19/12/25

We have had a busy and enjoyable week in Year 5, spending a lot of time working on and completing our DT projects. The children used their woodworking skills to create pop toys using cams, and throughout the process they showed great resilience and determination, quickly realising the importance of accuracy and careful measuring in order to create a strong and successful structure. On Monday, the children also took part in the Santa Run, completing a lap of the field wearing their Santa hats before enjoying a well-earned brownie and hot chocolate. The sports leaders were a real credit to the school, and all of the children thoroughly enjoyed the festive afternoon. On Tuesday, the children had great fun celebrating Christmas dinner day by wearing their Christmas jumpers before performing their Christmas service to the rest of the school. They did this brilliantly, and the younger children could not help but sing along. We also came to the end of our science topic on space, with the children showcasing their learning through creative and informative double-page spreads that really demonstrated how much knowledge they have gained. Thank you to those of you who came to church yesterday to watch our Christmas service; the children have worked incredibly hard all term and we hope you enjoyed seeing the result of their efforts. All that remains to say is Merry Christmas – we hope you all have a lovely, restful holiday and we look forward to seeing you all again in January.

Star of the week - Hamish Stephens

 

 

12/12/25

We’ve had such an exciting and memorable week in Year 5, and the children have thrown themselves into every activity with enthusiasm. On Tuesday we stepped back in time for our much-anticipated Evacuee Day. The children looked amazing in their costumes and fully embraced the spirit of the day. They had great fun making biscuits using only basic rations, creating Christmas decorations from old wrapping paper and writing postcards home as if they were evacuees. The excitement rose even further when we suddenly had to duck under the tables for cover as the air-raid siren sounded—an experience the children won’t soon forget!

On Wednesday we continued our adventures with a trip to Sheldon to watch their brilliant performance of Alice in Wonderland. The children were captivated from start to finish and loved seeing the wide range of roles and talents that go into bringing a production to life. Back in the classroom, we wrapped up our space topic by learning all about the phases of the moon. The class showed so much interest, and many can now confidently identify the different shapes we see in the night sky.

In music, we have been listening to and singing along with blues music, exploring its rhythms and mood. It has been wonderful to see the children engage with a new style and enjoy the chance to perform together.

Next week marks the countdown to Christmas, and we’re very excited for everything ahead. We’re looking forward to the Santa Run, Christmas dinner day and, of course, our festive Carol Concert. It’s set to be a joyful end to a fantastic term!

 

 

5/12/25

We’ve had a wonderfully busy and productive week in Year 5. The children have now completed their Hot Writes on formal speech, and we were so impressed with their writing. In Maths, we have begun learning long multiplication, and the children have shown fantastic perseverance as they get to grips with each step of the method.

Our DT project is also underway. This week, the children learnt what a cam is and began planning their own cam-operated toys. There has been lots of creativity, problem-solving, and excitement as they start thinking about how their mechanisms will work. In RE, we continued exploring Christianity and the idea of God’s big plan, with the children asking thoughtful questions and contributing enthusiastically to our discussions with, in some cases, some very big questions. In Science, we focused on why we experience day and night and how the Earth’s tilt creates the seasons, which led to some great curiosity and excellent explanations.

We have also been practising hard for the upcoming carol service, and the children are sounding wonderful. We are very much looking forward to seeing many of you on Thursday 18th in Castle Combe Church. Finally, just a quick reminder that the Santa Run, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed until Monday 15th due to the rain—fingers crossed for sunny skies!

Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you all have a lovely weekend

Star of the week – Lara Delaney - Sanchez

 

28/11/25

This week in Year 5 we have had a busy week full of exciting learning.  In Maths, we've been focusing on multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100, and 1000. The class has been working hard to understand how the digits in a number shift when we multiply or divide by these powers of 10.  We also had a fantastic time using unifix cubes to explore cube numbers. 

In English, we've been busy writing and exploring compound sentences. The children have been practising joining two ideas together using conjunctions. It’s been wonderful to see the improvement in the students' writing as they’ve begun to experiment with different sentence types. 

