Year 5 – Simmonds Class

Simmonds Class 2023-24

Welcome to Simmonds Class! I hope you all had a very happy holiday, and feel ready and excited for the year ahead. We certainly do! Please check this webpage regularly, as it will be updated weekly with news of what we've been up to in Year 5. Homework, spellings and important letters will also be uploaded onto the pages above.

If you have any questions or queries, please don't hesitate to contact us on:  lochiltree@brentryprimaryschool.org.uk or mlawrence@brentryprimaryschool.org.uk 

 Mrs Ochiltree and Mr Lawrence  

Friday 8th March

We’ve had a great week celebrating English Week this week. The children have taken part in Book Swaps, enjoyed a tea party, and dressed up as their favourite book characters. Well done to our best costume winners, Isla and Joey. What a fantastic effort!

Friday 1st March

This week, we were treated to a STEM workshop led by the engineers at Airbus. They taught us all about how planes are made, and the children had a go at making their own aeroplanes to race in the playground. Well done to Lexi, whose plane went the furthest! An engineer in the making!

We started our new D&T unit this week, and our first lesson was a challenge to build the tallest freestanding structure, using only paper! The children did brilliantly, and I couldn’t quite believe how tall the structures were by the end!

Friday 12th January

A little bit late, but…. Happy New Year! It’s been a great start to the year in Simmonds Class. We’ve all settled back into the school routine now, and are ready for all that 2024 will bring!

We’ve been blowing off the Christmas cobwebs in P.E., with a focus on Fitness this term. We’ve been exploring the different areas of fitness, such as stamina and flexibility, and the children have been testing themselves in each of these areas. 

In Art, we started a new unit - Plants and Flowers. The children used oil pastels to create these fantastic drawings this week. Wow!

Friday 15th December 

We’ve had a fantastically festive last week of term. There have been Christmas crafts, Christmas carols and Christmas Dinner Day!
 

The children have all been amazing this term, and we wish them all a very merry Christmas. See you in 2024! 

The children have had so much fun cooking with Mr Clarke this week. As part of our DT lessons, after tasting seasonal vegetables, they designed a well-balanced, seasonal meal in groups. Then Mr Clarke taught them how to make it! The children loved tasting them all. I think the most popular was the spaghetti bolognaise 😋.

Friday 1st December

This week, Year 5 started a D&T unit - Seasonal Food. We discussed the importance of trying to eat seasonally, and looked at where our food comes from. The children then tried lots of different seasonal vegetables, including carrots, butternut squash and kale. On the whole, the vegetables went down very well! I never knew cauliflower was such a favourite!

Next week, we will be designing a seasonal meal, and cooking up a storm with Mr C.

Friday 17th November 

It’s Anti-Bullying Week this week, so in our PSHE lesson, we discussed what bullying means, and things we can do to stop bullying from happening at all. The children worked in groups to create a Snakes and Ladders style game, writing things that could make bullying worse at the top of the snakes, and things that can stop bullying at the bottom of the ladders. It really got the children thinking, and they did a great job. 

Friday 10th November

We had some amazingly spooooooky costumes this week for our Spooktacular day!

Friday 3rd November

We were treated to some spooky baking with Aspens this week. The children made bread and biscuits, and decorated them for Halloween. Delicious!

Friday 20th October

The children brought in some amazing Ancient Greece projects this week. We had artwork, written work and PowerPoint presentations, each one unique and equally impressive. Well done to all of the children (and their parents!) who put in so much effort with their projects. 
 

Happy half term! 😀

Friday 13th October

On Tuesday this week, we celebrated World Mental Health Day with a Hello Yellow Day. In Simmonds Class, we read ‘Ruby’s Worry’ (see the video link below) and this started off a great discussion about how to deal with little worries we might have. As Ruby found out, it’s always good to talk about our worries, as it makes them smaller. We then got creative and made our own ‘Worry Monsters’. You can see some of them in the pictures below.

Friday 6th October

This week has been all about poetry! We celebrated National Poetry Day on Thursday with a brilliant performance of ‘What Do People Need?’ by Benjamin Zephaniah in our whole school poetry slam. The children also wrote their own versions of the poem, which you can see below. Well done Simmonds Class!

In maths, we have completed our unit on addition and subtraction this week. The children have worked their way through some challenging multi-step problems. Next week, we will start working on multiplication. 
 

We learnt all about the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece this week, looking at drawings on Ancient Greek pots to find out information. Don’t forget that projects are due in next Monday! I can’t wait to see the results of the children’s hard work 🤩. 

Friday 29th September

Another great week in Simmonds Class - how are we almost in October already?! The children have been working hard on adding and subtracting, using both mental strategies and written column methods. We also started Times Table Rocks Stars up again, and the children impressed me with how speedy they are with their times table recall.

It's National Poetry Day next week, so in preparation, we have been learning all about the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. We watched him perform a poem called 'Talking Turkeys', which the children loved. We will be learning one of his poems for the poetry assembly next week. They should have brought home a copy of the poem to practise.

In Music, we have been learning how to play the cups! It wasn't easy, but some of the children have spent their lunchtimes practising this week, and the results are below. I think you'll agree, these children have rhythm!  

Friday 22nd September 

We’re well and truly settled back into the school routine now, and the children are already impressing me with the focus and attitude in class. In English, we spent the week planning and writing up our Ellie Simmonds biographies, which are fantastic. The children also tried really hard in their first Year 5 spelling test yesterday. 

In maths, we have been working on place value in numbers to 1,000,000, which we will continue with on Monday. 

We have continued to find out about the Ancient Greeks, and I have enjoyed hearing all about the preparation the children have been doing at home for their projects. Don’t forget, they can always come and have a chat about what they’re doing if they’d struggling at all!

In PE, we are doing Dance this term, and we had fun on Thursday creating dance routines to Uptown Funk. This lot have rhythm!!

Back to School Meeting

Thank you so much to everyone who cam along to the Back to School Meeting last Thursday. For those of you who weren't able to make it, I have uploaded the PowerPoint presentation I used below. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Simmonds Class 2022-23

Term 6! 

I can't quite believe it but here we are, in the last term of the year! This year has been a funny one, with its ups and downs but I can honestly say we have had a blast! 

Year 5 are growing in confidence and maturity, just in time to be moving up towards the top of the school. They have been working extremely hard and will need to continue to do so in this final term. But as always in my class, we will work hard and play hard so there will be lots of lovely things to look forward to as we approach the end of the school year. Details to follow!

If you have not yet paid for the Whole School Trip to Noah's Ark, please do so as soon as you can. I completely understand that times are tough financially, but this is a full day out and one the children will thoroughly enjoy I'm sure! 

As always, my door is open anytime so anything you would like to discuss about your child before the end of the year, please do come and find me or send me an email on: zgarland@brentryprimaryschool.org.uk

Finally, a few dates for the diary for this term: 

Friday 9th June - Dress Down Day - bring a bottle for the Tombola

Thursday 29th June - Sports Day!

Monday 17th July - Noah's Ark Trip!

***Please keep checking "Gallery" for photo updates of what we get up to!*** 

Term 5! 

The Summer terms are finally here and we are very much hoping to get out into the sunshine and do some outdoor learning! Fingers crossed this pesky rain disappears very soon. 

Lots of things to look forward to this term: Coronation Day, The Dogs Trust visit and Foam Disco just to mention a few! Dates for the diary can all be found on this page so do have a scroll.

Reminder: all spellings are put on the webpage every week so if your child accidentally 'forgets' to take theirs home, no fear, they can always be found! 

Dates for the Diary:

27th March - Longleat Visitors! 

30th March - Poetry Day - in school only

31st March - Last Day of Term - Dress Down Day - bring an item for Tombola!

17th April - Back to School - Term 5 begins

18th April - Explorer Dome comes to Brentry! 

27th April - Potential Teacher Strike Day

1st May - Bank Holiday - no school

2nd May - Potential Teacher Strike Day

8th May - Bank Holiday - no school

15th May - Dogs Trust visit Brentry! 

