We wish you a Merry Christmas

Just a short one to finish a very short week. I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the children and parents for all of your support and hard work this term. It is still hard to believe that we have finished our first term in Year 5. Please have a restful and wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!

Homework

Lots and lots of reading and times tables practice. Other than that, the children’s homework is to have a happy and merry Christmas! I’ll see you all in 2023.

Year 5 Weekly Blog 16.12.22 'It's the most wonderful time of the year'

We have finished our final full week and it has definitely been action packed. We started the week off with lots of trips out of class to practice for our Christmas concert. The children have combatted the dangerous conditions and have been careful as they walk and play with the icy pavements.

Thursday evening was a special evening for us all as we had our Christmas concert, where the children performed in front of a full crowd in church. The children sang beautifully and really spread the true meaning of Christmas.

On Thursday, the children also completed their water safety lessons in swimming. These were to finish their lessons from the end of year 4 and the children have received a certificate for this, if they have attended at least one of the water safety lessons. Some children still have not achieved their distance targets and these will be done later on in the year (most likely in the summer term).

Today, as you have all been told about was Christmas Party Day! We were in the hall in the morning where there was lots of party games, dancing and sweets. We then spent the afternoon back in the classroom, where we watched a Christmas film with lots of Christmas colouring.

Notices

Choir Trip- Children in choir will be going to Stella Matutina care home, on Monday 19th December, to sing to the relatives. Children will be in normal school uniform and will be back for normal pick up time.

Last Day- School will close at 2pm on Tuesday 20th December.

Year 5 Weekly Blog 09.12.22 'Nothing you could confess would make me love you less' Jesus

Another week down and another week closer to Christmas! The children have been getting excited with lots of discussion about elves on shelfs, advent calendars and Christmas lists. We as a school have also been preparing for Christmas by going to church on Wednesday for our advent mass. As the oldest pupils there, Year 5 were given the responsibility to buddy up with our Year 1’s. The children were brilliant in looking after our younger pupils and were excellent role models throughout the journey. You would be very proud of them.

We have also been getting into the festive spirit by preparing for our Christmas concert next week. We have been down to church for our stage practices so the children can become familiar with the settings. This has been a priority for homework, to practice these hymns at home. On Friday, the children had their confessions with Father Peter. This gave the children a moment to themselves to reflect and reconciliate, which is a huge part of them growing as children.

In Maths, we have continued with our money topic and have been applying this to real life scenarios such as buying items in a shop and receiving some change. The children have shown a deep understanding of this by applying their decimals knowledge to word problems.

In English, we have been recapping our skills knowledge of conjunctions and delving deeper into the different type of causal conjunctions. We have also been looking at explanatory texts and how conjunctions are used to construct these type of texts. We will be writing our own explanatory texts and linking this to our science topic.

In Science, we have continued with experimenting with forces and have been looking at which forces counteract gravity, such as air resistance. The children have been looking at what forces are applied with parachutes and have had fun at making their own and dropping them from a height.

Kidsafe

We have picked up our kidsafe lessons again this week. Here is what we learned about;

Christmas Films- Parental Guidance

Please read and sign the form regarding the choice of Christmas films for our Christmas party next week.

Christmas Dinner - Monday 19th December

Staff will join the children in this festive feast!

We need to know the precise numbers for Jacqui, our wonderful chef!

Could you PLEASE take a few seconds to complete the form on today’s newsletter blog on the school website.

The meal is free for all Key Stage 1 children and for all those children on free school meals.  

Key Stage 2 children NOT on free school meals pay £2.40 - this should be paid in advance on ParentPay.

Please complete the form FOR EVERY CHILD in school, both Key Stages, whether it is a yes for a meal or a no - that would really help us!

Do please ensure you have completed the form by Monday Morning, 9am.

Thank you so much – The Office and Catering Teams

 

Let’s Celebrate

Dominic for being a enthusiastic learner: For being so passionate towards your learning and engaging in every subject that we learn. You are keen to discover something new and your enthusiasm towards your learning is what contributes to you being a resilient learner.

Georgia for being a brave earner: For continuing to give your best in lessons, even if you are feeling down. It takes a lot of courage to approach a member of staff and tell them how you’re feeling and for you to still carry on with your learning shows you are growing as a person.

