Year 5

We have had another great week back and managed to pack a lot into our 4 days!

In Maths, we’ve been working on long multiplication and long division, reminding ourselves that the column method isn’t always the best or only option. We also explored multiplying and dividing with decimals, applying our knowledge in a range of real-life contexts. A special shout-out goes to four members of Year 5 who proudly represented Willington at the Hampton Maths Wizard Challenge on Wednesday - well done!

In History, we were introduced to our Native American History Lapbook project. Through this, we’ll discover fascinating facts about the indigenous peoples of the USA while developing our skills in locating key information in non-fiction texts, summarising in our own words, and presenting our learning creatively. The interactive format is designed to help move information from our short-term to long-term memory.

Geography has been especially exciting this week. We spent the day in Bushy Park with the Field Studies Council, enjoying glorious sunshine as we explored a range of fieldwork activities led by our Ranger guide, Simon. In the morning, we investigated ideal locations for eco-friendly power stations and conducted a user survey of the park. Using specialist equipment, we measured light and wind to determine the best spots for solar or wind farms. In the afternoon, we tackled tree identification - starting with a fun blindfold challenge to encourage close observation - before calculating tree height using angles and measurements. We ended the day discussing how climate change can be detected in our local environment - a fascinating and fitting conclusion to the week.

In Latin, we completed another translation, which gave us further practice of the accusative case (object nouns). We then read about burials and cremations in Roman times, and we’re going to continue this topic next lesson. It was interesting to find out their beliefs about the journey to the afterlife. In Science, we have been learning about the life cycle of a butterfly. We discussed metamorphosis and how caterpillars completely transform into beautiful butterflies. Did you know that, inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar breaks down almost entirely before forming into a butterfly?

In English we have enjoyed finding out about the title character of our class text, Kensuke and his 'kingdom'. We have also been peer reviewing our creative writing, to gain insight into writing mark schemes. In Drama this week, we continued working on our shadow puppet projects in groups. We attached the sticks, which will be used to control our puppets, and explored different lighting effects using coloured cellophane filters, enhancing their understanding of light and shadow. 

Have a lovely weekend.

The Year 5 Team 

• Please remember to complete the Year 5 residential Google Form, emailed on 7/5/25 by Miss Brown. Please be advised that the Year 5 Residential Trip site linked on the email now also works.