Thursday 18th December
Wow - I cannot believe we are already at the end of our first term in year 5! The time has flown, and the children have made a fabulous start to the year. So far this year, we have done so many great things - such as a visit to the cathedral, a workshop with the Anne Frank Trust, sports events, and so much more! I cannot wait to see what else we get up to in year 5.
I want to celebrate how hard the children have continued to work this week - even though it has been the last week, we had a few odd jobs to finish. The children have been amazing, and have done their best in every area. I know they'll be ready for the rest that the holidays bring! We are so lucky to have such wonderful children in our class, they give everything their best effort and try so hard - it makes my job a delight!
Have a magical Christmas with your lovely families,
Miss McKean
Friday 12th December
We are almost there now Year 5! This week, we have been completing a range of assessments to track the children’s progress – I am so proud of how well they have all managed with how busy we have been! They have done amazingly well, and used their growth mindset to persevere in what has been, at times, a tricky week!
On Wednesday, we had a visit from Sam who works with the Anne Frank Trust. She came to deliver a workshop to us about Islamophobia. This was a term that most of us have not heard of, and we were all really keen to learn more. Sam told us about the ways in which we can stand up for what is right, and ensure that we do not allow discrimination to be ‘normal’ within our daily lives. The children were so mature, and made me so proud with how open-minded and positive they were. We have vowed to always stand up for what’s right, and make sure everybody is welcome and valued.
We promise to:
Never listen to others negative views, always be ourselves – Lana
Be the best me that I can be – Alice
Be kind to others – Taylor
Listen to other people – Zack
Never give up – Thomas
Treat people the way we want to be treated – Ellie B
Have a great weekend,
Miss McKean
Friday 5th December
Happy December everybody! This week has brought us the start of Advent, and all of the festivities that come along with that. The choir sang beautifully at the Lighting Up Crawcrook event – I was so sad to miss it, but I know that the children made me so proud. We have been working on negative numbers in maths over the last few weeks, and it was amazing to input the scores that the children received on their end of unit tests – they all did absolutely fantastically!
We have been learning some seasonal sign language – the children have learned the signs for Christmas, Santa, Jesus, December, and Winter. Ask them to show you their amazing new communication skills!
I want to celebrate our amazing children for their growth mindset and flexibility this week. I went home sick on Monday, and did not return until Thursday. The children were amazing for Mr Kennedy, and it was amazing to hear all of the lovely praise that came when I returned. I know it can be tricky when routines change, but the children did not let it spoil their time in class!
Have a fabulous weekend,
Miss McKean
Friday 28th November
Happy Friday everybody! I want to celebrate how amazing the children were on our trip to Durham this week. One of our history topics in year 5 is the Heritage of Durham City, so we were off to the cathedral for a tour and to find out a little more about St Cuthbert.
Once we got off the coach, we walked up to the cathedral - as soon as it poked into view we were all fascinated at how huge it is! We met our guide, Joseph, and he took us to the museum of Cuthbert's treasures. Here, we saw his pectoral cross, parts of his coffin and even some pottery that dates back to over 2000 years ago! We explored the monk's dorms, and Thomas did a great job of modelling some traditional clothing. Of course, the LEGO model of the cathedral caught our eye! Both myself and Mr Kennedy were very proud to say that we had placed one of the bricks!
We then went for a tour of the cathedral itself, and we were astounded by it's size and beauty. We were so shocked that people had built that by hand, and that there weren't any machines at all. Naturally, Harry Potter came up a lot, and the children were starstruck with the knowledge that real life celebrities had once walked the corridors.
After lunch, it was a riverside walk. We stopped at Prebends Bridge to have a look at the poem on the bricks and then continued our walk along to the market square. The timeline that runs through the square was so interesting!
The children made us all super proud, they asked such interesting questions and really kept Joseph on his toes! I love how enthusiastic the children are about history - it is one of my favourite subjects to teach and I am so glad that they share my love! Well done Antarctica class, keep it up!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Miss McKean
Friday 21st November
What a lovely (but very cold!) week we have had in Antarctica Class. The children have worked so hard, and we have done a lot of brilliant work.
In PSHE, we have been looking at celebrating differences. We have made some anti-racism ribbons, looked at bullying and name calling, and thought about whether money and wealth are the key to happiness. The children have been so mature and sensible, and it has been so lovely to have such great discussions about these topics. We are so lucky to have such fabulous children in our school!
On Thursday, the children went to Crawcrook Library to take part in some workshops with Kyle. The children had to find books that fit into different genres, and identify different styles of writing. We had a great time!
