You wouldn't Want to be a Slave During Ancient Greece!

Welcome back to school Year 5!

 This term we are going to learn about the Ancient Greeks.  This is a great topic. We will find out about how they lived, the differences between the rich and the poor, their way of life and why they believed in so many gods and goddesses.

Our first week back we have our trip to look forward to as well.

This term is packed with many extra curricular events too, such as Sports Afternoon, Family Fun Day, Enterprise Week and a maths day! 

25th June - 29th June 2018

This week has been another good week for year 5. Some children achieved their Bronze at swimming and we have others who will be going in for their Silver and Gold awards next week.  We have continued our learning about the Ancient Greek way of life and how Athenians and Spartans lived very differently to each other. 

18th June - 22nd June 2018

Children in Year 5 have been working on diary writing over the last few writing sessions and their progress is amazing. They have become much more confident in their writing over the year - I am very proud of them.  The next couple of genres are going to allow the children to showcase all their writing skills that they have learnt in more independent pieces.

In maths we have been working on understanding decimals and percentages - again I can see their confidence shining through - Keep up the continued practise of basic maths skills.

Year 5 have also been working on their transition to Year 6.  We have (teachers in Y5 and Y6) been talking with the children about 'What it means to be in Year 6' and preparing them for the big day.  

On Wednesday children across the school and 12 from Year 5 went to the Queen Elizabeth Hall for the Annual Music Festival.  They worked hard with Miss Woodworth preparing their pieces for the show and did Whitegate End Proud!

Well done Y5 - Another busy week and another busy week ahead! 

11th June - 15th June 2018

Another brilliant week of learning from Year 5.  We are working hard on getting ourselves ready for Year 6.  We have been working on decimal numbers and writing diary entries.  On Wednesday and Thursday we worked with our Year 6 teacher Mr Scott doing some transition activities. 

4th June - 8th June 2018

A great start back. We have been working on 'Being Year 6 ready'.  Thinking about how we will be role models to the rest of the school and what it means to be a Year 6 pupil at Whitegate End.

We also had an amazing time at The World Liverpool Museum learning about life during Ancient Greek times and the Gods and Goddesses.

If you require an extra copy of the Newsletter for Summer 2 please ask at the office or see me. I have uploaded the important dates coming up below.

Important Dates:

5th June—TRIP—The World Liverpool Museum. Set off prompt at 8.50—arriving back to school between 3.30-3.45pm. We will keep you updated on our journey back to school.

7th June—KS2 Sports Day

13th June—Sports Event— Radclyffe High School

15th June– Count Down Maths Day

30th June—PTFA Summer Fun Day

9th July—Transition Day to Year 6

10th-13th July—Enterprise Week

16th July—Parent’s Meeting

Nandos 

You all have your chili challenge homework. Choose a challenge you want to do and really think about how to up-level your work... Presentation, standards, effort.... Be proud of the work you do. Make it your project and enjoy completing it.  It makes all the difference.

SumDog

For your Maths Homework I want you to use SumDog.  I want you to practise skills, play games and complete challenges.  You need to build your skills and practise on the app will help support you. 

Give it a go at home... Any problems come and see Miss Murphy or me.

Mrs Travis

Welcome back to school boys and girls. I hope you have had a good holiday.  

This half term our topic is called 'Mission to Mars'. 

We will learn about the Solar System; how it works, the planets and finding out if life could survive on any of the planets. The writing focuses this half term are non-chronological reports - here  we will write about if it is possible to survive on Mars and the second focus is diary writing. We will write as one of the characters from 'The London Eye Mystery'

In guided reading we will read 'The London Eye Mystery'.  This is a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Week Ending 25th May 2018

Year 5 worked in teams to build their Jimu Robots and what a fantastic job they did. I am so pleased I was able to see their finished products and how much they had learned about programming. In the final session they were able to work with small groups of Year 1 and 2 and teach the children how to give the robot a sequence of instructions, to order it to either move, dance, change eye colour and much more.

