Dahl) and will be bringing a list of ingredients and equipment home with them.

They need to bring everything that they need with them on Monday morning.

We have to timetable DT for ten hours per term and this is blocked for the beginning of this term. We have all day Monday and half a day on Tuesday left to complete our task.

I will be bringing some basic ingredients as well, such as digestive biscuits, cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, evaporated milk, icing sugar, cooking chocolate, rice crispies but these are for emergencies when extra ingredients are needed or someone leaves something at home.

We will have weighing scales in school but it would be much quicker if ingredients could be measured at home and brought into school in sealed plastic bags.

We are making double quantities as the class wanted to sell half of their sweets to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

I will have cellophane bags for dislpay and the class will create their packaging for their sweet on Tuesday.

After that date we will be back on timetable for the rest of the term.

Thank you for your support.

Mrs Saul

Tuesday 4th September.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible this afternoon at our curriculum information session at 3pm.

Mrs Saul.

We had a superb day out at Leeds Castle on 26th April with the rest of the school. Class V behaved extremely well and our group were commended for being a wonderful group by the lovely staff who ran our workshop on the Fields of the Cloth of Gold.

Click on the picture to find out more about Leeds Castle on their website!

Well done to all the girls who took part in the netball tournament at Cobham Hall last Saturday!

SCRATCH

It's coding time in Class V, and SCRATCH is proving popular with many class members. Here is a link to the SCRATCH website, where you can make an account and either use SCRATCH online or download a version to your computer.

Try making a simple game, then, try upgrading it with sounds, new levels and anything else you like!

Make animations, stories, music, simulations, what ever you want to.

https://scratch.mit.edu/

Thursday 1st March

As you can see, we tried hard to open school today, the roads around school were pretty treacherous, so before we gave up and went home, some fun was had by the staff on the field...!

Enjoy the snow and have fun, but please stay safe and keep warm too. I'm topping up Mathletics for you to keep your brains from turning to slush like the snow will soon, and well done to those of you who have sent in your thoughts about the poems, I've published them below - keep 'em coming! I've added some French videos below too so you can sing along to French numbers to 50 and learn the months and days of the week if you don't know them already. Don't forget there are maths puzzles and logic puzzles further down our page as well if you get bored! 

See you all next week,

Mrs H. xx

Young Writers

Aaliya wrote a Young Writer's review of Awful Auntie at the Orchard Theatre which has been published online! Have a look - https://orchardtheatre.co.uk/Online/YoungWriters?menu_id=7F8C6166-A70B-480F-82F3-6D0A7AE0FE4C 

Congratulations Aaliya on a super piece of writing!

          Bonjour - time to learn some French!

See if you can use the resources below to improve your French vocabulary.

Science Day Challenge  6.2.18.

Here is everyone having fun building a tower to support a triangular based pyramid - well done to Emily, Aimee and Oliver N for getting their shape 55cm off the ground!

 Just wanted to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone in Class V, and of course, particularly mums and dads for the wonderful selection of cards and gorgeous prezzies I received at the end of term. It was really kind and very much appreciated! The Bluewater voucher was a wonderful surprise and I have to say I have enjoyed every second of splurging on some new clothes in my favourite shops in the sales - here are the bags to prove it!

I trust you all had an excellent time over Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in 2018 for the new term.

Thank you again,

Mrs H. xxx

More Logic Games

What's Inside the Box?

Follow a logical set of rules to solve each puzzle.
Use your mouse to interact with the puzzle and test your ideas.
Very challenging!

https://www.mathplayground.com/logic_whats_inside_the_box.html

Divide

Split a block of wood into a given number of pieces. NOT EQUAL pieces,
just any size pieces! Sounds too easy, right? Yes, but there's a catch.

https://www.mathplayground.com/logic_divide.html

Class V Cups 1.12.17.

Well done to James for getting the work cup this week - quick work in all subjects.

Also to Aaliya for giving two excellent presentations to the class. 

Keep it up Class V!

A great big cup to everyone in Class V this week for working so hard to perform an excellent assembly about George Stephenson. Well done Team!

International Day

Class V really went for it on International Day this year!

Thank you to all parents who helped the children prepare to share all kinds of fascinating facts, costumes and food!

I certainly learned some new things, along with Mrs Swaffer and Year 6 who joined us for a sharing session.

