THIS TERM'S THEME

'Another Time, Another Coast'

 In our learning this term, we will be learning about the History of our local area - focusing mainly on the changes in Plymouth. We will then continue our learning by focusing on the pilgrimage to America from Plymouth. We invite parents and carers to attend our learning celebration on Thursday 26th March at 2.30 pm.  

P.E AND DANCE DAYS

PE for Magpies will be on Monday afternoons and Dance will be on Tuesday mornings. Please ensure your child comes to school with the correct kit, which is clearly labelled. For more information about kit requirements, please visit our 'Physical Education & School Sport' Page. 
We will ensure that PE kits are sent home at the end of every half term.  

HOME LEARNING DAYS

Home learning will be sent home on Fridays and should be returned to school on Wednesday. Home learning should be completed to the best standard possible and Mathletics and Times Table Rock Stars should also be completed weekly. We celebrate the efforts of Mathletics and Times Table Rock Stars in our assemblies with special class shout outs and certificates.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday 28th January - KS2 Fire Safety Talk

27th/ 30th January - Parents evening

17th February - Half Term Begins

12th March - Reach Outdoors Begins

16th March - Bikeability Group 1 Begins

26th March - Learning Celebration

30th March - Easter Holidays Begin

MEET THE TEAM

If there are any issues or concerns, please feel free to come in and see your teacher (Mr Passmore) or alternatively please contact a team leader (Mrs Gidley and Mrs Foster).

bpassmore@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

rgidley@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

lfoster@white-rock-primary.torbay.sch.uk

ACADEMIC YEAR 2019/2020

SPRING TERM

Spring term curriculum map

Tuesday 17th March 2020 - Mayflower Performance

Today, we watched a performance by Katy Cawkwell, who was performing the story of the Mayflower to the whole of Year 5. The performance was excellent and it will help with the class' story writing in literacy.

Some of the children said about about the performance:

Oscar - "She was a good storyteller, sharing ideas from different points of views."

Oakley - "It was a fun performance and some parts were interactive."

Learning Journey - Wednesday 11th March

In our learning this week, Year 5 have been looking at the story and events of the Mayflower. We have read part of 'The boy who fell of the Mayflower' and acted out different parts of the story. The children did exceptionally and were able to portray different emotions and expressions through their actions. 

Thursday 5th March 2020 - World Book Day

For World Book Day this year, Year 5 children read with Year 1 children whilst in our fancy dress!

Science - Wednesday 4th March 2020 - Investigating forces

Today in Science, Year 5 investigated the hypothesis: "Objects with different masses will fall at the same speed". The children explored dropping a range of objects with different weights and timed these on ipads to see how long they would take to drop 1 meter. The children then used their mathematical skills to input their findings into a line graph.

Geography - Wednesday 26th February 2020 - Key events in Napoleon's past.

Carrying on in the Napoleonic Era, Year 5 used atlases to help locate and label where Napoleon's key historical events took place. They worked on their map skills to locate different countries and cities around Europe, whilst also learning about Napoleon's past.

Thursday 13th February 2020 - Napoleonic Era

Year 5's theme of 'another time, another coast' has moved on from Plymouth's time in the industrial revolution, going backwards to the Napoleonic era. As an introduction to the topic, Magpies looked at primary and secondary sources to explore how different classes of people were treated back in these days. All the children put themselves in the shoes of either: the king, 1st, 2nd and also the third estate (the poorest in society) and in pairs, they had to answer questions about time in this era and how they felt about the treatment of different people. The children offered some excellent explanations about work and living conditions in this era. Well done Magpies!

Music - Wednesday 12th February 2020 - Ukuleles

Today in Magpies, we learnt how to hold a ukulele and how to play different chords on them. We started by learning the chords C and F and applied them to songs. We will continue to develop an understanding of chords and how to incorporate them together throughout a range of songs. Some children were extending their skills further by using a variety of chords they have previously learnt.