24th May - Foam Party Disco! 

26th May - Dress Down Day - bring an item for Tombola! 

26th May - Half Term

5th June - back to school for the final term

29th June - Sports Day! 

Term 3 dates for the diary:

Monday 20th Feb - Start of Term 3

Monday 27th Feb - English Week begins!

Monday 27th Feb - Spelling Bee, Bedtime Stories- 5.30-6.30pm

Thursday 2nd March - *Potential* Strike Day

Friday 3rd March - World Book Day - dress up as your favourite book character OR come into school in PJs with your favourite book to share with the class.

Parents Evening TBC

Monday 6th March - Science Week

Wednesday 15th March - *Potential* Strike Day

Thursday 16th March - *Potential* Strike Day

Monday 27th March - Poetry Week begins

Term 2 dates for the diary: 

3rd November: Spooktacular Fireworks!

7th and 9th November: Parents Evening

14th November: Odd Socks Day

14th November: Anti-Bullying Week

28th November: Maths Week

2nd December: Virtual Museum (information TBC)

9th December: Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children

9th-12th December: France Trip

14th December: Carols by Candlelight

15th December: Christmas Lunch

16th December: Last day of Term

WELL DONE! 

A HUGE well done to all of the children who put so much effort into their Ancient Greek Projects!

Well done to those who did a wonderfully informative PowerPoint:

Bailey, Pandora, Obaayaa, Fatoumatta

Well done to those who did amazing hand written fact files:

Alfie and Zaid

Well done to those who chose to make an incredible Greek model with facts:

Emrys, Massi, Mickaella, Sam, Patrick, Szymon K, Mia, Alia, Szymon K, Jack, Stevie, Fatima, Roha and Pandora (who did two projects!)

I was so impressed with every single one! You are all SUPER STARS! 

(Have a look in 'Gallery' for some pictures of the fab projects!)

Check out 'Gallery' for LOTS of photos of our AMAZING Greek Day! 

Reminder:

Non-uniform day on 21.10.22

Just bring in a bottle of something for the tombola!

Reminder:

Y5 Toy Afternoon - 20.10.22

Non-electrical toys and games are welcome! 

Reminder:

Greek Day - 19.10.22

Reminder:

Hello Yellow Day 2022:

10th October! 

Welcome back! 

Welcome to the Year 5 webpage. Here you can find information such as Homework/Letters/Announcements/Photos and more! Keep your eyes peeled! 

Welcome to Year 5 and Simmonds Class

Week ending 22nd July 2022

As the last post for the Year 5 class of 2021 to 2022, it seems fitting that we can finish on such a positive note. Simmonds Class completed their entry for the Spirited Arts competition with a collective piece, where each one of us contributed one section to the overall picture. Our picture represents the theme, "We have more that unites us than divides us," for it symbolises the idea that wherever we come from around the world, whatever our faith, beliefs and values, we all share hopes and dreams that we have love in our lives.

Dave and Tully presented the fabulous news about the triathlon results and gave out some incredibly generous prizes for the good deeds competition. Simmonds Class presented the 2nd closest estimate for Dave's time in the race....and Zackery Moss was the deserving winner of the raffle ticket draw. Here he is collecting his sports kit and running shoes: good luck with your own training, Zac!

We also managed to finish our Romero Britto lanterns to polish off our Pop Art topic. Do check out the gallery section above to see the completed versions of these 3D structures. The children's patience and dedication to finish what they had started paid off. 

Finally, we posed for a couple of "Farewell to Year 5" photos in the sunshine, with a particular goodbye to our lovely Virat. He will be joining a new school in September so we wrote our own messages to him, to help him remember all his friends at Brentry.

Thank you to all of you, too, for the support given this year. You should all be so proud of your children and I will take some very fond memories with me. Enjoy your summer break and good luck for year 6!

Week ending 15th July 2022

We certainly made up for the disappointment of our cancelled trip to Blaise this week by having a super fun Thursday... water fights, mini picnic, pogo jumping and other active pursuits filled the afternoon, after an art based morning, compiling a whole class competition entry for the Spirited Arts event. We will be adding the finishing touches to this next week so watch this space for the finished article. In the meanwhile, take a look through these photos of Thursday's entertainment. 

Our 3D lanterns, decorated in the style of Romero Britto, are taking shape and some have now been completed. Here are a few photos of the work in progress...finished lanterns will be displayed on here next week.

With only three more days to go until the end of term, it is very likely a few more work samples and belongings will be coming home as we complete the process of tidying up the classroom. If possible, please equip your child with a bag to enable these things to be carried home. 

Reminder: Reports were sent home this week so, in the event you have not received one, please take a look in the bottom of your child's bag! We welcome your feedback on the new format and your responses to the report.

Enjoy the sunshine this weekend and stay safe 

Week ending 8th July 2022

We have had great fun this week, and shown an inordinate amount of patience and resilience, in finishing our plastic mat weaving, and the results below speak for themselves. Patterns, bright colours and layers of work are all key features of the Pop Art style and our examples demonstrate those elements well. 

This week also saw the deadline for project submissions...and the children did not disappoint! It was an absolute joy to read through biographies of artists, information about the Pop Art movement and to receive such an array of different personalised versions of art in these artists' style. Many thanks to all the children who completed a project and a massive well done to you all: you did yourselves proud. Marks were handed out and we are in the process of presenting them to the class. 

A few more examples of the children's art work can be found in the gallery section above....they include some Romero Britto designs and some "illusion" versions in the name of Op Art.

Much of this work has been supported by our ex pupil Michael, who we were lucky enough to have on work experience this week. Many thanks go to him and he has earned himself a well earned rest this weekend!

We have also been making headway on our mystery stories. We have introduced our characters and settings; identified the crime and the victim...and are now composing our lists of suspects, motives and clues. The plots are certainly thickening! Miss Adams took the class on Friday morning for maths lessons on translation and reflection, which the children enjoyed, and we are all now looking ahead to the penultimate week of year 5.

DON'T FORGET: We are walking to and from Blaise next Thursday and there are still a few unreturned permission slips. Please ensure these are returned before Thursday!

See you at the Summer Fair no doubt: bring your sun hats 

Week ending 1st July 2022

Sports Day was a superb way to finish off a testing week of assessments and the sun shone down on us as well. The morning session of rotating activities, based around the Commonwealth theme, worked really well, with the children of all ages taking part in their teams. Check out the photos on FB to see the fun.

The afternoon saw the more traditional races, including egg and spoon, relays and sprints, with grand finals in many of these races. Year 5 competed with great spirit, determination and talent, which was great to see. Many thanks to Progressive Sports, Miss Millard and Mrs Jack for putting the whole day together.

We have continued to work hard on our Pop Art topic and have almost completed our portraits in the style of Roy Lichtenstein, using Ben Day dot paper. Some great likenesses, I think you'll agree.

A letter was sent home today, highlighting a planned trip to Blaise on Thursday 14th July. It will involve a pond dipping workshop, some nature activities and a general play session on the equipment, all part of the class end of term treat. Please note that a pair of wellies/waterproof footwear is required, in addition to their walking shoes... and that adult helpers are needed to secure numbers for supervision. Do please let me know as soon as possible if you can join us for the day in this role. 

In the event the letter has not made it home to you, I have attached it to the letters section above.

Final reminder: the deadline for the Pop Art home project is this Monday, 4th July.

Week ending 24th June 2022

The sun has shone down brightly on us this week and it seems to have given us all a renewed amount of motivation. Simmonds Class have worked hard on coordinates, in all four quadrants, in maths; features of mystery writing in literacy; completing our felt cases in DT and have also begun our portraits in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. A few projects have also been finished and submitted, serving as a timely reminder that the deadline for all other projects is next Monday, 4th July.

A few photos of completed phone cases are shown below.

Sports Day is happening next Friday, 1st July, and a letter went home this Friday to outline the details and what each child should wear.

I have given the children the weekend to try and add some finishing touches to their projects. I have also suggested that they look through the word list for year 5 which can be found under the spelling icon above. Knowledge of these spellings will support their writing and the upcoming end of year assessments.

