Friday 30th January 2026

After avoiding the rain to take part in our geography fieldwork last Friday afternoon, the children have been looking at what the data tells them and how they can present the data to answer their question in Geography. 

8 year 5s were taken to Aylesbury Grammar School to play Futsal. The team were positive and enthusiastic all the way through the games and represented the school brilliantly. 

In English, the children have been looking at the language features of persuasive travel brochures, thinking about how positive adjectives and modal verbs help to encourage people to buy the holiday. 

In Maths, the children have been multiplying fractions by whole integers and are really using their times table knowledge. 

 

Friday 23rd January 2026

Year 5 have enjoyed short division this week and most have decided that it is the most efficient method. The children have been exploring lots of different holidays and comparing the language used for different types of holidays and different audiences. They are looking forward to exploring a place in the world that they would like to visit and producing a brochure for it. 

In Science, the children explored opaque, transparent and translucent materials, thinking about what might be used for black out blinds. They discovered that some plastic was not great as it produced some colourful lighting! 

Today, the children are collecting data for their geographical question by walking around Stoke Mandeville looking at the different types (and quantities) of transport or exploring the types of buildings: whether they are residential, commercial, agricultural, related to transport or industry. 

         

Friday 16th January 2026

After a very exciting visit from Aylesbury fire brigade on Friday morning, teaching the children about the different equipment on the fire engines and what to do in case of a fire, year 5 have settled back into their work. 

They have been writing stories based upon Vivaldi's Winter and thinking about how the violins represent the stamping of feet and the chattering of teeth. In Maths, the children have continued learning formal methods of multiplication and division. 

The children began a new science topic this week, looking at materials and their properties. They looked at Mohs Scale and how hardness might reduce the risk of their house being blown down by the big bad wolf!

Friday 9th January 2026 

Happy New Year! This week the children have been working hard to use the formal method of multiplication, lining up the columns and using their times table knowledge. 

In English, we have been exploring Vivaldi's Winter and using it to discuss imagery and themes that music can create. During Geography, the children made a vocAPPulary explaining what some physical and human geographical features are as we start our new topic: what makes a settlement successful? 

Our class novel for this term is: Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend. 

Friday 19th December 2025

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This week, year 5 have been very busy finishing their Viking Longhouses. They have taken a lot of time and care over the longhouses and have enjoyed the challenge of bringing their ideas to life. 

The children have worked hard on their Christmas crafts, creating their own gonk. Having finished, they had the challenge of sorting the wool out, 

The trip to Aylesbury Waterside Theatre was amazing, and year 5  were enthusiastic and excited about Jack in the Beanstallk, taking part in the normal pantomime traditions. The children also enjoyed the first annual Year 5 and 6 Christmas Quiz, with rounds including: the Logo round, the Christmas round, and a picture round, which meant identifying an animal from its eyes. 

Friday 12th December 2025

Year 5 have finished writing their journey story, spending time exploring their sensory language. They have been continuing their work on fractions in Maths.

In Science, the children have been round the school, measuring children of different ages to answer their enquiry question. Having been inspired by the nativity, the children have begun to create their woollen gonk for their Christmas craft. 

Friday 5th December 2025

This week, Year 5 celebrated the Vikings through a Viking Day involving: creating Viking soup; finishing their Viking ships; creating a Viking shield and Mrs Walker came and gave a masterclass in Trollen art, which the children have fully embraced, with some of them continuing at home. 

In other news, year 5 are still exploring fractions and have begun to plan their journey story, which they will write next week.

Friday 28th November

After a week of assessments in English and Maths, Year 5 spent Friday afternoon learning how to use saws safely in preparation for the building of Viking longhouses in the weeks to come! Some of our class have represented the school with the signing choir before returning to attempt Mamma Mia on the recorder. The children have designed their own Viking village in History and learnt about some of the changes of puberty in Science. 

Friday 21st November 2025

This week, Year 5 have begun making Viking longships in History and have started to explore structures using paper dowel in Design and Technology. 

In English, we have been exploring Viking Boy and talking about Rurik's role in the story. In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting fractions with the same and different denominators. We are beginning to understand how important our knowledge of times tables are!