23rd April - 27th April 2018

Another brilliant week with Year 5. We have continued to write the non-chronological reports about Mars and the level of detail and compositions the children are producing is excellent.   They have applied their fraction knowledge of addition, subtraction and multiplication of fractions to solve problems and reasoning.

However, the highlight of the week has to be the ICT work the children are doing with Manchester City.  They have nearly built the Jimu Robot - these little 'guys' are amazing - from scratch. They have followed an interactive app and used each component, whether it be a tiny peg or a board, to complete the robot.  

In the next session we will use the programming app to program a set of instructions to the robot via Bluetooth.  

16th April - 20th April 2018

What a fabulous first week back we have had.  Children started the week off by designing a pod that they could live in on Mars. They had to think carefully about what they could take to Mars to be able to survive.  They had to think of what they would use to build their pod, as it has to survive all kinds of weather.  As part of their homework, children have been given an opportunity to build their pods and use this as a project over the next four weeks. I hope some of you decide to this as your ideas were amazing.

We also started the ICT project.  Children started to build their robots and had a fantastic afternoon.  We will continue this over this half term so I will upload photos here to see their work in progress next week.

We also started to look at the enormity of the Universe and the size of stars in relation to Earth - in the words of Rhys

'I am jaw dropped by what I have just seen on that video.'  

The video compared on a scale the planets and significant stars within our Solar System and showed them that we are all a tiny fraction of what is out there! 

Maths Homework and Sumdog

Year 5 have now been given their Sumdog passwords and usernames. They have logged on and started their diagnostic test.  

They now will have their maths homework  set on Sumdog - I will show children how to access this in class.

I will also upload challenges that they can compete in. 

They were all very excited with the app and what it has to offer them.  The more they play and compete the more games they unlock and the more coins they earn.  

It can either be downloaded on to an ipad as an app - search 'Sumdog' or it can be played on computer or a laptop - use the website address 

www.sumdog.com 

Happy Mathematics Year 5!

Bikeability Level 2

On Friday children who passed Level 1 received a letter to complete Level 2 on Friday 27th April (pm) and the following Friday 4th May (all day)

Please return the consent forms by Tuesday 24th April 2018.

A letter regarding clothing will be sent out this week.

Thank you

23rd March

This week your homework is to practise and learn the spellings.  Then use them in a sentence - write your sentences in your homework book. 

Choose a Nandos task to do and complete. Remember to do this to the best of your ability. Think about presentation… be creative.

Finally complete the fraction maths homework based on your learning this week.

16th March 

1. Practise the 9 times tables

Write the fact families for them. For example:

9 x 5 = 45, 5 x 9 = 45, 45 divide by 5 = 9, 45 divide by 9 = 5

Knowing the division facts is just as important as knowing the multiples.

1. Practise your Choral Speaking poems. Practise the ‘I Am Not Going Places With Them Again’ and the poem ‘ The Language of Cat’. Use your voice to add variety in the poem. You are all doing fabulously…. I am very impressed!
2. Choose a Nandos task to do and complete. Remember to do this to the best of your ability. Think about presentation… be creative.
3. Practise your new spellings – each day!

· Remember the ‘Mystery Rewards’ so hand your homework in on Wednesday – completed.

9th March 2018

1. Practise your 8 times tables

Write the fact families for them. For example:

8 x 2 = 16, 2 x 8 =16, 16 divided by 8 = 2, 16 divided by 2 = 8.

Knowing the division facts is just as important as knowing the multiples.

1. Practise your Choral Speaking poems. Practise the ‘I am not going places with the again’ the way we have been in class. Try to learn some of the ‘The language of a cat poem’
2. Choose a nandos task to do and complete. Remember to do this to the best of your ability. Think about presentation… be creative.
3. Practise your new spellings – each day!

· Remember the ‘Mystery Rewards’ so hand your homework in on Wednesday – completed.

2nd March 2018

Practise and consolidate using the formal method of multiplication and division.  Try different levels of challenge: 2d x 1d, 2d x 2d, 3d x1d, 3d x 2d, 3d x 3d and so on and divide 2d, 3d and 4d numbers by 1d. 