Alex for being intentional: As upper juniors, we are on a journey of becoming more trustworthy and responsible learners and you have made some big strides this week. You were an excellent role model for our younger children when we were taking care of the Year 1 , during our advent mass.

Notices

The weather is really starting to drop so please make sure your child is wrapped up with gloves, hat and a coat.

Christmas concert- Will take place at church on Thursday 15th December at 2pm and 7pm. Children have been given a booklet which includes the song lyrics so they can practice at home. A video of our in school practices are available on the homework blog. Parents are free to attend either of these times.

Christmas cards- As a school, we have decided to not send individual Christmas cards to each other but to instead donate money to charity. If they would like, children can write one card for the whole class.

Christmas party- The Key Stage 2 party will be on Friday 16th December. Children can come into school in party clothes and sensible shoes. They can bring a non fizzy drink and a small snack such as chocolate or a packet of crisps.

Swimming- The class still need to complete there water safety unit from last year. We will doing this on Thursday 15th December. Children will need their pajamas with their swimsuit underneath. Please arrive at school at 8:30am, entering from the St Patricks road gate.



Scarlet Fever and Group Strep A Infections - Guidance

Dear all,

There is growing concern amongst the community regarding iGas/Scarlet Fever, we have placed here the guidance school has received to share with you. Thank you for always communicating with us illnesses and absences. This is so important as it helps us to build a picture of the whole community and from this we are able to take any action should it be required.

Year 5 Weekly Blog 11.11.22- 'Lest we forget'

Another week completed and another week that has flown by. Time must really fly when you’re having fun. This week has been taken over the focus of our class assembly. We have been in the hall doing our dress rehearsals, along with script practices and our song. The children have really come together and put the effort into remembering their lines and really expressing themselves on stage. I cant’ wait for everyone else to see it in action on Tuesday 15th November. Today, we paid our respects as a school and took a minute silence for all those that lost their lives for us during the world wars. We discussed what remembrance day means to us, during assembly, by learning about some important figures such as Desmond Doss.

In Maths, we have been mastering our decimals, looking at tenths. The children have been representing decimals in so many different ways and have been completing larger decimal calculations, using the column method. At the end of the week, we introduced hundredths, where the children have learnt the relationships between ones, tenths and hundredths.

In RE, we have finished our creation topic by looking into God’s great helpers and looking into their lives to see what they did that made them stand out. We researched different saints, such as Martin De Porres and St Vincent De Paul, and the impact of all of their wonderful acts of kindness.

Let’s Celebrate

Jay for being an inquisitive learner: This week, you have asked so many curious questions throughout our learning, especially during our class novel, where you have been predicting the ending. Your contribution during group activities is excellent and you can work alongside anyone in the class.

Charlie for being an enthusiastic and focused learner: For always having a positive attitude towards your learning, where you have a go at every task that you do. You are full of resilience and enthusiasm, which is inspiring towards everyone in your class. You are such a supportive member of our class and you are always encouraging people around you.

Notices

Year 5 assembly- Our class assembly will be on Tuesday 15th November. We will be doing the assembly twice. The first one starting at 9:10am and then 9:35am. All family members are welcome to come along.

Curriculum evening- Will take place on Thursday 17th November at 6pm. This is a chance for parents to come to school and see what life is like at Our Lady’s. The evening will have lots of fun learning activities, which the children and parents can take part in.

Pajama Day- Will take place on Friday 18th November. This is to help raise money for Brian House so can the children bring in £1.

Christmas villages- Miss Neves has asked for children to bring in some used objects for future art lessons, which will be used for our christmas projects in December. Our class have been asked to bring in milk/juice cartons. Can children put these items in the recycling pod, which is just outside the create room.

Stuart Robinson- Due to concussion, our GB athlete Stuart Robinson had to postpone our PE afternoon. This has been resechuled for Wednesday 16th November, so children have got some additional time to collect their sponsors and to raise money for their PE activities. More information about this event is included in the forms, which the children were given last week.


Year 5 Weekly Blog 04.11.22- ' A smile is the universal welcome'

A new month and a new half term! It has been lovely to have to children back. It has been a fun filled first week back with it starting on Monday, which was ‘All Hallows Eve’. We discussed the meaning of this as we prepped for mass on Tuesday, the day of All Saints, where we celebrated this at church. The Eco councilors also began their duties, each of them partaking in particular roles each day such as litter picking, switching off lights and emptying the compost bins. They also got to go out to Hope Park and plant some light bulbs. The children enjoyed their trip and were pleased with their contributions to the environment.