Enjoy the weekend everyone. 

Week ending 17th June 2022

It seems a long time ago since I last posted here, courtesy of the half term break and a bout of Covid, but it has been great to get back into the swing of things and start our new topics. In literacy, we have been learning about the key features of mystery writing and, judging by their ability to create tension and suspense with their language, I am already looking forward to the stories the children will be producing across the next few weeks. In numeracy, we have practised using the protractor to measure and draw angles, as well as calculating angles around a point and along a straight line. Our DT project began in earnest, with designs for a felt mobile phone case and the first steps to learning different types of stitches. Alongside that, we have introduced the Pop Art topic and completed the first couple of lessons, which introduced onomatopoeic comic strips and the famous style of Andy Warhol. A selection of our work is shown below and our completed class display on Plants and Flowers can be found in the gallery section above.

I have asked the children to take a look at the homework page. There, I have outlined the expectations for the home project timetable and listed the spellings we will focus on next week.

Please look out for raffle tickets that will be sent home next week, related to the "good deeds" incentive, introduced by Dave and Tully in assembly this week. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone 

Week ending 27th May 2022

What a fantastic week to end off term 5! The beginning of the week saw the return of our French travellers, who clearly had an amazing time. We enjoyed a very entertaining session hearing all about their exploits and adventures. Many thanks to all the dedicated staff who took care of them and provided such a great experience. Many photos have been put on the Facebook page if you would like to check in.

We met Francesca from the "Moments Not To Be Wasted" programme, an initiative to combat the food waste in the UK, and learned many new tips and tricks on how to store food effectively.

We worked extremely hard to finish our art project with activities on paper modelling, wire sculpting and examples of decoupage, all following the theme of Plants and Flowers. A few final touches and we will complete a whole class display of our work, with a photo to come shortly. 

Without a doubt, the highlight of the week was our Jubilee Celebration on Thursday. Assemblies to honour the Queen's role and hard work throughout her reign filled the morning, with an extended lunch break to fully enjoy the wonderful banquet style picnic afterwards. Below is a selection of some of these moments.

Sadly, we did have to say our goodbyes to Millie, who is leaving to start at another school, following her house move. We made a card to send our individual messages and, collectively, wish her all the very best for her new adventure. Do let us know how you settle in, Millie! 

I have given out a homework task, and it relates to our final home project of the year. As explained on the sheet, it has been handed out early in case any keen beans want to begin the research and gathering of ideas during half term, but there is no requirement to do this. There will be plenty of opportunity to complete it before the deadline if the children decide to leave the work until next term. The subject is Pop Art, our art theme for term 6, and the task has been attached to the homework section above in the event it didn't make it home!

Have a wonderful half term break. I will be on year 6 camp during the first week back but look forward to catching up with you all on my return in week 2.

Week ending 13th May 2022

The weather has been completely unpredictable this week but we were able to fit in our much awaited outdoor art lesson on Hapa Zome hammer printing. We achieved some fantastic results and the children were deservedly proud of their hammering skills, used to "bruise" out the dye of flowers to good effect. Here is a sample of their finished products and some showing the class, busy at work.

Week ending 6th May 2022

Despite a three day week, Simmonds Class have completed some challenging maths work on multiplying and dividing by multiples of 10; learned how to use a comma accurately in multi clause sentences; developed sketching and shading techniques within artwork and enjoyed a great afternoon's session of racing rounders. Photos of some of the work samples and activities are shown below.

Reminders:

• Yoga will be on Monday so please ensure your child comes to school in the appropriate PE kIt
• Homework can be found in the homework section above. This week's task is the consolidation of when and where to apply the comma as well as spelling rules for plural words.

Week ending 29th April 2022

We have had a busy and active week to kick off the start of term 5. Simmonds Class provided huge support to help with the "Just Give" match funding  event. Posters were designed and displayed; cakes were donated and put up for sale; sponsored circuit activities were undertaken and counted....and as a result, Brentry School raised over £400. A late couple of donations on the Friday morning, totalling £100, meant the final amount was £509. Doubled, according to the price match, means that we have secured £1018 for the tree champions and their work towards being "A Force For Nature." Well done to all the participants and many congratulations for raising such a fantastic amount of funding as a whole school community. 

Below are some of the photos from the week's events and lessons. 

REMEMBER:

• School is closed on Monday 2nd May due to the bank holiday
• Homework is due in Wednesday 4th May
• School is closed on Thursday 5th May due to Polling Day
• Outdoor games will be on Friday so children will need to come to school in PE kits

Week ending 8th April 2022

It has been a terrific week to end off the term for it has been filled with exciting tree day activities, an afternoon's munching of Oreo biscuits (!) as we learned about the phases of the moon, and a well deserved reward session of picnics, parachutes and playground fun. On top of that, the children worked through finding fractions of amounts and writing all about what made the Quokka so happy  We were supported throughout by our lovely student Mrs Grose who made a fantastic contribution to the class in such a short time.

Photos of the week's activities are shown below.

A few more photos can be found in the gallery section above, showing our Friday morning arts and crafts session on making woodland creatures out of different materials.

There is no set homework for the break but I would like to remind the children that it is always a good idea to  keep sight of those tricky spellings on the year 5/6 word list and to keep them fresh in mind. 

Additionally, there are on going activities listed in the homework section, with links provided, as well as those tasks found on the isolation pages.

Thank you to all of you who donated such generous amounts of food for our picnic and enjoy the two week break with your fab children. 

Week ending 1st April 2022

After a week of assessments, the children thoroughly deserve a restful and sunny weekend, so I shall be keeping my fingers crossed for them that the weather is kind. 

Many thanks to all those children who completed and handed in their home projects today. A selection of some of their masterpieces are shown below. 

Reminders:

• Tree Day on Monday requires the children to come to school wearing their old clothes, as many of the activities will be completed outside. Spare footwear is essential.
• Last swimming session is on Tuesday. Please ensure children bring in their towel and costume.
• Spellings to learn have been attached to the homework section above.

Week ending 25th March 2022

The week has once again zoomed by but the children have completed some high quality work in that time. We visited Blaise High School on Monday to watch their performance of Shrek: The Musical, which was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The secondary school students had clearly worked hard and it was so nice to see some former Brentry pupils up on stage. Some great singing; comedic acting and a wicked Scottish accent made the whole production a joy to watch.

Many, many thanks to all the performers and Sam Harper, drama teacher, for the invitation.

Our landscape paintings were finished and a few examples were selected for our class display.

In numeracy this week, we have covered some very tricky calculations involving the multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers. Within literacy, we have described different landscapes using a variety of figurative language, such as similes, metaphors and personification to provide imagery for the reader: their work was a joy to read. We have also looked at the importance of love in RE and identified how images can be altered for the purpose of advertisements and media coverage.

Spelling homework has been added above, alongside a reminder that the home projects are due in next Friday, 1st April.

I have asked the children to wear PE kits into school on Monday for a gym session in the afternoon.

Week ending 18th March 2022

Science Day kicked off the week on Monday and Simmonds Class had plenty of fun experimenting with all things colourful. We discovered the impact of water on coloured pen and learned about chromotography; we also tested a selection of everyday acids and alkalis with indicator paper and "grew" a rainbow with absorbent kitchen towel. Photos of the day's activities are shown below.

We continued the theme of colour with an art lesson linked to our geography topic, painting landscapes of eastern European locations. We experimented with mixing colours to produce different shades and applying the paint in different ways to create a variety of texture. Here are a few examples of our work in progress.

Friday was a day of celebration, dressing up and kind donations. We combined Red Nose Day with a superheroes and Ukrainian Day so we had a wide selection of costumes, thoughtfulness and funny looks! Many thanks to all of you for your generous donations to such worthy causes and I trust Year 6's cake sale at the end of the day provided the finishing touch. Here are some photos of all the fun.

Reminders:

We are walking to Blaise High on Monday afternoon to watch "Shrek: the Musical" and will not return to school until 4:30pm. Those parents who are picking their child up from Blaise at 4:00pm should make their way to the school's reception where Mrs Price and Mrs Vale Guerreiro will be supervising.

