Welcome to AD 900, the children are learning all about the daily life and culture of the ancient Maya civilisation of South America. Read on to find out what we have been up to. 

This term in English we have begun by writing short stories detailing the adventures of a world re-known professor and an intrepid explorer who have set out on a mission to uncover the hidden treasure of Maya. Bravely, they are trekking through the depths of the Guatemalan rainforest not knowing what perils await them! 

In Maths we have produced some excellent board games through on-going home learning and lessons in school. The background theme was the Guatemalan rainforest and Mrs Toyne's class had an absolutely superb time testing these out for us. 

As part of our afternoon lessons, we have been learning lots of facts and skills to support our understanding of this group of people. We have researched lots of information about how they lived, what they believed, the clothing of men and women as well as their writing system. In addition we enjoyed acting out what daily life would have been like. 

In science we have continued with our investigations into materials and their properties. Planning our own practical activities for example, which material is the most absorbent and which material is the strongest? 

Finally, acknowledgement for the superb effort which has gone into home learning this term; I have been so impressed with the children's imagination and creativity.

In English we wrote our own Myths explaining the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. This became the basis for our 500 word writing challenge which the children enjoyed typing on the laptops.

Can you produce a short piece of writing for this writing prompt, remembering all the skills we have been practising this term such as careful characterisation, show don’t tell, varying our sentence starters and using a range of punctuation for effect?  Look closely, can you see the native lurking in the shadows behind the tree? 

Is every metal object magnetic? We investigated this popular misconception by testing a range of household items with some surprising results.

Also, in Science, we enjoyed learning about the different parts of the flowering plant and their functions. 

In PE this term we have been finding out all the different ways we can create bridges. Y5 demonstrated some excellent balance and core strength holding some of these positions. 

We have explored a theme close to all of our hearts, and stomachs, this week! In maths we used our measuring and estimating skills when we made CHOCOLATE cakes. In science we experimented with different water temperatures in order to make the perfect hot CHOCOLATE!

We had a fabulous time when StarLincs visited with their Planetarium!

We have learnt a lot about space missions on our learning journey this term, here we are recreating the flight of Apollo 11.

We had so much fun taking our learning outdoors! What do you presume our laughter was about?

Today we were lucky enough to meet an Olympic Gold medalist  - Matt Longridge. He won Gold this year at Rio for his prowess as a rower.

This experience encouraged us to reflect on our own talents and consider what we could do to

'Go for Gold!'.

What skills do you think we have been

learning in PE?