Design & Technology: How have designers changed the world?
This week, Year 5 have started their design and technology topic. Our first lesson looked at how designers have changed the world. The children had time to research three different designers: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, George Stephenson and Lewis Latimer.
Year 5 discussed that they changed the world in lots of different ways:
- Isambard’s bridges meant that people could join together and travel over water.
- George’s locomotive meant that people could travel faster and more efficiently as well as hauling larger quantities of coal out of mines.
- Lewis’ electric lightbulb meant that people could have light immediately and stop using candles.
All of these designers were creative, imaginative and problem-solvers. They all had great determination, perseverance and scientific skills.
Help at home: What other designers do you know? How did they change the world?
Cricketers
Today, some of our Year 5 and 6 children took part in the Leeds School Games Y5/6 mixed cricket event at Old Leos.
It was a cold and damp June day for the event but despite the conditions, the children worked hard as a team and performed some great cricketing skills. Well done to all the children who took part and thanks to Mrs Russell and Miss Kidd for taking and supporting the children.
Science – Does the amount of seeds affect the growth of a plant?
Hello! We hope you’ve had a relaxing half term.
We’ve come back to some amazing growth from our sunflower seeds! With the warm and sunny weather, they’ve shot up.
There is still a big difference between the heights of the plants in each pot too. With the plants with 2 seeds in now being the tallest and the pot with 1 seed being the shortest.
Check back next week to see more growth!
We are scientists
This half term, we’ve continued to be biologists in our science learning.
We planned an investigation to see what would happen if we planted a seed and a bulb in warm and cold conditions.
After three weeks, here are the results.
In the warm
In the cold
This comparative test shows that as well as water and sunlight, plants need a suitable temperature to grow healthily.
We’ve also been thinking about the benefits of wildlife and the importance of caring for wildlife.
Here are some ideas we’ve been learning about to look after wildlife.
Look at this hedgehog house ready for visitors!
Help at home: ask your child for some ideas for helping wildlife in the local area.
Geography: Kenya reports
This week we rounded off our Geography topic by writing a report all about Kenya. We were able to show off both our knowledge of Kenya and the world as well as our impressive writing skills. Both Miss Parwani and I thought everybody’s writing was excellent. They have learnt so much during this topic and they enjoyed the chance to write about it.
Help at home by discussing what they have learnt about Kenya and maybe choosing a different country to explore! What hemisphere is it in? What continent? Is it near the equator? What is the weather like? How is it different to the UK?
Geography double-page spreads
This half term, we have been geographers.
We have been learning all about the world around us in our ‘Explorers’ Geography unit. This has included lots of learning about Venice and York and looking at their similarities and differences.
Today, Year 4 created some ‘double page spreads’ that showcased all their Geography learning from this half term. Check some examples out below!
Summer1: Week6
On Monday, we had a very exciting day. We released our butterflies. The children have enjoyed observing the life cycle of the butterflies over the last few weeks and were happy to set them free.
Maths
This week we have been learning how to use the rekenreks. We have been subitising numbers on them aswell as making different amounts within ten.
English
During our English this week, we have been learning about our bodies. The children were able to say and write a fact about the human body.
Poetry Picnic
This week’s poem was called Monkey Babies. The children have enjoyed both reading and performing this poem throughout the week.
PE
During this half term the children have been developing their ball skills. They have been practising bouncing a ball in a hoop and catching a ball that someone else has bounced to them.
Help at home: by reading lots, both to and with your child over the half term.
Living and Learning: I know that being physically active is healthy mentally and physically.
In Living and Learning, Year 4 have been discussing how to stay healthy mentally and physically.
Physical activity helps us to strength our muscles, develop our coordination, improve our fitness and maintain a healthy weight.
Being active also releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel good – boosting your self-esteem and helping you concentrate as well as sleep well and feel better.
It is recommended that children get one hour of physical activity every day. We spent time going through a typical week and assessing whether we met the criteria each day.
It was reassuring to know that most children in our class meet this target each day – it seems some never sit still!
Help at home and ask your child when they have been active today.
We are physicists!
In Science, we have been learning as physicists about electricity.
The class were given a variety of components and asked to make a lightbulb light up. The children were given two wires, one cell and one lightbulb.
After much trial and error, all the groups were successful!
We discussed how we would stay safe when handling the equipment, particularly the lightbulb as it was made of glass.
Help at home by asking your child how they stayed safe when we did this experiment.
Living and Learning: physical health and fitness
Our latest Living and Learning sessions have been all about the importance of physical activity and how we need to keep active to keep our bodies and our minds healthy.
The NHS guidance states that children and young people should ‘aim for an average of at least 60 minutes (30 minutes in school and 30 minutes out of school) of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day across the week’.
We know that the exercise we need to do to achieve this, should increase our heart rate, make us breathe harder and make us feel warmer.
We thought about how we manage to achieve our active 30 minutes during the school day.
Wake Up Shake Up
PE sessions
running, skipping and playing tig at playtimes
playing in the MUGA at lunchtime play
Go Noodle, Supermovers and active counting in class
jogging around the playground for brain breaks
Then, we shared ideas as to how we achieve the 30 active minutes outside of school.
travelling to and from school in an active way
after-school physical activity clubs
practising gymnastics
dancing
playing football
going for a jog
going on a bike ride
swimming
martial arts
boxing
Help at home – try a new physical activity out of school. Use our physical activity guide for some ideas. Encourage your child to practise some skipping ready for our skipping festival (skipping ropes are available to buy from class for £3).
