Week 7 - wc 15.12.25

How is it possible that we are at the end of the Autumn term? We are a third of the way though the year! What a term it has been!

This week, enterprise has been in full swing; the children have worked so hard creating and selling some delicious 'Ancient Greece' inspired food. We were also lucky enough to go to the year 6 'Christmas Market' themed enterprise! In addition, some of our children were selected to go to a local elderly resident's home to read and chat with the residents. They made some fantastic friends and thoroughly enjoyed the experience; we are so proud of how mature, kind and attentive the children were. We enjoyed our 'Christmas Jumper Day' and Christmas lunch, we are very grateful to Mandy, Lucy and the kitchen staff for organising this for us.

This term has really flown by and the children are going from strength to strength as individuals and as a cohort; we are proud of how far they have come as we reach the end of the term. Next term, we look forward to fraction work and our new topic of 'Earthquakes, Climate Zones and Volcanoes'.

Finally, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your kind gifts and we wish you all a fantastic break. Enjoy the rest and reset, ready for next term!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis xx

Week 6 - wc 8.12.25

At the end of last week, we enjoyed our Rudolph Run and raised an astonishing amount for St. Claire's hospice. We have attached some pictures below for you to enjoy. This week, we had our carol concert and class parties! We had so much fun dancing, playing games (such as biscuit curling) and laughing with our friends. Amazingly, Debden Park High school also invited us to attend their Panto (which we thoroughly enjoyed). We were lucky enough to watch some of our year 5 students in their Rocksteady concert, it was wonderful to see them performing! What a jam-packed week!
 

In maths, we have started looking at our new topic - statistics. We focused on line graphs, which show data over time. We were able to look at different line graphs and identify the features, then we answered a range of questions before creating our own.

We have a busy week next week, during which we will hold our enterprise (themed around Ancient Greece) and we have the chance to enjoy a forest school session on Tuesday (please dress appropriately).

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Week 5 - wc 1.12.25

This week, we have been very busy completing lots of assessments - the children have used their growth mindsets and have worked very hard to show off what they have learnt so far this year. In between our assessments, we have been researching Ancient Greek gods and goddesses and learning about nonet poems in English. A nonet is a poetic form that consists of nine lines, with each line reducing syllables. We really enjoyed playing the syllables game! We plan to write a nonet about an Ancient Greek god or goddess of our choice. This particular topic has sparked such curiosity and many of the children have demonstrated a wealth of knowledge! 

In PE, we continued to develop our gymnastics skills by creating a sequence of shapes (using synchronisation or canon) in our groups. 

We have a busy week ahead of us, with our Christmas carol concert, Christmas party and a Christmas Panto all happening in the same week!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis.

Week 4 - wc 24.11.25

This week, the children have worked incredibly hard on their myths, based on our previous learning of Hercules and his twelve labours. We were able to use AI to create images of our amazing characters. We are very proud of the effort and maturity they have demonstrated, and the enthusiasm has been truly infectious!

In maths, we have been using place value grids to divide increasingly large numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.

In science, we have been investigating soluble materials – ask your child which materials were soluble and which were insoluble!

For no pens day, we created some brilliant shape-based artwork. We have attached some wonderful examples below!

In PE, we challenged ourselves (and our gymnastics skills) by jumping from increasing heights and creating asymmetrical shapes with our body using balance.

On Wednesday, we had a very special assembly with 'Pearly Queen Teresa'. She introduced us to this fascinating London tradition and explained the charitable work these wonderful people do! Perhaps ask your child what 'apples and pears' means!

We have ramped up our Christmas concert practise and have really enjoyed learning some new songs ready to show you!

Finally, thank you for the OPAL donations we have received so far!

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Please see below the carol list for our concert (and links for the music).

1. Rocking around the Christmas tree 

https://youtu.be/1qYz7rfgLWE?si=wafHVcAKITf83Nxj  

2. The Gift  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD5X1fjW968  

3. Jingle Bells 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CWJNqyub3o&t=4s  

4. 12 Days of Christmas  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyEyMjdD2uk&t=64s  

5. Feliz Navidad  

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

6. Merry Christmas Everyone- Shakin' Stevens  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3dKRVVvL2U&t=175s 

7. We wish you a Merry Christmas 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-OF7KGyDis  

 

Week 3 - wc 17.11.25

Another busy and exciting week in year 5!