In PE, we've been trying our hand at some new sports. Miss Davies introduced us to Kabaddi, a traditional team sport from India that involves strategy, speed, and teamwork. The children had so much fun learning the rules and playing matches. We also continued our hockey lessons with Mr Peters, where the class worked on their passing, dribbling, and shooting skills. 

A huge well done to the Year 5 students who represented the school in the recent boys' and girls' football tournaments. They were a wonderful asset to the school and played brilliantly, showing great sportsmanship.

In History, we wrapped up our WW2 topic by learning about how people protected themselves during the Blitz. The children were really engaged in discussions about air raids and the different ways families took shelter. While it was a sad end to the topic, the students are looking forward to summarising their learning in a double-page spread and getting ready for Evacuee Day. 

In Science lessons this week, we continued our learning about space, focusing on how the Sun, Moon, and Earth all move in relation to each other. The children have been amazed by how the Earth orbits the Sun, and we had a lot of fun exploring the orbits of the other planets in our solar system.  Did you know that it takes Neptune 165 Earth years to orbit the Sun? 

We were also thrilled to have Mr Kent, a class parent and space engineer, visit the class to share his knowledge about working in the space industry. He gave us a fascinating presentation and led a fun workshop, where the children built their own space models. It was a brilliant opportunity for the students to connect their learning to real-world careers in science and engineering.

21/11/25

This week, the children had an amazing time presenting all of their work at the Science Fair. They loved sharing their projects with the younger year groups and teachers, and we were incredibly proud of them. Their confidence, kindness, and enthusiasm shone through. The standard of work was fantastic—so fantastic, in fact, that it was almost impossible to choose the winners! A huge well done to every single member of the class.

In our science lessons, we have been creating a scaled-down model of the solar system. The children were fascinated to see just how far apart the planets actually are. Using loo roll to measure distances and pieces of fruit to represent the planets helped bring these huge spaces to life in a fun and memorable way.

In Maths, we’ve been exploring prime numbers and square numbers, practising spotting patterns and deepening our understanding of how these special numbers work. We have also had great fun taking park in the England Rocks challenge on Times Tables Rock Stars.  A special well done to Coco, who came top in the class and 2nd in the whole school! In English, the class has been developing their speech-writing skills, learning how to structure persuasive and engaging speeches.

We were also extremely lucky to have Mrs Ferguson visit us this week to teach us all about World War II. She brought in a range of fascinating resources, and the children were captivated by her stories and knowledge.

Well done, Year 5—what a brilliant week of learning!

Star of the week - Frank Stringer

14.11.25

This week was Anti-Bullying Week, and we’ve spent lots of time thinking about how we can help prevent bullying and make our school a safe, kind, and welcoming place for everyone. The children took part in some fantastic live lessons and created eye-catching anti-bullying posters to share important messages about friendship and respect.

In English, we have been using the slow writing technique to carefully craft a scene of dialogue. This approach really helped us to focus on our sentence structure, punctuation, and the way characters interact through speech.

Our Maths lessons have been all about common multiples and factors. The children have shown great perseverance while spotting patterns and solving tricky problems!

In RE, we have been discovering what religion Jesus followed when he was growing up, exploring how his beliefs and background influenced his life and teachings.

We’ve also launched our brand new Science topic — Space! The class are already brimming with questions about planets, stars, and astronauts. It’s wonderful to see their curiosity taking off (quite literally!).

In Computing, we’ve been learning how to create layered vector drawings, developing our digital art skills and seeing how simple shapes can come together to make amazing images.

Finally, it was fantastic to see everyone dressed up in their sports outfits for Children in Need today  — thank you for supporting such a great cause!

Here are some of the brilliant outfits on display:

Star of the week - Rebecca Tweedie

7/11/25

Welcome back, everyone!
We hope you all had a lovely and relaxing half-term break. Year 5 have certainly hit the ground running this week with lots of exciting learning and activities!

In Maths, we’ve been using bar models to help us solve missing number problems. The children have shown great perseverance and excellent reasoning skills as they tackled some tricky challenges.

In English, we have started our new unit on speech writing. We’ve been learning the rules for punctuating direct speech and thinking carefully about how to make our dialogue interesting and realistic.

Our new RE topic is all about Christianity, focusing on the question: Why do Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah? The class have already been asking thoughtful questions and sharing some fantastic ideas.

