Year 5 Spring

A Journey Down The Nile

This week 5 Attenborough began our very own 'journey down the Nile'. We had our very first lesson on Ancient Egypt and looked at some of the Ancient civilisations such as the Stone Age, Ancient Sumer, Shang Dynasty and created a timeline pinpointing the Ancient Egyptians and those who came before and after including ourselves! We are all extremely excited to delve deeper into the lives of the Ancient Egyptians and learn all about their various achievements and how they have influenced life today.

RE

This half term we are focusing on the Islamic religion. Our starting point was to look at Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Power) and find out what exactly this is and why it is so special to Muslims all over the world. We had many first hand experiences of what Muslims do on this night and the significance it has.

What Is the Night of Power?

The Night of Power is the most venerated night of the Islamic calendar. During this night, Angel Jibril revealed the Holy Qur'an’s first verses to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This night falls within Ramadan’s final 10 days, and although the exact date is unidentified, it is commonly thought of as the Holy month’s 27th night. However, the believers are advised to seek this night in the last 10 odd nights of Ramadan, following the example of the Prophet (PBUH).

Djembe

We have been working hard so far this half term to develop our skillset in drumming. We have mastered the basics and are now moving onto call and response which is where we listen for a specific call played on the drum and then respond by playing the corresponding call. We have focused on keeping the pulse and knowing when to play. We are building up towards a performance piece that we can showcase to the rest of the school.

The British Museum

On Thursday, 5 Attenborough visited the Ancient Egyptian collection at the British Museum. It was great to see the ancient artifacts in real life. There was so much to see such as the mummy of Cleopatra, the colossal scarab statue, statues of Pharaohs, jewellery pieces recovered from tombs, sarcophagus' and the original Rosetta stone that was key to cracking hieroglyphics. This was an incredible learning experience and we have taken so much from it. We will continue our study of Ancient Egypt in our curriculum lessons.

Swimming at the Aquatic Centre

This week, 5 Attenborough started swimming lessons at the Aquatic Centre. Everyone regardless of their starting point has made great progress towards either learning to swim or becoming a stronger swimmer. On Monday, we were fortunate enough to watch a Team GB training session where the olympians practiced their diving techniques. The children are all looking forward to continuing our swimming lessons next week!

World Book Day

We had a blast celebrating World Book Day this Thursday! It was lovely to have so many parents in class reading with the children and sharing their love for books. Well done to everyone who was able to dress up as their favourite character, you all looked incredible! 5 Attenborough loved the 'Footy and Booky' quiz that was organised by the Premier League, it was lots of fun and we even got a special shout out 😃.

Canopic Jars

5 Attenborough put their skills to the test this week when making their very own canopic jars. Year 5 have been learning all about Ancient Egypt and some of the practices they carried out. One of these being the removal of organs when a person had died and placing them into canopic jars - this was done during the mummification process. 

Tower Bridge

This Tuesday 5 Attenborough visited Tower bridge.  They investigated how different bridges are structured are strengthened to enable them to support weight.  They explored how using different shapes in their bridge structures affects the strength of the bridge.  They then worked collaboratively to apply this knowledge to design their own bridge that they believe would enable them to cross the river Nile.  They explored design specifics: length to span and what materials could support a given weight. Each group made a model and tested it, evaluating both the design and construction. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed exploring Tower Bridge and the guided tour especially walking over the glass floor!