We also had a new teacher start in our class this week! Mr Kennedy is in his third year at university, and we are really looking forward to being a part of his journey into teaching over the next 12 weeks. The children have made a great start with Mr Kennedy, and really shown him how fab we can be! I am super proud of them.
Have a lovely weekend, and stay safe in the ice and cold!
Miss McKean
Friday 14th November
What a great week! I was so impressed with Antarctica class on Tuesday when we took part in the 2 minutes silence for remembrance day. It was a strange one, as we were waiting for our swimming lesson, but the children were so respectful and it was lovely to see them being so sensible!
On Friday, it was Children in Need. The children all looked FAB in their non-uniform, and the bakesale was a huge success. Thank you to everybody who baked something delicious to sell, I certainly had a great time sampling some cakes and treats!
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss McKean
Friday 7th November
We have had a great week in Antarctica class! On Wednesday, we took part in an all day STEM challenge called The Road to RIAT. This challenge was set by the Royal Air Force, and we worked on a few tasks during the day.
In the morning, we worked in teams of 3 or 4 to design and build some rockets. They had to be airtight, and have both a cone nose and some fins. We then launched our rockets, measuring the distance travelled and the time taken - allowing us to calculate the speed.
In the afternoon, we were set a sustainability challenge. We had to design an aircraft that would have a positive impact on the world, along with a special feature. This was so fun, and it was great to see some fantastic design skills coming through.
Have a great weekend!
Miss McKean
Friday 24th October
We had a great visit from Sam, Jackie and Elaine this week for Prayer Spaces! It was a lot of fun, with activities to help us take time to be quiet, think and reflect. When I was walking around listening to the children, they were having lovely discussions about what they feel thankful for, and some hopes for the future. It was amazing to hear them say all of the wonderful things they have at home and in school, and how grateful they are for those things. This included their lovely families, and the teachers that support them in school.
We shared some hopes for the future, here are just a few of the beautiful things that the children wrote:
- I hope my family are happy and healthy
- I hope my friends all have a great half term
- I hope I do well in my SATs
- I hope my mam and dad are having a nice day at work
- I hope my football team win on Sunday
It is always lovely to have the chats that Prayer Spaces bring - we are so lucky to have such grateful and caring children!
Have a fantastic weekend and a well deserved half term rest!
Miss McKean
Friday 17th October
What a fabulous week we have had in Antarctica class! I want to celebrate how hard the children have all worked in maths. We have been working with decimal numbers and adding and subtracting them from one another. This wasn't easy, as it adds an extra layer of challenge when we have to remember the decimal point, but the children took it in their stride and did a great job!
Yesterday, Mr Turnbull and I took 29 year 5 children to the GSSP athletics festival (14 from our class). It was amazing to hear them cheering on one another, and even cheering on other schools! Sadly, we didn't secure a place in the finals, but the children made us so proud with their sports skills, teamwork and great attitude. The rest of the children joined with the other class and took part in a Taskmaster experience with Mr Darbyshire, Miss Mcfadyen and Mrs Dutta. They had so much fun, and had to work together to score the most points. From making up a rap about our school (which, by the way, were utterly hilarious) to making dramatic freezeframes; the children gave it their all! I am so glad to hear that a great morning was had by all!
Here's to another week of learning and fun! Have a great weekend.
Miss McKean
Friday 10th October
Wow – the children have been amazing this week, and we have had such great opportunities to further our learning. I have asked the children to help me write this week’s website page, to tell you about one special morning…
On Wednesday, we had a visit from the author Adam Bushnell. We learned about World War One, which we are also learning about in history lessons, and Adam brought some artefacts to show us. These artefacts once belonged to Adam’s Great Grandad, here is a list of some of the artefacts:
- A tommy helmet
- A hot water bottle (which had a dent from his grandad sitting on it!)
- Water cannister
- Splattermask
- Bullets
- Caltrop
- Ammunition box
- Magazine
- A wooden gun, that they would use for training
- A leather dogtag
- Shaving kit
- Lee Enfield Rifle
We also got to smell some scent boxes, with scents of mustard gas, trenches, gun smoke and bombs. They absolutely stank!
Once we had explored the artefacts, we went outside to work on our camouflage skills. We used a y-shaped stick and leaves to create a reinforced shelter for Jett (Adam’s pet tortoise). See if you can spot him hiding in our shelters on the photographs!
