The highlight of our first half-term in Year 5 for Dragonflies has undoubtedly been our first Class Collective Worship. The children beautifully explained our school values, linking them to their work in History and Music. It was wonderful to see all the children grow in confidence as they performed to a captivated audience. The finale song will surely be a core memory for many of us for years to come! The "Rockstar Aesop" performance was unlike anything I’ve seen in my 20+ years of teaching—absolutely amazing! Following their performance, I was asked, “Can we do another one tomorrow?” Natural performers, obviously!
This half-term has also been exciting for Dragonflies because we have been part of the trial to assess the effectiveness of Reading Plus. This adaptive literacy program develops the fluency, comprehension, and motivation students need to be successful readers. I have been blown away by the children’s commitment, both at school and at home. In just two weeks, we already have two students who have read over 50,000 words, and many have progressed to the next reading level. What an achievement! As well as individual reading, the children have been enjoying the trials and tribulations of Liam and Florida in our class novel Cosmic by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the new Children's Laureate. I wonder what the next class novel will be?
In English, the children have just completed their own narrative, focusing on using dialogue to move the story along. These stories, set on space missions with a twist, were full of suspense and creativity.
In Maths, we have completed our work on addition and subtraction methods. Next term, we’ll be moving on to multiplication and division—so keep practising those timetable facts throughout the half-term break!
In Science, the children showcased their understanding of the key questions we’ve focused on by producing some informative and imaginative double-page spreads. Their creativity and knowledge really shone through in their work.
We have concluded our art topic of retrofuturism, where the children utilised all the skills they’ve learnt to produce their own visions of the future. Their creativity and craftsmanship were truly inspiring!
We have had a very successful first term, and we look forward to building upon our successes next half-term.
Photos to follow....
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