If you want to challenge yourself try dividing by 3d or 4d by 2d.

Remember to complete a Nandos task. Ensure you put your best efforts in to each task. 

23rd February 2018

Homework for this weekend is to practise times tables. You need to know all 12x12 and the division facts. This will help you with many areas in maths and moving in to Year 6. Practise by using the grid and time yourself.

19th March - 23rd March 2018

This week was a very busy week. We attended the Careers Fair at the Oldham Mahdlo Centre. The children had the opportunity to visit different career providers and learn what courses and careers are on offer for their future. We also attended the Choral Speaking Event at the Oldham Coliseum. The children did a  fantastic job and received an Honours Plus for their performance! Truly deserved!

In literacy children have been writing their explanations about their insects. Using knowledge of geography and science to make their insect sound as though it exists! What amazing writing. I can't wait to see the published version.

12th March-16th March 2018

This week has been science and week and we used this opportunity to do some scientific enquiry.  We took our learning outside and tested how far balloons travel on different strings. We had so much!!

5th March -9th March 2018

This week we have been very busy. We went to Castleshaw for our 'Rivers Trip' . We had lots of fun investigating the river and taking part in the different activities.

On Thursday we had our World Book Day. We came to school dressed in our onesies and pyjamas and our theme was 'Dreamland'.

The book we focussed our work on was 'Alice in Wonderland'.  We read extracts, drew what Alice saw as she went down the rabbit hole, made tea cups and wrote quotes from the chapter 'The Mad-Hatters Tea Party'.  

The day also featured 'Drop Everything and Read' times when we could relax and read our books.  

Then to finish the day, our mystery reader arrived.... Mrs McMillian 

19th - 23rd February 2018

We had a fabulous start to the new half term.  

For our WOW we were scientists working in the rainforest that had discovered a never seen  before insect.  For this we thought of all the insects that we know and decided that they had cross-bred. We thought about their bodily make-up, habitat, food that they eat and life cycle.

Spring Term 2 

Do all Animals Start Life as an Egg?

This half term we will learn about animal life cycles, human growth and development and animals and their habitats.  We will also learn about how animals, insects and amphibians breed and use this knowledge to develop a new undiscovered species to base our explanation writing on. During guided reading we will complete the story 'Swallows and Amazons' and find out what will happen to the explorers on their adventure, then we will read 'Charlotte's Web' and think about life from the perspective of different animals on the farm.

We will also learn to poems for the Choral Speaking Event and go to a Careers Fair.  

We will go Castleshaw for a rivers trip. This will consolidate your learning for our rivers topic.

Also don't forget about World Book Day on the 1st March - you will need your books as it will be a 'Drop Everything and Read Day'.

HOMEWORK NOTICE FOR HALF TERM...

Please revise the spelling lists from this half term. They can be found in the spelling section on this page.  Also it is vital that you become a lot more confident in knowing your times tables of by heart and also the relating division facts.  Use apps and songs to learn them and then use fact families to consolidate. 

Example of a fact family:

9 x 3 = 27

3 x 9 = 27

27 divided by 3 = 9

27 divided by 9 = 3

5th February 2018 - 9th February 2018

WOW!! What a busy and fabulous week.  

We have participated in Children's Mental Health Awareness Week, Safer Internet Day and celebrated Chinese New Year by having a special meal prepared for us with our parents. It was delicious! 

During mental health sessions we learnt strategies to calm us down if we are feeling anxious or stressed. We talked about having a positive attitude and affirmations about us; such as 'We are talented' or 'We are determined'.

We also started to learn a new song by Shakira from the film Zootropolis  in our singing lesson...

and carried out an independent scientific enquiry...

29th January 2018 - 2nd February 2018

Another brilliant week in Year 5.  Children have started their persuasive writing linked to buying Fairtrade products which relates to the second half of the topic Brazil and the Rainforest.  

The children are enjoying their singing sessions on Mondays with the choir teacher and are learning to sing in scales. 

