Classroom News - Year 5

Religion: 

We have now begun our Advent unit. During the next 5 weeks, we will be focusing on the message of John the Baptist who prepared the way for the coming of Jesus. Students will examine Advent and Christmas customs and practices that help us prepare for the celebration of Christ’s first coming and the promise of his second coming at the end of time.

English:

Over the last few weeks, Yr 5 has been busy writing literary and factual descriptions. Mrs Smith has been 'blown away' by the writing expertise of the students in her group. 

*An Antarctic scene: 

-  Penguins swim gracefully through ice-filled seas, hunting fish.  Leopard seals bolt after the penguins - the hunter has become the hunted. (Rory)

-The sub-zero wind sends icefall into the freezing water...The Orca whale leaps out of the water then, falling back in, sends up an explosion of mist. (Richard)

-Uncharacteristic shapes of curved and pointed edges pierce through the blinding light. Tiny shards of ice, only just staying afloat, slowly drift through the dazzling water. (Jahluka)

-Penguins playfully glide through the icy water ready to catch their prey. Whales are breaching in the distance. (Poppy)

-The isolated arctic, surrounded by icebergs. Penguins play and dance, sliding on their bellies into the water. Giant humpbacks leap and bound out of the water, like ballerinas on a stage, spraying clear, salty water out of their blow-holes. (Addi)

-Frost gracefully flutters down on the glossy icicles. They stick out at different angles like a distorted set of eyelashes. Immense cold pushes severely against living objects, cloaking them in a thick layer of glacial ice. (Laura)

-Plump penguins plunge delicately into the crisp abyss of the inky waves, leaving ripples scattered across the surface of the water. (Annabel)

Maths:

In our current unit which focuses on Multiplication and Division, students have been refining their understanding of prime & composite numbers, factors, products and multiples. Mrs Smith's Maths group have worked on factor trees and have enjoyed Kahoot warm-ups that reinforce what we have been learning. In Mr Lester's room have been playing a variety of warm up games around the Number and Algebra topic.

CAPA Day & STEM Day

In Week 7, Year 5 will have the opportunity to participate in 2 fun but educational days that address outcomes for Creative and Performing Arts and Science & Technology.

We thought that these days would go in some way towards compensating for missing the excursion to Coffs Harbour.

The CAPA Day will be held on Wednesday, 25th November. The STEM day will be on the Friday - 27th November. These should be fun days and a chance for the children to demonstrate learning in a variety of different ways.

Science

In Science we have been performing a variety of experiments relating to different types of forces. Students have really enjoyed learning about air resistance, water resistance, gravity, friction and about marvelous mechanisms. They have built and designed some excellent parachutes and boats to test these forces.