Autumn

Welcome to Year 5

Our Mini Police group had a fantastic session out in the community today.  Police Officers Darren and Michael showed us how to use a speed gun accurately and we used it to check that vehicles on Walbottle Road were travelling at a safe speed.  Thankfully, most people were driving within the speed limit but we made a note of the number plates of those who were exceeding it so the police could deal with them accordingly.

Balancing Act

Olivia was back in school this week for another gymnastics session with the class.  This week we were concentrating on creating balances with 1 point, 2 points etc...  We practised doing this independently before combining the points we would need to make as a pair.  This led to some interesting balances!

More Samba Drumming

We had our second session with Steve from Newcastle Music Service this week.  Everyone had an instrument by the end of the session and we had our first attempt at playing all together.  It is incredibly important to keep in time and that is something we'll be practising over the coming weeks.

Becoming Rainforest Explorers at Sunderland Winter Gardens 

Today the class visited Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens to explore the rainforest and find out about each layer.  The class took part in a workshop to discuss the different layers and what you would find in each section of the rainforest.  They explored the plants from the rainforest in groups and discussed their different uses.  After our workshop we explored the winter gardens where we got to go ‘behind the scenes’ and get a closer look at a banana tree.  We found a stick insect and even brought some banana leaves back to the classroom.  A fantastic day! 

Mini Police 9.11.22

Following our introductory session, we welcomed back Police Community Support Officers Darren and Michael for their first Year 5 Mini Police session.  We talked about all of the things that help us to build and maintain healthy relationships with others.  Everyone looked extremely smart wearing their official Mini Police uniforms and felt very proud to be able to represent Newburn Manor in their new roles helping the school and wider community over the coming weeks.

Gymnastics

We started our gymnastics lessons this week in P.E. with Olivia from Newcastle Schools PE service.  This week we focused on creating a tuck, straddle, pike, arch and dish shape with our bodies.  We worked in pairs to use the equipment to support us in making the shapes and practised matching and mirroring with our partners.

Band in a box - Samba drumming

This week we started our sessions of samba drumming with Steve and Georgina from Newcastle Music Services.  They brought a variety of drums along with them and introduced to each part.  This week we practised using the Surdo drums and the rhythm that we would be playing over the coming weeks.  It wasn't easy but Mrs Gill was impressed with how hard the class tried to keep in time.  Here are a few pictures from week 1.

Art Week - continued

We have had a fantastic week concentrating on our drawing skills this week.  We started the week looking at the artist Stephen Wiltshire before looking at Marz Jr later in the week.  Here are some more photographs of the work we have been doing with a few examples of our finished pieces.  

Art Week

This week is art week in class and we have focused on our drawing skills.  We looked at the artist Stephen Wiltshire who spends time drawing cityscapes and architecture.  We looked at his artwork before trying to complete some of his drawings of famous buildings around the world.  

Kielder Observatory visit Newburn Manor

What an action packed day we've had in school.  Adam and Ishbel from Kielder Observatory came into Year 5 to deliver workshops to us to support us in our learning about Space in Science.  Our first workshop of the day was to learn about each planet in our solar system.  We looked at each planet, watched video clips and found out about the characteristics of each planet.  Adam answered lots of our questions about the planets in the Milky Way and was very impressed with the knowledge we already had about Space.  

After break we looked at Space Rocks.  Adam had brought space rocks into school for us to look at and hold, including a piece of Moon rock and a piece of Mars rock.  We found out what happens to a space rock when it lands on Earth and the different names for space rock depending on where it is. 

After lunch, our final workshop of the day involved thinking about spacecraft.  The class found out about how spacecrafts launch into space and how they land safely.  The pupils then worked in small groups to create a landing craft for their 'Eggnaut'.  They tested their landing crafts in the hall which was lots of fun.  An amazing day with Kielder Observatory!  

National Poetry Day

Today it is National Poetry Day.  To celebrate, the class were able to read a selection of poetry books from our school library.  The children looked through the books to find poems they enjoyed and could share with a friend.  Pupils then read the poems to each other before reading them aloud in the yard.  We then had a poetry recital in the class where children had the opportunity to read their chosen poem to the class.  Some children even managed to memorise their poem!  

Glockenspiel Practice

We have continued practising our singing of 'The Prince of Bel Air' this week and we are starting to get used to the tempo of the song.  This week we started using the glockenspiels to add another layer to the song.  Watch this space to see how we progress over the coming weeks...  

Playing with Place Value

In Maths this week we have been investigating place value of numbers up to 6 digits.  We used different equipment to show different representations of number.  Everyone enjoyed using the resources and were able to challenge themselves further by representing the numbers in different ways.  This will help our understanding of all topics later in the year...  

Why were the Ancient Maya so special?

We started our history topic this week: Ancient Maya.  This week we looked at clues around the classroom to discover why the Ancient Maya were so special.  We found out lots of facts from looking closely at the images and were able to share our findings with each other.  The class are very excited to find out more.  Watch this space...

A brilliant first week back

We've had a great start to the new school year in Year 5. We've completed lots of work already and we've only been in two days. Today we visited the school library for the first time this academic year. The class really enjoyed choosing a book. They will get the chance to visit the library regularly in Year 5 and they were very excited about this.