Our week...

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun looking at a modern retelling of a myth/ dilemma story and we have also been working on relative clauses.

In maths the children have been adding fractions and mixed numbers.

In RE we’ve been discussing the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – a gift that Jesus has given to us which helps to deepen our relationship with him. The children recalled going to their own first confession and have written a guide for younger children.

In computing the children have had fun this week learning about a device called a Micro:bit and they explored the blocks within the code editor.

History - The children have learnt how important religion was to the Maya civilisation and have learnt about their gods and rituals such as blood letting.

In PE the children have worked together to complete orienteering activities.

In art the children have been learning about the Manchester born artist Chris Ofili, who uses colourful layering techniques, and have been experimenting with designs on the theme of the Maya Gods using his style.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Abigail

Maths - Sam

Writing - Maisy

Star Award - Idana & Kyran

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                361 points    

2      Gabriella 298 points

3      Samuel 264 points

4       Ebony 234 points

5       Henri 222 points

Well done, keep up the great work!

Music medal

Well done to Vinny and Max, who have both been awarded their bronze music medals for drumming.👏🏻👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Exercise and fresh air (Basics)

• Find time for your interests (Coping)

Dates for your diary:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - Friday 20th May

On Friday 20th May Key Stage 2 will be holding a ‘Street Party’ on the KS2 Yard to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. On this day the children will be asked to wear red, white and blue clothes for the day. We are asking parents for a contribution to PTFA funds of £1 for each child - please see the letter that came home yesterday from our PTFA. The rest of the afternoon will be spent engaged in playground games, craft and fun activities all relating to the Platinum Jubilee. Please keep your fingers crossed for lovely weather! Many thanks.

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June. Further details to follow. Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather - but again look our for further details. Just wanted to give you advanced notice!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend Year 5!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Dates for your diary...

Just a few dates for your diary ...

Blackpool Beating Bullying Bronze award

A reminder…

Further to the appointment of 8 new anti-bullying ambassadors in school, we are now working hard to achieve the Bronze award for Blackpool Beating Bullying. In order to achieve the relevant threshold, school needs to carry out surveys on different groups of people in school. There will be 4 surveys/questionnaires aimed at the following groups: 

• children - Year 5’s will complete theirs in class.

• parents - below is a link and we invite you to complete the survey.

• teachers

• governors

All questionnaires are on line and only live for one more week.

Here is the survey link for parents, we would very much appreciate it if you could complete the survey, if you haven’t already, to enable us to make steps forward to receiving the Bronze award for school. Thank you for your support.

Parents/Carers-

https://forms.gle/TP2A4mnpJwBwmT6R6

Dates for your diary:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - Friday 20th May

On Friday 20th May Key Stage 2 will be holding a ‘Street Party’ on the KS2 Yard to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. On this day the children will be asked to wear red, white and blue clothes for the day. We are asking parents for a contribution to PTFA funds of £1 for each child. The rest of the afternoon will be spent engaged in playground games, craft and fun activities all relating to the Platinum Jubilee. Please keep your fingers crossed for lovely weather and keep an eye out for the PTFA letter which will be sent home soon with further details! Many thanks.

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June. Further details to follow. Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather - but again look our for further details. Just wanted to give you advanced notice!

Why walk when you can dance?

Today we celebrated International day of dance💃. The children looked fabulous in their dance outfits and in the morning they were treated to two dance sessions, Zumba and Country dancing, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. At the end of the morning, KS2 came together in the hall to watch children from Year 3 to 6 who had prepared a special dance to perform to the classes. A big well done to Alisha 👏🏻 and Ebony 👏🏻who performed from our class. Take a look at some photos and videos of our morning…

Our learning this week…

In English the children planned out their Greek myth from the point of view of Pandora ready to write their story.

In maths the children have been adding and subtracting fractions.

In RE we looked at the meaning of sin and reflected on how sin hurts us, others and our relationship with God.

In our Science lesson this week the children have identified the main stages of a baby’s development in the womb and have also compared the gestation periods of different mammals.

In history the children have begun to find out about the Maya civilisation and have explored events on a timeline.

In computing we have looked at the positive and negative effects of online communication and have explored different forms of communication including emojis, gifs and memes. The children also enjoyed creating their own memes

PSHE - In Bounce Forward the children identified emotions and learnt that they can link to the way we behave. They also explored positive coping strategies and created their own coping plan.

Spanish - The children consolidated the days of the week and the months of the year and found out about saints’ days and the Spanish custom of celebrating the day of the saint who has your name .

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Max

Writing Award - Alisha

Maths Award - Lillie S

Star Award - Idana

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Good housing - keep your bedroom tidy (Basics)

• Take responsibility for yourself (Core self)

Please take a look at the new family version of the resilient framework which will help your family build resilience at home. There are some lovely ideas for resilient moves that you can make as a family.

Family version of the resilient moves framework

Our Lady receives prestigious National Award

We are delighted to announce that Our lady of the Assumption has received a prestigious national award for our role in giving young people access to cultural and creative learning as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) Associate Schools Programme (ASP). To find out more please read this letter.

Blackpool Beating Bullying Bronze award

Further to the appointment of 8 new anti-bullying ambassadors in our class, school is now working hard to achieve the Bronze award for Blackpool Beating Bullying. In order to achieve the relevant threshold, school needs to carry out surveys on different groups of people in school. There will be 4 surveys/questionnaires aimed at the following groups: 

• children - Year 5’s will complete theirs in class.

• parents - below is a link and we invite you to complete the survey.

• teachers

• governors

All questionnaires are on line and only live for 2 weeks from the 3rd May.

Here is the survey link for parents, we would very much appreciate it if you could complete the survey to enable us to make steps forward to receiving the Bronze award for school. Thank you for your support.

Parents/Carers-

https://forms.gle/TP2A4mnpJwBwmT6R6

Enjoy your three day weekend and I’ll see you back at school on Tuesday. Swimming will take place as usual on Tuesday so don’t forget your swimming kit.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Our week...

Welcome back after the Easter holidays. I hope you all had a wonderful Holy week and enjoyed your time together. We’ve had a lovely week back in school and the children have worked really hard. However, I can’t believe that we’re already in the last term of our time together in Year 5, time truly does fly when you’re having fun!

Our learning this week…

In English we have been working on creating and punctuating complex sentences.

In maths the children have been comparing and ordering fractions greater than one.

In our Science lesson this week the children have looked closely at the life cycle of humans and have identified some of the main features of each stage.

In geography the children have been learning about the three stages of a river (upper, middle and lower) and have identified and described the features.

In computing the children have been using live loops to create music using Sonic Pi and then have worked with other children to evaluate their compositions.

PE - This week the children took part in relays as part of a team, which developed their understanding of basic orienteering symbols using a map key. They worked really hard and all teams successfully completed the challenge.

PSHE - We began our ‘Think Good, Feel Good’ sessions of Bounce Forward today which link to the Coping and Core Self Potion of the resilient framework. Using Disney’s Inside Out film, we explored all the emotions the children might feel and reinforced that it is ok to feel different at times and that is ok to feel sad, angry etc. It’s how we cope with it that helps us to be resilient.

