Welcome to the Oceania Year 5 & 6 Class Page. Here, you can find out about everything that we've been doing this year.
Friday 6th March
What a musical week we have had with practicing for the Ryton Music Festival and taking part in an action packed 'Around the World' Music Workshop. The children thoroughly enjoyed it, as could be seen by the smiles on their faces, and learnt so much about music from across the globe during it.
They travelled across the globe from South Africa where they listened to the guam bay drums as played in last term's workshop, to Australia, then Brasil where they learnt the 'clave' rhythm and joined in with a range of percussion instruments.
Throughout the music workshop, the pupils' geographical knowledge was put the test as they had to find and locate the different countries and continents on the giant globe.
A special mention to our Year 5 and 6 pupils Hope and Harry P who taught us all about each country and continent as we passed through them.
I'm sure the children will be practicing all these newly learnt skills including a 5 note scale called the 'pentatonic' scale which is used in many songs originating from China.
This week, as part of our Year 5/6 RE curriculum, the children visited the ISKON Hindu temple in Newcastle and were met by Kirtida, (the guru) with such warmth and hospitality. Before entering the temple, the children had to take off their shoes as a sign of respect. Throughout the afternoon, the children were able to asked lots of questions about the different Hindu gods and furthered their knowledge of Hindu beliefs and philosophy. Kirtida explained to the children about the different types of Hindu clothing including two types of turbans (worn by the males) and the different types of saris (worn by the females). After listening to stories and learning about a range of religious artefacts (peacock feathered fan, incense sticks, photographs of previous guru's etc) the children were given the opportunity to wear a turban or sari and to take part in a drumming workshop.
To conclude our visit, Kirtida delivered the Hindu blessing of 'puja' and gave her blessings for our pupils. We are incredibly grateful to Kirtida for her time and sharing her knowledge and beliefs with us and we look forward to visiting again at sometime in the future.
Following on from a talk by the NSPCC last week, we've been discussing our dreams, hopes and aspirations for not only ourselves but children in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves in our own country and across the globe. In PSHE, we considered how some children's lives are very different from our own, whether that be due to conflict, poverty, lack of access to clean drinking water or other situations. After watching Martin Luther King's famous speech 'I have a dream' on August 28th 1963, in Washington DC, USA, we thought about our hopes and dreams for children around the world and presented these as dream spirals. These are proudly displayed in our classrooms for all to see.
The Year 5 children have done themselves proud this week by reciting the famous poem 'I Wandered Lonely through the Clouds' by William Wordsworth off by heart and performing it in groups to their peers. We have studied the art of performance poetry, listening to examples by different actors and poets including one by Michael Rosen. The children applied their understanding of the key concepts to performance poetry including tone emphasis, time, pace and movement. They worked in groups to create their own performance for one of the stanzas and performed as a class. In the summer term, we will further their oracy and performance skills using a range of poetry.
Friday 17th January
This week, we have been fascinated with the heart and how it functions. In science the children have learnt about the double circulatory system and how the heart is made up of four chambers- left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle and the right ventricle. The children drew their own diagram of the heart including the four chambers and valves to stop the blood from flowing backwards. With this understanding of how the heart beats faster during exercise, we measured our resting heart rate and compared it to our heart rates after twenty minutes of vigorous exercise. Over the next few weeks in PE, the children will be monitoring their heart rate after each fitness session and analysing the results.
Oceania class want to say a huge congratulations to Jayden F for achieving 2nd place in the most recent Times Tables Rockstars battle with an unbelievable 24,746 points, earned in just under 3 weeks. You should be really proud of yourself!
Monday 6th January 2020
During Geography this week, following on from our understanding of aquatic biomes, we learnt about the impact that human processes can have on freshwater sources. We learnt about how the African country of Ethiopia want to construct the Grand Ethiopian-Renaissance Dam (GERD). We had a debate in class to determine whether any further work on the dam would take place.
The whole class were separated into several different groups, some in favour of the dam – the Ethiopian government and the Ethiopian citizens and some were against the construction of the dam – the Egyptian government, the Egyptian farmers and a group of Egyptian citizens. Matilda and Imogen were the chairs of the board, they laid out the rules for the debate and helped to keep order throughout. Next time, we will choose two new members to be the Chairs of the board.
Eventually, as a class, we voted either for or against the construction of the dam. As a class, it was decided to cancel the work on the dam. All of the class had a fun time explaining why the dam should or shouldn’t be built. As this is a current issue, we will be keeping an eye out on the news for any updates on this dispute.
In Oceania class this week, after pretending to celebrate our 18th birthdays, we learnt about the process of a General Election. The children have been very interested in the running of our government since the Year 6 pupils visited The Houses of Parliament during their London residential earlier this year. After learning about our countries democratic society, the children learnt about the different political parties, constituencies and how candidates campaign through manifestos for each of their parties. The children each received a mock 'official polling card' and then were given time to read through each manifesto before casting their vote using a ballot paper. The children are already looking forward to turning 18 so that they can cast their vote officially.