Here are some facts that we learned when spending time with Adam:
Tom and Jerry originated from WW1, as German soldiers were referred to as Jerry and British soldiers as Tommy – Molly Ba
The soldiers lived in really bad conditions, which caused them to get bad diseases such as trenchfoot – Charlie
Trenchfoot looked awful, the foot looked black and mouldy with missing toes – Chloe and Scarlett
They played football on the first Christmas during WW1 – Wilf
If you were asleep, rats would come and nibble off your earlobes and eyelids – Alfie
The soldiers had to sleep on the floor, using their coats as blankets, which would often have lice inside. They used matches to kill the lice – Darcy and Ellie B
We had a great morning – thank you to Adam for coming in to work with us! We hope to see you again soon!
Have a great weekend,
Miss McKean and Antarctica class
Friday 3rd October
The children have impressed us all this week with their fantastic attitude to learning and growth mindset - what a set of superstars!
In science, the children have been learning about the particle model. This week, Mr Saddington taught them all about why the colours seem to slip out of the skittles - all due to concentration gradient. The photos show how amazed they all were!
Have a fab weekend,
Miss McKean
Friday 26th September
Another great week in year 5 - with a lot of hard work and some brilliant effort to learning. I want to celebrate the children this week for their writing in English. We have been innovating warning stories, and making our own based on a model text called 'Leave the Bees Alone'. The children have worked on figurative language, building tension, pathetic fallacy and adverbials. It has been amazing to read their stories, they have tried so hard and made some amazing strides in their writing.
In history, we have been learning about life in the trenches. We looked at some primary and secondary sources to learn about the conditions that the soldiers had to live in during the Great War. Here are some of our favourite facts;
The soldiers couldn't go to the toilet in the mornings, as the other army would use this time to attack - Wilf
The trenches had dugouts for the officers, but the other soldiers had to sleep on the floor - Molly Ba
In the trenches, there was a fire step so that they could reach above the trenches to attack - Imogen
Soldiers could get trench foot if they stood in the dirty water for too long, and their feet would go mouldy and rotten - Ellie B
The trenches had ammunition shelves to restock quickly - Alice
Overnight, soldiers would be sleeping next to rats and lice - Charlie
Their drinking water wasn't clean, so they would get unwell from drinking the water - Scarlett
If you stood in No Mans Land, you were not safe - Thomas
Here's to another fab week! Have a great weekend.
Miss McKean
Friday 19th September
What a week! I am so proud of the children in Antarctica class, as once again they have blown my socks off with their hard work this week. In maths, we have been looking at column multiplication. This is not an easy skill, but the children have used their growth mindset to keep working on this and make sure that they don't give up.
I was absolutely exhausted watching the children on Tuesday at their swimming lesson as they swam up and down the pool. For some children, this is their first experience of a swimming lesson and they have thrown themselves into it with such confidence and bravery. I know that with that attitude, they will do amazingly well.
Not only do they work hard, but they motivate and encourage their friends. In our school council election this week, it was amazing to hear the children celebrating the bravery and courage of their peers - as it is incredibly nerve wracking to stand in front of your friends and present your ideas. Well done to all of the children who ran for the council this year - it was an honour to hear your speeches.
I can't wait to see what the children impress me with next week!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Miss McKean
Friday 12th September
Another fabulous week in year 5! The children have worked so hard this week, as we have started our main curriculum work. We have began investigating warning stories, column multiplication, properties of materials and WW1.
In art, we looked at an artist who specialises in watercolours of our class name – Antarctica! David McEowan has travelled the continent and paints pictures of the wonders he sees. We had a go at making our own paintings inspired by his work, and I am so impressed by the amazing artwork!
I hope you enjoy the photos – I am so proud!
Have a fab weekend,
Miss McKean
Friday 5th September
Wow - what a week! It has been amazing to get to know the wonderful children and begin to see their fantastic personalities shining through. This week, we have done some short burst writing based on a book called Farther, worked on some maths skills and created some fantastic art.
We used some brand new skills to make a pop-up book all about our class, Antarctica. Here are some facts that we have found out;
'There are 5 species of penguin that live in Antarctica' Molly Be
'The hottest temperature in Antarctica was 39 degrees Celsius on average' Alice
'The fastest windspeed recorded there was 199 mph!' Charlie
'Polar bears don't live in Antarctica' Finlay
'Emperor penguins are the tallest and heaviest in Antarctica' Pen
'Antarctica is a continent that is used for scientific purposes' Ellie Br
I can't wait to see what fun we get up to next week!
Have a fab weekend,
Miss McKean