Spanish - The children have been learning the days of the week and the months of the year.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Ollie

Writing Award - Samuel

Maths Award - Malachy

Star Award - Gabriella

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves of their Easter fun this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Get together with people you can rely on (Belonging)

• Take responsibility for yourself (Core self)

RSC Youth Advisory Board Success

Well done to Maia who recently applied to the RSC to become a member of their Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which reports directly to the RSC’s main board. The YAB is made up of 30 young people aged 9-18 from Associate Schools from all over the country who have all chosen to take on a position of responsibility and advocate for Shakespeare and the Arts. They are all passionate about making a difference and wanting their voices to be heard. As Lead Associate School in this area, we are really proud that Maia will be our third pupil from Our Lady’s school to be accepted onto the board. Congratulations Maia, we’re sure that you’re going to do a great job!

Enjoy your weekend Year 5, I hope you get to enjoy more of this lovely weather we have been having.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Happy Easter! ✝️

So, here we are at the end of another term! The children have all been working really hard and have achieved so much this half term - an outstanding Shakespeare performance at the Grand Theatre, achievements in Bikeability, completed Lenten challenges and much more - and I continue to be so incredibly proud of every one of them. Take a look below at what the children have been up to this week and their achievements. I hope that over the Easter holiday you are all able to enjoy some down time and have a wonderful, happy and Holy Easter with your families.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

We said goodbye to our ducklings 😢…

Sadly, the ducklings have now gone to their new home on a farm where they will be able to wander freely with other ducklings. We’ve really enjoyed watching them grow and get to know them and we’re really going to miss them as they all have such loveable characters.

Our learning this week…

In English we have been identifying cohesive devices within the Greek myth and we’ve been writing and punctuating complex sentences using -ing and -ed opening clauses.

In maths the focus of our work has been fractions: changing improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa, fraction number sequences and comparing and ordering fractions less than 1.

RE - In the parable of the Lost Son (the prodigal son), the children have identified the important message and have explored who the Father and the Son represent and what the the story tells us about them.

In our Science lesson this week the children have been researching the life cycle of a duck and we tracked the growth of our ducklings over the last two weeks.

In our Bounce Forward sessions (PSHE), the children have been considering who their ordinary heroes are and how they are part of their support circle. They also invented their own Super Friend and identified the qualities they would wish for in a Super Friend.

Year 5 Achievements

〰️

Year 5 Achievements 〰️

Book Lent challenge complete!

I am so delighted with all of Year 5 this week for completing their Lent challenge book. I’ve been delighted with how Year 5 rose to the challenge over the last half term. It’s been wonderful to see how enthused they’ve been and I’m impressed with how many children have read more than one of our challenge books.
This morning each group sat together over a celebratory cake so that we could talk about the book we had read. It was really lovely to chat about the book and share our thoughts and opinions. Well done Year 5, I’m so proud of you all!

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Malachy

Writing Award - Kyran

Maths Award - Millie

Year 5 Star Winner -

Our Reading Champions…

Well done to our reading champions this half term who have all completed bookmarks for reading regularly at home…

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Francesca, who is our golden ticket winner for this half term.

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 120 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Maisy, and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done!

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1 Maisy 602 points ⭐️Bedrock Champion ⭐️

2 Gabriella 482 points

3 Samuel 450 points

4 Henri 415 points

5 Franchesca 383 points

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this Easter? It would be lovely if you could email me at least one photo of you making a resilient move so we can share them here. Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Know and understand yourself (Core self)

• Focus on the good things in life (Coping)

For your information…

Blackpool Council hold a variety of events for families. Below I have attached a leaflet with descriptions of the activities they hold and a timetable of where and when events are taking place:

Activity Descriptions-Blackpool Better Start

Event timetable

Sponsored walk against hunger

Today we undertook our sponsored ‘Walk Against Hunger’ walk and had our picnic outside the Solaris centre with a small reflection to think about those we were walking for. Thank you so much for all of your generous donations, together we managed to raise so much money for CAFOD and Brian House. The children behaved really well and made us all incredibly proud, well done Year 5!

Our ducklings …

On Monday morning our 6 duckling eggs arrived in school and we were all very excited. Our first two ducklings hatched on Monday night, two more arrived on Tuesday and then two more hatched on Wednesday. We will enjoy looking after the ducklings till next week when they go to their new home and over the course of the week, we will observe them as part of our Science work. Meet Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio, Don Pedro, Hero and Leonato…

Resilience conference

Well done to the children who took part in the Resilience conference this week. They shared their Shakespeare work with others and held mini workshops. Well done!

World Book Day…

Last week in school they celebrated World Book Day. I was sad I wasn’t there to celebrate with them but so pleased to see just how good they looked. Thank you for all your support in providing the children with great costumes…

Much Ado About Nothing

During our performance at the Theatre, professional photos were taken of their performance. Take a look, the children look great and the photographs capture their fantastic performance beautifully…

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Be brave (Coping)

• Spend time with good people and in good places (Belonging)

Social media warning

Dear Parents,

I feel that I need to bring to your attention some of the issues that we are currently having in Year 5.

In recent weeks, I have been informed of a few issues where children are using inappropriate language/messages on social media towards each other. Although this bullying activity is not happening on the school site, it then affects behaviour, anxiety and subsequently lesson time and the learning of pupils in school.

We cannot regulate the online access that pupils have outside school, but if an issue of cyberbullying is reported to us, then we have a duty of care to inform the parents of the children involved.

There is clear guidance on the appropriate age ranges for certain online apps and I would like to draw your attention to these below.

WhatsApp recently announced a change to their terms and conditions for users based in Europe. Users need to be 16 to use WhatsApp.

Nearly all other social media services require users to be at least 13 years of age to access and use their services. This includes Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Musical.ly and Skype.

Whilst there is no age restriction for watching videos on YouTube, users need to be 13 or older to have their own YouTube account (enabling them to subscribe to other channels, like videos, post comments, share their own content and flag inappropriate content).

The online world is a minefield for children and the situation has changed significantly in the last 10-15 years, as a whole range of unlimited content, both good and bad is a few clicks away. Once something has been posted on social media, it is very hard to get rid of.

 I would ask parents therefore, to be vigilant and monitor what children are posting online.

Please also see our new online safety newsletter for further guidance.

Thanks for your support.

Covid

Despite the legal rules on Covid changing, we still ask parents NOT to send their child to school if they suspect they have Covid or have any Covid symptoms. The virus remains highly contagious and we have had a number of Covid cases in Year 5 and throughout school, so PLEASE do a test if you are not sure and keep your child at home. Many thanks.

