Year 5 Myths and Legends: Writing Day

Following on from the success of our 'Alien Writing Day' Year 5 decided to introduce their 'Myths and Legends' topic with a similar day.

On Wednesday 15th June the children arrived in school to find the outdoor classroom set up to depict a scene from Camelot! There was a sword in a stone with a scroll explaining the magic held within. Although many children attempted to pull the sword . . .

. . . The scroll explained that only the worthy, who would use the sword for good rather than their own benefit, would in fact be able to pull it from the stone.

Some were successful . . .

This role play led to the children planning a legend of their own within which they created a hero/heroine, a setting and numerous magical powers!

Year 5 Snow Day 3rd December 2010

After play we went out onto the untouched school field, it felt great being the first people to step onto the crunchy snow.

Using bottles of food dye mixed with water we created Christmas pictures in the snow.

Do you like our picture of 'the Grinch?'

Christmas Tree created by 5H.


A picture by 5B.

Before we came inside to the warm classroom we all made snow angels.

SNOWFLAKE POEM by 5H

As cold as Mount Everest,

As clear as crystal,

We marched out into the crisp and crunchy snow,

We felt cold,

It was clear, white and untouched,

As cold as a chilly river,

Drifting down like a stray piece of paper,

As soft as silk,

A big white blanket cuddling my shoes,

My toes like pieces of rock.

Year 5 Trip to Epping Forest

As part of our work on rivers year 5 went to Epping Forest on 24th November 2010.

It was a bright and sunny day, but extremely cold. We set off with wellies, jeans and winter warmers.

We started by looking at the source of the river and examining different soils. It was very suprising to see how a river really begins.

Later in the day we drove to Debden to take measurements of the width, depth and speed of the water in two different places. Other than lunch this was by far the most popular part of the day!

We had a very enjoyable day and came home cold, tired and wet.

Year 5 Friendship Day 21/10/10

During Citizenship Week Year 5 held a Friendship Day event for our BEC project.

We were split into groups and were responsible for areas such as biscuit making, bracelet design, advertising, awards, evidence and surveys.

On the day we sold friendship biscuits and bracelets for children to buy for their friends.

The day was a real success and we were really pleased so many of the children in school enjoyed our biscuits and bracelets! Hopefully they also enjoyed thinking about how to be a good friend!

Egyptian Day 2010

On Tuesday 23rd March 2010 as part of their work on Ancient Egypt, Year 5 spent the whole day sampling life as it might have been 3000 years ago.

For a number of weeks, as part of their homework, the children were asked to design and make their own head-dresses and collars to wear on the day.











Everyone made a tremendous effort and some examples are shown here.

The day itself began with Ancient Egyptian related

numeracy and literacy and ended with a

'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' quiz.

Unfortunately no-one managed to win the £1m prize!

Later in the morning we were visited by The Freshwater Theatre Company who entertained us with their production about Egyptian life.

After lunch the children were gathered in the hall to parade their head-dresses and collars.Their efforts were magnificent and they can all be seen in the class photos below. 5v on the left and 5B on the right.

After the parade the children were gathered in the hall to feast 'Egyptian style'. They were tempted with figs and dates, various cheeses, houmous and taramasalata, various fresh vegetables and a selection of breads.

There were copious amounts of water and juice to wash down all the delicious food. In their recounts alot of children commented on how much they enjoyed trying new foods- even if they did not like them all!

To finish the day we had a parade of the children in their costumes. Prizes were awarded for originality and effort and the winning childen can be seen here. They look magnificent!

The Highwayman

As part of our Literacy unit on Narrative Poetry, Year 5 have been reading the poem entitled 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes. This is a tale of love, tragedy, revenge, jealousy and betrayal.

Firstly, we looked at the way that a highwayman dresses, in particular the hat and mask that were always worn to disguise their identity.

We used a Story Sack in which had been placed items relating to the poem. There were examples of red velvet and some lace; pictures of Bess and Tim; photos of pistols, a rapier and of King George's soldiers. This experience helped us to understand the poem better.

We looked very carefully at the figurative (descriptive) language used in the poem. We found examples of metaphors, similes, repetition, rhythm and rhyme.

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight, over the purple moor,

And the highwayman came riding-

Riding-riding-

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

We enjoyed some drama activities based on the text and wrote our own letters from Tim, the Ostler, to the highwayman. Why not come into 5V to see our display?

We really enjoyed this work and look forward to our next unit of work on Poetry.

Epping Forest Trip

Year 5 have been learning about
Rivers and their features this term.
In order to study first hand how rivers are formed and to look at all the different features, 5B and 5V went to Epping Forest.

Wednesday 25th November 2009 was a beautiful day. The first thing to do was meet our guide for the day in one of the specially prepared classrooms. After a walk through the forest looking at different soils, we had our lunch.

In the afternoon we visited two different sites of the same river and took measurements to compare the width, depth and speed of the water.


We also measured the gradient and took samples of pebbles from the river bed to see the way in which the water gradually smoothes down the rough edges and sharp corners of the stones.






We found a perfect example of a Meander which was one of the features we had studied in class. This is when the river curves around.

Although it was very cold, and lots of us got wet and dirty, everyone agreed that we had a great day!!
To remember the day we have posted our Blog as you see and are writing a recount of the day during Literacy sessions.