In maths, we have been extending our division knowledge by turning our remainders into fractions and decimals! The growth mindset and overall confidence from the children has been infectious! In science, we have been investigating materials in order to decide which would be the best thermal insulator for a lunchbox (to keep our lunch cool). We had a great time and had so many questions as a result of this investigation. In art, we have been creating decorations for the hall using wool, this as a challenge but we really enjoyed it! In English, we have been learning the incredible 'Twelve Labours of Hercules', we used actions and created beautiful storyboards. Next week, we will write the thirteenth labour! In preparation for this, we have been creating our own mythical nemesis for Hercules to defeat!

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Week 2 - wc 10.11.25

What a wonderful week we have had in year 5!

We have been working hard on division, increasing the size of our numbers ready for next week - when we will turn remainders into fractions and decimals! In History, we have been learning more about Ancient Greece and the origin of the Olympics - making comparisons to the games that are held today. Tomorrow, we will be learning about Athens and Sparta and the complicated relationship these city states had! 

This week we had our school trip to The Ragged Museum, it was an incredible day. We thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a real Victorian lesson with (the rather frightening) Ms Perkins! When we realised the building was actually once a real Victorian schoolhouse for poor (ragged) children, it made the experience all the more special.

In addition, some of the year 5 children were lucky enough to attend an archery competition, coming an amazing second place!!

We are looking forward to another amazing week next week.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

 

Week 1 (Autumn 2) - wc 3.11.25

We were lucky enough to have an outdoor learning day on Thursday, during which we created factor bugs to find common factors in maths. We also went on a materials hunt in science to find different materials with different properties (such as reflective, absorbent, flexible etc.). 

In English this week, we have started our exciting new topic 'Ancient Greece'. Our incredible timelines are already adorning our walls! Feel free to ask the children about the geography of Greece, we all agreed we would love to go!

The children of Aspen class held a wonderful assembly marking Remembrance Day, during which they shared facts and read a haunting poem called 'In Flanders Field' by John McCrae. His poem inspired the use of poppies as a way to commemorate fallen soldiers. Each class has created poppies to attach to a wreath, with help from our amazing LSAs, Mrs Dobson and Miss Bell. Year 5 has taken inspiration from this famous poem and are looking forward to showing it to the rest of the school next week when we hold our 2-minute silence.

We are looking forward to our school trip next week. Please refer to the letter that was issued for further details.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Week 8 - wc 20th October

It is almost the half term break and what a half term it has been!

It was wonderful to meet so many of you for parents consultations on Monday, it really is a joy to be able to share the children's successes.

In maths this week, we have used our determination and growth mindset to learn long multiplication, with many of us moving on to 3 digits by 2 digits! As long as we followed the steps, we were successful! In English, we have been learning the Michael Jordan story 'Salt in His Shoes' - a truly inspirational story which includes themes of grit, determination and perseverance. We used this story to create our own magical storyboards. In addition, we created some unique 'Michael Jordan' art using a drip painting technique (inspired by Jackson Pollock).

Yesterday, some of us were lucky enough to go to The Royal Opera House to see 'The Magic Flute', the children represented the school beautifully and they all had a wonderful time!

We are looking forward to a lovely treat this afternoon as we are watching the movie 'Hidden Figures', which is the story of Katherine Johnson (another inspirational figure we have been learning abotu as part of Black History Month). This will bring our amazing half term to an end.

We would like to wish you all a safe, restful and fun half term.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

 

Week 7 - wc 13th October

We are getting ever closer to half term.

In maths this week, we have been recapping short multiplication ready for next week when we learn long multiplication for the first time. We have been using our growth mindsets to prepare ourselves for the exciting and challenging week of maths ahead!

In English, we have been delving into Black History Month and learning about the inspiring Katherine Johnson. She was a resilient, determined woman with an incredible brain, which she used to send people safely into space! To conclude our learning, we wrote wonderful poems about her - using lots of figurative language. We also created some amazing Katherine Johnson  portraits using water colours and chalk.

In science, we recapped our learning across the Earth and Space topic and ended with a post-topic assessment which resulted in incredible results from each and every child!

We finished our Mayan masks by adding some incredible colour - take a look at our awesome pictures below!

Finally, we had another very important workshop relating to vaping. We learnt the dangers of vaping for children and teenagers, feel free to ask any questions on this important topic.

Have a great weekend and we are looking forward to meeting the adults on Monday to share how amazingly all of your children are doing.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis.

 

Week 6 - wc 6th October

It has been another eventful week in year 5!

In maths, we have been working on our formal written method of subtraction – lots of us challenged ourselves and attempted six-digit numbers! We will be concluding the week playing a subtraction loop game in class. We now know that subtraction is not commutative! 

In English, we have been researching the Ancient Maya, an enigmatic, innovative civilisation. We have thoroughly enjoyed learning about this interesting civilisation, who thrived in Mesoamerica from 2000BCE. We have also been learning relative clauses, which are introduced by relative pronouns (such as which, who, that). We will continue to apply our knowledge of relative clauses in our non-chronological writing this week and next!