In Maths, we have continued our work with decimal fractions and we have explored decimal numbers greater than one. The children have shown a deep understanding of the value of the numbers and have been able to provide some brilliant reasoning into their answers. We have also been showing how we can represent decimals in various ways, along with comparing decimal numbers.

The children are wrapping up their final piece of History this term, where they have been writing diary entries as General Miltiades, the leader of the Athenian army who guided his soldiers to victory in the Battle of Marathon.

Let’s Celebrate

Christian for being a focused learner- You are always engaged across all of our subjects and you are ready to learn. I never have to remind you of your behaviour and you show me that you can work alongside anyone. You respond well to advice given to you by adults in the class which is a great learning quality. Well done Christian! Keep this up.

Daisy for being a reflective learner-You show such passion towards your work and how you present it. You are never shy to ask for help, which shows an eagarness to improve your work. You are happy to recieve feedback in which you always act upon this. You are a pleasure to teach and I am excited to watch you progress.

Notices

Year 5 assembly: Our assembly will take place on Tuesday 15th November. All parents and other family members are welcome to attend. We will be doing the assembly twice for both KS2 (starting at 9:10am) and KS1(starting at 9:35am).

Clarinets- A reminder to bring your clarinet to school on Monday for our music lesson.

Year 5 Weekly Blog 23.09.22 - 'Family does not necessarily mean blood relatives, but often a description of a community'- Queen Elizabeth II

This week has flown by because of the bank holiday on Monday. It was lovely to hear about how the children celebrated Queen Elizabeth II’s life and service to our country. Thank you for completing homework this week. Apologies for any technical issues on purple mash and IXL, think it may be a few teething issues which we will be looking to sort.

In Maths, we have been focusing solely on rounding and have moved up to rounding to 10,000 and 100,000. The children have adapted to the bigger numbers excellently by remembering our ‘High 5’ rule. We have ended the week by applying the children’s rounding skills to word problems to solve and to apply reasoning for their answers. The use of a number line also gives the numbers a visual representation of which number to round to.

In English, we have finished our first legends story of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth and have introduced our next story, the legend of Gelert. We have read through our new story and explored the vocabulary that the children found interesting. We have also looked at the elements of fiction stories, relating to the plot, settings and theme and use these to compare our two legend stories.

It was brilliant to see so many of you on Wednesday evening as we discussed the year ahead. I really hope I didn’t take up too much of your time as we know you all have busy lives, which makes it all the more special for you to take the time out to attend. Don’t worry if you were unavailable to attend, if you require any information discussed on the evening then please drop me an email and I can send over the presentation.

Let’s Celebrate

Matilda and Iris for being enthusiastic learners: After a successful PE lesson last week, the children were allowed to keep their same partners for gymnastics. Both Matilda and Iris have shown a keen interest in our topic and are happy to share their creations with the class. They have led the way of how to behave throughout PE lessons, including how to handle equipment, working brilliantly as a team and being considerate of others around them. Keep it up girls!

Edi for being a focused learner: I could give this award to Edi every week if possible. He is always ready for the task being set and is constantly setting an example of how to behave in the classroom, especially at the start of the day when we begin our morning activity. Edi never needs reminding on what he needs to be doing because he is such a good listener. An absolute joy to teach!

Reminders

Football- Football training will resume to its normal time which is Monday at 8am. Football fixtures begin on Tuesday, with kick off at 4pm. The teams will be decided during Mondays training session, with kits being handed out that day. If your child has not made it into the football team, they are still free to attend training sessions on Monday. Additional information regarding the sports fixtures and the schedule is available on the sports newsletter/calendar on the ENGAGE page of the school website.

Netball- Netball training will still be on a Thursday at 3:30pm and fixtures will also begin this Tuesday. More information regarding the netball fixtures and schedule will be available on the sports newsletter/calendar on the ENGAGE page of the school website.

Choir- Thursday 3:30pm

Dance- Will resume on Monday at 3:30pm.

Art- Please can you bring in your art t-shirts as Mrs Mather is keen to begin painting in her lessons. Art lessons are on Tuesdays.