Swimming continues on Tuesday morning so please ensure your child comes to school with the necessary swimwear and towel.

This week's spellings can be found in the homework section above.

Week ending 11th March 2022

It was an amazing coincidence, having written about the journey of Ernest Shackleton in 1915 and the sinking of "Endurance," that she was discovered this weekend, only 4 miles from where she sank and so well preserved! Simmonds Class thoroughly enjoyed watching the interview from the expedition's leader and seeing how well the boat had survived these past 100 years.

We have begun a new literacy unit on poetry this week and have been identifying different types of poetic devices poets use to bring imagery and emotion to their writing. It is clear that we have some budding poets in our midst and I am looking forward to seeing what else the children can produce.

In numeracy, we have continued through the many aspects of fractions and practised how to make conversions between mixed numbers and improper fractions: the class have worked extremely hard on this and fully deserve the gold stars they have earned this week. 

Below are some photos of the information posters we have been working on for our science topic on Earth and Space. Some great fun facts have been learned and it was good to see such great presentation skills on show at the same time!

REMINDERS:

• Homework for the next few weeks will be the continuation of the home project, "A Country in Eastern Europe." Spellings have been given out, found in the homework section above, and an outline of where I believe the children should be by now in terms of their project's progress.
• Parent Evenings are taking place next week, Monday and Tuesday for Year 5. Please check your email for the link to the Zoom meeting at the time you signed up for
• Swimming Session 3 will be on Tuesday morning so please ensure your child comes to school with their costume and towel.
• Any last permission slips for the Shrek production on Monday 21st March need to be returned early next week in order to secure enough adult supervision for walking the children to and from Blaise High.
• Science Day takes place on Monday 14th March so children are allowed to come to school in their "messy" clothes!

Week ending 4th March 2022

Welcome back to school and the beginning of term 4. We have hit the ground running once again, with an exciting English week and plenty of opportunity to bring our reading, writing and story telling alive. An evening of Bedtime Stories; the annual Spelling Bee competition, Dress Up Day and the story swap meant all things literacy were the order of the day. Below are some of the photos taken from these events.

We also introduced the new geography topic, "A Study of Eastern Europe," where we will be looking at the landscape, climate and human demographics of the countries involved. "Earth and Space" is our science unit for the term and we have already identified the planets that make up our solar system. See if your child remembers any of the mnemonics we looked at to help put these planets in order (distance from the sun).

The homework task can be found in the homework section above: it is the next home project, involving research and presentation of one country in eastern Europe. A power point has been put together to help with ideas and can be found on the isolation page in the Humanities folder.

Finally, launching our PSHE puzzle, "Healthy Me," we practised putting each other in the recovery position, a useful skill to have in the event an emergency situation presents itself. 

DON'T FORGET SWIMMING KITS AND TOWELS ON TUESDAY!!

Week ending 18th February 2022

School closure lessons for today, Friday 18th Feb, can be find in the isolation page above. I have focussed the lessons on what we had intended to cover in class but have adapted them slightly so you can access them easily from home. Do send me anything you would like me to see, such as further art work, book reviews or photos of science experiments: my email address is jjones@brentryprimaryschool.org.uk

We managed to take a few photos today of the completed artwork on collages of Britain and its flags. Some, you will see, are still works in progress but the care and resilience the children showed in completing this task was great to see. Their efforts have paid off, as the end products demonstrate.

Some children also had a go at completing a piece of art in the style of Banksy, using a stencilled approach, and creating a personalised "tag" as would be graffiti artists. 

Please remember:

Simmonds Class will begin their course of swimming sessions on the first day back after half term, Tuesday 1st March. Please ensure your child comes to school equipped with towel, goggles and swimming costume. Also, long hair must be tied back: no jewellery allowed.

Many thanks and I trust you all have an enjoyable break.

Week ending 11th February 2022

We have had an experimental time in Simmonds Class once again, with our science investigations into forces. This week, we attempted to make the perfect parachute, using our knowledge of air resistance and its effects. We changed just one variable in our tests, such as size, shape or type of material the parachutes were made of, and tested to see what elements made a difference to how fast or slow it travelled to the ground.

Below are a few photos of our investigations

We also began the new numeracy unit on Fractions and it has been great to see the class hit the ground running with this subject. We have covered fraction equivalents, comparing and ordering fractions, as well as simplifying fractions. The homework task provides an opportunity to consolidate the idea that the numerator and denominator need to be multiplied or divided by the same amount to be an equivalent fraction. 

We have now finished our geography topic on Modern Britain and its Marvellous Maps, completing it with an interesting lesson on how land use has changed after time. (As a heads up, we will be learning about Eastern Europe next term and a second home project will be set relating to this). 

Green Team are back in the game, having won the most team points this week, so congratulations to them.

Week ending 4th February 2022

It has been another busy week, with science investigations, developing hockey skills, polishing off our balanced discussions and applying our written methods for division to a range of challenging word problems. Yet again, the children have excelled themselves and I have been genuinely delighted with the progress so many of them have made. Below are a few pictures of our PSHE miming task, matching up different professions, before we researched some information about our ideal jobs. The slideshow demonstrates our science investigation on how gravity works on different objects: I am hoping to get some of the video clips from our resident camera operator, Zach, onto the gallery section above, so watch this space!

Week ending 28th January 2022

Year 5 have made good headway on their balanced discussions this week, covering a variety of issues, from debates on junk food being banned, to whether trees should be cut down or boys and girls should play football together. It has been great to witness the children's growing awareness of arguments for and against each issue and to see their increasing ability to put forward reasoned statements.

We have also begun to look at dividing numbers by a single digit, using a formal written method.

Below are some photos of our science lesson on simple force mechanisms, our portrait sketches on famous Great Britons and, once again, Green team celebrating the most team points earned across the week. Further photos can be found in the gallery above, showing our collages on all things British. 

Week ending 21st January 2022

The week seems to have flown by once again but we have made some good progress with written methods for multiplying 2 digit numbers by other 2 digit numbers in maths and begun to look at the key features needed for discussion (or balanced arguments) within literacy. We also had a fantastic session of tree planting Thursday afternoon where well over 50 new trees were planted by year 5 in the school grounds to help support habitats as well as provide shaded areas for whenever (IF ever !) the sun gets too hot.

Here are some of the photos of our team work. 

A quick reminder: Outdoor games take place on a Friday so your child should come to school wearing a suitable PE kit for cold weather. Indoor PE is on Monday.

Week ending 14th January 2022

Congratulations to Simmonds Class for surviving their first full week back in school after the Christmas break 

It has certainly flown by, with a revision of conjunctions, sentence starters and multiplication facts to fill the days, as well as completing Area and Perimeter in maths;  Forces and what they can do; geographical symbols on ordnance survey maps and thinking about our lives when we grow up (with a little help from Matilda).

Below are a few photos of our antics...including some fiercely fought arm wrestling (all in the name of science!) and some fabulous balancing acts in PE to demonstrate counter tension.

Week ending 7th January 2022

Welcome back to a new term and a new year. I hope you all managed to enjoy the break and escaped suffering from the on going COVID spread. The children seem well rested and have made a very positive start to term 3, launching into our first geography topic of the year, Modern Britain. The homework task is related to our initial discussions about what Britain is...and the children have been asked to create a collage of things associated with Britain and "Britishness." This is due in next Wednesday.

We have also been busy calculating perimeters, using a range of conjunctions in our writing and discovering our "inner actor" by performing religious stories through role play. Below is a selection of photos from our week's endeavours: the "most likely" to win future Academy awards must include Shabab, for his stern portrayal of Muhammad, outraged at the treatment of the camel, and Bethany and Belle, for their creative rendition of the front and back of the camel itself. 

Some exciting news to finish: Michael has joined us in Simmonds Class, having recently moved to England from Austria, and we are delighted to welcome him to year 5. We all hope he enjoys his time getting to know us...and look forward to watching more of his fab skills on the football pitch!