In Science, we have been busy finishing off our Science Fair displays. The children have worked brilliantly in their groups to present their investigations and results — we can’t wait to share their hard work at the science fair in a few weeks time!

In French, we have been learning numbers up to 31, practising pronunciation and using them to solve simple maths calculations. Très bien, Year 5!

We’ve also been working incredibly hard practising for our class assembly – and we hope you enjoyed watching it today! The children did a fantastic job and should be very proud of themselves.

To mark Remembrance Day, we have been creating beautiful poppies for our upcoming remembrance display. It will be going up outside school next week – so be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Well done for a brilliant first week back, Year 5. We’re looking forward to another fun and busy week ahead!

 

17/10/25

It’s been another busy week in year 5.  In English, we’ve been learning how to “show, not tell” in our writing. Instead of saying someone is happy, we’ve been using description and action to help the reader see the emotion.

In Maths, we’ve tackled some challenging column addition and subtraction problems. It’s been great to see the children beginning to challenge themselves more.

Our Science Fair displays are almost ready, and they’re looking absolutely fantastic! The teamwork in every group has been brilliant — it’s wonderful to see how well everyone has collaborated to share ideas and make their boards stand out. We can’t wait to show them off soon!

In RE, we finished our unit on Sikhism by thinking about the different ways Sikhs show commitment to their faith. The class had some good discussions and showed great understanding of the topic.

During Computing, we’ve been exploring how different computer systems work and how the words we type into a search engine can change the results we get. It’s helping us all to become more responsible and effective digital learners.  French, has been a revision of our numbers and practising pronunciation — très bien, Year 5!

Next week, we’ll begin looking at the artist L.S. Lowry and start preparing for our class assembly, which will take place on the first Friday after half term (November 7^th). The children will have the opportunity to share with you all the learning they have done so far this year.

It was lovely to see some of you at Parents’ Evening this week — thank you for coming in! We’re looking forward to meeting the rest of you on Tuesday.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Star of the week - Orion Harkus

 

10/10/25

What a fantastic week it has been for Year 5! Our learning has been packed with exciting experiences and hands-on activities.

This week, we delved into the history of the Blitz during World War II. To bring our learning to life, we went on a memorable school trip to the REME Museum. The children loved exploring the exhibits and had a wonderful time dressing up in period costumes—attached are some lovely pictures!

In RE, we began learning about the Golden Temple, uncovering its rich history and significance. The children showed great curiosity and respect while discussing this important place of worship and were able to imagine visiting the temple themselves and sharing their experiences in a postcard home.

Science fair preparations are well underway! We started planning our display boards, and the excitement is definitely building. If any families have large cardboard boxes at home that they could donate for our science boards, it would be greatly appreciated.

Our Harvest Festival service was a joyful occasion, and the children participated with much enthusiasm, not being put off by our slight technical issue!  It was so lovely to see so many of you there supporting the children and celebrating Harvest.

On Friday, the children had the unique opportunity to take part in a martial arts taster session, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We also marked World Mental Health Day by wearing yellow to show our support and raise awareness about this important cause.

Star of the week - Sophie Stockreisser!

3/10/25

What an exciting week we’ve had in Year 5! Our budding scientists carried out their science fair experiment, exploring the natural dyes of fruits, plants, and vegetables. The children used these to dye fabric, creating beautiful, vibrant colours. It was amazing to see their curiosity and creativity shine through as they discovered how nature can be a great artist! Apologies in advance if their curiosity spills over into your kitchens!

Next week, we’ll be turning our attention to creating display boards to showcase all our hard work. If you have any large pieces of cardboard at home that you can donate, we would be very grateful. The children will be using these for the science fair after half term.

In Maths, we’ve been tackling the tricky task of rounding numbers. The class is working hard to understand when and how to round correctly, and they are becoming more confident every day.

Our writing lessons took a creative turn as we learnt to “show, not tell.” After watching a short film clip from Narnia, the children practised writing in a way that helps the reader imagine the scene, rather than just describing it.

In RE, we dived into the 5 Ks of Sikhism and had lots of fun learning about what Sikhs must wear day to day and trying each item on.  Well done to William for volunteering himself as our model.