Reading Books- It looks like children have been doing lots of reading at home but can children remember to put their reading books back in their bags ready to bring them into school.

Homework- Homework this week be on paper copies. This will be in the children’s homework folders which are to be completed and stuck into their homework books, ready to be handed in on Tuesday.

Year 5 weekly blog 16.09.22- ' Leadership is not about titles, positions or work hours. It's about relationships'

This week has been our leadership week. Each class has been listening to speeches from candidates and voting for our new Year 6 House Captains and also our new Year 5 Class Councilors. The children stood at the front and gave some lovely speeches, explaining the reasons why they should be picked and the qualities they bring to the class.

Learning

This week the children began their music lessons with Mrs Maddocks, including their new instrument! The children were exhilarated to have their own clarinet and begin to know the sound of the instrument. The children will learn how to put together their clarinet safely come their next lesson. In the next few weeks, they will be aloud to take them home to practice.

In Maths, the children have shown a great retainment of knowledge from Year 4 as we moved on to rounding. The children have started to develop how to round to higher numbers without using manipulatives.

In English, we have continued with our focus of Greek myths and legends and have completed our first piece of story writing about the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.

Reminders


Bank Holiday- School will be closed on Monday 19th September due to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. School will reopen on the Tuesday.

Football - Due to school being closed on Monday, football training will be on Tuesday at 3:30pm. Please can Code of Conduct forms be handed in on Tuesday.

Choir and Netball- On Thursdays at 3:30pm

Dance- There will be no dance session on this week.

Induction Evening- Will take place Wednesday 21st September at 6pm. I am looking forward to meeting all of you and for you to get the chance to see the children’s new classroom and to meet the staff.

Homework- Has been set online for the children. All information regarding homework has been posted on the Year 5 home learning blog and is to be handed in by Tuesday 20th September.

Year 5 Weekly Blog 9.9.22 " Change is inevitable but personal growth is optional"

Welcome to Year 5

First week completed! We have had a fantastic first week back and the children have adapted really well from the jump up to Year 5.

The class are so kind hearted and are a lovely group to teach. I am excited to take to take this class on their learning journey throughout upper key stage 2.

The children have shown how responsible they are by carrying our their new class jobs, even helping other children in their jobs as well. It has been lovely to hear about their summer holidays and what they got up to. They certainty made me jealous with all of the amazing activities that they did. The children have loved our new history topic of Ancient Greece and looking into their myths and legends such as the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.

Treat others how you would like to be treated…

On our first day back, we went through the new set up in Year 5 and what the children were most looking forward to. After spending some time with the class at the end of Year 4, I could see that they would have no trouble following school rules. “treat others how you would like to be treated” has become our class slogan in which the children have shown how this is important to them.

Reminders

Class Council- Next Fridays assembly will be our leadership assembly, where leadership roles in Year 6 will be announced, along with the class councilors for each year group. If you haven’t been a class councilor yet and you would like to be one this year, on Early next week we will be voting in class for who we would like to be class councilor. So if you are interested, you can prepare a small speech of why you want to be a class councilor and why people should vote for you. Good luck!

PE Days- Just to remind everyone, PE days are;

Wednesday- Rugby outdoors

Thursday- Gymnastics indoors

I do apologize for the mix up this week, I should really check the blog before posting it.

Art- On Tuesdays. Please can you bring in your art t-shirts.

Reading Books- Over the summer the library has had a complete makeover and is currently in the process of being set up. Therefore, if children would like to bring in a book from home for them to read at the beginning and end of the day.

Proud Cloud- In Year 5 we have a proud cloud which is used to celebrate the children’s achievements outside of school such as winning trophies and certificates. All you need to do is to email myself a picture of your child holding their trophy/certificate with a little description.

Football and Netball training- Football and netball training sessions will begin on Monday at 8am. Football will be ran by myself and Mr Nay whilst netball will be ran by Miss Lavelle. Fixtures will begin 27th September. If your child is interested, please bring the appropriate kit.

Football- Boots, shin pads, football kit, water bottle.

Netball- sports kit, sports trainers, water bottle.

Choir- Choir will begin Thursday 15th which will be ran by Miss Woodend.

Medical and Consent Forms- These forms have been attached below. Please can you fill these out ASAP. The home school agreement will also be attached.