As I’ve not been in school for most of this week, we’ll leave awards and update on our Bedrock competition next week. Next week concludes our Book club Lenten challenge - if your child has yet to finish their Lenten challenge book please encourage them to finish it this weekend so they are able to join in with our celebrations. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Much Ado About...Year 5

A huge well done to all of Year 5 who performed at the Grand Theatre on Tuesday. You were amazing, on and off stage, and the comments we received about your performance were so positive and thoroughly deserved. I would not be surprised if one day I hear of some of you becoming actors and making a career on the stage! Well done Year 5, I’m so proud of all of you! A big thank you to all your parents too, for their support in going through lines and for all the pick ups and drop offs at the Theatre.

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun looking at a Greek myth and have made comparisons to some traditional tales and other myths and identified common themes.

In maths the children have begun looking at formal division methods and have used the short division method (bus stop method) to divide 4-digits by 1-digit.

In RE the children have identified how Saint Edith Stein showed she was pure in heart and they identified all the times that Jesus was with her in her life.

In our Science lesson this week the children have identified the life cycles of different animals: mammals, amphibians, fish, birds, insects (complete metamorphosis) and insects (incomplete metamorphosis).

Computing - This week the children have used Sonic Pi, a programming language, to compose a piece of music for one of two scenes that we have explored in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing.

Spanish - The children have designed their own wild animal park and have identified the number and name of each species.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Year 5 for their performance in Much Ado

The remaining rewards will be given out next week as we didn’t get time on Friday afternoon.

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                354 points    

2      Gabriella 266 points

3      Ollie 262 points

4       Anigail 239 points

5       Samuel 234 points

Well done, keep up the great work!

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Have a laugh (Coping)

• Develop a life skill (Learning)

World Book Day at Our Lady’s - Next Friday (25th March)

A reminder that although World Book day took place nationally at the beginning of March, we are going to celebrate it on the 25th March. We would like the children to dress as their favourite character from a book. I would also like the children to bring in their favourite book to support some activities that we will be completing on the day.

Another great week Year 5, well done! Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Lenten Challenge - 'Walk Against Hunger'

Today, Year 5 have all come home with a sponsorship form. This Lent, Our Lady of the Assumption is looking to fundraise for both CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) in its campaign to ‘Walk Against Hunger’ and also our local children’s cancer charity – Brian House. We will make it our own ‘Pilgrimage’ during Lent knowing that each little step we take will make a BIG difference. Each class will set its own Lenten walking target and in Year 5 we have chosen to do our walk to the Solaris Centre and the glitter ball on the promenade. Whilst we are there, we thought it may be nice to take a packed lunch and sit and have a picnic before returning back to school. The date we will go has not yet been finalised but I expect it to be in the last two weeks of this half term before Easter. I will update you soon. In the meantime, school are asking parents/families to sponsor their child/children to undertake their special ‘Pilgrimage Walk’. Once we’ve completed our walk, we will add our kilometres to CAFOD’s ‘ Walk Against Hunger Totaliser’.  The aim nationally is 40,000 km! This is a massive challenge, but by joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. CAFOD is also supporting the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Thank you for your support.

Our Lent book challenge 📚🌟

I’m delighted with the enthusiasm the children have shown this week for our Lent book reading challenge. 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!

Much Ado About Nothing 🎭

Show time is almost upon us and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your children for your dedication and hard work. We are incredibly proud of all your children for the work they have put in and we really hope that you are going to enjoy their performance.

Just a reminder of the details for Monday and Tuesday…

Monday 14th March - Technical rehearsal

We will go to the Grand Theatre by coach for our rehearsal at 10am and will return to school around 11am. The children are asked to come in their costume - black jogging bottoms, black t-shirt, black socks and black school shoes with school PE jumper/hoody.

Tuesday 15th March - Performance day

Children should come to school wearing their costume (as above). During the morning the children will be having a full dress rehearsal and they will have the opportunity to watch the other schools perform..

The children will need to bring with them a packed lunch and a water bottle. No sweets or fizzy drinks. The children will remain in the theatre during this time with staff. As there will be quite a bit of time spent between scenes in the changing room, the children may want to bring with them some small activities to keep them occupied whilst they are waiting - for example a book,  comic, colouring book, paper and pen… No electrical devices are allowed and nothing too noisy as the changing rooms are directly above the Grand Theatre stage.

After the first performance, you have arranged for your child to be collected from the stage door at Matcham Court at about 2.30pm (as soon as we can get the children out after the 1pm matinee performance).

During this break between performances, please make sure that the children eat before returning for the evening performance. Children need to return to the stage door in costume at 4:45pm for an ensemble workshop with the RSC. They will also need a water bottle.

The evening performance starts at 6pm and is expected to finish just over an hour after that - there is no interval. You will then be able to collect your child at the end of the evening. As there will be other schools leaving the theatre at this time, the children can be collected at about 7.30pm from the designated point not the stage door. Your child can be collected from outside the Body shop on Victoria Street. As we have duty of care at this time, please do not take your child without first signing them out from Our Lady’s staff. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Evie

Maths Award - Izzy

Year 5 Star Winner - Evie and Gabriella

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                258 points    

2      Gabriella 214 points

3      Abigail 192 points

4       Franchesca 186 points

5       Ollie 181 points

Well done, keep up the great work!

Bikeability

Congratulations to the children from Year 5 and Year 6 who took part in the Bikeability training this week. The children spent two days outside with the Bikeability team, first on the playground and then out on the roads around our school, learning how to ride their bicycles safely on the road. The team were delighted with the behaviour of the children and the children were awarded their Level 1 and Level 2 badges. Well done cyclists! 👏🏻🚲

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Highlight achievements (Learning)

• More healthy the relationships the better (Belonging)

World Book Day at Our Lady’s - 25th March

A reminder that although World Book day took place nationally at the beginning of March, we are going to celebrate it on the 25th March. We would like the children to dress as your favourite character from a book. Start thinking about your favourite character and what you might wear! I will also be asking the children to bring in their favourite book to support some activities that we will be completing on the day.

Phew what a week this has been! It has been a really busy one and the children certainly deserve their rest this weekend - well done Year 5! Hope you all have a restful weekend, ready for your performance next week!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Blackpool Council have launched the Digital Blackpool Project to improve digital access to residents by providing them with the equipment, skills and confidence needed to access the digital world. If you’re interested please see this flyer for more information.

The start of Lent

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent and Year 5, along with the rest of KS2, went over to mass in church and received their ashes. Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, or 46 if we count Sundays, we replicate Jesus Christ's sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. It is a time to refocus on Jesus as we look ahead to his death on the Cross at Easter and rejoice over his miraculous return. It is a time for reflecting on what we could do differently or maybe what we could do more of or less of during this time. The children have made their Lenten promises, linked to one of the Beatitudes which are eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew . Please ask your child to share with you what their Lenten promise is and which Beatitude they have chosen to live out during Lent.

Lent Reading Challenge

We have decided as a class to take on a class reading challenge for Lent. By the end of term, we - Year 5, Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost - will read one of three books (chosen by the children). In the last week before we break up, we will celebrate our reading achievement by sharing our thoughts on the book with a book club party. Please encourage your child to read their chosen book to enable them to enjoy our book club at the end of term. You never know, some children might even go the extra mile and end up reading all three (Now there’s a challenge!).

