Westgate Academy
Learning and Growing Together
5VD
Welcome to class 5VD's page with Mrs Dennant and Mrs Castro.
Follow our journey through year 5 to see us take part in our fantastic learning!
7.12.21 - SCIENCE - Mechanisms - During today’s learning we were exploring the following different types of mechanisms: Pulleys, Levers and Gears. We worked with our partners to find out examples and information on these mechanisms.
ART - William Morris themed Christmas decorations - SEWING and PRINTING - First we explored the artist William Morris, recreated his work and then designs of own based on his. We then created a print panel and used green and red to print onto material. We used backstitch to sew our pieces together, stuffed them, then finished the last edge with blanket stick. These will look great on the tree!
26.11.21 - TRIP to Perlethorpe Education Centre for a Victorian experience day. We stepped back in time and joined Mr Ryder at his Victorian school. We entered class having our nails checked, read the alphabet, a poem, did handwriting and were constantly reminded how boys were the leaders of the empire and girls were inferior (mmm really??). After a long class, we got to explore the church nearby for gargoyles and grotesques, then headed to Thoresby Hall. We even had a chance to let off steam altogether in the park!!
19.11.21 - READING FLUENCY
Out of the 6Ps that we focus on, today we practised Pitch. This song gave us chance to use our voices high and low. Listen to us!
19.11.21 CHILDREN IN NEED
19.11.21 - ART - We have begun our next art unit this week. Initially learning about William Morris and his style of nature and repeated patterns, we have made our own design to then print onto material. This is all in preparation to create a final piece of a mini pillow for a Christmas decoration. Keep a space on the tree free for it!
18.11.21 - INDOOR PE - This term our focus is balance. Combining this too with our previous term's focus of coordination and agility, we played Seated Volleyball today three ways. One way with one member of the team on a wobble board, another court where all players are on a quoit and the third court where all players were sat on a beanbag. These modifications to the game made us remember to keep ourselves seated and use our core strength and balance to get to the ball.
16.11.21 - SCIENCE - Forces and motion. For our third lesson of this term's unit, we were exploring air resistance more after the previous week learning more about gravity. We made parachutes, but changed one variable (size of chute, shape of chute, length of sting attached, height dropped). We made 3 per group and tested them to see which was slowest moving to the ground: this would show us which had best air resistance.
15.11.21 PE - This term we are learning more about Football in our outdoor PE lessons. Today’s focus was keeping the ball moving whilst it remaining fully accurately passed in groups. Those skilled were used then at the end in a small modified game where we had now some defence, so it was crucial our ball carriers got that ball moving around them and accurately onto our teammates.
4.11.21 - After studying the Highwayman last term, this week we amended our Audience and Purpose. With did this by looking at Julia Donaldson's: The Highway Rat. We changed stanzas of the Highwayman to suit the theme of food stealing. We also got into character and acted out the book in order to practise our Oracy skills and understand how they would help our Audience be engaged in this text. See us rehearse below.
21.10.21 - English - FLIP THE FORMALITY! This past fortnight, we have been writing a formal piece of writing: a non-chronological report about the Industrial Revolution. From yesterday onwards for a few days, we are going to turn our knowledge into an informal piece by making a video or written piece in the Horrible Histories style. Here we are working together, ready to present tomorrow.
18.10.21 - Science - Today we learnt about the 8 phases of the moon in its cycle. We got to take these home, so I wonder what moon phase is appearing in our sky tonight??
14.10.21 - Science - Today we worked together to make informative posters to explain our knowledge about day, night and the seasons. We showed the tilt of the Earth on its axis and the way the Earth orbits the sun.
8.10.21 - Reading buddies - One of our Guided Reading lessons per week is pairing up and sharing a book with each other. We take it in turns to read to each other. We follow this by practising with Reading Fluency. Today was adding punctuation to Blah Blah Blah so ensure that we adhere to it when we read.
7.10.21 - PE - Over the last few weeks, we have been practising our core work to improve our agility and balance. In outdoor PE we have practised the footwork rule of netball. We applied those skills to a game of End Ball today where the children needed to work as a team to get the ball to their keeper in the hoop, but if you had the ball you couldn't move with it. Some great dodging and pivoting shown too. Well done.
24.9.21 - Golden time - At the end of a busy week, we get to enjoy some time together playing. For good behaviour each day we get 5minutes Golden Time. Here is what we get up to:
23.9.21 - English - Tenses. Ready for writing diary entries next week as a Victorian workhouse boy (based on Jim from Street Child), we revised the different tenses we could use in our writing. There were 5 we focused on: Simple present; Present Progressive; Simple Past; Past Progressive; Future. Here are some sentences we wrote in context. Ask me at home if I can remember what each type is.
20.9.21 - English - DRAMA DRAMA! We have been exploring Street Child to learn about Victorian Workhouses and the lives of children in Victorian Times. Today, after reading chapter 5,6,7, we used drama to collect ideas for our writing. Below are moments of the chapters captured through Hot Seat Questioning or Freeze Frames.
17.9.21 - ENGLISH and TOPIC - LIFE OF THE WORKHOUSES! Today we used a variety of sources that informed us of people's accounts of the workhouses or published information of the time. We analysed the information to discuss our perspective on them. Overall, we are very, very glad to be at Westgate and live with our families! No working 10 hours a day breaking rocks or eating slops with mouse poo in!
8-17.9.21 - ART - Picture This - Check out our fab water colour and charcoal artworks. We recreated Glasgow- Saturday Night by John Atkinson Grimshaw. We focussed on learning beforehand about PERSPECTIVE, VANISHING POINTS, HORIZONS, PERSPECTIVE LINES and PROPORTION. Congratulations 5VD on super outcomes!
6.9.21 - World History Chronology. We got the year going by sorting periods of time on Earth as a whole class, then contributed to make a period card to add to a timeline being displayed in class.
7.9.21 - Get to know us bingo! We played bingo with things to cross off such as 'Find someone with a pet' or 'Find someone with brown hair' to find out more about each other this morning. A great way to get chatting! Great teamwork.
