Welcome to Life at KPS for Year 5

Mrs Van Rooyen and Miss Sharma 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.

October 2022

Art

We looked at the artist Lubaina Himid. She was born in Zanzibar, now called Tanzania, in 1954, Lubaina Himid is a British painter who has dedicated 40 years to uncovering silenced histories, figures, and cultural expressions.  She paints on a variety of surfaces, including ceramic and wood and some of her art also includes some collages. Lubaina was the winner of the Turner Prize in 2017. This prize is given each year for great visual artists under the age of 50. We are going to complete our piece of art based on her collage work and can’t wait to do our final project!

Computing

During out Computing sessions, we learnt more how to be safe online. It is very important to know about all the dangers that lurk around the Internet and to know how some ‘evil’ people always think how to cause harm others – even online! We learnt how to know what is a safe website, how to avoid online bullies and what to do if we are getting bullied online. We also know now not to share any personal and private details otherwise we are not safe!

English

We have been looking at the topic of ‘Refugees’. Over the past few years, we have heard from so many countries where there’s a war raging or where there has been a natural disaster and that causes people to be displaced. We were writing our own story as a refugee. We watched some videos, looked at images and throughout the whole topic, we realised that it’s not easy to leave your beloved country or home and to be somewhere else away from home! In the process, we solidified our knowledge about fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases and some of us learnt about subordinate clauses and relative clauses.

Maths

This month in Maths we have been looking in detail at our place value. We first began by reading and writing numbers to one million. We know we have to use our place value charts and pay attention to which column each number is in before we can identify the value of the number. We then looked at comparing and ordering these numbers using less than and greater than symbols. We then moved on to powers of 10 and looking at up to 100,000 less. The final part of this topic was rounding. We started at rounding within the nearest 10 and 100 and worked up to rounding within 1,000,000.

Music

The Children have further developed their rhythm pulse and use of dynamics, by following different syncopated samba rhythms.

Following on from that, they have chosen their own samba rhythms and played them using samba instruments and using a staggered start. They also changed the dynamics.

As part of black history month, the children have been researching black musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and Stormzy.

They have focussed particularly on how their music reflects equality for all.

Panjabi

In Year 5 children have been learning 6 sets of Panjabi letters. Children are reading and writing words by using these letters. This month they have also been learning how to make simple sentences in Panjabi like kp (ieh kp hY) and some children are using adjective in their sentences. For speaking and listening our topic for this term is different seasons of the year. Children are learning about autumn season and weather related to this season. Our main focus is on Autumn because they can see the changes in the weather and surroundings, so they can relate it to learning about different colours as well.

PSHE

In PSHE we have been focussing on friendships. We looked at the qualities that make a good friend. We looked at our interests and hobbies and how this can be a discussion for us to make new friends based on common interests. We looked our likes and dislikes and also how these can also help us to make friends by comparing and contrasting things we like and dislike. We also look at what makes a good friend and realised there might be things we need to change to be a better friend! We also looked at different strategies that we can use inside and outside of the classroom that may help us when we are faced with different social dilemmas or problems.

RE

Our RE topic this term is Hinduism. It was perfect timing as we were able to learn all about the Hindu Festival of light – Diwali! We spoke in detail about the story of Diwali, which involves Rama and Sita, and why Hindus celebrate this. We also looked at the traditions and celebrations surrounding the festival. We made comparisons between Diwali and Bandi Chhor. We also focussed on how Hindus can show their commitment to God and how they may worship at home or in Hindu temples.

Science

In Science we have been looking at the topic of ‘Earth and Space’, we have looked the planets, how day and night happen, how the Earth rotates and even learnt about why we have a leap year. We were fascinated to know how seasons work and why some people think the sun is moving but actually the Earth that orbits the sun! We have discovered so much about the Earth and beyond and are now eager to observe the moon and to know how the moon is changing shape!

Sikh Studies

This month children have been learning about the famous Sikh in history Bhai Kannaiya Ji. Pupils learnt about the history of Bhai Kannaiya Ji and extensive facts about their life. Most importantly we focused on the unparalleled act of Seva that Bhai Kannaiya Ji showed by serving water to everyone without distinction. Children then showed their understanding through writing a fact file or diary entry about Bhai Kannaiya Ji to explain their great act of Seva in their own words. Some children used very emotive language when describing the scene when Bhai Kannaiya had to explain their actions to Guru Gobind Singh Ji.