Welcome to Year 5 and 6

Please see below some information for your child in Year 5 and 6. Our school Facebook page is updated regularly with photos of the fantastic learning and experiences that take place in this unit, so please make sure you visit the page and share updates with your child regularly: Facebook (or search Willowbank Primary School on Facebook)

Things you need to know

PE:

Thursday for all three classes - please make sure that your PE kit is in school on this day.

Forest School:

Please make sure you bring the correct clothing for the weather!

Owl Class - Monday 

Deer Class - Wednesday

Foxes Class - Friday

Homework

• Reading – read an independent book, guided by your child’s suggested ZPD. This needs to be at least 3 times a week and your child will need to record a comment into their reading record book. Each week, they will be given raffle tickets to celebrate this and half termly rewards shared amongst the class.
• TT Rock Stars – every child now has their own log in for TT Rock Stars (www.ttrockstars.co.uk) where they can practise and challenge themselves on their times tables. We will often have class and unit games set up and promote healthy competition within our unit.
• Spellings – weekly spellings on Spelling Shed

PPA Cover

Every Wednesday, our teachers meet together to plan, prepare and assess work ready for the week ahead. During this time the classes will be covered by Mrs Davis, Mrs Staples, Mrs Frost and Miss Mogford. 

Our Giant Tea Party

In Unit 3, we have been learning about the artist Lilian Bourgeat, the creator of Gulliver's Dinner. We were inspired to create our own giant meal so we used scaling to create an oversized tea party. We had to use teamwork, problem solving and perseverance. Well done Unit 3!

Deer Class have visited Saltern Cove and walked the coastal path to Broadsands. We went rock pooling and even a dip in the sea! A great time was had by all. 

Summer Term

Welcome to the Unit 3, Year 5/6 web page.

Here you will find copies of our newsletters, curriculum overviews, home learning projects and information about the exciting things our children have been learning. 

Unit 3 lead  -  Mrs Angela Sullivan

Unit 3 classes and teachers

Foxes  Year 6 - Mrs Sullivan

Owls Year 5 - Miss Gibbs

Deers Year 5 - Mrs Isaac

 asullivan@willowbank.devon.sch.uk

 kgibbs@willowbank.devon.sch.uk

 Fiona.Isaac@willowbank.devon.sch.uk

BRONZE AWARD

They've only gone and won BRONZE!!!!

Our Y6 mathematicians have won a Bronze Award in the Wellington School Maths Challenge - with over 60 schools taking part.

Absolutely brilliant and a huge well done from all of our school community I am sure!

Maths Challenge 2020

So proud of these 4 yesterday taking part in the Wellington School Maths Challenge for 2020. A huge amount of teamwork was needed, communication, determination, resilience and of course plenty of incredible mathematical thinking. Whatever the outcome next week, they did their best and loved the little treats!

1 Million Words

Jack becomes our first at Willowbank, this year, to have read 1 million words. 

Fantastic Jack - keep up the good work! 

The House with Chicken Legs

For this sequence of work, we decided to showcase our writing skills through a double page spread. All of the children across the unit have created an information text based on The House with Chicken Legs; we focused on demonstrating the skills of using headings, sub-headings, bullet points and parenthesis. 

Cross-curricular learning between Maths and PE

As part of our learning in Year 5, we entered the Royal Statistics Society competition by gathering data about our favourite sport to learn in PE; we represented this information on a line graph. 

Friday 6th November

Unit 3 enjoyed completing their Curriculum learning and designing their own product.

We had machines to tidy their bedrooms for us, robots to help with the housework, phones to do even more things and even a machine to complete homework for you!

Anything to make our lives easier 

Curriculum Home Learning

During the Industrial Revolution, Edmund Cartwright’s power loom meant that factory workers could create fabrics with elaborate patterns. Placemats with beautiful patterns would brighten up any dinner table and make the perfect gift. As part of their curriculum homework the children were all given a pack of resources ready to weave!

Friday 9th October

#helloyellow

World Mental Health Awareness Day

Thursday 8th October

In our curriculum lesson we compared a series of sources to look at how Britain has changed due to the impact of the Victorian era, and more specifically the Industrial Revolution.