Week ending 10th December 2021

Big congratulations go to the whole of Simmonds Class this week for making it through a tough old week of end of term assessments and still having smiles on their faces by the Friday! They displayed a great attitude towards the tests and have absolutely done you and themselves proud. 

We enjoyed our final session of Forest School with Caterpillar and presented her with a heartfelt card full of messages about how much we had learned and experienced from our Wednesday afternoons. We also replenished her supplies of hot chocolate and marshmallows since we seem to have consumed quite a plentiful amount over these past weeks! Photos of the fun are shown below. 

We drew our history topic to a close this week with an interesting and thought provoking debate on the legacy of slavery. We discussed its impact on racism today, the taking down of Edward Colston's statue in Bristol last summer and learned about some key abolitionists who helped make the slave trade illegal. We then followed this theme up through our PSHE lesson, and highlighted any links to the discrimination of religions, too, in RE. The photos below demonstrate the thoughtfulness, I think, of some of our discussions

As the festive spirit begins to spread, we wore our Christmas jumpers in for the day and struck a few poses for the camera:

Next week will be spent polishing off some final touches to the topics and themes we have covered this term and we will no doubt be having some creative fun with art and design activities. A letter has been sent through email regarding Simmonds Class Reward on Wednesday (attached in the letters section above) and we are currently in negotiations for replacing the much awaited trip to the cinema with an in house showing of a film of the class' choice.  If successful, this will be shown next Thursday.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the Carols by Candlelight evening this coming Monday, weather permitting, and remind you to wrap up warm for the event.

Week ending 26th November 2021

Maths week has been a great success and we have kept our brains busy with a whole range of challenges, including solving codes, mental competitions, scavenger hunts and in class work with multiplication of numbers by 10, 100 & 1000. Simmonds Class also had three winners from Mr Clarke's home task so big congratulations all round. 

Within literacy, we have learned about the differences between direct and reported speech in preparation for writing our own newspaper articles next week and we continue to learn those tricky homophones. More have been set for the homework task today so keep going with these.

Forest School, life as a slave on a plantation, the 5 pillars of Islam and cooperative games in PE have made up the rest of the week, alongside our first practices of the songs to be sung at our forthcoming Carols by Candlelight evening, so the children deserve a good rest this weekend. A selection of photos from the week's activities are shown below and in the gallery section above. 

Please note: Due to a KS1 rehearsal in the hall Monday afternoon, Simmonds Class will have a second week of outdoor games on Friday afternoon so PE kits are not required this coming Monday. Thank you. 

Week ending 19th November 2021

Forest School this week was an excellent session, all about trust, team building and problem solving. It was a revelation to discover how your other senses are heightened once blind folded; how working together and communicating effectively gets the job done...and how delicious toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate are when consumed in the great outdoors. A selection of the activities are shown below. 

On a complete change of course, we also learned this week about the appalling conditions on board a slave ship during the middle passage, the section of the triangular route between Africa and America. The children asked many pertinent questions and showed a good deal of empathy for what enslaved Africans were put through. We completed some annotations about what we had learned.

Anti bullying week took place across the UK this week and year 5 launched their recognition of it with a lesson on how to spread kindness, promoting the key theme of "One Kind Word." We developed some snakes and ladders games where we shared ideas about how bullying incidents could be resolved and how they could be escalated, depending how we respond to them. We then polished the week off with a fun "Odd Socks Day" and designed a few colourful pairs ourselves as a morning activity. 

There will not be a set task for homework this week as I have asked the children instead to have a go at learning as much of the Year 5/6 word list as they can manage (found in the spelling section above). This is in preparation for a Spelling Bee competition that we will be holding in our classes next week, as part of a whole school event. It will also be maths week, organised by the one and only Mr Clarke, so it will be a good idea for the children to also practise their general times table facts and quick mental recall of calculating with numbers. 

Good luck and I look forward to an exciting week 4. 

Week ending 12th November 2021

Simmonds Class have enjoyed another busy week, performing role play scenarios to examine how differences in culture can sometimes lead to conflict; making African masks; identifying features of newspaper reports; interpreting data in tables, charts and graphs; investigating which materials dissolve in water and indulging in the big debate: "Does God Exist?" before looking at the ups and downs in our own life journeys. In addition to that, we had our second session of Forest School with Caterpillar, learning how to ignite a fire and make instant bread over a camp fire.

Photos can be found below and in the gallery above.

Homework this week gives the opportunity to practise positioning the apostrophe correctly: either for contraction or possession. Remember the rule for singular and plural nouns....and don't get muddled up with straightforward plurals! We will be having indoor PE on Monday afternoon so PE kits are required.

Week ending 5th November 2021

Well, what an exciting and fun filled opening week to term 2 we have had. The Spooktacular evening, with fireworks, gruesome costumes and delicious hot dogs was a superb event and it was wonderful to see so many of the school community joining in with the fun. If you are on Facebook, do check out the photos. Here are some of the costumes we wore in year 5: who do you recognise?

On top of that, Simmonds Class took part in their first session of Forest School with the fabulous Caterpillar. Lots of outdoor activities filled the afternoon, including roasting marshmallows, weaving ...and burying Tanay under a pile of autumn leaves! Luckily he survived. 

We have also been busy introducing the new units of work and topics for the term: we learned about what the transatlantic slave trade was and had a really informative discussion about why this might have begun. We have consolidated a few of the trickier grammar rules, such as keeping a consistent tense throughout our writing and where to put those apostrophes when shortening words. In PSHE, we reminded ourselves about British Values and explored how we use them in every day life, and we practised different types of roll in PE, as part of our sequence compositions that we are working towards. Here is a selection of photos showing how we are getting on.

Homework this week gives an opportunity to practise what we have been learning in class: how to read, interpret and draw line graphs. Sheet A is for everyone, and squared paper has been provided for the task, but if there are any keen beans out there, a second sheet B has been attached in the homework section above. Good luck!

Week ending 22nd October 2021

We have made it through our first term together in year 5 and it has whizzed by. This week saw the completion of our adventure stories, a fun Ancient Greek Workshop Day and the presentation of our home projects. Photos of some of the work is displayed above in the gallery section but the final class display is below. 

Homework has been set for the half term, a literacy task on upgrading sentences with additional details. I have also asked that the children check through the year 5/6 word list and consolidate a minimum of 10 spellings.

Have a wonderful half term break everyone and I shall look forward to seeing you all back on the

1st November. 

Week ending 15th October 2021

The classroom looks like something out of an Ancient Greek museum today as the home projects and authentic looking artefacts have made their way to Simmonds class. They look fantastic and I have set time aside this weekend to work through them and provide feedback on all the hard work that has been done. The children will be able to present them to the rest of the class next Wednesday, which will be our Greek Day. A letter has been sent to you through email regarding this and I hope many of the children will be embracing the day and dressing up in costume. If the letter has not made it to you, I have attached it above.

Here are a few photos of some of the projects that have been handed in. 

We have also been busy in class studying different aspects of ancient Greek life as well. We have learned about the Gods and Goddesses ancient Greeks believed in; the fair and equal political system they introduced, known as democracy, which is still used in the UK today; and we are in the process of planning our own adventure stories, based on the characters and events from the classic film, Jason and the Argonauts. Here are a few examples of the art work produced from learning about the gods and mythical creatures of this time.

Homework this week is a set of calculations that requires understanding and application of the column method for addition and subtraction that we have been using in class. The sheets attached cover three different levels and ask for the missing numbers to complete the questions. The appropriate sheet has been stuck into your child's homework book. As always, this is due in for next Wednesday.

A few more photos of the week's activities have been added to the gallery section above, including some science fun on finding the best thermal insulator and ball skills in PE. Do take a look. 

Have a restful and enjoyable weekend everyone. 

Week ending 8th October 2021

The week has ended with one of my favourite days of the year: Hello Yellow Day. With the children dressed in yellow, and indulging in all things happy and joyful, it was no surprise to have been able to capture these great photo booth moments.