Friday 29th November
This week, the Angels of the North concert that our Year 6 children have been preparing so hard for, finally arrived. We started early on Thursday morning at The Sage Gateshead, for a full day of rehearsals with about 300 other children from schools from around the North East. The weeks of practice clearly paid off, because the sound we all produced together was amazing, and by the evening performance, everyone had perfected a variety of dance moves as well as the songs.
Parents, family, friends and teachers who were there agreed that the children put on a fantastic show - they did us all proud.
Our Science this half-term is all about electricity. As a class, we looked back to when we were in Year 3 and 4 in which we built simple electrical circuits and even made our own Christmas decorations that either lit up, buzzed or span.This half term we will be building on this knowledge. By the end of this unit, we will be able to change components in electrical circuits and understanding how this affects the buzzer, bulb or motor. This week, we had great fun using our scientific understanding to predict if particular circuits would light up or not. Afterwards, we worked in groups, using the apparatus to test each of our predictions.
Wednesday 6th November
In our PE lessons this half term we have been focusing on dance. We have been thinking about our body movements and how to isolate parts of our body to create jerky movements. This week, we worked in small groups to choreograph our own dance to 4 bars of 8 beats. We had the challenge of performing parts in unison (altogether) and in cannon (repeating the same movement, one after another). Next week, we are going to look at the Charleston dance style, which we have previously learnt about during Information Station. This is a style of dance that originated in the city of Charleston, South Carolina but became increasingly popular between 1939 and 1945 during World War 2.
Wednesday 30th October 2019
This week, our Year 5 and 6 children were given the opportunity to take part in a new Home Office approved project. It is being led by Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuiness, and Northumbria Police in partnership with Barnardo’s and Operation Encompass. The project, named Operation Encompass: The Next Steps, aims to educate children and young people about healthy relationships.
The children spent the afternoon learning about friendships, relationships, emotions and empathy, and rules and expectations, so that they can live and work together safely.
The sessions were led by our School Safeguarding Liaison Officer: PC Nicola Joicey, who also held a drop-in session after school for parents.
We were so impressed by the children’s maturity during the sessions and their ability to articulate what respectful relationships and caring friendships look and feel like. We feel so fortunate to have such kind, caring and respectful children here in our school community.
This week Year 5/6 were very fortunate to have an afternoon of drama workshops ran by Carolyn from Bravo Performance. The children had a fantastic session and it was wonderful to see their confidence grow in just one short session. We certainly have a class of talented performers! In the workshop, the children learnt how to use different tones of voice and body language to express emotions in different scenarios. They thoroughly enjoyed their time playing a range of drama games to to build confidence and express their emotions. To conclude the session, they took part in a story-telling game, taking on the role of different characters through improvisation.
This week we have been working incredibly hard on improving our mental maths skills. Every lesson, we have been trying to beat our time and score using The Daily 10 Maths from Topmarks games. The children have loved challenging themselves and have been getting quicker and quicker each time. Why not practise by yourselves at home? We will be using this every lesson in all aspects of the curriculum.
I am so impressed with every single one of the children in Rio class today! We have been learning how to use a compass to navigate around our school grounds. For some of the children, it was the first time they had ever seen a compass before. By the end, they were all confident in naming the parts of a compass and remembering the steps to navigate using 8 point compass directions. Just remember 'Put red Fred in the shed'.
We have kick started our new topic 'Marvellous Maps' with a skill-packed day at Pow Hill Country Park and Derwent Reservoir. After furthering our mapwork skills in the classroom, by learning how to read Ordnance Survey maps, recognise the symbols and even find locations using a six figure grid reference, we thought it was time to adventure outside and apply these skills in our local environment.
Our day was split into two activities; geocaching around the country park, following the compass and solving all the geographical challenges and an enjoyable 5 mile walk around the reservoir, spotting specific wildlife and drawing field sketches. We learnt so much in just one day but we are exhausted, after all that walking!
Welcome back to a new school year! The children have amazed me with how quickly they have settled into school life, they work exceptional well as a team and I am very proud of the Year 6 children for setting such good examples and being a role model to our Year 5 children. We cannot wait to see what this academic year brings.
It felt like Christmas Day today, when Mr Purvis delivered three exciting parcels to our classroom door- almost 30 new books for the children to become lost in. These books are all part of our '50 Book Challenge' this year. Class Rio can't wait to share these with one another and go on adventures with each one of the characters.
Remember as our class quote says, 'A cover is not the book, so open it up and take a look.'
