Year 5 Newsletter
Term 1 - Friday 20th November 2015
Welcome to the Year 5 newsletter!
Last week the Year 5 children visited West Island School where we were given the opportunity to participate in a series of orientation activities which included: Music legends, International cuisine, poetry live, art attack and coding. All activities were supported by and featured work from the Year 8 WIS students. The afternoon came to a close with a wonderful performance of Alice in Wonderland, directed by Faust, and impressively put together in only a week! A great experience for Year 5 and the first of a series of events planned with WIS this year.
Well done to all of the Year 5 children who took part in this years 'Arts in the Park' at Victoria Park last weekend. Not only was there a fabulous, entertaining performance from our very own choir but you might have also spotted our colourful Mandala artwork on display around the park.
A reminder that the newsletter will be published every 2 weeks on a Friday. A link will be emailed to parents using the gateway details so please keep your email etc up-to-date.
Camp is on its way...
A big thank you to all of the parents who made it to the camp information evening last week. This was a great opportunity to share the details and camp site information as well as answer any questions. If you couldn't make it, not to worry, as the presentation has been uploaded to the Year 5 homepage of the VLE or can be accessed by clicking here!
Please remember to return your PERMISSION SLIP back to your class teacher ASAP as we are collating all of the details ready for our trip to Sai Kung on the 1st-4th December.
Detailed medical information and emergency contact details...please also update the GATEWAY.
As we get ever closer to camp, please remind your child(ren) that it is their responsibility to pack their own bags so that they know where everything is and are aware of what they have brought! The kit list that has been sent home is a great guide of what to include.
Unit of inquiry
'How the World Works'
Central Idea: Energy may be converted from one form to another and stored in various ways to enhance human progress.
Lines of Inquiry: An inquiry into...
Different forms of energy sources (renewable and non-renewable) Form
How energy is used (transformation) ? Change
What are sustainable energy practices ? Perspective
The children have been busy following the scientific process in order to hypothesize, observe, record and draw conclusions from various scientific experiments. They have also began to develop their research skills in order to answer questions about energy usage and sustainability. Today, a visitor from En-trak presented to the children on the tracking system we can use to monitor energy usage at Kennedy School. Ask your child(ren) to tell you more about this. This week they will be working on a renewable or non-renewable energy source of their choice to research (this weeks homework) and present to others as the UOI draws to a close.
Homework reminder: Please bring in any 330ml size cans/tins (empty) for the experiments the children have planned for this week.
Maths
The children are currently working on addition and subtraction in number Maths groups.
A reminder that the Year 5 'I Can Statements' for Addition and Subtraction are :
- I can model addition and subtraction of decimal fractions up to hundredths using base 10.
- I can mentally add three or more two digit numbers.
- I can model subtraction of whole numbers using tokens, bundling sticks and/or base 10 blocks.
- I can solve addition and subtraction problems, involving decimals, using a range of strategies: Jump Strategy, Bridging to/through 1/.01, Place Value Partitioning, Compensation, Known Facts.
- I can add decimal numbers using expanded formal written method.
The children are continuing to enhance their data handling skills by analyzing the data made available from En-trak, which can also be accessed from home via the VLE or by clicking here. We will also be inquiring into measurement through investigation in the coming weeks.
5K - WIS visit: Coding workshop
5B - Chalk talk: UOI visible thinking
5D - WIS visit: Music legends
Games
Year 5 games on a Tuesday is going well and it has been great to see the children progress through a series of skills.
***Important reminder***
Children playing rugby are strongly recommended to wear a pre-moulded mouth guard to every session.Children playing hockey must wear a pre-moulded mouth guard, long socks and shin pads to every session. All available at the PTA!
The first rotation of games for 5 weeks is almost over and the final week will continue as:
DRAGONS - Netball
LIONS - Rugby
PHOENIX - Hockey
UNICORNS - Athletics
Please refer to the previous Kennedy Newsletter for the Games rota.
Battle of the Books reminder
Battle of the Books is up and running every week on Wednesday. It's a lunchtime club for Year 5 & Year 6 and will be held in the library during the lunch break each week. We'll be combining the two year groups so please note the times below and remind your child.
Time: 12.45 - 1.15pm
Year 5 will eat their lunch at 12.30 and then come up to the library for a 12.45 start.
Important Dates:
- 23rd November - 5K trip to the Zero Carbon Building
- 26th November - 5B trip to the Zero Carbon Building
- 26th November - Masai warrior visit to Kennedy School
- 1st-4th December – Year 5 Camp, Sai Kung