In year 5, we discussed what "special powers" we all have to help with our emotions, resilience and with coping in difficult times. It was lovely to hear the children's responses and that the key message from the day was so evident: to those who are struggling, you are not alone.

It was also poetry week and Simmonds Class performed, "What do people need?" by Benjamin Zephaniah as part of it. I am in the process of putting the video clip on the page but here is what they looked like on stage.

We also found time to fit in some science investigation, conducting an experiment to discover which material made the best thermal conductor. Metal spoons definitely allowed heat to travel through them far more than the plastic and wooden spoons. Next week, we will be testing for the best thermal insulators.

Homework this week is to add any finishing touches to the home project on Life in Ancient Greece. A few completed pieces of work have already been handed in and are shown below to give any last minute ideas for presentation or content. If these are anything to go by, I am looking forward to receiving the remaining projects by the deadline of Friday 15th October. 

Have a lovely weekend everyone and many thanks again for all your kind donations for Hello Yellow: it's looking like we have raised nearly £250 for YoungMinds. 

Week ending 1st October 2021

Another week has zoomed by and here we find ourselves in October already. We have covered a lot of numeracy concepts, completing our unit on rounding, ordering and comparing numbers up to a million, and also found time to build on our previous knowledge of Roman numerals. The homework task is related to this latter subject and I have attached the sheet in the homework section above, alongside the next spelling pattern of "ough" words. As always, these are due in for next Wednesday, 6th October. 

Within literacy, we finished our biographies on Ellie Simmonds and have begun to look at some "dub" poems by Benjamin Zephaniah in preparation for an assembly performance next

Thursday as part of poetry week. 

We have had quite an artistic week, designing Christmas cards for your order form, which hopefully has made its way back to you today. Please take a look at the end product and return the form, duly completed and signed, if you would like to order any of the items on the list. Some children went on to create Greek vases, using authentic images and patterns, and Greek masks, depicting the comedies and tragedies of ancient times. 

A few pictures are displayed below to show some of the work completed, as well as some shots from our PE lesson where we practised a variety of jumps and landing position. Further photos of the class' artwork have been put into the gallery section above.

Week ending 24th September 2021

After a somewhat challenging and exhausting week, the children have been rewarded with Fun Time Friday today as a big thank you from all the staff: it was a delight to witness their patience, good behaviour and engagement in lessons. Ice creams and sunshine were the order of the day, as the photos below reveal.

Earlier in the week, we continued our work on understanding place value; identifying properties of different materials, including thermal insulators and conductors; identified how artefacts can be a great source of historical evidence, learning about the events in the original Olympic Games and began to look at the Christian idea of God. We used our class reading book, "Kaspar, Prince of Cats," by Michael Morpurgo, to extend our inference skills for comprehension ........and were therefore well in need of a good run around in our Friday afternoon games session! Here we developed our throwing skills, applying the "cradle" position to help secure the resulting catches. A few photos from the week's activities are shown below.

Homework this week focuses on  time adverbials, words and phrases that add the detail in a sentence of when something happened. The children have been introduced to these through their biography work, such as "some years later;" "after that;" finally;" "in the future..." Two sheets of questions have been stuck into each homework book, but copies of each set have also been added to the homework section above, in case the book did not make it home. (In this event, choose the set that best fits your child's level of challenge). Completed sheets are due in next Wednesday and a spelling test on "ible" words will be held next Friday.

Reminder: History projects are due in Friday 15th October. If you have any questions about the task, please do not hesitate to get in touch. 

Week ending 17th September 2021

It has been another successful week in Simmonds Class with the children being awarded 10 minutes extra play time today for winning "Best in Assembly." Great attitude and all round good behaviour once again: well done. We have tackled place value in much larger numbers this week so the homework task is related to this. Your child has been provided with a homework book with the relevant sheet of maths questions to complete stuck inside: this is due in by next Wednesday, please. IF your child feels he/she would prefer a different level, then you can find all three sheets in the homework section above.

The biographical writing on Ellie Simmonds continues apace and we hope to have this finished next week. In RE, we considered why some people believe and do not believe in a God, while in history, we looked up Greece in an atlas and listed what we could find out from the map about this country. The children have been fantastic so fully deserve a weekend off and I will look forward to seeing them again next week. Remember: indoor PE on Monday afternoon so PE kits are needed.

Week ending 10th September 2021

 It has been a great first few days and I have to say, I am very impressed with the attitude, enthusiasm and work ethic I have already witnessed from so many of the children. They have taken on board a number of new routines and expectations, so thoroughly deserved a little "indoor play" session at the end of Friday afternoon as they became familiar with some of the resources we have in the classroom. A few photos of how we have worked together, created a class charter and designed some "imaginative" classroom characters are shown below. We will gently introduce the full timetable next week, so PE kits are required for Monday.

NB: You should all have received an email regarding the Zoom link for our Back to School meeting, Monday 13th September, at 4:45pm. Email me if you have not received this (jjones@brentryprimaryschool.org.uk)

and I can resend. Enjoy your weekend everyone. 

Year 5 and Simmonds Class Aut 2021

I trust you have all had an enjoyable and relaxing summer holiday and that you have fully recharged your batteries in readiness for the new term and year group. After a longer break than usual, I hope you are looking forward to seeing each other again and excited about what the new term and new “normal” will bring as Brentry’s “now-year-fives.” I am sure there will be a great mix of emotions on return, ranging from delight and joyous anticipation to some more restrained feelings, wondering how things may have changed and how you are going to cope with it all. You will be pleased to know that we teachers have spent a lot of time considering this and putting together plenty of opportunities for you to ease back into the school routine gently, to ask lots of questions and to have the time to share all your thoughts.

For myself, I am really looking forward to having you in, getting to know you and letting you know about all the exciting things we cover and do in year 5. Here’s to a fun filled first week back!

NB: If you have to self-isolate or are unable to get to school for other reasons, please do take a look at the isolation page for ideas to keep yourself busy. Email me any work you would like me to take a look at or, indeed, pass on some photos of what you have been up to.

Week ending 16th July 2021

Best week....EVER!! 

What a great way to finish off the year: we completed some fabulous woven mats using plastic strips; had a zoom call to meet Mrs Ochiltree and found out all about the exciting things we can look forward to in year 6; took part in a whole class water fun afternoon (and yes, ganged up on Mrs Jones!) and finished the week in style with a games morning and popcorn filled film afternoon. The absolute best part, however, was hearing that our very own Bella Lawrence had won the year 5/6 category in the UK's Speak Up for Nature (public speaking) competition. As a result, Brentry Primary is now recognised as a beacon school as a Force for Nature and Bella herself will receive a personalised medal, T shirt and £200 voucher for Go Ape. Huge congratulations go to her and, of course, to Mrs Fennell who drove this project forward and gave so much of her time, energy, effort and enthusiasm to this great cause. Many thanks and heartfelt gratitude goes to her. A selection of the week's photos are shown below and many more can be found in the gallery section.

Do enjoy a fantastic summer break with your families and know that your children have made me a very proud teacher. It has been a difficult time in so many ways, again, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my year with them

Week ending 9th July 2021

Another week has raced on by and it is almost unbelievable how busy we have still been as the end of term draws near. We began the week with some outdoor maths work, finding the area of irregular shapes (photos in the gallery section above) and continued the shape unit with some lessons on coordinates in all four quadrants with our visiting Mr Woodley. We had our next yoga session and look forward to our final one next week. It is definitely a great way of keeping calm and flexible at the same time, as well as a lot of fun.  We have continued with out art topic and completed some great examples of images in the style of Andy Warhol, together with submitting our home projects. Many of these are shown below.  

The sun shone for us on Friday morning and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Blaise as a thank you reward for Simmonds Class earning their 30 gold stars. Dizzy heights were reached, on the size of ice creams as much as the apparatus, and the day was topped off with an outside lunch on return and a golden time on football, card trumps and lego modelling. Huge congratulations go to all the children on their conduct throughout the day: they were a credit to Brentry School and made the supervising adults very proud. 