Privacy and Cookies Policy
Part 1: Privacy Policy
Last Edited: 22nd April 2021
1. Introduction
1.1. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the users of our services. Our services include and will hereby be referred to as 'Our Services' (our websites used to promote eSchools services and tutorial resources, specifically
https://www.eschools.co.uk
and https://academy.eschools.co.uk), 'School Websites' ( designed by eSchools and populated by individual schools themselves) and 'Platforms' (individual online services that provide teachers, learners, parents and governors with information, tools and resources) as well as our smartphone app. This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information across these services.
2. Collecting personal information on Our Services
2.1 We may process or temporarily store the following kinds of personal information:
information about your computer and about your visits to and use of Our Services (including but not limited to, your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths)
information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including, the communication content) via online forms
any other personal information that you choose to send to us via online forms
manually inputted details of users added to the platform
details of users as integrated by our providers at Wonde via your MIS (if applicable to your package). For further information on integrated data please see our Data Sharing Agreement
2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
2.3 eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. For further information on how you can manage and set your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.
2.4 Information submitted through the online contact form on a school website is processed via eSchools, and passed directly to the school in question. This data is held by eSchools for 30 days (or in the case of failed messages, 90 days) before deletion. Once passed to the school this data is held by them and subject to that school’s privacy policy.
2.5 Schools are also able to add analytics tools and can therefore gather information on visits to and use of their website (including but not limited to, IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths). Individual visitors can manage their preferences through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
2.6 Session IP addresses are retained to monitor and safeguard against improper usage of our services.
2.7 Content on the platform (added by staff, governors and students) and website content is added directly by School Users. This information is only used for to display on the platform in the way the user intends and is not used for any other purposes by eSchools. At a time when a school ceases to use our services the content is removed within a 14 day period as detailed in our agreement with the school.
2.8 Some of our services require the school to provide access to information they require for use with those services. For example a school using our communication tool, Letters Home, which enables schools to contact parents by email regarding important school information. In this situation a school will provide eSchools with access to the email address(es) they wish to send their communication to. Schools have granular access to ensure only the required data is shared and accessed by eSchools. The data is frequently updated to ensure that eSchools only retains up-to-date data.
3. Using your personal information
3.1. We may use your personal information to:
administer our services
enable your use of our services
troubleshoot and problem solve
send you email notifications that you have specifically requested. You can manage your preferences at anytime through your eSchools dashboard.
keep our services secure, safeguard against improper use of our services and prevent fraud.
3.1.1. For the purposes of providing you access to your eSchools platform and app (ie. forgotten password/login)
3.1.2. By registering for updates, School Staff/Governors are able to subscribe to our regular communications.
3.1.3. We will use any contact details supplied in an online form for the purposes explicitly detailed in said form. For example troubleshooting and problem solving or the provision of live online training as explicitly requested by you, the user.
3.2. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
3.3. eSchools understands our obligation to be mindful about the data we process and only process data that is required to fulfil our obligations in providing our services; to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user.
3.4. We will not pass your information to third parties; except for the purpose of fulfilling our services to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user or where we are required to do so by law.
4. Disclosing personal information
4.1 We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
4.2 We may disclose your personal information:
to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information;
to the school in the case of improper use on the platform by individuals
4.3 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
5. International data transfers
5.1. Data directly collected by eSchools may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy. Any third party we use is within the EEA or they hold an existing EU SCC, as in line with requirements under the GDPR. No other third party are permitted to access the school’s data.
5.2. Personal information that an individual adds to our websites may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.
6. Retaining personal information
6.1. This section sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
6.2. Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6.3. Data collected through analytic cookies will be retained for 26 months. Individual visitors can adapt the data collected through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
6.4. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:
To the extent that we are required to do so by law;
If we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
In order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk). Data will no longer be kept after the termination of the contract with the school.
7. Security of your personal information
7.1. We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
7.2. We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers. The web service we employ has a broad range of accreditations and certifications and the data centres used ensure the data stays within the EEA.
7.3. eSchools use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which creates a secure connection and uses two keys to encrypt data in transit. Despite this, you acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data.
8. Amendments
8.1. We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
8.2. You should check this page regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes to this policy.
9. Your rights
9.1. You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.
9.2. We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
9.3. You may change your cookie preferences at any time as referenced in 2.4.
9.4. School Staff/Governors who subscribe to our Newsletter may manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
10. Third party websites
10.1 Our websites may include hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
11. Updating information
We will only provide communication about the eSchools platform to school staff/governors who can manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
Part 2: Cookie Policy
Last Edited: 22nd April 2021
This Cookie Policy explains how eSchools use cookies and similar technologies in our Services. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control their use.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
Why do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools, will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with their school website.
How eSchools Uses Cookies
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
User Embedded Content
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one of our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
How can I control cookies?
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.com.
Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings on your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
How often will you update this Cookie Statement?
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
Where can I get further information?
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@.eschools.co.uk.