Friday 14th November 2025

This week Year 5 have been exploring anti-bullying week. The children have looked at the definition of bullying and the different roles involved in bullying. They have agreed a kindness agreement as a class and are exploring how peer pressure can be positive or negative. The cutlery workshop was a great success and the children enjoyed developing their skills. In Maths, we have been looking at equivalent fractions and changing improper fractions to mixed numbers. 

Friday 7th November 2025

The children have started a new topic: Why do people settle? This is focusing on Viking settlements and how the Vikings lived. This week, the children discussed the causes and consequences of the raid on the Lindesfarne Monastery.  During PE, the children explored counterbalances and created some excellent examples. 

Within English, we have been exploring Viking Boy by Tony Bradman and looking at how the beginning of the story is set up to create a cosy feeling with a sense of impending doom! 

During Maths, the children have been multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. They have been recapping the square numbers and have enjoyed listening to the square number song. 

Thursday 23rd October 2025

The children have created their own fantasy land in English this week, which includes places such as: The bottomless hole of doom and the upside down village.  They have been very enthusiastic about the creation of the land and I can't wait to see the writing it will lead to. 

In Science, we have been finishing off our Forces unit by exploring cogs. The children created their own cogs using lollysticks.  

    

Friday 17th October 2025 

Year 5 had a great trip to the SEALR building site on Thursday and loved looking at the drone footage of the surrounding area. Some children got to drive a simulation, trying to avoid the containers. 

In English, the children have been writing their journalistic report about Beowulf or something that interests them. They have used quotes and enjoyed describing the gory violence of Grendel. 

In Maths, the children have used miultilink to investigate multiples and factors. They have finished painting their Anglo-Saxon brooch, and have explored pulleys, gears and levers in Science. A very busy week!

Friday 10th October 2025

Year 5 have continued writing about Grendel and Beowulf, creating a character profile of Beowulf.

In Maths, the children have been looking at multistep additional and subtraction problems, which have been challenging, but the children have been showing the growth mindset by using the CUBES method to understand and solve the problems.

In History, the children looked at local maps, finding the names of places that have Anglo-Saxon roots. The children made lots of discoveries about their local area and places they had been in England. 

Friday 3rd October 2025

This week Year 5 have been looking at the fight between Grendel and Beowulf, interviewing each other and writing diaries about life under Grendel's constant terror. In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting in columns and thinking about how rounding can help us estimate an answer. 

During RE this week, they worked in groups to explore the Langar and how Sikhs use this to show their devotion. The children created the Langar out of Lego explaining the different parts after watching a short video. 

Friday 26th September 2025

This week, Year 5 have begun analysing the structure and features of a newspaper article around the Viking invasion of Lindesfarne. In Maths, the children have been rounding numbers up to a million. 

The highlight of the week was making Anglo-Saxon cakes, melting butter and baking carefully. The aroma wafted through the corridors of the school, making many people hungry! Many of the children were interested in what the Anglo-Saxons ate and drank, filling in a food wheel back in the classroom. 

Science was outside this week, creating plasticine models to explore which were the most streamlined shapes. The children dropped them into measuring cylinders and timed the drop to the bottom. They saw the value in doing more than one test as sometimes the timings were wildly different!

Friday 19th September 2025

Year 5 were given the challenge to create the most effective parachute on Tuesday. There were many discussions about air resistance and observations made about the different parachutes. The children have been excited to write their own kenning about a topic of their choice. These range from various Pokémon to 1930s steam trains and spitting llamas. In Maths, the children continued to look at place value and partition the numbers in a variety of ways. 

In history, the children have been exploring Anglo-Saxon houses and creating their own wall using wattle and daub techniques. They used flour and water rather than mud or animal dung! 

Friday 12th September 2025

This week, year 5 have been exploring Kennings in English, completing a Kenning treasure hunt in the school grounds. In Maths, the children have been reading numbers up to one million and reminding themselves about Roman numerals. 

The children enjoyed making slow motion videos in Science of different sized balls dropping to the ground. They  generally agreed that they fell at the same time but we discussed different variables about why this may not have happened. For example, dropping them on a slope or the air resistance.