Week ending 2nd July 2021

The end of term seems to be fast approaching and we are frantically trying to finish off topics already begun. The Pop Art lesson this week saw the final products of our Ben Day portraits in the style of Roy Lichetenstein. Who do you recognise in the selection of paintings below?

Lily and Imogen had fun making chocolate rice krispie cakes: and we in Simmonds Class enjoyed eating them.

This week, it was the turn of yellow team to hold the trophy on high, having earned the most amount of team points. Well done to you all, under the enthusiastic guidance of Captain Milo. 

Some fabulous Pop Art projects have been handed in already and I have been delighted with the originality of the final results. Remember, the deadline for these is next Monday, 5th July, (though I have told the children they may have a few extra days if needed, considering the sunny weather and the prospect of a weekend away!) I have put a couple of power points, in the homework section, of lessons we have done or discussed in class. Do take a look if you are still trying to make a decision on what to do your project on.

Week ending 25th June 2021

Well, what a week this has been: the sun has shone; our mobile phone cases are complete; we have been treated to ice cream and then enjoyed a fabulous sports day to top the whole week off in style. On top of all that, we have learned about drawing, measuring and calculating angles; features of mystery story writing; drawing in the style of pop artist Roy Lichenstein....and are now, deservedly, only 3 gold stars away from our whole class reward target. Keep pushing to that finishing line, Simmonds Class. 

Reminder: Pop Art home projects are due in Monday 5th July.

Take a look at the selection of photos below from the week's activities and don't forget to check out the gallery section above for a few more. Happy weekend everyone. 

Week ending 18th June 2021

First of all, a very big thank you for all the kind donations you have contributed to the (postponed) summer fair. Your plentiful supply of bottles and chocolates are much appreciated and being safely stored for when the big event takes place in September. The children enjoyed a dress down day as a result and it seemed to have a very positive effect on their approach to their work. We have spent our afternoons working hard through the process of designing and making a mobile phone case for our DT project. As you can see from the photos below, we have followed a number of steps to achieve this: drafting a design criteria and some initial designs; selecting a preferred design;  measuring and creating paper templates to pin to the fabric and cutting out the felt, ready for sewing; practising a variety of stitches, in order to choose which one best suits our designs and now we are in the process of sewing our patterns together to achieve a final result. We definitely have some emerging designer talent in Simmonds Class, that's for sure. 

Mr Clarke came to visit year 5 this week and presented some well deserved certificates for all the children who entered the public speaking competition. We are sure this is an experience that each of them will take forward with them and be incredibly proud of. Congratulations once again to school winner Bella Lawrence and we wish her all the best of luck for the final round against other contestants across the UK. 

As Wimbledon approaches, Simmonds Class put in a spot of tennis practice during the games lesson this week and built up their skills to deliver some stunning forehand shots. 

It was the turn of Red Team this week to win the most team points and here they are, celebrating in style, under the leadership of Captain Elizabeth. Congratulations to them. 

Week ending 11th June 2021

A big welcome back to you, following the half term break, and there's plenty to look forward to in the final term of year 5. Do please keep a look out for all messages related to the Summer Fair, starting with the

non school uniform day next Friday, 18th June.

Any donations here, of chocolates or bottles for the tombola stall, will be gratefully received. 

Huge congratulations go to Bella Lawrence this week for winning the public speaking competition in Thursday's assembly performance. The panel of judges were incredibly impressed with the quality of all the speakers but Bella's passion and natural delivery won the day, as did her heartfelt acceptance afterwards. Her entry will now be put forward, in the final round of this UK wide competition, against 19 other schools. We will let you know the results as soon as we receive them.

The athletic season has begun and the photos below show some relay practice the runners of Simmonds class took part in during their games session on Wednesday: plenty of potential spotted to become the future Usain Bolt or Dina Asher Smith! 

We have completed some tricky maths work this week, focusing on making conversions between different units of measurement. I have to say, the children have worked really hard on this and they earned a further 3 gold stars in one day towards their target of a whole class reward. Well done!

We have also started a new art topic, "Pop Art" and the final related project has been given out today. You can find this in the homework section above and the final projects are due in Monday, 5th July.

Here are a few pen portraits the children completed in the style of pop artist, Roy Lichtenstein.

Can you recognise any Elvis', Marilyns, Harry Potters or even a hidden Mr Bean?

Finally, this week's team point champions are Green Team so many congratulations to them. 

Week ending 28th May 2021

The final week of term 5 has certainly been a busy one and the children fully deserve their half term break. They completed some fantastic persuasive writing, on the back of our public speaking workshop last week, and a selection of the children are (hopefully!) busy rehearsing their speeches for an assembly performance, once we return to school. The stand out speaker will be put forward to the national competition, following the result from our own panel of judges. 

The sun shone for us on Thursday after school, making our very first silent disco a great success. Photos of the event are shown below, many of them from our own in house photographer, Elizabeth. 

Our PE lesson this week focused on team work and following instructions to develop orienteering skills. Here are a few pictures of the activity, "Funny Faces," where each team had to interpret symbols and maps in order to place the equipment in the correct positions. 

Other than a few finishing touches, our art topic on Flowers and Plants came to an end, with a great lesson on shaping wire to create 3D structures. It may well have resulted in a few sore fingers and thumbs but the end products were fantastic. Here are a few examples of the wire shaping through to the completed flowers and the final whole class display.

All that is left now is for me to wish you all a very happy (homework free!) half term and I look forward to seeing you all again for the final term of year 5. 

Week ending 21st May 2021

Firstly, many thanks to all the parents who logged on to Zoom this week for their parents evening appointment. It was really nice to catch up with you all and update you on how your child is getting along: all very positive, and a testament to how well your children are managing such a strange year. 

We have continued apace with our topics: fractions, decimals and percentages in numeracy; persuasive writing in literacy; all about sound in science (despite the on going noise from the very loud lawnmower!); Christianity in the 21st century for RE, where we learned about the life of Mother Teresa and Flowers and Plants in art where, this session, we manipulated paper and card to create some colourful 3D creations of all shapes and sizes. Here is a selection of some of them. 

It was the turn of Yellow Team to hold the team points trophy up, which Captain Milo duly did, so many congratulations to them, earning 40 points through through their hard work and great attitude.

Do check out the gallery section above for photos of some completed decoupage examples.

Homework this week is to work through the two sheets attached: one on fractions, decimals and percentages; the other on adding and subtracting decimals. A few top tips have been given on the instruction sheet which are definitely worth a look as a reminder of what we have covered in class. Please remember: you only have to do the one sheet, for each topic, at the level that you think best suits you. Please ensure these are handed in by next Wednesday. Enjoy your weekend, though take an umbrella if you're intending on going out! 

Week ending 14th May 2021

Without a shadow of a doubt, the highlight of the week was our Tree Champions workshop on Thursday, delivered by the brilliant Jenny Stewart from Speaker Trust. The day was jam packed full of games, activities and speaking tasks, all designed to help develop self confidence, communication skills and the ability to speak in public. The children worked steadily throughout the day to put their ideas about trees and nature into a speech, which they then delivered to the rest of the class. As you can see from the selection of photos below, Jenny captured their interest and passions fantastically and the children's final performances genuinely brought a tear to the eyes of those adults watching. Up to 5 of the children will be invited to deliver their speech again, alongside children from other schools around the UK, as part of a competition.

Results will be given at the beginning of next week. 

We have also been busy with more science experiments, investigating ways of hearing sound over distance. We had great fun making and testing out our string telephones to understand how sound travels. 

On Friday, we continued our art topic on Plants and Flowers and began our own examples of decoupage. This technique is the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut-outs onto it in a series of layers. Each layer is sealed with glue until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and the result looks like a painting. Here are a few photos of the work in progress. We hope to complete the finished product on Monday.  

Homework this week is to practise learning the Talk for Writing story map to help recite our persuasive letter. The letter itself has been added to the homework section but the story map is pictured below.

Finally, congratulations once again to Blue Team who gained the most team points this week.