Our learning this week…

In English our rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing continue to go well. The children have all done an amazing job at learning their lines and are all now embracing their characters and telling the story. We only have one more week of rehearsals and then show time will be upon us!

Maths- The children have continued to use formal multiplication methods and have used these to solve problems.

RE- We have looked at the Beatitudes which can be found in Matthew and have discussed their meaning. The children were then challenged to choose one of the Beatitudes to live out each day and have kept a record of what they have done. Please talk to your child about the Beatitude they have chosen to live out and encourage them to fulfill it this weekend so that they can record what they have done on Monday.

Science - This week the children have been learning about how some plants reproduce asexually. We have looked at runners, tubers, bulbs and cuttings.

Geography- Following on from our water workshop, the children have described the processes involved in the water cycle.

Spanish- They have continued to learn words for the names of wild animals and have identified whether they are masculine or feminine words.

PE - The children were challenged to create a sequence where they move in unison and then include a counter balance and counter tension. They also had the added challenge of adding a piece of equipment into their routine equipment so it was also balanced.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Isobel

Writing Award - Ebony

Maths Award - Ollie

Year 5 Star Winner -

A big well done to Henri who received his certificate from the Young Seasiders competition this week. We also found out this week that Henri had been selected, by Bedrock, for his consistent completion of Bedrock lessons over last half term and won one of Bedrock’s Amazon vouchers. Congratulations Henri!👏🏻

Congratulations also goes to Kyran for achieving his Bronze medal for Clarinet. Well done Kyran!

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock have launched a new prize draw competition with some more fantastic prizes. The Bedrock competition runs between the 21st February and the 3rd April. You have all been entered into this competition and for a chance of winning, you just need to collect 140 or more points using Bedrock. If you go to the dashboard on your Bedrock account, you will find details of how you can collect points. Remember, you need to complete at least one Bedrock lesson for homework but to earn more points you can do more. Please remember, you should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson each day at home. In addition to Bedrock’s competition, we will also have our own in class Bedrock competition too. The member of our class who has the most Bedrock points by the end of half term will win a prize. Good luck Year 5!

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Maisy 175 points

2 Abigail 142 points

3 Ollie 136 points

4 Leo 107 points

5 Lillie S 98 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Ebony and Maisy who have shared their resilient moves this week. Good luck to Ebony who is taking part in Whittaker’s 70th Anniversary dance show at the Grand Theatre this weekend.

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Solve a problem independently (Coping)

• Spend time with good people in good places (Belonging)

Bikeability

For those of you taking part next week, you will have received a letter today regarding Bikeability with the dates you will need your bike and additional instructions on what to do each morning. Please make sure your bike is in full working order. Good luck next week! 🚴

Well done year 5, another great week. Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Much Ado About Nothing

On Tuesday afternoon we had a visit to school from Ollie Lynes, RSC Director Mentor of our Playmaking festival, who joined us to watch our rehearsal and then help the children make it even better. The children all made us very proud as they showed Ollie not only what great actors they are, how well they have learnt and are able to deliver their lines but also how well they understand the story they are trying to tell. Ollie was really impressed and so the children should all be really proud of themselves. Well done Year 5, your families are going to be in for a real treat when they see you in action - not long to go now!

Well done to Livia who won the competition to design the front cover of our Playmaking festival programme (see above). 👏🏻🎭

If you haven’t yet got your tickets for the performance on Tuesday 15th March, then you can buy them direct from the Grand Theatre https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/much-ado-about-nothing. Don’t forget to tell your family and friends!

Our learning this week…

In maths the children have been multiplying 4-digits by 1-digit and 2-digits by 2-digits and they have applied these methods to problem solving.

In Spanish - The children have learnt the names of some wild animals and have identified whether the word is masculine or feminine and how to say the plural forms.

Geography - Yesterday, we had a visitor from United Utilities who came in to deliver a water workshop as an introductory part of this half term’s new topic on Rivers. Through a series of activities, the children learnt about the water cycle (the natural part and the treatment works), they looked at uses of water and how to use water more efficiently.

In PE we have refocused on our gymnastics unit. The children have recapped matched and mirrored balances and counter balances and have explored counter tension balances.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Alisha Grainger

Writing Award -

Maths Award - Leo Ogden

Year 5 Star Winner -

A big well done to…

Lily, Lillie and Henri for their art entries to the Young Seasiders exhibition. (Henri won 1st place for KS2 and will receive his certificate at the Blackpool School of Arts art gallery. Also this week, Idana got her Bronze music medal for the Saxophone. Well done all of you!

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those of you who have shared your resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• To get enough sleep (Basics)

• To find time for your interests (Coping)

If your child is interested in playing netball outside of school, please take a look at the attached flyer. Blackpool Netball Club Flyer

Well done year 5, you’ve all made a great start to this half term. Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

“Love is always patient and kind ... ” St Paul's letter, Corinthians 13

This Tuesday marked Safer Internet Day. It is celebrated globally in February each year to promote the safe and positive use of digital technology for children and young people, and to inspire a national conversation about using technology responsibly, respectfully, critically, and creatively. This year’s theme was ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’ which was particularly relevant to the children this year as I’m aware that many of them engage with some form of online gaming or communication. It gave us an opportunity to discuss issues that arise when playing games and communicating online with friends and as part of online communities, and the children were able to offer advice for what to do when something happens that makes them feel uncomfortable or upset. Thankfully, most children took the advice seriously and were aware of how they should keep themselves safe, but unfortunately the attitudes of some children were quite concerning. Please take this opportunity to have a conversation with your child about their online use and how they should keep themselves safe. To help them to check their privacy settings and ensure their online identity does not give too much away, please see https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-centre/parents-and-carers for advice and information.

Further advice can be found at:

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/#advice

https://www.childnet.com/parents-and-carers/

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/

https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/esafety-leaflets-resources/

Our learning this week…

In maths the focus of our work has been finding the area of rectangles, compound shapes and irregular shapes.

In English we have continued to practice our scenes from ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ and have also explored aspects of the play and its characters.

In RE we have learned about the work of Saint Damien, who went to help victims of Leprosy who were sent to live on Molokai. The children then looked at Corinthians 13, where Saint Paul describes what Jesus meant by ‘love’ and have considered how St Damien has shown his love for others in his work on Molokai.

In history the children have been comparing life in ancient Athens to life in Ancient Sparta.

In Spanish the children have been practising their counting and playing fun number games.

Computing - In this week’s lesson the children have used Sonic Pi to code a Space themed piece of music using their developing programming skills, including the use of loops.

In PE, Active Blackpool School and Community Sport Team brought in some wheelchairs to take part in different sports games as part of our inclusion PE sessions. As you can see, they had so much fun…

Our award winners:

Golden Award -  Livia

Writing Award - Abigail

Maths Award -  Gabriella

Year 5 Star Winner -

Young Seasiders Award

Congratulations to Henri who won the Young Seasiders Award for KS2 with his sculpture inspired by Giacometti.

