We have been up to a lot this week in 5J, kicking off the week with Odd Socks Day and our Anti-bullying film making workshop. We learnt about the importance of being an upstander rather than a bystander. We also had lots of fun. I’ll let the pictures do the talking but I think the grown-ups may have even more fun.

Work has continued on our ‘Pole to Pole’ topic this week where we used our jumpers and a couple of boxes to learn how tectonic plates create mountain ranges. The children asked Miss Jackson lots of thoughtful questions to deepen the learning.

As part of our observation of Black History Month, we looked at black British literary talent. Miss Jackson recommended the book ‘Windrush Child’ by Benjamin Zephaniah. William felt so motivated that he went to the library, found the book and read in one weekend! He has inspired more of us to have a read over the half-term break.

We also read some poetry by Lemn Sissay (another British poet). We were inspired by his poem ‘Let the Light Pour in’ to think about what little things might bring joy to our day.

This term year 5 have been learning all about pilgrimages across different religions. This week, we have been learning about the Muslim pilgrimage ‘Hajj’. We brought together our learning of the ‘what’, the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ via a creative approach. See below an excellent example of a child demonstrating their knowledge but then deepening this thinking to consider what it might be like to embark on this spiritual journey.

A creative representation of the Ka’bah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia with a reflection alongside this.

All the year 5 classes spent Thursday at the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds this week. We spent part of the day exploring the museum’s many artefacts (including over 2,500 pieces just in the amazing stairwell!) and were blown away by the sheer scale of some of the displays.

Our afternoon was quite tiring on account of us training to be Spartan warriors like boys did in Ancient Greece at the Agoge (warrior training school). We learnt how to make battle formations and how to correctly use our shields and swords. We finished the day in a story telling workshop led by a Greek oracle who taught us all about Perseus and Medusa.

Behaviour was absolutely outstanding with members of the public even taking time out to say how wonderful the children were. Well done 5J- you made me a very proud teacher!

What a way to kick off the term! 5J were in the very privileged position of having the first arts fortnight of the year. We created two main pieces of art inspired by our topic on Ancient Greece, drawing upon a wide range of skills. We first designed and built labyrinths before moving onto building clay pots using a coil technique.

In addition to this, we spent time in the café learning how to create a well-balanced and nutritious salad. The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur further inspired our creative writing and our fantastic dance. We loved being immersed in such a wonderful creative two weeks. Thank you Mrs Housam, Mrs Fox and Mrs Elliott for your support!