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.

May 2021

Art

In Art, we have been focussing on the skill of creating a collage. The artist we have been researching is Derek Gores. Derek uses a range of different methods to create his art pieces. We explored some of the methods Derek Gores uses and experimented with these during our art lessons. We have been developing our skills to tear paper (newspaper and magazines) to create a jagged effect and we also compared this with using scissors where we got a neat and tidy finish. We are then going to piece together our collage and hopefully come out with an amazing collage!

English

In English this term, our topic is based on ‘Khalsa Cares’ and we link it to our Geography topic of climate change and global warming. We will be writing a letter to the local MP to persuade him to make some changes in Slough which will better the local area and environment around us. We have been learning some fascinating facts about how climate change affects all of us and reasons why this is occurring around the world. We then moved on to plastics in the environment and how that affects nature, the animals and also humans and how it destroys our planet. We are also learning the features of a letter so we can send it off to him and hope our views are listened to!

Geography

In Geography we have been learning about the effects of pollution on the planet. We started off by defining what pollution was and then we went on to look at many different forms of pollution and how they affect the environment. The children then were asked to create a double spread page on climate change. They had to include the definition of weather and climate as there are a clear difference between the two terms. We then continued to plastics and how plastics affect the oceans and our local environment. Our aim is to write a persuasive letter to our local MP about the use of single plastic and pollution in Slough.

Maths

This term in maths, we focused on problem solving by using the four number operations. Children had to solve 2step and multi-step problems. We first focused on multiplication and then moved on to subtraction. Our strategy for solving problems: Read the question, underline key words and data, decide on the number operation, answer the question and check. We also use the inverse to check our answers. We got better at reading thoroughly and thinking about what the question was before deciding on the number operation.

Music

We have been very proud of the attitude of the students this term as some music restrictions are still in place. The children have been learning the names and lengths of different notes. They have used drums to follow a 6-part rhythm piece keeping in time. In addition, they have written their own rhythms in 4/4 time and played them simultaneously together so that there are many different rhythms playing in time.

By using their rhythms, they are going to learn about drones and dorian modes, follow their music and play their melodies on glockenspiels and chime bars.

PE

This Month in PE we have been learning how to play Cricket.  Children have practiced the various skills required to play Cricket such as throwing, catching, batting and bowling.

Children have also learned some of the terminology associated with the sport such as ‘LBW’ and ‘Over’.

We hope to continue practicing our skills in cricket and learn more of the rules regarding the game.

PSHE

This term we focussed on mental health it was also mental health week where we all got involved. The theme for mental health week was getting connecting to nature. We discussed different ways as to how we could connect to nature such as going for a walk, watching the clouds, watering plants or even just deep breathing in the fresh open outdoors. we then went home and experimented the different ways as to how we connected to nature and sent pictures via class dojo. There were some amazing ways we all connected to nature which helped with our mental health.

RE

In RE we have been focussing on Hinduism. We looked at the life cycle of a Hindu and the important events that happen in our lives. We also looked at the Hindu belief of Moksha (the end of death and the rebirth cycle), Samsara (when the soul passes through the cycle of successive lives) and Karma (deeds carried on in your current life). We will be focusing on these in lots more detail over the term too.

Science

In Science, we have been learning about ‘Materials and their properties. The children have been carrying out various experiments related to dissolving and preserving an ice cube.

Through this, they have been able to identify that the variables they need to think about when conducting a fair test: independent variable; dependent variable and the Controlled variable.

The children have shown great enthusiasm when conducting experiments and especially enjoyed to know what a solution is and when a solution is saturated. They have also been learning how to make predictions and justify them. They now have a much better understanding how to conduct a fair test.

Sikh Studies

In Sikh Studies we have been learning about the 7^th Guru; Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji. Children have been learning stories about Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji and their teachings. The 7^th Guru is known for encouraging caring for the environment and teaching Sikhs about gardening and looking after nature and animals. Children had listened to stories about Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji and written them in their own words using key vocabulary. Children went on to write about the teachings of Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji and how they can apply it in their own lives.