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 120 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Maisy,  and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done!

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                619 points     ⭐️Bedrock Champion ⭐️

2      Francesca                            392 points

3       Gabriella                      385 points

4       Abigail                       378 points

5       Henri                    320  points

Our Reading Champions…

Well done to our reading champions this half term who all completed bookmarks (some have now completed 3!) for reading regularly at home.

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Lily who is our golden ticket winner and has won a prize.

Resilient moves…

Thank you to all the children who shared their resilient moves this week. 

What resilient moves will you make over half term? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make over the week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Have a laugh (Coping)

• Find time for interests (Coping)

Coming up next half term… (It’s a busy one!)

21st February

Parent meetings - I look forward to meeting with you all virtually to discuss your child’s progress.

22nd February

Back to school and swimming - please ensure they have their full swimming kit..

The children will have a rehearsal in the afternoon with our Director Mentor from the RSC. If your child has been given lines to learn, please ensure that they know them off by heart ready for this rehearsal.

There were some scripts left behind in the hall from our rehearsal this afternoon. If your child has lines and hasn’t got their script, then please download the script here to ensure you know them off by heart and with expression! Much Ado About Nothing Script (some parts have been taken out from this script but the children should know which bits)

24th February

As part of our geography topic on Rivers, Year 5 will have a water workshop delivered by Kingfisher Education.

2nd March

Ash Wednesday - Start of Lent and our Lent reading challenge - more details nearer the time.

3rd March

World Book Day - book related activities will take place on this day. A dressing up day as favourite character will take place later on in March (25th March).

7th & 8th March or 9th & 10th March

Bikeability will take place for those who have signed up for a place. If your child is taking part, you should have received a text letting you know which days your child will be taking part.

14th March

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ Tech rehearsal at the Grand Theatre (mid morning).

15th March

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ performance day at the Grand Theatre.

A letter after half term will be sent home to detail the structure of the two days (14th and 15th March).

Saturday 19th March

Year 5 are participating in a music event together with Blackpool Symphony Orchestra as part of their centenary celebrations. It is to take place at The Marine Hall in Fleetwood.

25th March

Dress as your favourite character from a book. Start thinking about your favourite character and what you might wear!

Great work this half term Year 5, we hope you have a wonderful week with your families and a well deserved rest.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Much Ado About Nothing

This week Year 5 have been working hard to put our scenes from Much Ado About Nothing on its feet ready for the Festival that we will be taking part in in March at the Grand Theatre. We’re so proud of how well the children have been working together as a team to tell the story and I’ve been amazed at what great actors they are. We’ve really played around with scenes and had to make many changes as we go, but everyone has adapted well and it’s really coming together.

Yesterday, a letter about the Festival came home and we would appreciate it if you could send back the reply slip to confirm attendance at the Festival. Thank you to those who have already sent back your reply slip. Please don’t forget that tickets are now on sale direct from the Box Office at the Grand Theatre, or their website (https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/much-ado-about-nothing), so book early to avoid disappointment. Please ensure you book tickets for Tuesday 15th March, the day of our performance.

Our learning this week…

In maths the children have continued to work on perimeter of rectangles and rectilinear shapes and in the context of problem solving.

In English, in addition to rehearsing for our performance of Much Ado About Nothing, we have been exploring the characters of Hero and Claudio at different times of the play. The children have written diary entries from the point of view of one of the characters at two different parts of the play to show the contrast in the characters’ feelings and thoughts.

This week in RE we have begun to talk about inspirational people and have discussed how Jesus was the most inspirational person to have lived. The children have reflected on Jesus’ mission and have looked at ways we can join in his mission.

In Spanish - The children have been consolidating their knowledge of number and have been counting.

Computing - This week the children have begun to tinker with a new software program called Sonic Pi which allows the children to compose their own music.

In PE the children have played Handball

In art the children have continued to make their sculptures inspired by Alberto Giacometti by applying modroc.

Year 5 School Council

This week Year 5 have been given the opportunity to put themselves forward for the role of School Council which is starting again across school. I was very impressed with how many of our class wanted to be part of it. This morning the children voted by secret ballot and this year’s Year 5 school councillors are Evie and Henri. Well done both of you!!

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Samuel

Writing Award - Gabriella

Maths Award - Maia

Year 5 Star Winner -

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Maisy 491 points

2 Francesca 348 points

3 Gabriella 327 points

4 Abigail 312 points

5 Henri 256 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Times Table Rock Star Battle

I’m proud of all your efforts during the TTRS battle against Year 4 last week. On Friday Year 4 had managed to get ahead of us but with great effort, Year 5 were able to take and maintain the lead to the finish over the weekend. Well done Year 5!

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those of you who have shared your resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Develop life skills (Help make tea for your family) ( Learning)

• Be brave (Coping)

Well done year 5, you’ve all worked hard this week. Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Our week...

Our learning this week…

In maths the focus of our work has been measuring in cm and mm to work out the perimeter of shapes.

In English we have been exploring the Shakespeare play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’. Year 5 will be putting together a performance of this play to be performed on the Grand Theatre stage. We will perform alongside other associate schools across Blackpool and Wyre as part of our role as Lead Associate school in partnership with the RSC and the Grand Theatre. More information will be sent home soon about this performance.

The focus of our work in RE has been on the Ten Commandments and why God gave us them. The children reflected on their importance and the difference they make to our lives.

In Science the children have explored how levers, pulleys and gears allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

In history the children finished researching aspects of daily life and society in Ancient Greece and then shared their work with the rest of the group.

In Spanish the children have designed their own flags and have written sentences to describe them.

Computing - the children have continued to use the 3D design software package TinkerCAD to finish designing new tyres for a Mars Rover.

In PE the children completed tennis activities hitting a forehand or back hand hit and then played racquet and ball familiarisation relay.

In swimming on Tuesday the children all took part in life saving skills. They worked really well and the swimming teachers were very proud of them. Well done Year 5! Thank you for all your support in making sure they had appropriate clothing for this activity.

In art the children have begun making their sculptures inspired by Alberto Giacometti.

Yesterday we had a visit from Life Education, delivered by Stephen Boardman. He came in to talk to the children on the theme of looking after our mental health, as well as physical health – and the connection between the two using the Wellbeing Wheel. Through role-play the children explore the influence of friends on decision making and they identified and practised assertiveness skills.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Lily K

Writing Award -

Maths Award - Idana

Year 5 Star Winner -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock have launched a new prize draw competition with some more fantastic prizes which started from the beginning of this half term till February 13th. You have all been entered into this competition and for a chance of winning, you just need to collect 140 or more points using Bedrock. If you go to the dashboard on your Bedrock account, you will find details of how you can collect points. Remember, you need to complete at least one Bedrock lesson for homework but to earn more points you can do more. Please remember, you should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson each day at home. In addition to Bedrock’s competition, we will also have our own in class Bedrock competition too. The member of our class who has the most Bedrock points by the end of half term will win a prize. Good luck Year 5!

