Our learning this week…
English - The children who weren’t involved in Bikeability this week read a lockdown story called The Cloud Swing written by Eithne Gallagher who lives in Italy. This inspired the children to plan and write their own magical lockdown story.
This week we’ve also started looking at Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer’s Night Dream. We did this to get ready for a live, online performance set in a virtual midsummer forest from the RSC that we watched on Thursday.
Maths - This week we’ve been adding and subtracting fractions, first with fractions that have the same denominators and then those with different denominators. Many of us have found this quite tricky so it is important to spend some time on this on IXL for homework.
RE - We began our unit on Reconciliation this week and started thinking about how our actions, good or bad, have consequences. We began by looking at the life of a young girl called Mary Ann Long whose kindness had a ripple effect on the lives of many people suffering from cancer. We then also explored the effects of the life of Mother Antonia whose lifestyle completely changed when she visited a violent Mexican jail with a priest friend. Please ask your child to tell you about the lives of these two wonderful people.
Today we have also celebrated the Feast of Saint Joseph by finding out more about Saint Joseph and making our own prayer card. With the Apostolic Letter “Patris corde” (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis recalled the 150th anniversary of the declaration of Saint Joseph as Patron of the Universal Church. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father proclaimed a “Year of Saint Joseph” from 8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021. Pope Francis describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows. The Holy Father wrote Patris corde against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, which, he says, has helped us see more clearly the importance of “ordinary” people who, though far from the limelight, exercise patience and offer hope every day. In this, they resemble Saint Joseph, “the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence,” who nonetheless played “an incomparable role in the history of salvation.” In this way, let us all celebrate the ‘ordinary’ in our lives and find joy in the simple pleasure of serving God.
Geography - This week we’ve explored the features of a river and how a river changes along its course.
Art - Some children started painting their modroc sculptures inspired by Alberto Guacometti…
Ducklings
On Tuesday morning our 6 duckling eggs arrived in school and we were all very excited. Our first duckling hatched at 4pm on Wednesday and by Thursday morning three more had hatched. Two eggs remain in the incubator and we hope they will hatch soon. We will enjoy looking after the ducklings till next Friday when they go to their new home and over the course of the week, we will observe them as part of our Science work.
Watch our video to see some photos and videos of our ducklings, all named after characters from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream…
Bikeability
Congratulations to the children who took part in the Bikeability training this week. The children spent Monday and Tuesday outside with the Bikeability team, first on the playground and then out on the roads around around our school, learning how to ride their bicycles safely on the road. The team were delighted with the behaviour of the children and all children were awarded their Level 1 and Level 2 badges. Well done Year 5 cyclists!
Our Lent book challenge
I’m delighted to see the enthusiasm within class this week for our book reading challenge for Lent. This week I was pleased to see so many of Year 5 finishing their first chosen book, taking their quiz and then challenging themselves to reading another. This is amazing Year 5, keep up the great reading!
Our award winners:
Golden Award - Elliot
Writing Award - Jack
Maths Award - Lennon
Year 5 Star Winner - Adam
Well done Year 5, we’ve had another amazing busy week and I’m so proud of you all! I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Don’t forget to continue to make those resilient moves at home, it’s important to make time to enjoy yourselves and have fun. If you take any photos, please share those with us by emailing them to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk
Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Connolly