22nd January 2018 - 26th January 2018

This week Year 5 have been learning more about rivers and finding out how why dams are built. They have also been continuing to write their fantastic stories about why it is important to preserve the rainforest.

In maths we are becoming confident in reading and gathering information from timetables and information charts.

The children have also started to fill in their Oldham Pledge Passports.  It is amazing how much the children have and are participating in under each pledge.  Be sure to add anything extra in you may do at home or at a club... Check the pledges and write in the activity where it fits best! The children loved sharing what they had done and seeing their activities credited in their books.  We will continue to work on this over the coming weeks.  Why not check out our Oldham Pledge page on the website to see activities on offer?

15th January - 19th January

Another super week in Year 5 - Children have been publishing newspaper reports, planning an issue and dilemma story set in the rainforest, working on statistics and learning about rivers.  They have also been getting into the book 'Swallows and Amazons'.  It is about four children who go on an adventure - camping on an island by themselves - What will happen next?

We also had 'Drop Everything and Read Day' which the children loved! Here are some photos from the day...

9th January - 12th January

We have had a fantastic week back this week.  We have looked at 'The Journey of a River' and created fabulous art work.  We decided on what part of the journey our river was on and used oil pastels to show a river travelling through a city, a farm, the countryside, a rainforest, mountains or out to the sea.

9th January 2018

Welcome back to school boys and girls and wishing you a Happy New Year.  I hope you have had a lovely break and are raring to get back to school to start the new topic.  The new topic this half term is called 'Journey Down the River' and we will be learning about rivers around the world, the make-up of a river from how it begins to how it ends. We will also learn about the uses of rivers for developed and developing countries.

As well as this we will learn about the Amazon Rainforest and how the world relies on it's sustainability.  We will investigate the effects of deforestation and how companies are now working hard to protect the forest and it's natural environment.

11th December 2017

Year 5 have had a fabulous week this week. We kicked it off with a visit to the 'World Liverpool Museum' and the children had a fantastic time. They engaged with the workshop, asked sophisticated questions and represented Whitegate End very well. We are all so proud!

We also have spent time perfecting our Christmas Extravaganza - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We can't wait to put a fantastic show on for you all!

On Wednesday we were also treated to a Christmas Dinner! Mrs Conway and all the brilliant dinner ladies made over 330 dinners for us. It was lovely to see all our parents enjoy dinner with their children and friends.

4th December 2017

This week we have been getting in to the Christmas spirit. Elfvis, Father Christmas' helper, has been visiting Year 5. He has been reporting back to Father Christmas via email and selecting his Secret Pupil of the day.

Here he is at the Pantomime ...

Also this week we have been publishing our fantastic stories for the sequel to 'How To Train Your Dragon' and consolidating our learning of multiplying and dividing decimal numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.

27th November 2017

The children in Year 5 this week have been finalising their stories ready to publish next lesson.  The stories the children have been writing focus on Hiccup and his adventures on the island of 'Berk'.

We have also learnt about the ways Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings used to live and why they decided to settle in Britain.

20th November 2017

Well, what can I say about this week in Year 5! 

A brilliant week of learning has been happening in the Year 5 classroom because this week we have been working extremely hard on 'Takeover Day'. 

The children have been taking responsibility for their job in school and have definitely taking their jobs seriously. 

They have planned and delivered lessons, carried out risk assessments, learning observations and learning walks, carried out administrative tasks and delivered an assembly. 

Fantastic work Year 5 - hope you have enjoyed your role and had a fabulous morning.

Welcome to Whitegate End. How can I help you?

Miss Draper (Acting Head Teacher)

13th November 2017

 What a fabulous week in Year 5. 

We have shown a true Whitegate End spirit when talking about bullying and how we can make sure everyone feels safe, valued and happy.

We have thought carefully about social bullying and how it can affect people emotionally.

We thought about how our body language and facial expressions can be upsetting to others and how we must include everyone so we all feel valued.

Here are some freeze frames of friendly and unfriendly dispositions:

We also wore odd socks on Monday.... To represent the motto 'All different, All equal!'