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Maisy 387 points

2 Abigail 262 points

3 Gabriella 260 points

4 Henri 221 points

5 Franchesca 184 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those of you who have shared your resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Find time for your interests ( )

• Calming down when things get difficult and making yourself feel better (Coping)

Times Table Rock Star Battle

Don’t forget our battle against Year 4. Unfortunately, we are currently losing against Year 4 in the competition. Well done to the Year 5’s who have already taken part. It would be lovely if everyone can do their bit . I will be keeping an eye on the scores. The battle will finish at 6pm on Sunday. Good luck Year 5!

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

“Lord I am not worthy to enter under your roof but only say the world and my soul shall be healed.”

On Tuesday we had a visit from Father Frank who came to meet the children in preparation for our class mass we attended on Thursday. Father Frank talked to the children and set them a challenge to answer in church. What does heal mean? Do you need to be healed? In mass yesterday Father then asked for their responses and the children came up with some great ideas and Father Frank explained to them the true meaning and where in the mass we talk about God healing us - “Lord I am not worthy to enter under your roof but only say the world and my soul shall be healed.” The children all behaved impeccably and our readers read beautifully. Well done Year 5, we were so proud of you all!

Our learning this week…

In maths the children have been dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1000.

In English the children have finished their free verse poem about a classroom. I am really impressed with how creative they were and the poetic features they included.

In Science the children have explored the effects of water resistance.

In history we explored how enslavement was central to life in ancient Greece and they have begun to research aspects of daily life and society.

In Spanish the children have written sentences to describe the colour and shapes on different flags.

Computing - the children have been learning to use a new 3D design software package called TinkerCAD ready to design new tyres for a Mars Rover.

In PE the children have completed a small circuit of fun Boccia and Curling challenges that allowed them to focus on developing their technique, tactics and usage of equipment.

In art the children have finalised their drawings in the style of Alberto Giacometti in preparation to make their own sculptures.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Tyler

Writing Award - Idana

Maths Award - Lily

Year 5 Star Winner -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those of you who have shared your resilient moves…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Get some fresh air (Basics)

• Develop a life skill (Learning)

Swimming 🏊🏻

On Tuesday the children will be learning life saving skills in their swimming lessons and have been asked to bring in either a long sleeved thin top and shorts or short sleeved top and long legged bottoms (pyjama style). (Jean material will not be accepted.) These will be worn over their swimming costume and they will be expected to remove them when they are in the water. Good luck Year 5!

Other Notices:

• PE days are on Tuesdays (Swimming) and Fridays this half term.

• Only a watch and plain stud earrings may be worn to school - no other jewellery.

• Long hair must be tied back.

• If your child is showing any cold symptoms PLEASE test them for Covid using a lateral flow test and if in any doubt, please go for a PCR. We must all do what we can to ensure this does not spread through school - we all know how quickly germs spread among children and although they might not be badly affected, those around them may well be. Many, many thanks for your continued support on this issue.

• A reminder that I will update the Home Learning page if there are any members of the class having to isolate due to Covid, and are well enough to complete work. It is not expected for those who are off with other illnesses to complete Home Learning, hence why it is only updated for those isolating.

Well done for all your hard work this week, including those of you at home, and we hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

For your information :

Active Blackpool February Sports Camp

Active Blackpool have been in touch about their Sport Camp sessions that they have on offer. These are for children and young people with mild to moderate additional needs to experience sporting and physical activities they may be already familiar with, but also some new and exciting activities along the way. Monday 14th February 2022 – Friday 18th February 2022 08.30 – 17.30

Full and half day options available. Please contact active.blackpool@blackpool.gov.uk for bookings and further information.

Information for mental health

We’ve been asked to share this link from the NHS. https://web.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp/ The link takes you to a range of self help guides.

Have faith. With God all things are possible.

This week in both our RE and HRSE work we have been discussing faith and trust in God and Jesus and have learnt that it is important to grow in faith and trust in God. In RE we read about the Israelites who were led out of Egypt by God through Moses (The Exodus). At various stages, the Israelites’ faith and trust in God was tested and they lost their faith, whereas Moses’ faith remained strong and God answered his prayers. We also discussed faith and trust in our HRSE lesson when we heard the gospel story of the storm. The story showed that the disciples also gave into their doubts and stopped trusting Him and so it was clear that they still had much to learn about Jesus. However, they learnt that the more time they spent with Jesus, the more they got to know Him, learn to trust Him and grew their faith.

Our other learning this week…

Maths - the focus has been multiplying by 10, 100 and 1000.

In English the children have begun writing their free verse poem about a classroom.

In history the children have explored the effects of Alexander the Great’s empire on different people.

In Spanish the children have practised sentences describing the shapes seen on different flags.

Computing - the children learnt about how the Mars rover follows instructions while developing their understanding of how computers work, including their RAM and ROM.

In art we have continued to work on drawings inspired by the sculptor Alberto Giacometti in preparation for our own sculptures.

In our Bounce Forward (PSHE) session this week, the children have been thinking about their future dream and have considered the short term goals they need to make to ensure they achieve their dream. I was very impressed that the children recognised the steps they would need to take to achieve their future ambition.

PE - In today’s PE session the children explored counter balances they can make where they are pushing against each other.

On Tuesday, alongside our usual PE lesson the children were also treated to taster session in archery. Take a look at some photos of their session…

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Henri

Writing Award - Leo

Maths Award - Tyler

Year 5 Star Winner - Abigail and Max

Resilient moves…

Last week, Year 5 were challenged to take responsibility for themselves. Thank you to Maisy who shared her resilient move this week.

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Plan out your future (Learning)

• Enough sleep (Basics)

Well done for all your hard work this week, including those of you at home, and we hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

"We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him." Matthew 2:2

Welcome back and a very happy new year! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you all a great new year. The children have made a positive start to this new year and have started this new term with a great attitude and positive mind set.

We began this new year with an in class assembly to celebrate Epiphany - the day the Kings visited God incarnate as Jesus Christ - and by discussing our New Year Resolutions.

Our learning this week…

In maths the children have been recapping factors, multiples and prime numbers and have identified square and cube numbers.

In English the children have started to develop their own ideas for poetry about a classroom.

In Science the children have begun to explore the effect that friction acting between moving surfaces.

This half term we have begun our new history topic on Ancient Greece. We began by discussing what we already know about modern and Ancient Greece. We also discussed the meaning of the terms BC and AD and then shared a timeline showing when ancient Greece was in relation to other periods in history.

In Spanish the children have recapped previous learning on colours and have learnt to describe the colour of flags ensuring adjectival agreement.

Computing - the children discovered different image formats (thumbnail, Jpeg and Bitmap) and learnt why some are more appropriate for images sent from Mars. They have learnt how compression works at a basic level.

In PE our focus is gymnastics. In today’s session the children explored matched and mirrored shapes working with a partner.