We looked at:

* transport

* buildings/factories

* roads

* clothes

* homes

Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th October

Year 5 and 6 have had a fantastic time building their own circuit using a cell (battery), wire and a bulb. They spent time exploring and experimenting how the number and voltage of cells can change the brightness of bulbs. 

They discovered that if you add an additional cell to increase the voltage, more current flows through the wires which increases the brightness of the bulb. However, if your voltage stays the same but you add an additional bulb, each of the bulbs become dimmer due to the current been shared between the bulbs. 

Thursday 1st October

Unit 3 have been building on their understanding of Electricity and circuits.

They have been representing a simple circuit in a diagram using recognised symbols and comparing how components function, including the brightness of bulbs, the loudness of buzzers and the on/off position of switches.

Friday 25th September - Peace Birds in Unit 3

As part of Mrs Playford's assembly, celebrating World Peace Day, each class came up with their own focus for developing peace and understanding.

We are focusing on communicating, taking time for each other, saying kind things and making sure we say sorry when we need to.

Mrs Isaac very kindly made origami 'doves' for our classroom doors.

Class Texts

Our Class Texts are now in full swing.

Please make sure you ask your child about the text they are reading.

Friday 11th September

Unit 3 have thoroughly enjoyed writing again. These pictures have provided great inspiration and really exciting talking points to share vocabulary:

A flock of sheep waddled through the field, as the sun burnt down on their backs.

Twisting and turning, the road led them through to an empty, deserted space.

The piercing stare of the adder was all she could think about.

We are really looking forward to sharing more of these as we go through the term.

Well done Years 5 and 6 for an incredible start.

We are really looking forward to welcoming you back to Willowbank on Monday 7th September, and into your new classes in Years 5 and 6.

Below is a powerpoint which shares some of the important information as you return to school. Some things will look at little bit different but we will go through all of that with you next week.

See you on Monday. 

Mrs Sullivan, Miss Gibbs and Mrs Isaac.

World Book Day

It was wonderful to see so many of the children in year 5 and 6 dresses up as characters from one of their favourite books. We continued to promote the love of reading, by completing a  'Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt' a 'Reading Speed Dating'.

Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt!

The children were given 10 words and 10 books - they had to locate the word in any of the books, however, they could only use the book once. The children were so engaged and loved the challenge. 

Reading Speed Dating

This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to 'sell' their favourite book. Half of the class had to promote their chosen book in 30 seconds, whilst the other half travelling around, rating each of the texts out of 10. It was wonderful to see the children so excited to share their love for reading and their opinions!

Pig Heart Boy 

In our new English sequence, we will be learning how to write a non-chronological report all about 'The Heart', as a stimulus we will be reading 'Pig Heart Boy'. This text is based on a boy, aged 13, who has a viral infection that infected his heart and his time in this world is

limited. Unfortunately, there are no human hearts and so the heart of a pig had to be
transplanted into Cameron. 

WOW Activity - Heart Dissection 

The children in Year 5 and 6 had wonderful time dissecting a pig’s heart. They were shown how to identify and name the main parts of the human circulatory system, understanding the functions of the heart, blood vessels and blood.

OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Our new curriculum sequence with be focusing on Science, Design and Technology and Computing.  

Science 

We are looking forward to developing an in depth knowledge of Space and the Solar System as well as seeing a time lapse of the sun over Willowbank. 

Design and Technology 

During our D&T lessons, the children will be learning the skills of sewing. They will be creating a Solar System by joining and assembling materials using a variety of stitches. 

Computing 

We will be focussing on Internet Safety: developing an understanding of our digital footprint and safe habits online.  

Shang Dynasty - Pottery Day

Year 5 and 6 had a fantastic day creating a tripod vessel out of clay. They used a range of tools (rolling pins, clay knives and sculpting tools) and techniques (pinching, joining and carving) to create their 3D masterpiece. Once the tripod vessel was assembled, the children were able to focus on the colour, creating either a Jade or Bronze effect, and Chinese patterns. We can't wait for them to be returned to us after they have been fired in a kiln and covered in a gaze.

We look forward to sharing them with you at our Art Gallery!