6th November 2017

What a brilliant first week back. We have designed Viking Shields. Started to read about Gunnar in the story Viking Boy and started to plan for our literacy unit 'How To Train Your Dragon - The Sequel.' 

In maths we have started to learn about 'Factors' and 'Common Multiples' 

To kick start our topic we have designed Viking shields and designed a crest for the middle of the shield. 

On Friday we had a Remembrance Service and made poppies to put in the Whitegate End Remembrance Garden.

Welcome back - I hope you're ready for this terms learning.

We are going to be learning about Vikings and Anglo-Saxons and how and why they settled in Britain.  

We will also be visiting 'The Liverpool World Museum' to participate in a workshop and use the opportunity while we are there to visit other parts of the museum.

Our topic this term is:

Anglo-Saxon vs Viking - Who Do You Think You Are?

During this topic you will be Film Writers, Researchers and Construction Engineers.

Whole Class Guided Reading Text this term is:

The Viking boy of the title is Gunnar, the only son and heir of a retired chieftain. The family lives peacefully on a fertile homestead, raising sheep and dining on hearty stew. What will happen to Gunnar in this warrior tale?

Recommended Books

Here I will share books I think you will enjoy, books you should read and books that you won't be able to put down!

There are many fantastic stories available at the moment and you don't have to spend a fortune buying them.  You can ask your local library to order them for you, visit all good book websites and stores - they sometimes have offers or go to charity shops.  These shops often have books that people have donated; they are half the price and as good as new!

Here is the next recommendation for you, perhaps you can choose one of the three below and read it over the half term. If you do we can type your review about it alongside the book! 

February's Recommended Book is....

An encounter with a boy dangling from the sky changes pickpocket Magpie's life forever. Like her, the boy dreams of flying over the rooftops of Paris. His family, the Montgolfiers, are desperate to be first to discover the secret of flight. Together with Pierre, Magpie is soon caught up in a world of inflatable bloomers, spies and a trio of unruly animals in a race to be the first to fly a hot air balloon - in front of the King and Queen of France.

December's recommended book for you is called

'Book Scavenger' 

The story synopsis:

For twelve-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon arriving, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold himself. Racing against time, Emily and James try to uncover the secret at the heart of Griswold's new game-before Griswold's attackers find them.

Recommended for 9-11 year olds

Can you solve the puzzles?

So.... we have found out about Ivy and Seb being 'Uncommoners' and their mystery adventure in Lundinor.  Well, here is the next book to their adventures.  

The Smoking Hourglass by Jennifer Bell

Following Ivy Sparrow’s discoveries in The Crooked Sixpence, the adventures continue in the second instalment of The Uncommoners trilogy, The Smoking Hourglass.

As soon as Ivy and her brother Seb set foot back in the mysterious underground city of Lundinor, they know that something has changed . . . Where before there were cobbled streets, now the squares and lanes between the city’s enchanted shops are lush with spring blooms – but something dark is stirring just below the surface, and uncommon traders are uneasy. Ivy and Seb have stumbled into a plot that could condemn every uncommoner to a disastrous fate . . . With the help of Valian, their extraordinary friend – and some exceptional uncommon objects – can Ivy and Seb put a stop to the sinister Dirge’s plans?

This month's recommendation is 'The Goldfish Boy' by Lisa Thompson.

This book deals with the issue of a child with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and how he must overcome this to solve a mystery, as he is the only witness.

Suitable for 9-12 year olds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzSQRG1yDGw

A story about finding friendship when you're lonely - and hope when all you feel is fear. Twelve-year-old Matthew is trapped in his bedroom by crippling OCD, spending most of his time staring out of his window as the inhabitants of Chestnut Close go about their business. Until the day he is the last person to see his next door neighbour's toddler, Teddy, before he goes missing. Matthew must turn detective and unravel the mystery of Teddy's disappearance - with the help of a brilliant cast of supporting characters. Page-turning, heart breaking, but ultimately life-affirming, this story is perfect for fans of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Wonder. It is a book that will make you laugh and cry.

