Year 5
Chinese New Year Celebrations
As part of our MFL Curriculum, we were able to immerse ourselves in Chinese traditions by celebrating Chinese New Year. As usual, we welcomed our friends from the Confucius Institute, who put on a magnificent show for us. In addition to learning about the Chinese New Year in our Mandarin lessons, some year groups were able to take part in workshops for dance, calligraphy and martial arts.
Q2: How is Christmas celebrated?
As part of an RE unit focusing on Christmas, year 5 learnt about Christmas across the world, exploring different traditions that happen across the world during this Christmas period. To demonstrate their learning in this area, the children utilised their computing skills to create Google Slide presentations about different celebrations over Christmas.
'I learnt that Australia celebrate Christmas in the summer!' -Ruby, Stingray class
'In Peru, they don't use a Christmas tree; you use a manger.' -Jessica, Stingray Class
Biomes: Help or Hinder?
Across Quarter 3, Year 5 have been studied biomes in geography, with a particular focus on Brazil. They created Google Sites that encompass their learning on the unit, as well as making a presentation as a homework project. See some brilliant examples of work below:
See the culmination of learning below
To further develop the learning on Biomes, children researched further into the Amazon Rainforest, created pamphlets about the different layers, including the differences between the layers and the species that live there. They then used this knowledge in Art to create sculptures inspired by tropical animals. Year 5 created a range of animals- have a look at their magnificent snakes, toucans, turtles and more!
'I learnt that there are over 300 species of birds in the largest rainforest in the world'- Katar, Stingray class
'I loved making the biscuits and hot chocolate and learning about the lifestyle in Brazil' -Olivia, Stringray Class
'The differences between the UK and Brazil, such as climate and national food. In the UK we have a temperate rainforest and in Brazil it is a tropical rainforest as the sun is always above so the weather is hotter and more humid.' -Saad, Dolphin Class
'We saw a picture of the city in Brazil that was half-hidden, and it showed the levels of wealth in the country. It was interesting to learn the facts about the layers of the rainforest too.' -Evie, Dolphin Class
Show & Tell
Across Quarter 3 & 4, Year 5 have been partaking in the Hands Up Project, which has connected us with the Bir Quza Mixed Basic School in Palestine. Through weekly interactive sessions, both communities are able to share their learning, giving our pupils a chance to find out about other parts of the world as well as communicating their knowledge. The children from Bir Quza are given the opportunity to practice their English. The first few sessions have been really successful - Dolphin & Stingray were able to show off their Brazilian Dance from International Week as well as hear about the aspirations and lives of some of their pen pals in Palestine. We were also able to see some traditional Palestinian clothing and one of the students shared a piece of artwork that was created by his family!
We look forward to continuing to building our relationship over the next few months! Below we have shared some screenshots of the introduction session, but have since had a few more that included games that test our communication skills and allow our friends from Palestine to work alongside us to develop their language.
Q4: Are humans helping or harming our planet?
Year 5 took an investigative approach to explore how we are helping or harming our local area, and the world beyond. They did a local walk to find factors that are damaging Beckton, and then used this research, as well as being inspired by Greta Thunberg to write powerful speeches to inspire people to start taking care of our planet.
