Week Beginning 10th February 2025

During the final week of the half term, Year 5 packed in an incredible amount of learning. They wrote fantastic balanced arguments about the pros and cons of the possibilities of bringing tourism to Antarctica, researching and creating presentations of both sides of their argument in addition to the writing. In maths, they whizzed through multiplying fractions by integers and created their own challenge questions. They continue to hone their guitar skills and completed lots of collaborative work on safer internet day. In French, the children were excited to realise they could order a variety of ice-cream options. as well as recognise them in written and spoken form. The week was wrapped up with a fantastic celebration assembly. The Year 5 team wish everyone a safe and restful half-term, and look forward to seeing you all when you're back!

Week beginning 3rd February 2025

During Children's Mental Health week, this week the children were encouraged to be mindful of their health and well-being, and were introduced to a variety of experiences to help boost and benefit their mental health. There was the opportunity to participate in lunchtime cosmic yoga, we completed flowers that celebrated our achievement and our goals on the petals, we took time to talk about the big issues we face and how we can manage and resolve them. We also finished up our topic on multiplication and division in maths, worked collaboratively on a presentation for our written arguments about tourism in Antarctica, used maps to identify land use and agricultural potential across the UK, continued our musical learning in guitar lessons with MS Mill, and finished up the week with a wonderful visit to Brentwood Cathedral. A very busy week indeed!

Week Beginning 27th January 2025

This week was Energy Saving Week at St Joseph's. There was a big focus on how we can do our part as a school in saving energy and minimising our carbon footprint. In addition to making energy saving posters, we also packed in lots of learning. The children wrote a balanced argument about Ernest Shackleton and the decisions he had to make during his Antarctic Expedition. We began to expand our understanding of the short division method, and we focused on using ambitious and formal language in our writing. We learned about the challenges faced by UK farmers throughout the year as the seasons change, and used data bases to extract information and answer questions. It was a very busy week!

Week Beginning 20th January 2025

This week was an extra exciting week as we spent Wednesday morning learning all about birds of prey, their diets, habitats, habits, and watching them fly around the school hall! We saw a falcon, a hawk, a bald eagle, and a beautiful barn owl. It was so incredible to see them up close! In addition to that, we worked on multiplying 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers in maths, investigated different types of databases in computing, began working on writing a balanced argument in English, and continued reading our text, Holes, in which poor Stanley has begun to realise that Camp Green Lake is no holiday. It's been another busy week for year 5, who have earned a well-deserved restful weekend!

Week beginning 13th January 2025

This week was full of learning for Year 5. In English, they planned and wrote an instructional survival guide for camping in the snowy wilderness, and are formatting their information in the style of a leaflet or guide. In geography, they planned a seasonal rotation of plants that would create a productive school allotment, and categorised mammals by their characteristics in science. In maths, we have moved onto multiplication and division, and practised multiplying two digit numbers in the formal column method. There have been fantastic displays of athleticism in PE and some excellent strumming patterns in guitar lessons. Well done Year 5!

Week Beginning 6th January 2025

Welcome back Year 5! What a busy week. The children have managed to fit a lot of learning into four days! We have started our new book, Ice Trap, about the heroic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton, in which he and his crew were stranded for months in pack ice and had to face the Antarctic elements in their fight for survival. The children have begun to plan their first long write based on this story, a set of detailed instructions on how to prepare for and survive an expedition. We revisited fractions in maths, and the children worked on subtracting fractions from mixed numbers. In French, we have begun to learn how to order ice cream - a very important task - and in geography, we have begun our new topic about agriculture and allotments. The children had a great time identifying potential spaces for a school allotment here at St Joseph's. PE involved interpretive dance in a build up to circus skills, and Science focused on life cycles and the process of aging. A very busy first week back!