Cricket 

Over the next 5 Wednesdays, the children in year 6 have the opportunity to work with Damien, from Devon Cricket, to develop their batting, bowling and fielding skills. We hope this will provide the children with a new sporting experience and encourage them to join our local cricket team at Cullompton Cricket Club. 

PE - Hockey

Over the next 5 weeks, we will develop our dribbling skills, learn how to accurately pass the ball whilst moving, defend and attack a goal and think tactically whilst playing a game. Each week, the children will apply these skills and follow the 'Quickstick Hockey' rules as they build up to participating in a mini tournament. 

WOW afternoon!

As part of our new learning this term, the children created varying images replicating Chinese art. They looked at the year of the rat (2020), vases, and blossom trees. They chose which art medium to use ie paint, tissue paper, pencil. The images have created wonderful displays within our 3 classrooms as well as our hub area.

The Year of the Rat 

In the first half of the Spring Term will be focusing on History, Geography and Art all linked to the Shang Dynasty - an ancient Chinses civilisation (our History focus). 

Geography

In Geography will be learning about River, as the Shang people built their civilisation around 'The Yellow River'.

Art

The children will learn about the Shang craftsmen. The craftsmen were an important part of the Shang Hierarchy, they were talented individuals who created and decorated objects out of Bronze, Jade and Clay. They made weapons for the Shang warriors; these talents individuals also decorated vases, vessels and treasures for the King and nobble religious ceremonies. The children will then have the opportunity to explore clay for themselves and create their own tripod vessel. 

Cullompton Master Plan

On Wednesday, Owl Class had the opportunity to work with Urban Practitioners who are working on the Cullompton Master Plan. In groups, the children looked at three locations around Cullompton: The Mill Area, Higher Bullring and The Old Station Area. They looked at historic maps from 1889, present day maps and historic photos. After gathering knowledge from the maps and photos, the children then had an opportunity to visit these areas within Cullompton, where they thought about what they could see, hear and smell. Once back at school, the children designed a new element to add to one of the three locations e.g a new welcome sign in The Old Station Area. They thought about how to make this area more appealing for residents and visitors.

Owl Class - Class Reward

Owl Class has a wonderful time in 'The Owl Class Bake Off' as their class reward for filling the stars in the jar. The children work sensibly and respectfully with one another to create cupcakes and cookies. They were very creative and tasted delicious. 

Buddy Reading

On Friday, Foxes Class teamed up with the Year 1 and 2 children from Bats Class to take part in a Buddy Reading session. The Year 6 children chose a book that they thought their buddy would like and read it to them, asking them questions about what they thought might happen next, or how much they enjoyed the book. The Year 1 and 2s then had the opportunity to share their favourite book with their buddy, showing them their fantastic reading.

"When we read with our buddies again, am I going to read with Danny? I loved reading with Danny!" - Sammy

"Tara listened really well and she read some of the tricky words." - Ryan

"Phoebe knew about all of the different characters in the book!" - Isla

The session was very successful and Bats Class thoroughly enjoyed being read to by their buddies!

Curriculum Homework Project

Times Tables Rockstars

https://ttrockstars.com/login

Learning your times tables is very important. If you have forgotten your login details, please ask your class teacher.

Science - Forces 

In Science,  the children in Unit 3 are learning about forces (buoyancy, air resistance, gravity and friction). The children have been developing their enquiry skills through a range of investigations. As well as observing experiments, the children have had the opportunity to create their own investigation exploring air resistance. Working in small groups, they thought about what makes a fair test and variable factors. The children presented their results through a bar chart. 

Exeter City - Premier League Primary Stars

Exeter City are working with Owl, Foxes and Deer class across the year.

This half term, Owl Class are learning the skills of Netball. They are focusing on working effectively as a team, communicating clearly and making precise and accurate passes to play shots. Throughout the unit of work they have thought carefully about how they can demonstrate effective dribbling around obstacles; performing skills with control and confidence. 

Sports

Congratulations to the group of Year 5 and 6 children who attended the basketball competition; they got through to the final!

Forest School 

Each week, the children in Foxes Class get to enjoy a forest school session, learning outdoors whatever the weather! These sessions link loosely to our theme, but are also an excellent chance for them to develop core skills such as team work and perseverance.