The first recommendation is by Peter Bunzl and is entitled 'Cogheart'

SOME SECRETS CHANGE THE WORLD IN A HEARTBEAT.

Lily’s life is in mortal peril. Her father is missing and now silver-eyed men stalk her through the shadows.

What could they want from her?

With her friends – Robert, the clockmaker’s son, and Malkin, her mechanical fox – Lily is plunged into a murky and menacing world. Too soon Lily realises that those she holds dear may be the very ones to break her heart…

Murder, mayhem and mystery meet in this gripping Victorian adventure.

Have you heard about the 100 Book Challenge?

Come down to Year 5 and find out about the 100 Books to read before you leave year 6? 

Give yourself a challenge -

How many can you read in a month? 

If you loose your spelling sheet or need another I have uploaded the weekly sheets below.  

It is important that you learn these words and learn the meanings of them.  Try to use them in your everyday vocabulary and in your writing.

Pick a word you will use each day - Have a 'Word of the Day'. 

Once you have had your spelling test... don't forget about them - They are for life! 

If you need to practice previous words, you will find all the lists below.  

Keep going - you're doing brilliantly! 

Support for what pupils need to know about spelling:

Phonemic knowledge

The correspondence between letters/graphemes  and sounds/phonemes (GPCS).

• phonics – knowing about letter/sound correspondence.

• spelling patterns and conventions

• homophones – words which sound the same but are written differently.

• Phonological knowledge – understanding syllables and rhymes.

Morphological knowledge

The spelling of grammatical units within words.

• root words – are made up of one morpheme and cannot be split into smaller grammatical units.

• compound words – two root words which make another word when joined.

• suffixes -  added at the end of root words and change its meaning  and sometimes the spelling.

• prefixes - added at the beginning of a root word to change its meaning. Spelling usually unchanged.

Etymological knowledge

The understanding of the origin of words.

• etymology - word derivations. Knowing the different sources of English words.

As part of our Home/School agreement each teacher will be available on a designated day after school.

I will be available every Monday from 3.00 pm to 3.30 pm.  

This will start on the 11th September and it is an opportunity for you to call in (if you need to) to discuss any issues and concerns.

However, if you need to have a longer meeting to discuss issues/concerns at length then we can arrange a time and a date that will be more suitable.

Monday - Optional Parent drop-ins 3.00 pm-3.30 pm
Tuesday - Swimming - First swimming lesson - 12th September
Wednesday - Homework to be handed in
Thursday - 
Friday - Spelling Test and new spellings handed out

PE Kit - Outdoor Kit (Please see school prospectus for guidance)

Homework Tasks to be given out

Reading at Home

Autumn 1

Welcome, Wizards of Whitegate End

Welcome to Year 5.... This term our topic is 'Wizards of Whitegate End'.   In Year 5 your teachers are Mrs Travis and Miss Benbow.

We will be immersing ourselves in all things 'Wizardry'.  So get your hats and capes at the ready! 

In writing we will write setting descriptions from Harry Potter and write our own wizard stories. 

During whole class reading, we will read the book 'The Uncommoners, The Crooked Sixpence'.

The Wizards Return...

9th October 2017

The Legend of Tom Trueheart.

We are using The Legend of Tom Trueheart for the inspiration of our narrative writing.  

We planned a story in pairs, then shared our story ideas to create one big story. 

Our character, will go on a quest to save a cursed prince and he will have to defeat the evil wizard, Gallieth! 

We have carried out an investigation in science to find out which cup will keep the wizard's potion the hottest within a set amount of time.  We asked 'Which cup will be best at keeping the wizard's potion the hottest?'

We had a range of cups and had to take regular readings.  We found that the polystyrene cup was by far the best at keeping the potion insulated.

School Council Elections

On Thursday Year 5 elected their school council leaders for their class by having a democratic vote. Here we are posting our ballot papers!

ROCK KIDZ

Last week we were really lucky to have Rock Kidz join us at school and teach us some valuable lessons through the power of music and rock!

We had so much fun and we topped it off with an amazing two night concert.

Have a look at some of our class photos.