Week 1: 31/08/26

What a fantastic start to Year 5! I have been completely blown away by Fir Class this week and couldn't be prouder of how brilliantly the children have settled in.

From the very beginning, the children have worked hard to follow our classroom expectations and routines. They have shown that they are ready to learn, listened carefully and demonstrated such a positive attitude towards their learning. It has been wonderful to see them becoming more confident and independent already.

Presentation has been a big focus this week, and the children have really risen to the challenge. They have taken pride in their books and have worked hard to make sure their work is neat, carefully presented and something they can be proud of. I have loved seeing the effort going into every page!

 In Maths, we have been tackling Roman numerals — and Fir Class absolutely smashed it! The children showed fantastic resilience when working with this new learning and quickly became confident at reading, writing and converting Roman numerals.

 Our Art lessons have been particularly creative. We have begun creating self-portraits inspired by the bold, colourful and distinctive style of Roy Lichtenstein. The children have experimented with lines, patterns and comic-book-inspired features to create their own unique artwork. I can't wait to see the finished portraits!

 In RE, we have also started our journey into Buddhism. The children have begun learning about the life of Siddhartha Gautama and have shown great curiosity when exploring some of the beliefs and ideas at the heart of Buddhism.

 And, of course, we have been getting active! During PE, the children have demonstrated some fantastic teamwork in both basketball and football. They have encouraged one another, communicated well and shown great sportsmanship — exactly the kind of team spirit we want to see in Fir Class.

It has been a busy first week, but what has impressed me most is the way the children have embraced every challenge with enthusiasm.

Fir Class, you have made a fantastic start to Year 5. Keep it up — I can't wait to see what we achieve together!

What a fantastic second week we have had in Fir Class! The children have settled brilliantly and have continued to show enthusiasm, curiosity and a fantastic attitude towards their learning. Here’s a little look at what we have been getting up to…

 Maths – 

In Maths, we have continued our exciting work on place value, working with numbers all the way up to 1,000,000! 

The children have been developing their understanding of the value of each digit and have been fantastic at using online manipulatives to represent numbers and explain their thinking. It has been wonderful to see them becoming more confident when working with such large numbers!

Science –

We have also started our new Science topic: Electricity!

We began by exploring where electricity comes from and thinking about the different ways electricity is generated. We then got hands-on with some fun experiments involving static electricity. 

There were plenty of surprised faces as we discovered what happens when we create static charge using balloons!

Geography 

In Geography, we have begun our journey around the world's biomes. We have been learning about where different biomes can be found and why our planet has such a diverse range of environments.

We have also been learning about the importance of the Equator, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, and how their position on Earth helps us understand different climates around the world. 

 PE – 

Our PE lessons have been full of energy this week! We have continued to develop our football and basketball skills, working on our control, passing, movement and teamwork.

The children have shown great determination and have really enjoyed putting their skills into practice during games. It has been wonderful to see so many children in the correct kit!

 English

English has been all about nouns this week! We have explored much more than simply identifying a person, place or thing. The children have been learning about common, proper, collective, abstract and partitive nouns, developing their understanding of how nouns can be used in different ways.

It has been brilliant to hear the children using their new vocabulary and spotting different types of nouns in their reading and writing.

Another Brilliant Week!

It has been another busy and productive week, and I am incredibly proud of the effort the children have shown across all of their subjects. Well done, Fir Class! Let’s see what Week 3 brings!