Welcome to Life at KPS for Year 5

Mrs Van Rooyen and Mrs Chahal warmly welcome you to Year 5.

The aim of this page is to highlight some of the fantastic learning that has been happening in Year 5, this page will be updated monthly, with photographs and information about the learning we have completed during the month.

We hope you enjoy looking through these updates and do discuss your child’s learning with them to celebrate their success. We look forward to any suggestions you may have to make your child’s learning a pleasant experience.

January 2021

Art

For art we have linked in our topic for this term to our art unit. Our topic was about the Romans. We looked at sketching still imagery and also designed our own design for a Roman shield, which we made of random materials. As a mini-DT project, some of us also made our own swords and Roman shields- just like the ones the Romans used to use when going into battle. As this was done from home, we used objects around our house such as cardboard, pens, paints, foil and colours to create some great Roman shields. We had some amazing creative art work shared by everyone.  We used also an online website to create our very own Roman mosaic! This was great fun!

English

We have been working so hard in English this term. We have been writing to inform. Our topic has been the Romans and we were working towards writing a non-chronological report. We have looked at how to write a report, report features as well as the language features we had to include in our reports. We looked at using expanded noun phrases, fronted adverbials, relative clauses, subordinate clauses and some Alan Peat sentences types. We had to carry out our own research but found some great information about different elements linking to the Romans. It was excellent to see such a range of topics researched.

History

We had a really exciting topic this term – the Romans! We learnt so much about this group of people, who invaded Britain in 43AD! The magnificent, impressive Roman Empire conquered the entirety of the Mediterranean, North Africa and a great portion of Europe and many other countries too. We studied the map of the world during Ancient Roman times and compared it with today and noticed how borders of countries changed quite a lot. We learnt from the Romans how to be an effective leader, to be disciplined and how organised they were in the military. We also learnt how to structure the politics and how to be practical and achieve excellence in what we do. The Romans were great engineers and developed systems such as the Roman numeral system, which we still use today. Other developments we gained: trade, excellent roads, how to build strong houses, heating systems and knowledge, just to name a few. We enjoyed the Romans and can’t wait to learn more about our next History topic!

Maths

We started the term with more of the multiplication and division of 2-4 digits x 2 digits and division was 2-3 digits ÷ by 1 digit. Then we moved on to fractions. To do well in fractions, you need to know your multiplication and division times tables! We started off with some recap on Y4 fractions and then moved on to the harder bits. We learnt about fractions of equivalence, fractions more than 1 and how to convert improper fractions to proper fractions. We also learnt about sequencing of fractions and order and compare fractions less than one and greater than 1 whole.

Music

I am so proud with year 5’s participation to online learning.

The children have been learning about music that would’ve been heard or played during Roman times.

They have responded to film music from the film ‘Gladiator’ using musical terms such as dynamics, tempo, timbre, pitch and instrumentation. They then listened to examples of fanfares and discussing the criteria needed to create their own. We looked at how music is placed on a stave using the acronyms – see the image. They then followed the rhythm of a well-known fanfare and created their own using the notes C E and G.

Panjabi

In year 5, we have been learning about the full Panjabi alphabet – all 8 sets. We have been using our knowledge of the full alphabet to read and write Panjabi. As well as being fluent in the alphabet, we are comfortable using 4 of the Punjabi symbols such as: siharee, biharee, kanaa and laavan. We are beginning to use laavan in our sentences. As well as written Panjabi, we have been looking at the names of the seasons and their corresponding weather.

PE

This term, children have taken part in online Zoom PE lessons! 

We have focused on fitness and exercise with workout routines as well as playing fun PE games such as ‘Would You Rather’ and ‘Deal or No Deal – Fitness’. 

Children have learnt new exercises such as ‘Kangaroo Kicks’, ‘Frog Jumps’ and the ‘Cheetah Run’. 

We have also spent a little time meditating towards the end of our lessons to help clear our mind and focus our thoughts. 

It has been important that children do keep fit exercises daily so we have also challenged children to repeat the exercises every day at home to maintain their health and fitness! 

PSHE

This term we have been focussing on what makes us special. We looked at characterises that make us unique, the qualities that make us a good friend and also the different roles we play in society such as sister, brother, cousin, daughter, son etc.

We also learnt about mental health and to look after our mental health and well-being are just as important as looking after our physical well-being. We also had a kindness calendar we used during this week and carried out acts of kindness for others and also ourselves. We also celebrated mental health week by wearing our clothes inside out! This is to raise awareness how we don’t know how people feel on the inside unless we talk about it.

Religious Education

In RE, our topic has been Christianity and we looked at topics such as: Who was Jesus, what Christians celebrate and where Christians celebrate. We learnt about that Christians go to Church on Sundays and learnt that there are different parts in the Church. There is the pulpit for the priest to read from the Bible and to explain the importance of the message. Christians sing hymns in the Church, listen to the reading and present an offering, which is to support the community. We also learnt that the Eucharist is to take bread and wine and this is to remind us for the fact that Jesus died for our sins and that He has forgiven us and that we need to forgive others also for the wrong they do to us.

Science

This term our topic has been forces. We understood how forces are a push pr pull on an object and discussed some of the forces we are already aware of.  We looked at contact and non-contact forces and the importance of these forces in our daily life.  We looked deeper at friction and the impact it has on our world and the significance of this. We also discussed different types of friction such as air resistance, upthrust and water resistance. We also looked at magnets and the everyday use of magnets. We even found out that our fridge in the kitchen works with a magnet in the door!