In art we have learnt about the sculptor Alberto Giacometti and have begun by drawing Olympic athletes (linked to our Greek topic) in pose to match the style of of his sculptures.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Maisy

Writing Award - Vinny

Maths Award - Livia

Year 5 Star Winner -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to Maisy who shared her resilient moves from over Christmas.😊

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Take responsibility for yourself (core self)

• Focus on the good things in life (coping)

Other notices:

Swimming

Swimming will resume this Tuesday for Year 5. Please don’t forget your swimming things!

Cold days

A reminder that as we are having to keep the classrooms well ventilated, the classroom can get quite cold. Due to this, the children are welcome to wear extra layers of clothing under their school uniform and/or they can bring in their PE hoodies should they wish to double up on top of their jumpers/cardigans.

Please also ensure that your child comes to school with a warm coat (and hat/scarf/gloves for those really cold days) everyday for playtimes as we will go out in all weathers for fresh air and exercise.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Happy Christmas!

Well what a wonderful end to a great term! I am so proud of Year 5, they’ve worked so hard and have really shone their lights this Advent with all that they have done.

Our Carol Service

This time of year we would normally hold our annual KS2 Christmas Carol Concert. Although we couldn’t do this in church this year, Years 4, 5 and 6 got together to celebrate this special time and share this with you. We hope you enjoy it as much as the children enjoyed taking part.

Great Team Work

The children finished their moon buggies! I am so impressed with how hard they all worked and more impressed with the maturity they all showed, working in their teams supporting each other and with good cooperation and collaboration.

Our Space dance

Take a look at our Space dance. A massive big thank you to Mrs Frost for helping the children in choreographing the dance with them. Enjoy!

Our award winners:

Golden Award -  Ebony

Writing Award - Sam

Maths Award -  Ollie

Year 5 Star Winner - Abigail

Bedrock Competition

Well done to all of Year 5 who achieved 120 points or more on Bedrock over this last half term. I wish you all luck for the Bedrock prize draw! A big congratulations goes to our Bedrock Champion, Franchesca,  and well done to all the other children on our TOP 5 scoreboard. Well done!

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Franchesca                728 points     ⭐️Bedrock Champion ⭐️

2       Maisy                            464 points

3       Gabriella                      460 points

4       Samuel                        385 points

5       Ollie                     337  points

Our Reading Champions…

Well done to our reading champions this half term who all completed bookmarks (some completed 2!) for reading regularly at home.

When the children read regularly, golden tickets are given out and then we do a draw at the end of each half term. Well done to Maisy who is our golden ticket winner and has won a prize.

Resilient moves…

Thank you to all the children who shared their resilient moves this week. 

The resilient moves challenges for the Christmas holiday are:

• Get together with people you rely on (Belonging)

• Develop life skills (Learning)

Please email me any photos of resilient moves you make over the Christmas holidays (for the two above or any others!). We look forward to seeing them and sharing them in the new year.

A special thanks to our PTA

Wednesday afternoon the children were treated to a Christmas quiz and a virtual pantomime of Aladdin and they absolutely loved it! Thank you to our wonderful PTFA for organising it and for the lovely treats that the children had whilst watching. This afternoon the children have also come home with a Selection box thanks to our PTA.

Year 5’s Christmas Message to you 🎄🎅🏻🌟

We wish you all a wonderful happy and Holy Christmas 🎄and we hope you all stay safe and well and have a great start to the New Year. See you all in the new year!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost 

For your information:

Christmas out of hours support poster (Urgent mental health helplines)

"Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." Mattie Stepanek

We’ve had a fantastic week in Year 5! On Wednesday, the children were professionally filmed for our Christmas Carol Concert “A Christmas Window”. They all did really well and we look forward to being able to share this with you next week for you to enjoy.

Also this week, Year 5 were set a number of challenges in our DT/Science lessons. In the first of these sessions, the children were split into three groups and given a different challenge. One group had to make a simple frame from wood, using tools safely. The second group had to make a a moving vehicle using tech card and their knowledge of circuits and the third group had to make a vehicle shell for a chosen planet and design it using their knowledge of that planet. All the children worked extremely well and completed their challenges successfully…

The children were then put into small groups and together as a team they were set the challenge of designing and making a moon buggy model. The children designed their buggy, deciding on the materials that they would need and set off making it. By the end of the morning the children finished their moon buggies. I am so impressed with how hard they all worked and more impressed with the maturity they all showed, working in their teams supporting each other and with good cooperation and collaboration. Take a look at what they achieved so far. Next week we’ll finish them and post some photos.

Our other learning this week:

English - They have continued to look at poetry and have compared more traditional poems that contain regular rhythm and regular rhyme to free verse poems which contain line breaks and irregular rhythm and rhyme. They have also begun to write and have experimented using personification and used description to build images around a single idea.

Maths - The focus this week has been identifying finding factors and multiples of numbers.

RE - The children used the Bible to record the key points of the conversation between God and Moses.

PE -Please see the recording below of the work the children have been doing. It’s not quite finished but the groups have done a great job so far choreographing their own group pieces to put together as one whole dance.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Vinny

Writing Award -

Maths Award - Lily K

Year 5 Star Winner - Lily K

Bronze medal awards

Well done to all of these children who took their Bronze medal award in their chosen instrument (Flute or Clarinet) and passed with flying colours! I’m so proud of you all and I know Miss Benson was extremely proud of you all too!

Bedrock

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Francesca 563 points

2 Gabriella 386 points

3 Maisy 346 points

4 Alisha 316 points

5 Samuel 304 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻 Don’t forget Year 5, this next week will be your last chance to earn 140 points by the 19th December to be entered into the Bedrock competition for a chance to win an amazing prize. Don’t forget our in-class competition too - there will be a prize for the member of Year 5 who has the most points by the end of next week.

Resilient moves…

Thank you to all the children who shared their resilient moves this week.

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Fresh air and exercise (Basics)

• Take responsibility for yourself (Core Self)

Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Dinner🎄🎅🏻

A reminder that our PTFA are holding a Christmas Jumper Day on December 14th, when children (and staff) can wear their lovely festive jumpers and bring £1 - this is also our Christmas Dinner Day in school.

Other notices:

Cold days

As we are having to keep the classrooms well ventilated, it can get quite cold in the classroom at times. Due to this, the children are welcome to wear extra layers of clothing under their school uniform and/or they can bring in their PE hoodies should they wish to double up on top of their jumpers/cardigans.

Please also ensure that your child comes to school with a warm coat (and hat/scarf/gloves for those really cold days) everyday for playtimes as we will go out in all weathers for fresh air and exercise.

Well done Year 5. We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

"Advent is a journey towards Bethlehem. May we let ourselves be drawn by the light of God made man." Pope Francis

It’s feeling like Christmas in Year 5 this week and it has really lifted everyone’s spirits. We have our Christmas tree up, twinkly fairy lights are lit and our advent wreath candles and Nativity set are in place. This week the children have thought carefully about how they are going to prepare themselves to meet Jesus this Christmas. They have made their advent promises and they have linked their promise to Jesus’ teachings. Please ask your child what they have promised to do this advent.