Art - Friday 31st January 2020 - Drawing with perspectives

Today in Magpies, we practised drawing streets/landmarks in Plymouth from the modern day and in the past. We had to identify where the vanishing point was and explored how to create a 3D effect to the picture. Some of these drawings will be displayed on the new Year 5 board by our classrooms.

Wednesday 22nd January 2020 - Home Learning - Research of Plymouth

In Year 5, a challenge was set for home learning by using the skills they've learnt about finding information from primary and secondary sources to explain how Plymouth had changed over time. The home learning was of extremely high standards and the children were able to apply their research into their learning throughout the week and also through the term. Some children even visited Plymouth to develop their understanding of this city. Thank you to parents for supporting the Year 5s in completing their home learning this week.

These are just some of the amazing pieces of home learning that were produced.

PSHE - Wednesday 15th January 2020

In PSHE, Magpies have been learning about peer pressure and how it can be used positively, but also negatively. We looked at a range of different scenarios and acted them out in pairs, in order to determine whether they were portraying positive or negative peer pressure. There was an emphasis on using emotion and actions to demonstrate how someone would feel in these situations. 

Maths - 8th January 2020 - Calculating Perimeter

Maths this week has looked at how we can measure and calculate different shapes to find their perimeter. There has been a mixture of practical and problem solving activities for Year 5 to work out. The pictures below show the beginning of the topic, when the task was to measure the perimeter of different shapes.

ACADEMIC YEAR 2019/2020

AUTUMN TERM

Autumn term curriculum map

Dance - Wednesday 18th December 2019

In Dance, Year 5 have been creating their own dance performances to represent different emotions. First came their solo performance which expressed loneliness and as they move on, they form a duet to show friendship and their emotions changing to happiness. They then joined together in groups of 6 to show acceptance with friends and this portrays a sense of community with different groups becoming one and all connected.

Science - Tuesday 10th December 2019 - Separating Materials

This week, Magpies made an alien soup which was created using a range of materials such as: sand, paper clips, water, salt, food colouring and pasta to investigate whether we could separate the materials back to their original properties. Jack questioned "will the salt turn yellow when the water evaporates because of the food colouring?". Magpies managed to retrieve some of the objects, although found that they were unable to retrieve the food colouring after it had mixed with the water.

Music - Thursday 5th December 2019 - Creating Musical Notations

In Music, Year 5 created their own musical notations and body percussions to perform. They had a short period of time to discuss and walk through  their performances before performing them to the class either individually or in pairs. They were challenged with making a range of sounds without using their voices. Well done Magpies!

Science - 25th November 2019 - Materials

This week Magpies have been carrying out scientific experiments to understand the differences between solutions and mixtures. We looked at how particles differ between liquids, solids and gases and discussed reversible and irreversible change. We noticed that we could separate salt-water, which showed it was a reversible change. We also created posters in groups to demonstrate this process and presented these to the rest of the class. We will now be writing an explanatory text to explain how the process of separating salt and water.

Wednesday 20th November 2019 - Buddhism Workshop

Today, Year 5 had a visit from Jeremy and Jeanine Woodward who are Buddhist.  As part of our Religious Education learning, they talked to us about the Buddhist faith. Some of the main precepts of Buddhists is to be kind, to treat each other with respect, not to kill, and not to tell lies. We came up with some of our own precepts. We also looked at a map to see where the Buddhist faith originated and how the faith spread around Asia. 

Our visitors explained to us what Karma means to Buddhists. They explained that doing something with intent comes back to you. Doing something kind can have a positive impact just as doing something unkind with intent may have a consequence. They explained that they believe that everything in life is interlinked.

Jeanine showed us a piece of paper and got us to think about how making the piece of paper is interlinked. From the people who cut the trees down, to the lorry drivers who transport the paper, she explained that we need all the links to work together.  

As Buddhism spread throughout Asia, there became different strand of Buddhism. They have different artefacts too. A statue or ornament of Buddha is there to remind them of the first Buddha. It is not who they worship. Prayer wheel, they put mantras inside and you then spin it so that they prayer are set throughout the world.