I look forward to speaking to those of you who have booked an appointment for next week's parents evenings. If you have not done so yet, please check your emails for all the instructions or get in touch with me so that I can help find you an available slot. Enjoy your weekend. 

Week ending 7th May 2021

The weather has been kind to us this week and we were able to enjoy a fabulous art lesson on Hapa Zome hammer printing, a Japanese technique for releasing the natural dye from flowers onto fabrics and other materials. Take a look at the slideshow below to see the process we went through to create our finished products: foraging, designing, arranging and hammering. 

Further examples of our artwork are displayed in the gallery section. They show some additional pencil sketches and some coloured flowers, inspired by the works of Henri Rousseau, using chalks and pastels.

We have also learned how to change the pitch of a sound in science; use modal verbs and adverbs to support our persuasive writing and find fractions of amounts. The homework provides an opportunity to consolidate this maths work and a reminder example is given on the homework task sheet.

Please ensure this has been completed by Wednesday.

Week ending 30th April 2021

We have had another productive and enjoyable week in Simmonds Class to end the month off and have completed our revision of all things multiplication and division related. We have introduced the key features of persuasive language and delivered some passionate and motivational speeches from past history. In science, we have built on our initial understanding of how sounds are made to learning about how sound travels. Below are a selection of photos that demonstrate how vibrations can impact how sugar bounces of a drum skin...

We also had fun practising putting each other in the recovery position. This was as part of the PSHE curriculum, learning how to keep calm when making important decisions and the confidence that comes with knowing what to do in an emergency situation. Take a look at the photos and video below to help you learn this procedure yourself: you never know when you might need it!

Finally, having completed our first full fortnight this year of working hard in school, blue team were able to celebrate earning the most amount of team points with a grand total of 96 points between them. Here they are proudly holding the trophy aloft, behind captain Elliott.

Week ending 23rd April 2021

We have completed our first full teaching week since December (!) and it has been an absolute pleasure. We have begun our new art topic, "Plants and Flowers" and created the fantastic first set of sketches of the flowers shown below. As you can see, the children observed the details closely and used light/shade to great effect. 

We also finished our class display on Eastern Europe. 

We also revised the formal written methods for long multiplication and division. The homework this week is related to this and the sheets can be found on the homework link above. Please ensure that this is completed and sent to me by the end of Wednesday. Thank you and enjoy a sunny weekend. 

End of term April 2021

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable break over the last two weeks and you are all ready to return to school on Monday 19th April, for as "normal" a term as possible. There are plenty of exciting lessons and activities planned for term 5, kicking off with our new art topic, "Plants and Flowers." Here we can take advantage of the spring blooms, the good weather and build on our sketching techniques developed through our work on landscapes last term. We will then move on to learn from the work of various artists and create prints, models and sculptures of our own.

Our literacy unit will focus on the features of persuasive writing, alongside regular revision of the grammar and punctuation rules we have covered so far. In numeracy, we will consolidate methods for multiplication and division before moving on to discover how decimals and percentages are related to fractions, using the knowledge of fractions we learned last term. We will look at what sound is through our science sessions, following the unit plans from last year, and participate in plenty of investigations involving musical instruments and good vibrations.  PSHE looks at relationships, giving us a number of opportunities to discuss and share our ideas about managing feelings and identifying how relationships can change over time. I am particularly looking forward to utilising the great outdoors as the weather becomes kinder: we can monitor our bird boxes and deliver the PE lessons outside, including cricket, rounders and a spot of orienteering. Lots to look forward to, then, so I hope you are all fully recharged and as excited as I am.

To finish, I wanted to show this lovely sketch from Elizabeth, which she sent me through the holiday. It demonstrates the sketching techniques we practised through our landscape artwork, particularly the shading necessary for light and dark comparisons. Hopefully this will inspire you for our forthcoming work on sketching plants and flowers. Other photos (of your landscape paintings in progress and your project presentations) can be found in the gallery above. 

Week ending 26th March 2021

I feel congratulations, once again, are due to Simmonds Class as they have survived their first full week back in school since mid December AND completed their assessments to boot! They fully deserved their little run around this afternoon (some still drying out from this morning's sudden downpour!) in the great outdoors. 

We have also continued to develop our use of figurative language; our understanding of how to multiply fractions; considered the importance of forgiveness and taken part in some role play of real life scenarios.

Homework this weekend is to complete the project on Eastern Europe, but an additional activity has been provided for those children who have already submitted their presentations IF they would like. 

Enjoy a relaxing, hopefully dry weekend, and remember we end term 4 with a 4 day week: the last day of term is Thursday 1st April. 

Week ending 19th March 2021

At last, we have been able to meet up altogether in school again and complete a full day as Simmonds Year 5. What a day to return, too, with plenty of fun, laughter and bright red noses for Comic Relief Day. Many, many thanks for your support with this: the wearing of red, purchasing of noses and entering the competitions across the school led to a fantastic donation of almost £600. Congratulations to you all. 

Huge thanks, also, to the class for their sterling perseverance and attitude to another 10 days of home learning. The work so many of you produced was fantastic and I never ceased to be amazed and delighted at the commitment and innovativeness from so many of you in your responses to the tasks set. I was doubly delighted, therefore, despite the excitement of seeing your friends again and telling a steady stream of jokes all day, you managed to complete some work in class today as well. We searched for suitable places we could hang our bird boxes; we listened to and responded to "A poem to be spoken silently," and practised sketching landscapes to include perspective, shading and lighting effects. All topped off with a joke telling session and a whole class photo of Simmonds In Red.

A selection of these activities are in the slideshow below. For examples of the work completed this last week in isolation, check out the gallery section above. You will find inventive interpretations of 9 o'clock doodles; responses to the importance of Love; some great illustrations of how to feel good about yourself; some working sundials made from everyday materials .....and Harry's bearded dragon getting in on the act when learning how the earth's rotation impacts night and day!

Enjoy a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing the children next week. 

Week ending 12th March 2021

Our welcomed return to school did not last long and we find ourselves, once again, completing the joys of home learning as we all isolate for the required ten days and keep everyone as safe as possible. 

A huge THANKYOU to you all, though, for staying so positive in spirit and camaraderie, as well as producing some fantastic pieces of work with such immediacy. A selection of the bird boxes we made at the beginning of the week are shown below, and plenty of science experiments were trialled this afternoon, as you can see with the splashes of colour throughout the slideshow beneath. Enjoy your weekend and I shall see you bright and breezy at 9:30 Monday morning for our live literacy lesson.  

Week ending 5th March 2021

Well, congratulations are due once again for you have all made it through to the end of another lockdown. I am really looking forward to seeing you on Monday 8th March as we return to school and fingers crossed, we can settle in at a steady and comfortable pace. It will no doubt be a shock to the system, working through a full school week, but the activities we have planned should keep you entertained, awake and reinvigorate your love of learning. Most importantly, they will involve opportunities to work and play alongside your friends and classmates, and to discuss your responses to the events of the past 3 months. 

Enjoy a well deserved, work free weekend and in the meantime, take a look through the photos sent through from World Book Day on Thursday.

Don't forget, it's not too late to send your Masked Reader competition entries off to Mrs Ochiltree. The video and answer sheet have been attached below as well as in the home learning section. 

Week ending 26th February 2021

The countdown for our return to school begins! 

The final week of lockdown has been planned and the timetable has been displayed, as always, under the home learning icon above. It coincides with our annual English week, which includes World Book Day on Thursday 4th March, meaning there will be lots of opportunities for reading, dressing up as book characters and fun competitions, so plenty to look forward to. 

Below, I have displayed some of the work sent this week related to our new science topic, Earth and Space. As you can see, there are some lovely information posters, outlining the key features of the planets in our solar system, and some great pieces of artwork showing the different sizes, shapes, colours and positions of those planets. I especially enjoyed the various mnemonics you made up to help remember the order of the planets.

 The set of photos is finished off with Milo's inventive rocket and alien models as well as his play day out on the climbing frames with his sister. Great to see the arm splint is off and he's back to his energetic self!

Really looking forward to seeing you all in a week's time but enjoy the final week at home with your families.