Year 5/6 Awesome Oaks and Resilient Redwoods

Awesome Oaks

Teacher: Miss Bailey

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Prothero

Resilient Redwoods

Teacher: Mr Barrass

Teaching Assistant: Miss Pickering

Both of the classrooms are bright and encourage children to be independent: they can find their own resources to support them in their learning.

Every class has at least one school councillor to help share their classes’ views and make changes across the school.

Awesome Oaks’ School Councillor

Syeda

Resilient Redwoods’ School Councillor

Mark

Every class has at least 1 dojo master. The dojo masters help show visitors around school and explain what they are/have been doing in class.

Awesome Oaks’ Dojo Masters

Tami

Simon

Resilient Redwoods’ Dojo Master

Keyri

Click on the tabs below to find out more information about each topic. Throughout the year we will also add pictures of memorable experiences!

Hola Mexico is all about the Geography and the Ancient Mayans. 

The children will learn about who the Ancient Mayans were, how they contributed so significantly to society and how they used to live.

In geography children will learn all about where Mexico is,  the capital city, different climate zones and some of the natural resources that can be sourced in Mexico.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Holes.’ We will also have the opportunity to read non-fictions text about the Mayans from our book corner.

Non-Fiction

We will be continuing our work on ‘The Island’ that we started during transition week. We will be writing our own persuasive letter.

Fiction

We will be writing our own warning story using the model text ‘The Canal’

Memorable Experiences
We had a visitor in our school called ‘Past Productions’ Click here for more information

We learnt all about the ancient Mayan civilization using Drama and Art.

First we saw the headdress that the king wore to show us his status. We then discovered the magical cocoa used to make chocolate (although it was rich cocoa just like dark chocolate)! We started to act out some different scenes based on; Pok-A-Tok (ancient ball game – like basketball but without using your hands) where the looser would be sacrificed, we reenacted making cocoa, sacrificing others to Gods and death rituals. Did I mention there were many sacrifices involved?! We also got a chance to sketch some artifacts discovered by archaeologists. Finally, we acted out the different Gods they believed made the planet (Rain God, Maize God, Sun /Jaguar God – these were just a few of the hundreds of Gods).

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Past Productions Images

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Careers

Christina Webb – Travel Editor 

We looked at Christina’s job, finding out that she travels all over the world to write about different locations to recommend them to tourists. She needs a good concept of; Geography, English, communication skills and languages to enable her to complete her work.

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In this unit of work children will be learning all about World War II specifically how life was like for children during this period of time.

In art we will be looking at Lowry and how to draw with 1 and 2 point perspective.

In science we will be learning all about forces.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Narnia, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ or ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’ We will also have the opportunity to read non-fiction texts about WWII from our book corner.

Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ to inspire us to write our own diary entry from the point of view from the character.

 

Non-Fiction 2

 

We will be writing a non-chronological information text based on daily life in WWII using what we have learnt in our topic lessons as well as what we have learnt when reading ‘ The Lion and the Unicorn’

Memorable Experiences
We went to Beaumanor Hall to take part in different activities to help us learn more information about life during WWII. We experienced what it was like to be in an air-raid shelter, with an immersive experience listening to the bomb shells and planes flying overhead while we hid in the cramped shelter waiting for the sirens to give us the all clear signal. 

We wrote some cards to our families at home, remembering not to add any secret information (careless talk costs lives after all)!

We then intercepted some German Morse code messages. We used the enigma codes to decipher what these messages said and reported the urgent messages so we could ensure victory!

 

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Parental Engagement

Look at our air raid shelters that we made! We invited our parents in to help us create a camouflaged and secure shelter to hide in during the Blitz! 

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Careers

Here is Loud Jackson, she is a Museum Curator. 

She spoke about some of the interesting stories that she hears while collecting artefacts to store in a museum. She explains how interesting it can be to learn the secrets of the artefacts. What a fascinating job to see all of the history come to life!

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In this unit of work we will be learning about the geography of the Arctic and Antarctic as well as learning about the expedition of Ernest Shackleton.

In science we will be learning about ‘Living Things and their Habitats’ and we will then use this learning and apply it to our computing work when we create our own databases.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Varjak Paw.’


Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘Shackleton’s Journey’ to write a newspaper report about the achievements that Ernest Shackleton made.

 

Non-Fiction 2

 

We will be using what we know about Ernest Shackleton to write a biography.

Memorable Experiences
We had ‘Prime VR’ come in to school to allow the children to take part in a Virtual Reality Experience so they can ‘visit’ the Arctic and Antarctic to support their learning in geography. We went to the polar regions and saw the beautiful landscapes and discovered the beautiful animals that inhabited the lands. 

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Parental Engagement

We had a special focus on internet safety as part of Internet Safety Day 2023!

This year, the theme was communication – we had to think about how we communicate on line and the dangers this may cause. We thought a lot about absence of body language, knowing it is hard to interpret messages when they are sent online. If we felt in danger, we discussed the trusted adults that we could talk to or the various ways to block and report content!

This linked in nicely with the internet safety workshop we had. We discussed further how to screenshot content as proof of any cyberbullying. Through creating drama techniques, we empathized with how others may feel online.

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Careers

This half term, we looked at the role of an architect! We were designing and creating our own shelters in DT. It was interesting to see the role of an architect and how they created their designs before they are built. We realized there many skills involved other than simply drawing. We needed to have Math knowledge for shapes, DT knowledge for strengthening structures and possible Computing skills for online software. 

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We will be learning all about the circulatory system and how it works. We will also learn about the heart in more detail including the different parts of the heart.

In computing we will be doing our own animation.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Bloodheart Boy’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the heart.


Fiction

We will be using ‘The Cobbler of Krakow’ and ‘Beowolf’ to write our own beat the monster story.

 

Non-Fiction 2

We will learn about the ‘British Heart Foundation’ to write our own persuasive leaflet.

Memorable Experiences
We will have the opportunity to dissect a heart and get to see all our learning about the parts of the heart in reality.

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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In this unit we will learn all about the Industrial Revolution and significant changes to daily life during the Victorian period. We will also be doing a local history study on Cromford Mills and learn about mill workers.

 

In art we will be doing printing and learn all about William Morris and his designs.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Street Child’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the Victorians and the Industrial Revolution.


Non-Fiction

We will be using ‘Oliver Twist’ to write a newspaper report about the day that Oliver Twist went missing.

 

Non-Fiction 2

We will use our knowledge from Street Child and Dr Barnardo to write a biography.

Memorable Experiences
We will be going to Cromford Mills to learn more about the mill workers and support our learning about the industrial revolution.

 

Click here for more information

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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In this topic we will learn all about evolution and inheritance as well as learning about significant scientists including Charles Darwin.

 

We will also be learning about river systems and use our fieldwork trip of pond dipping to explore this in more depth.

Reading and Talk for Writing

In class we will be reading the book ‘Darwin’s Dragons’ we will also have access to non-fiction texts in our book corner to support our learning about the work of Charles Darwin.


Fiction


We will be using the model text ‘The Nightmare Man’ to write our own tale of fear focusing on suspense writing.

 

Non-Fiction 

We will write a discussion text on selective breeding.

Memorable Experiences
As part of our geography unit we will be doing pond dipping as part of our field work.

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Parental Engagement

TBC

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Careers

TBC

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Thing You Need To Know

It is essential that all children continue to practise their learning at home to remember and embed what they have learnt in school that week. For Awesome Oaks and Resilient Redwoods home learning will be given to the children on a Friday and must be returned by the following Thursday. Children will be asked to attend home learning club during their lunchtime if they do not complete their home learning. Children will get both Maths and English home learning that relates to their learning that week therefore all children should be able too complete it. If children are struggling, they can also choose to attend home learning club for extra support.

If children are struggling or you are unsure how to support your child, please message your child’s class teacher on Class Dojo.

Children will also have the option of completing topic related home learning which can be chosen off of the grid on the topic page.

P.E for both Awesome Oaks and Resilient Redwoods is a Thursday.

 

Your child must come to school in their school uniform and bring their P.E kit in a bag. Children will get changed in school just before P.E. Children will change in separate gender rooms. We also have gender neutral screens available for those children who would prefer more privacy while getting changed.

 

For P.E children should wear a white t-shirt, with black shorts/leggings/jogging bottoms with black trainers or pumps for inside. Children should not be wearing their own sports wear.

Thursday 6th or Friday 7th October

Ancient Mayan Workshops (in school)

There will be a voluntary cost for parents to enable this experience to go ahead

 

Monday 14th November

Ant-Bullying Week – activities and awareness in class

 

Friday 18th November

Children in Need

 

Monday 21st November

Fire Safety Workshop – Year 6s

 

Tuesday 13th December

Whole School Christmas Dinner

 

Wednesday 14th or Thursday 15th December

Beaumanor Hall Trip

There will be a voluntary cost for parents to enable this experience to go ahead

 

Friday 16th December

School Panto

 

Tuesday 10th January

Prime VR Experience (in school)

There will be a voluntary cost for parents to enable this experience to go ahead

 

Monday 13th or Tuesday 14th or Wednesday 15th February

Safer Internet Workshop (in school)

There will be no cost to parents

 

Wednesday 1st March 

Swimming every Wednesday – please read the letter and bring the correct swimming kit each week

 

Thursday 2nd March

World Book Day – Details to be confirmed

 

Monday 6th March 

SATs Afterschool Booster club begins weekly for Year 6

 

Monday 13th March

British Science Week – Children to engage in activities based around Science this week

 

Wednesday 22nd and Thursday 23rd March 

Parent Afternoons – please book a time slot to see your child’s class teacher

 

Tuesday 28th March Parental Engagement

Parents are invited in to class to come and work with your child. We will be completing an exciting computer project!

 

Tuesday 11th April – Friday 14th April 

SATs Easter School – Year 6 children have the opportunity to come into school in a morning to work closely with their class teachers to give them extra support ready for SATs

Tuesday 9th – Friday 12th May

KS2 SATs Week

It is important that all year 6 children attend school and are on time every day this week.

 

Thursday 18th or Friday 19th May

Cromford Mills Trip

There will be a voluntary cost for parents to enable this experience to go ahead

 

Monday 22nd – Wednesday 24th May

Residential

More information will be given shortly. Places for the residential will be on a first come first served basis. The residential will have a required cost for parents.

Below are a number of websites that are useful for children in year 5 and 6. Click on the image to be taken to the website.

 

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Contact Us

Firs Primary School
Raven Street
Derby
DE22 3WA
Telephone: 01332 346230
Fax: 01332 200782
admin@firsprimary.derby.sch.uk

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