Having a ball!

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog!

Another cracking week in Year Five to share with you! We have had a lot of fun with our learning so strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride...

Worth a Mention Children

Last Friday, the names of  the latest batch of Worth a Mention children were put up on our special board.

  

Congratulations to Isla, Martina, Chris, Megan, Will, Teegan-Lee, Kiara, Kian, Katie and Harriet - we salute you! 

Maths Groups

When I was at Milldown Middle School (many, many years ago) I hated Maths. There, I said it. I never really 'got' it and the mutual frustration between pupil (me) and teacher (Mr Davenport) was a constant. The one thing I vowed to myself when I became a teacher was to make sure that Maths was fun (or as fun as it could be) so when I started at DMS (many years ago) I knew I was in the right place as, thankfully, I met like-minded people who were inspirational to this rooky teacher.

All the children in Year Five are super mathematicians - some find it easier than others but that has never been a barrier to their learning. Mr Haigh, our Maths Co-ordinator, is an incredible influence and his enthusiasm towards his subject is very motivating. 

This is something that I have been working on with my Maths Group - converting kilograms in to grammes and vice versa:

I am also proud to introduce our latest Zero Hero - the lovely Taylor.

We didn't have things like this in my day...!

5CW Streetwise

The last Year Five Streetwise trip took place on Monday when it was 5CW's turn to experience this incredible learning resource.

I am delighted to report that their behaviour was excellent and Mrs White was very proud of her class.

Some of the children were filmed whilst they were there. If you are a member of 5CW maybe you could tell us why you were filmed? It looked very exciting!

Activities Week 

A huge thank you to everyone who has returned the Parent Helper forms and who have settled their balances by responding to the letters that went out on Tuesday.

We have a bumper week planned so I just want to remind you of what you will be doing the week commencing 18th May 2015...

Monday

We will creating art work based on specific artists. Each Key Stage Two teacher has chosen an artist that they have an interest in and will guide the children to generate their own versions of their work.

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

Depending on the group that you are in, the children will be going on three, yes three, trips!

Visiting Sand World is a first for DMS and we can't wait! We will be creating our own sand sculptures with one of their master sculptors, see the professionals at work and fill a sculpture with coloured sand. 

Not only that, we also get to spend time on the beach at Lodmoor or take a walk around the beautiful nature reserve (depending on the good old British Weather!).

Another first for DMS! We get to have a tour around Poole Pottery, watch one of the Master Potters at work and have a go at making our very own piece of pottery. 

However, that's just part of the trip! We also get to have a look around the fantastic Poole Museum. It has been refurbished recently and it offers a unique hands-learning experience where the children can immerse themselves in the past.

The final trip will be to Portland's amazing Tout Sculpture Quarry as well as a visit to the Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust HQ where the children will have a go at stone carving in order to produce their very own sculpture out of Portland Stone.

Friday

The final day of Activities Week will consist of a unique art exhibition in the Drama Hall and Key Stage Two classrooms that will house all the art work that the children have produced during the week.

Parents and Carers will receive invites to view all the work and to enjoy a cup of tea in the afternoon.

What a busy week!

Calligraphy Club

Every Thursday lunchtime, Mr Duffy runs a Calligraphy Club. It is all very low key and I just happened to 'find' them this week.

I was really impressed with the quality of the children's work and the concentration levels were incredible. You couldn't hear a pin drop!

Celebration Assembly

Just a quick reminder that our next Celebration Assembly is on Monday 11th May.

Well, that's it for another week. I hope you all have a great Bank Holiday Weekend and I will look forward to seeing you back here next week.

Mrs Ray

(who is about to embark on another Markathon - anyone want to sponsor me?!)

Sunny, sunny, sunny!

Hello and welcome back to the Year Five Blog!

We have enjoyed such a lovely sunny week haven't we? Well, it has been at the time of writing so if the weather has taken a turn for the worse when you read this then all I can do is apologise!

Let's see what the children have been up tp this week...

Speed Sharing

Last (but by no means least) to take part in the Year Five Speed Sharing experience was the lovely 5PC! I was in the throes of teaching when I could hear lots of impressed Mr Chadwick noises(you need to hear them to believe them!) coming from the Year Five corridor. I quickly grabbed my camera, temporarily abandoned my class and took the following photographs:

Well done 5PC, another great sharing session!

Streetwise

As you know, 5AD went to Streetwise last week so it was the turn of 5GR, 5PC and 5KD this week. We all had a great time at this incredible Safety Centre and learnt so much! Many of our children had been to Streetwise whilst they were in Key Stage One yet they enjoyed this trip enormously and felt that it was extremely beneficial.

Here are a few pictures of the 5GR experience - did you visit the same scenarios or did you look at different ones?

What was your favourite scenario?

ICT Lessons

"Mrs Ray! Mrs Ray! I've got some great photos for the Blog!" yelled Miss Enever as she chased me down the corridor.

I quicky turned around as I am always on the lookout for new items to post on the blog.

"That's great!" I enthuse, "I'll include them on this week's post."

"Brilliant! I hope you enjoy them." she said happily.

"I'm pretty sure I will - thank you so much," and off I trotted to Room 4.

Well, here are the photographs for your enjoyment. All I cam work out is:

1. It is an ICT lesson.

2. It's 5KD

3. Mr Haigh was teaching them

4. The lesson has something to do with Lego.

5. Animation might be involved.

If you were in this lesson or experienced a similar lesson to this, please could you tell us about what you were up to in the Comments section below because I don't have a Scooby Doo!

Thank you! 

Activities Week reminder

Just to remind you that we need the balance for our up and coming Activities Week as soon as possible. A big thank You' to those who have already done this but there are still several payments due. It is vital that balances are settled as soon as possible so that all the trips can go ahead.

A letter will be winging its way to you today (Friday) with regards to Parent Helpers. If you have volunteered your services of can now help us during Activities Week then please return the form to school by Friday 1st May. This will be our cut off day so that we an start to organise the logistics of our trips. 

Celebration Assembly

Please make a note in your diaries that the next Year Five Celebration Assembly will be on Monday 11th May.

Usual time, usual place!

Well, that's it for another week! Have a good weekend and I'll 'see' you next week. Don't forget to write something in the 'Comments' section...

Mrs Ray

(who is off to London to watch her lunatic of a husband run in the Marathon on Sunday!)