Whilst the teachers were busy planning for next term, Swift class did Massive Christmas Maths with Mrs Lees and Miss Wales.

In the afternoon, they worked really hard to create a decoration for the school Christmas tree. The theme this year was "Nativity" so they created Angel Robins.

Over this half term in DT, we have been exploring tool aprons and their uses. We have designed our own tool aprons that a coal miner might use.

We practised two different types of stitches - running stitch and back stitch as well threading needles. The skills we needed to  use included hemming, joining and appliquéing.

Yesterday and this morning, with the help of Miss Waugh, Miss Groves, Mrs Lees and Mrs McConnachie, we finally made our tool aprons!

Today, we learnt what it was really like to be a coal miner on our trip to the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield, South Yorkshire.

It was an early (8 o'clock start) when we climbed on the bus for the two-hour journey. The class were brilliantly behaved and praised by our driver for the day. 

When we arrived, it was straight to the Pit Pony and Victorian Experience. We met Sally - a Victorian who recalled her life down the mine from when she was just 5 years old. The children had the chance to take part in the drama as trappers, hurriers and thrusters.

We also went to the Pit Pony exhibition, where we met Eric and Ernie (the Welsh ponies), Bud (the Cobb pony) and Finn (the Clydesdale horse).

After an early lunch, we headed to the pit head where we donned hard hats and special light kits for the 140 m trip down below the surface to where the underground mining tour began. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take anything with batteries below the surface, so there are no photos of our experience in the dark so far down below the Earth's surface.

We travelled down in a cage lift and the class were all incredibly brave as we descended for two minutes into the darkness. 

The tour took us on a journey back to Victorian Britain, where we were able to see a family mining: the father hewing the coal: the mother carrying the coal; the children hurrying and thrusting the coal carts; and the youngest child sitting in total darkness, holding the traps that controlled the air flow in the mine.

We journeyed through the underground tunnels and through time, seeing the introduction of pit ponies and the advent of machinery and its development. The children were able to experience the narrow tunnels where they had to crawl to move around. Eventually, we arrived back at the cage lift and ascended the 140 m back to the surface.

We then went to look at an exhibition of the history of mining where we learnt more about the safety lamps that we had seen underground, as well as some of the machinery that was used and the methods of communicating with each other.

Welcome to Autumn Term and Taylor Swift Class!

Hello!

Welcome back to the Autumn term and welcome to Year 5! It was lovely to welcome the children back into school and to their new class today. They were all super enthusiastic and vary keen to show that they are ready to learn and take on new challenges! Below, is all the information that you should need about this first half term.

What are the expectations in Year 5?

- To follow the Keyworth Code and our class rules. 

- To read at least 3 times a week at home (or in Reading Lair) and for home-school books to be signed every week. Reading Lair is a great option for Year 5 because children can come on their own. It opens at 8.30am every day.

- For children to remain in their green zone on Doodle maths and Doodle spell (this is approximately 10 minutes every day). The children can find their new passwords and logins in the front of their home school book and Doodles have already been set which link to the maths and spelling we are covering in class.

- There is an optional Doodle tables and I set tables to practise every week. Whilst children are not required to do this, multiplication underpins almost 75% of the maths curriculum in Year Five and it is vital that they are fluent in all their times tables - all the way from 1x1 to 12x12!

- For children to take part in the Bronze Reading challenge (this can be found at the back of your child’s home-school book).

- Check the class blog regularly to see what we’re doing in school.

When are the PE days this half term?

PE sessions are with Miss Robinson and Mrs Wales on Monday and  Friday afternoons.  PE kit is a red T-shirt, black shorts and plimsolls or trainers. It is important their kits are labelled and brought in on Monday, so that your child can take part in these activities.

See what year 4 gets up to during a healthy living week.

What was Thungburg class's delivery?