Year 5 Newsletter
Term 2 - Friday 13th January 2017
Welcome to the Year 5 Newsletter
Dear Parents,
Welcome to Term 2 of the school year! We hope you all had a fabulous festive season and the New Year resolutions are going well?
The children have come back from the extended holiday full of energy and enthusiasm. We dived straight back into our current Unit of Inquiry by sharing the artefacts the children had brought in and making the connections from past to present. There were some amazing mementos and keepsakes, and we even have someone who is related to Captain Cook!
This term is a shorter one, but no less busy, with some exciting learning experiences ahead. We have just finished Book Week which has been full of reading based activities in the classrooms and all around the school. Look out for photos below.
Next week all of Year 5 are off the the theatre to watch a 'Horrible Histories' performance that corresponds to our current unit of inquiry.
We also have our new hall which is now up and running. The children will get a chance to shine on-stage when they share their class assembly with you. Class assemblies will be occurring from the end of March until the end of term 3. Please keep an eye on the Important Dates section in future newsletters.
We again thank you for all your support and look forward to continuing the partnership this year.
Happy New Year from The Year 5 team.
Unit of Inquiry
We are now mid-way through our trans-disciplinary theme 'Where we are in Place and Time'.
Central idea: Evidence of past civilisations can be used to make connections to present day societies.
Lines of inquiry:
Characteristics of civilisations and societies (Form)
Connections between past and present (Connection/Reflection)
Processes involved in collecting, analysing and validating evidence (Function)
Classes have explored the book 'Weslandia', where the main character sets up his own unique civilisation. The children are now in the process of researching ancient civilisations and inquiring into the different features that make it a civilisation. We are using the acronym GRAPES to help categorise the different features.
G - Geography
R - religion
A - Achievements
P - politics
E - Economy
S - Social structure
Horrible Histories
As part of the unit, next week all of Year 5 will be attending the theatre performance of Horrible Histories - Awful Egyptians. Due to ticket limitations we don't require any parental support for this trip, thank you. We will be leaving at 11am and returning towards the end of lunchtime. Lunch will be a little later so please ensure your child has a significant snack before we go to get them through until lunchtime. There will be no Y5 Games on Thursday afternoon but we would still like the children to wear their PE kits for the trip please.
Minecraft
Also as part of the Unit of Inquiry, Mr Tibble will be working with each class over several sessions, allowing the children to explore different ancient civilisations through the use of the computer game, Minecraft. The gaming element is switched off but the characters can still explore virtual reconstructions of what life may have been like in each civilisation. Always a favourite part of this unit!
Book Week
Breakfast Fitness Club - A message from the PE Department
Dear Parents,
The Breakfast Fitness Club was extremely popular in Term 1. However, there is currently insufficient interest to justify proceeding.
The club involves developing running technique while improving a child's general fitness.
Children will receive training on the Northwing Roof as well as at the HKU Track.
The Breakfast Fitness Club will run on Tuesdays from 7:30am to 8:15am commencing on Tuesday 17th January.
Cost of attending this club is $750 for 10 sessions.
Please register your child through the activity section of school Gateway system.
We will review numbers on Friday 13th January.
Kind regards,
Tim Luck
Head of Physical Education
Important Dates:
- 19th January - Year 5 to watch Horrible Histories theatre production
- 26th January - Chinese New Year holiday. Note, this is a Thursday and school finishes at the normal time of 3pm.
- 9th February - Year 5&6 Sports Day (8:45am - 12:20pm)