Our learning this week…

In maths we finished our work on statistics by reading and interpreting two way tables and timetables and we’ve now moved on to looking at multiples and factors of numbers.

Following on from our work with the Blackpool Young Poets project, we’re continuing to work on free verse poetry. The children have been reading a variety of poems about cities and have been looking at the features of the poem and identifying the poets opinions.

In Science this week the children have explored the effect of air resistance and have looked at the discoveries of Galileo Galilei. The children planned and carried out an investigation into the effects of air resistance on three different parachutes.

We started our DT work this week. The children were set a challenge to make a simple chassis using just card, dowling, 4 wheels and masking tape. Take a look at their efforts…

In PE the children have continued to work on their Space dance. They’ve continued to work on their own choreographed dance piece in groups and have begun to work on a group piece of dance.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Millie

Writing Award -

Maths Award - Max

Year 5 Star Winner -

Blackpool Community Trust Class Winners

This morning, Year 5 were surprised to find out that they had been nominated by Erin (our PE coach last half term) as best class of the half term competing against all the schools that the Blackpool Community Trust PE coaches go into. Year 5 were presented with a big bag of PE equipment for the school. Erin said that she nominated the class for the great team work and inclusion that they brought to every lesson. We are so proud of Year 5 and totally agree with Erin that they are deserving winners. Well done Year 5 and a big thank you to Erin and Blackpool Community Trust! 👏🏻🌟

Bedrock

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Francesca 489 points

2 Gabriella 296 points

3 Alisha 278 points

4 Samuel 264 points

5 Maisy 261 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻 Don’t forget Year 5, you need to earn 140 points by the 14th December to be entered into the Bedrock competition for a chance to win an amazing prize (see poster below). Don’t forget our in-class competition too - there will be a prize for the member of Year 5 who has the most points by the end of term.

Resilient moves…

Thank you to all the children who shared their resilient moves this week. Great to see some of you working on good housing and keeping those bedrooms tidy. Well done!😊

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Find time for your interests (Coping)

• Spend time with good people in good places (Belonging)

Times Tables Rock Star Battle Results

Well done to all the children who took part in TT Rockstar Times Table battle this week. Congratulations to the boys this week who won last week’s Times Tables Rock Star Competition by just 13 points.👏🏻🏆 In particular well done to Kyran who ensured that the boys won by achieving a massive score and was at the top of the leader board. Our big score winners for the girls were Ebony and Maisy, well done!

I was, however, a bit disappointed that only half the class joined in with the battle. I hope that next time everyone will join in. In the next battle we will go up against Year 6 and so it will be necessary for everyone to do their bit to ensure we have a chance of winning.

Our Carol concert🌟

This year, Year 4, 5 & 6 are joining together to sing some carols and tell the story of the Nativity. As we are still not in the position to welcome parents into school, in big groups, the Carol Concert will be professionally recorded and put on the website for all parents to see! The recording will take place on Wednesday 8th December.

Christmas Jumper Day 🎄🎅🏻

Our PTFA are holding a Christmas Jumper Day on December 14th, when children (and staff) can wear their lovely festive jumpers and bring £1 - this is also our Christmas Dinner Day in school (more details to follow about this!)

Christmas Dinner🎄🎅🏻

A letter came home today about the special Christmas lunch which will also be on December 14th. If your child would like to have a school Christmas dinner, then please return the slip and payment.

Other notices:

Cold days

As we are having to keep the classrooms well ventilated, it can get quite cold in the classroom at times. Due to this, the children are welcome to wear extra layers of clothing under their school uniform and/or they can bring in their PE hoodies should they wish to double up on top of their jumpers/cardigans.

Please also ensure that your child comes to school with a warm coat (and hat/scarf/gloves for those really cold days) everyday for playtimes as we will go out in all weathers for fresh air and exercise.

Great work this week Year 5. We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

"Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful" Rita Dove

As part of our involvement with the Blackpool Young Poets project, we had a visit from a poet called Charlotte Wetton yesterday who came to work with the children to edit their poems. The children have been working really hard on their poems this week which have been based on their visit to Blackpool Central library and the window art. During Charlotte’s visit, she shared a poem with the children and worked with them to improve the language used. The children then had a go at improving aspects of their own poems and Charlotte gave them some great tips on how to perform their poems confidently. I’m so proud of how hard the children have worked and how brilliantly they behaved and participated in the poet workshop. Well done Year 5!

Our learning this week…

In maths the children have been using line graphs to solve problems and have been reading and interpreting tables.

In RE the children have listened to the story of Abraham and Sarah, learnt about the Covenant God made with Abraham and have reflected on Abraham’s trust in God.

In Science the children have explored the effect that gravity has on objects and have measured the force of gravity using Newton meters.

In geography the children have been using all the skills they have been learning over the last term to create a travel itinerary (including location on maps, latitude and longitude for absolute location, climate, time zones) for a group of travellers who are travelling through America.

In PE the children’s Space dance is really starting to take shape. This week they have begun to tidy up their own choreographed dance piece in groups and have been performing it to music.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Kyran

Writing Award - Evie

Maths Award - Samuel

Year 5 Star Winner - Idana

Bedrock

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Francesca 443 points

2 Gabriella 254 points

3 Alisha 245 points

4 Samuel 213 points

5 Ollie 192 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻 Don’t forget Year 5, you need to earn 140 points by the 14th December to be entered into the Bedrock competition for a chance to win an amazing prize (see poster below). Don’t forget our in-class competition too - there will be a prize for the member of Year 5 who has the most points by the end of term.

Reading for our Reception Buddies

Well done to Ebony and Ollie who have completed the challenge to read a story to their buddy with such great expression and enjoyment. I know Reception have really enjoyed listening to your story telling.

Resilient moves…

Thank you to all the children who shared their resilient moves this week, it’s great to see what you’ve been up to and the great achievements too. Well done!😊

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

• Know and understand yourself (core self)

• Good housing - keep your bedroom tidy (basics)

Christmas Jumper Day 🎄🎅🏻

Our PTFA are holding a Christmas Jumper Day on December 14th, when children (and staff) can wear their lovely festive jumpers and bring £1 - this is also our Christmas Dinner Day in school (more details to follow about this!)

Other notices:

Swimming

Please note that swimming is a cumpulsary part of the PE curriculum and therefore if the children are in school then they should be going swimming. It has been brought to my attention that there have been a small number of children who have not brought their swimming kit in and have said that they are not well enough to swim. School policy is that if your child is well enough to be in school, then they are well enough to swim. Unless school are informed of reasons why your child may not be able to swim by a parent, then clean school swimming kit and a towel will be provided for them to take part. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Cold days

As we are having to keep the classrooms well ventilated, it can get quite cold in the classroom at times. Due to this, the children are welcome to wear extra layers of clothing under their school uniform and/or they can bring in their PE hoodies should they wish to double up on top of their jumpers/cardigans.

Please also ensure that your child comes to school with a warm coat (and hat/scarf/gloves for those really cold days) everyday for playtimes as we will go out in all weathers for fresh air and exercise.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost