Slowly but surely!

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog!

Where on earth did that week go?! I could have sworn it was Wednesday today? It just goes to show how time really does fly when you are having fun!

As usual, lots to share with you so I'll get going.

Worth a Mention Children

Huge congratulations to the ten fantastic children who found themselves on this week's Worth a Mention Children Board.

Well done everyone - this is a huge achievement and something to be very proud of indeed.

Golden Time

A massive 'Well Done' to all the children who earned their Golden Time this week.You had to hand in two homeworks, complete five reads, get your Home/School Diary signed for the previous week and keep out of the Detention Room.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Sadly, quite a few Year Five children missed their Golden Time.

The main reasons were not getting all of the five reads completed and homework not being handed in on time.

Please remember that we will help you in school if you are struggling to get everything you need to earn your Golden Time. There is a lot of available help in school to help with homework at lunchtime and, if we are asked, we are happy to listen to the children read.

Year Five Footballers

Words by Mr Roberts - Head of PE

I had the pleasure of driving 15 Year 5 pupils to St Mary's Middle School-Puddletown after school today.

The boys manifested customary DMS resilience against a potent villagers squad.

The two schools similarities were divided by the County Town's dogged defence and unsentimental scoring of goals.

Although all DMS players were superb,tribute must be shown to the uncompromising centre back-Harvey,the unplayable midfield general-Freddie B and the 5 goal supreme-Sonny.

Thanks to Year 8 Sports Leaders-Lewis and Owen.

Well done boys, what a fantastic start to the new football season.

The next fixtures are:

DMS vs Chickerell School - 4th October

DMS vs Radipole School - 10th October

DMS vs Wyke Regis - 17th October

Scooters

Whilst we are happy for (and encourage)our children to ride their scooters to school, concern has been raised by members of the community about the way these scooters are being ridden to and from school.

It has been reported that outside the school gates, on the pavements, the children are going very fast and not always aware of other people.

Please remember that when travelling to and from school you must give way to pedestrians at all times. Bicycle and scooter riders do not have automatic priority of the pavements and must consider other people at all times.

Buddens here we come!

As you know, we are of to Buddens next week. We can't wait to explore all the amazing habitats that this wonderful place has to offer.

Please remember to return the slips to school as soon as possible, even if you have paid by Agora, we still need the permissions slips back.

Also, we are not able to take any child who does not have a completed medical form in school. 

Well, that's it for another week!

You are all doing so well and although we may come across the odd blip from time to time, we are proud of the way you are settling into your new school and all the demands that come with such a big change.

Have a great week and I will look forward to seeing you back here next week!

Mrs Ray

(who is so excited about Buddens - please don't rain!)

Settling in nicely!

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog!

Well, we now have week two under our belts and our new recruits continue to settle in nicely! 

Please remember that each Year Five Tutor offers a 'Drop In' session every week (please see last week's Blog for details) which is worth bearing in mind.

Lots to cover so let's get cracking...

Permission for after school clubs

I am so impressed with the number of Year Five children who have attended clubs this week! There has been an incredible turn out across the board for both lunchtime and after school activities.

Please remember that if your child is going to attend an after school club for the the first time, they need to have written permission in their Home/School diaries. If written permission is not given then they will be not be able to attend that club. 

You only need to write the permission once.

Mrs Scott and I run Book Group on a Thursday once a fortnight, and we were delighted to see so many Year Five children attend - they were fantastic!

Worth a Mention Children

Huge congratulations to the children who found their names on this week's Worth a Mention Board in the Year Five Corridor this week.

If you look at the above image you can see why these children have been awarded this honour. 

Huge congratulations to all ten of you - to be the first 'Worth a Mention Children' of the year is extremely impressive indeed.

I can't wait to see who will be on the board next week!

Golden Time

This week was the first week that we 'enforced' Golden Time in Year Five and, considering is was a first for the children, they all did a sterling job in trying and earn this precious time.

There were a few little blips that is understandable, so I am hoping that we have pointed children in the right direction so they are on target for this coming Friday.

We do appreciate that there is still a little confusion with the Reading Record section in the diary.

We are finding that what is shown in the image above is a manageable way of recording those important five weekly reads.

The children can crack on with getting their five reads and start getting them under their belts as soon as the cut off time has passed (usually a Friday morning) so the weekends are ideal times to get going.

Thank you for your patience and understanding when getting to know the new systems - we're all heading in the right direction.

The Home/School Diary needs to be signed on a weekly basis as well. The diaries this year are a different format to previous versions so if you are used to them, it is probably a bit confusing.

In order for the children to get their Golden Time, the previous week needs to be signed.

I hope that makes things a bit clearer...

Super Sentences

We have cracked on with our learning and 5ER have shown me what super duper writers they are already!

Having looked at an animation called 'Lighthouse', the children had to produce a piece of descriptive writing based on the story it told. Once they had finished, they had to choose their favourite descriptive sentence, write it on a piece of paper and then have it scrutinised by the class. They then chose their favourite sentence by voting using sticker power.

These are their favourite sentences:

...and this is where they are proudly displayed:

Marvellous!

We're going on a Spider Hunt

As part of our Ecology topic, we have been on the hunt for spiders in different habitats around the school grounds. We have found some whoppers! If you hate spiders and they turn you into a quivering wreck, then look away now!

Apologies for the blurred images - who knew that spiders were so camera shy?!

Buddens

Thank you for all the returned slips and payments for our Buddens trips on the 28th and 30th September. We have asked that payment (£5.75) and permission slips are returned by the 20th September. It is essential that medical forms are completed and returned to school as soon as possible. Without a completed medical form, we cannot take the children with us on the trip.

So, that's it for this week. I hope you all have/had a lovely weekend and a well deserved rest!

If you are feeling brave, it would be great to receive some comments? It's always makes my day when people give me some feedback so go on, make my day!

See you back here next week!

Mrs Ray

(who is already starting to check the weather forecast in preparation for our trip to Wareham!) 

...and we're off!

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog.

Wow! What a fabulous first week that was! We have had a tremendous first week with our new Year Five children - it feels like they have always been here but in a good way!

As it is our first 'proper' Blog of the academic year, I will try to keep it short and sweet but I'm not making any promises...

Uniform

The children looked so smart in their new uniforms, what a credit the children are to us all!
Now, the question is, is everything named?
Time will tell...

Golden Time

This week ALL the children received and experienced Golden Time and it was lovely to see them enjoying the extra playtime that they so richly deserved.

From next week, we will be enforcing the Golden Time expectations and the children have been brilliant at taking them on board.

These are the posters that are in the classrooms and dotted around the Year Five corridor...

I so hope that everyone will get their Golden Time next Friday. Fingers crossed...

Reading Records

Over the next week, we are expecting the children to complete five reads and have them recorded in the Reading Record section of the Home/School Diary. This includes the weekends and if any members of staff listen to your child read we will record it as well.

Once you have heard your child read, you will need to initial one of the stars and write the date above it. There is a space for you to record what they have read, how many pages they have covered and any comments you can squeeze in.

We appreciate that it is a bit 'tight' for space so thank you for bearing with us. This is a new system for us too so any feedback will be gratefully received!

Year Five Drop In

It's very easy to feel that when your child starts Year Five, the shutters tend to come down a bit. Please be assured that we are very keen to stay in touch but communication becomes a bit more 'formal' when it comes to middle school.

In order to help keep the lines of communication open, the following teachers will be available in their classrooms between 3.30pm and 3.45pm on specific afternoons.

 As this is a 'drop in' session it might be that you might need a longer time slot to discuss any issues that have arisen so an appointment might need to be made for another day and time.

Mrs Ray/ Miss Enever - Mondays

Mrs White - Thursdays

Mr Duffy - Mondays

Mrs Daniel - Tuesdays

Mrs Cook - Wednesdays

Buddens

As mentioned in Ms Seymour's letter on Monday, Year Five will be heading to Buddens Farm, near Wareham as part of our Ecology topic in Science.

A letter will be going home on Monday with the full details but the headlines are:

We are going on Wednesday 28th September and Friday 30th September.

5ER, 5AD and 5KD will be going on the Wednesday.

5PC and 5CW will be going on the Friday.

The cost of the trip will be £5.75 per child.

The quality of cross curricular work that is produced as a result of this trip is fabulous, it's well worth the visit. 

So, that's it for the first 'proper' Blog of the academic year. I hope you all have a good weekend and that the children get a well deserved rest before we charge ahead with our learning on Monday. 

Thank you for all your hard work getting the children ready for DMS - they really are a credit to you.

Mrs Ray

(who has had one of the most hectic weeks ever but has a sneaky suspicion she is not on her own there...!) 

Are you ready?

Hello and welcome to the Year Five Blog!

Well, summer is nearly over so that must mean that it's back to school time! Hoorah!

The Year Five Team have been in school over the last few days making sure that everything is ready for you when you start with us on Monday.

We can't wait to see you!

Have a lovely weekend and we will look forward to seeing you on Monday in the playground before school.

Now, the question is, can you remember how to line up AND in alphabetical order?

Consider this your first challenge...

Mrs Ray

(who is worried about coming to school in her pyjamas and slippers - do you think anyone will notice?)