In science, we have been lucky enough to engage in a STEM day based around our topic 'Space'. We designed, made and tested rockets and gliders. We had to use a range of skills – such as problem-solving, communication and team work. We had such a fun, interactive day, we thank Miss Higgs for organising it!

In Art, we are currently creating Mayan masks – last week we decided to design a death mask, event mask or a war mask. We will finish our designs next week by painting them. They already look incredible!

We are looking forward to an exciting week next week, in which we will be learning about some influential black people from history for Black History Month.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Week 5 - wc 29th September

Can you believe it is already October? Time really is flying!

We have been working very hard in year 5 this week. In maths, we have been developing our formal written method in addition – with many of us adding six-digit numbers. We were also lucky enough to participate in a maths Zoom call for Black History Month, during which we met an inspirational female mathematician, Dr. Angela Tabiri. We really enjoyed learning about commutative law – ask us what that means! 

In English, we have started our exciting new topic – 'Ancient Maya'. We were able to recall our learning from year 3 and develop it further by engaging in discussions about which achievement we thought was the most significant (for example, calendars or hieroglyphics). We have generated lots of research ready for our non-chronological reports next week!

In science, our yummy surprise was revealed – we created the phases of the moon out of Jaffa cakes! Ask us the difference between a waxing moon and a waning moon. 

We are looking forward to a STEM science day next week and another tag rugby lesson as a whole year group.

Have a fabulous weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

Week 4 - wc 22nd September

What a busy week in year 5!

In maths, we started the week learning about negative numbers and then moved on to rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000 – we used our growth mindsets to work with increasingly large numbers! In English, we completed our biographies of Queen Victoria – did you know she was crowned at the young age of 18? In our writing we challenged ourselves to use fronted adverbials to ensure our writing was cohesive. We really have been working hard!

In science, we continued our learning and broadened our understanding of how and why day and night occur. Our Earth and Space topic will be coming to an exciting (and yummy) end next week – watch this space!

Earlier in the week, we had a very important assembly in which we learnt about Breck's devastating story. We found this upsetting and shocking, but we feel more empowered as we are now more aware of how to keep ourselves safe onine. We encourage parents to have these conversations at home.

Finally, we have been developing our understanding and skills in tag rugby. We are looking forward to a lesson as a whole year group next week.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend.

Mrs Hyett and Miss Dennis

 

Week 3- wc 15^th September

A super week in year 5! 

In maths, we have been exploring counting in 10s, 100s and 1000s with 4,5 and 6 digit numbers. We also learnt about Roman numerals. In English and history, we have been researching Queen Victoria in preparation to write a biography next week. We have made detailed notes all about her life and are excited to continue this. 

In Science, we explored how the planets move, and the children really enjoyed pretending to be the planets in small groups and used scientific vocabulary including orbit, rotating and elliptical path. To continue this learning in art, we created our own solar systems using shaving foam and acrylic paint, and they look amazing!

Have a lovely weekend 

Mrs Ayaz and Mrs Hyett

Week 2 -W/c 8.9.25

A fantastic week in year 5! We have been historians this week and have researched some of the fantastic interventions from the Victorian era. There were so many inventions that were created in this time period that have influenced our lives today, such as the first petrol motor car, the London Underground, the lightbulb and many more. The children had the opportunity to research their favourite in the ICT suite. Towards the end of the week during English, we then created fact files all about these wonderful inventions and we also created informative posters. In maths, we have continued our work on place value and explored 5-digit and 6-digit numbers through partitioning, comparing and ordering. In history, we also created our own Victorian timelines and explored all the events in this era. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Mrs Ayaz and Mrs Hyett

Welcome to Year 5!

We hope you have all had a wonderful Summer holiday and are looking forward to our journey together. The children have been amazing so far. We have been sharing our Summer adventures through diary entries, and it has been wonderful to hear what everyone has been up to! We have also begun our exciting new topic 'Achievements and Legacies', kicking off with the Victorians. This interesting time in history is sure to captivate our curiosity throughout this term. In addition to our 'Achievements and Legacies' topic, we have been introduced to our science topic 'Earth and Space'. The children have already demonstrated lots of knowledge of this topic, and we look forward to enhancing this knowledge further as the term progresses. Finally, we have been able to show off our artistic and creative sides through our art lesson based on the book 'The Dot', a book which explores growth mindset and resilience – something very important to us in year 5.

Have a super weekend, we are looking forward to next week!

 

Mrs Hyett and Mrs Ayaz