Prayer flags have the wind horse in the middle and they have mantras written around them. They are left in the wind. They are just left them for the mantras to spread even when they get tatty. Each colour represents something: Blue- Sky, White – Air, Red – Fire, Green – Water and Yellow – Earth.

Anti-bullying week - 11th - 17th November 2019

Over the duration of this week, Magpies took part in a range of anti-bullying activities. On Tuesday, the whole class participated in wearing odd socks as part of a national campaign to show that everyone is unique. We had a go at creating our own socks to show that every design is different, pictured is just some of the socks we designed.

Religious Visit - Wednesday 6th November 2019 - Humanist

Today in Magpies, we had a Humanist come in to tell us about their beliefs and how it differs from other beliefs. We considered how different objects can have different meanings to people. There was a lot of reflective learning and we finished the lesson by looking at the 5 things that make us happiest.

Art - Evaluating Christopher Ofili's Artwork - Thursday 31th October 2019

Today in Magpies we evaluated the work of artist Christopher Ofili. The painting we looked at was called Afrodizzia and we explored how he used certain colours to express his feelings. We concluded that the bright contrasting colours presented a positive and joyous view towards his emotions. We then used different colours in our paintings to explore how we can use this to contrast and harmonise our work.

Reach Outdoors - Kayaking - Wednesday 16th October 2019

As part of our Outdoor and Adventurous activities learning, we were lucky enough to take part in Kayaking at Goodrington with Reach Outdoors. After bringing the kayaks back to shore, we managed to get in the sea for a little swim!

Monday 14th October 2019 - RE - Hinduism Workshop

As part of our Learning Journey topic 'The same but different', we have been learning about different religions. Today, we all took part in a workshop about the Hindu faith. We learnt about the different goods such as Bramha who is the Creator God, Vishnu the Preserver God and Shiva the Destroyer God. We also found out that Hinduism is one of the oldest Religions in the world.

Wednesday 9th October - Dance - Zamble African Dance Company

This morning, Zamble African Dance Company visited the school and performed Assembly with all the children. They were involved in traditional African dancing and chanting.

Ocean Youth Radio - Y5 "The Same But Different" - Monday 7th October 2019

In Year 5 this week, we were able to take part in a workshop in link with our theme. "The Same But Different". Our class recited the poem "The British" by Benjamin Zephaniah, which was recorded and aired to listeners. 6 children from Magpies and 6 children from Merlins' class were selected to broadcast their learning live. Have a listen!

Science - Circuits - Tuesday 1st October 2019

In science this week, Magpies were predicting and investigating different materials to discover whether they were conductors or insulators. We tested this by creating a circuit consisting of a bulb, wires and a battery. We then put added different materials to the circuit and if the bulb still lit up, then we knew the material was a conductor, if it didn't it was an insulator.

We concluded that if objects were metal, then they would conduct electricity.

Dance - Wednesday 25th September 2019

Today in dance, Magpies used a range of dance moves to express their emotive language. They then were tasked with creating a solo performance that would be performed at the end of the lesson. The dance was performed to the song 'Just give me a reason' and they were tasked with including the following in their performances:

Face in the palm of the hands

Spin/Turn

Fall to the floor quickly

Stand up and reach out

The solo performances were excellent and it was clear to see the emotions the children were attempting to show.

Guided Reading - 20th September 2019

This week in our Guided Reading sessions we were exploring different books which are challenging, yet exciting. Group 5 have been focussing on 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and some groups have been looking at the popular pantomime story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. We have completed a range of activities (questioning, inference and prediction) to demonstrate our understanding of the stories.

Monday 9th September - Populations of different places

Today in Magpie's class we worked in small groups to look at the population of different towns and cities. These were given in the form of place value counters, so we then deciphered these to find the population of these locations and then wrote them in number form.

Science - Classifying Materials - Friday 6th September 2019

In today's science lessons we looked at a range of materials and discussed their similarities and differences. We then had a go at classifying them into Venn and Carroll diagrams by either writing or drawing the materials in them. We looked at a range of key vocabulary that we could classify them under:

- Transparency

- Absorbency

- Hardness

- Flexibility