 I'm sure you'll want to enjoy some memories of our day so here are some photos to give you that international flavour we created!

Class V Cups 17.11.17.

Congratulations to Zoe who gets our work cup this week. Zoe has been persevering with some tricky work on fractions, decimals and percentages - good progress, keep it up Zoe!

Class V Cups   10.11.17.

Well done this week to:

Lia for her beautifully presented work in all of her books, 

and 

Isabel for her enthusiastic approach to challenges.

Keep it up both of you!

   Logic Games and Puzzles

Challenge yourself to this mind bending collection of fun brain exercises!

       3.11.17.

This week's cups go to

Aaliya for her excellent contributions in R.E.

and

Avi for politeness and good behaviour.

Well done both of you! :-)

Nutrition Labels

Class V have been learning about nutrition labels in science this week. Here's a quick video as a reminder of some of the things we have covered:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylY0w04AAVk

Mathletics

Don't forget, 10 activities have been set on Mathletics to do over the half term. :-)

Class V Cups

Mrs Heseltine couldn't choose this week so she gave 3 cups - this is unheard of!

The cups went to

Yasmine - for having an excellent attitude to all her work resulting in really good progress.

Oliver N for excellent progress in times tables.

Milo for a consitently high level of work in his books.

Well done all 3 of you - keep it up!

Class Cups from last week

    Our work cup goes to Jia - for applying her new maths knowledge into her work.

                 and 

    Our behaviour cup goes to Oliver M - for always spotting what needs to be done and doing it without being      asked.

Class V's Favourite Books

Aaliya's Favourites:

"The Wishing Spell" by Chris Colfer - This is a really good book. It is full of fairy tales that everyone knows and it completes the mysteries of the tales.

"Running Wild" by Michael Morpurgo - This book is really good for people who love nature.

"The Star of Kazan" by Eva Ibbotson - It is full of mystery and I enjoyed every moment.

"Harry Potter" (the whole series) by J K Rowling

James' Favourites:

"The Midnight Gang" by David Walliams - It's a really exciting and fun story and it's funny. It's really imaginative!

"Goosebumps" the series by R L Steine - It makes you hair stand on end!

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" by J K Rowling - It's a really exciting story. I like Ron because he is funny.

Zoe's Favourites:

"Wonder" by R J Palacio

"Gangsta Granny" by David Walliams - because it's hilarious!

"The Roundhill" by Dick King Smith

Maisie's Favourites:

"Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens - because of his very good vocabulary, it's written very well, creates a good picture in your mind and it is intriguing!

"Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens

"Matilda" by Roald Dahl

We are reading 'The Railway Children' this term. Reading chapter 2 is for homework this weekend - don't forget! ;-)

29.9.17.   We have Two Class Cups this week:

Our Behaviour Cup goes to Maisie - for being a kind and sensitive friend

                                                and

Our Work Cup goes to James - for some excellent multiplication which was neatly laid out too.

Weekly Cup  22.9.17.

This week our Class Cup goes to Emily for being an amazing team leader in the Mind Missions challenges. Well done Emily!

Weekly Cup

This week our class cup goes to Aimee for some amazing place value maths - super-speedy and accurate work including extension work based on Egyptian Heiroglyphs! 

Congratulations to our 3 new House Vice Captains who are as follows:

James - Francis

Maisie - Ford

Avi - Bignold

Their tasks include being our School Council reps, helping with House Assemblies, and supporting their House Captains in whatever way is required.

I'm sure they will do us proud! 

Welcome to Class V's page for 2017 - 18

I hope you've all had a wonderful summer break and are ready for what is bound to be a busy year!

PARENTS:

We have our Class V Parents Information Meeting scheduled for Tuesday 5th September at 3pm, so I'm looking forward to meeting you, the parents of my new class. Many of you I know already of course as I have already taught a number of siblings of this year's Class V. I hope the information will be helpful and there will be a chance to ask questions as well. I've added the timetable and this term's curriculum overview below for you as Word documents - feel free to print and put them on the fridge!

CHILDREN:

I hope you had a great summer break. Let's hope the weather stays summery for as long as possible... see you all soon! :-)

Here's to an educational, productive, creative and fun year!

Regards,

Mrs Heseltine