Well done to everyone for a fantastic week of learning! Keep up the great work!

Star of the week – Alex Schweidler

 

22/9/25

This week in Year 5, we've had a fantastic mix of learning and fun activities!

To celebrate Harvest, we baked a delicious apple cake together using our very own apples grown on the school field. It was great to see everyone enjoying the process of measuring, mixing, and tasting — a perfect way to celebrate the harvest!

In Maths, we've been busy comparing and ordering numbers all the way up to one million. We’ve learned how to read these big numbers, put them in order, and understand their value — making us confident with really large numbers!

In our RE, we explored Sikhism and discovered who Sikhs worship. It was fascinating to learn about the beliefs and practices that are important to Sikh people.

Science Fair excitement is building as we now know our groups! We’ve started planning our natural dye investigations, thinking about which plants and materials we want to use to create colourful dyes. It’s going to be an amazing project to what the children discover!

On Friday we celebrated our European languages day and enjoyed meeting our visitors who were able to share their native languages with us.  Our country of focus was Slovakia and we all created the Slovakian flag as well and learn to say hello – ‘Ajoy!’

We look forward to another fun week of learning next week.

Star of the week – Thea Parrot

 

19/9/25

This week we are really starting to settle into the swing of year five and have done some amazing learning.  The children have been engrossed in our class book, ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ and used this to write some fantastic WW2 diary entries.  They have also thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘My secret war diary’, which inspired their writing even more.

In Maths, we have continued working with 6 digit numbers and are now partitioning confidently and loving the challenge of working with larger numbers and more unusual partitions. 

We are continuing to love our yoga sessions with Chand all come away feeling calm and relaxed before the end of the day.  In Science, we have been trying out the dying process ready for the real thing in a few weeks' time.  The children worked brilliantly in their pairs to test the effect of having a mordant before adding the dye. They also have lots of ideas for the different natural dyes they’d like to try out.

Thank you for to those of you who came to our curriculum evening on Tuesday evening – we hope you found it useful.  If you were unable to attend, please feel free to click on this link for a copy of the slides.

By Brook Valley C of E Primary School - *Curriculum Evening*

Have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to more fun and learning next week.

Star of the week – Oscar Johnson!

  

12/9/25

It's been another exciting, jam-packed week in Kites! We have been loving our WW2 topic and learning about life in the 1930s.  The children have had so many questions and have enjoyed sharing their knowledge.  Look ou in your child's bag for a letter about our upcoming trip to the REME museum on Tuesday October 7th!

We have been recapping partitioning in Maths and moving on to partitioning numbers up to 6 digits long. The children have enjoyed challenging themselves by trying to partition in the most unusual and creative ways.  There have been some very complicated and impressive outcomes.

We have started learning about our science fair topic this week on natural dyes.  We have been learning about the different variables involved in the experiment and are excited to get going with the practical work.  Don't be surprised in the coming weeks if children start asking to try and dye some fabric using various food sources - apologies in advance!

In French we have been recapping French greetings and have enjoyed using finger puppets to practice these with each other. Music has taken us down the Nile, where we have been using hieroglyphic notation to build a score for the 80s classic 'walk like and Egyptian'.

Congratulations to our star of the week - Evie Tunsley!

   

5/9/25

We have had a wonderful start to the year in Kites class.  The children have all settled in well and have been enjoying the larger classrooms, outside space and lockers!

This week we have spent some time setting our goals for the term and learning about expectations of being in year 5.  We wrote some lovely prayers for our class prayer book after looking at our school values.  In English, we have been introduced to our class book, Letters from the lighthouse, which we have all enjoyed reading.  This is linked to our new History topic on WW2.  Everyone was very excited about starting the topic and are looking forward to learning more in the coming weeks.  Our Science topic this term will be natural dyes which will be presented at the school science fair after half-term.  This week we learnt all about what science is and how it explains many things we see and do in day to day life.  Next week we are excited to be starting work on our projects.

Despite it only being the first week back, we have managed to squeeze in lots.  We have learnt a new song in music, started learning about online communication in computing and have begun gymnastics with Mr Peters in PE.  We have so much to look forward to this term and can't wait to get stuck in.

Congratulations to our star of the week - Milah Fenwick!