Our week...

Year 5 have had another lovely week and have continued to work hard. It’s been lovely to get to know your children and see their strengths shining through. As you know, last week the children officially met their Reception Buddies. Miss Heim-Sarac was so impressed with the children last week so this afternoon we all went down to Reception so that they could spend some time together and then accompany their Buddies to their very first assembly. We’re so proud of the children and in assembly the children all received their Buddy badges. Well done Year 5!

Our learning this week…

In English Year 5 have explored Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night” in preparation for next week’s visit from the RSC who will be performing the play in our school hall. The children have immersed into the story, the households and the characters through freeze frames and drama.

In Maths the children have applied their understanding of the place value of numbers up to 100,000 to represent and partition them in different ways work. They have also been using number lines to 100,000 and identified numbers that are between two points (for example multiples of 10,000), using mathematical language to describe the position.

In RE the children have discussed the Scientific view of how the World began and also listened to the Creation story from Genesis 1 (Theological view) and have made their own Creation wheel as a reminder of the story.

This week in our space topic in Science, the children have been looking at how the rotation of the Earth allows us to have day and night. Ask your child to explain it to you, to see how much they’ve remembered.

In music the children listened to “We will rock you” by Queen and have compared it to “Livin’ on a prayer”. The children have been learning to find the pulse and playing games to develop understanding of rhythm and pitch.

In PE this week, Year 5 began their Buddies Leadership programme delivered by Erin, who worked with the children last year in PE. The aim of the programme is to support the children in developing their leadership skills so that they can work as a small team to deliver lunch time activities to their Reception Buddies and to KS1 children. This week the children worked together in small groups as a team to play a ball game and came up with their own rules.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Avie

Writing Award - Bobby

Maths Award - Oscar

Year 5 Star Winner - Rion

Bedrock Competition!

A big well done to those children who have already logged on to Bedrock at home as part of this week’s homework. As you can see below, Bedrock have launched a new prize draw competition with some fantastic prizes to win. You have all been entered into this competition and for a chance of winning, you just need to collect 140 or more points ( at least 20 points each week) using Bedrock from now till the 23rd October. If you go to the dashboard on your Bedrock account, you will find details of how you can collect points. Remember, you need to complete at least one Bedrock lesson for homework but to earn more points you can do more. However, please do not complete more than one lesson per day to ensure vocabulary retention. In addition to Bedrock’s competition, we will also have our own in class Bedrock competition too. The member of our class who has the most Bedrock points by the end of half term will win a prize at the end this half term. Good luck Year 5!

Don’t forget that Year 5’s homework for this week is on the Year 5 homework tab or folllow this link https://www.ourladyassumption-sch.co.uk/yr5-homework

Next week…

Unfortunately, Thursday’s Leadership workshop this week had to be cancelled due to the rain, but will now take place next Thursday instead. Therefore, the children will now need to wear their PE kits Monday through to Thursday next week. (Monday will be our other Leadership workshop, Tuesday is swimming, Wednesday PE and Thursday’s Leadership workshop - it’s going to be a busy week!)

Have a great weekend!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Our week in Year 5...

What a great week we’ve had! Year 5 have made a great start to this year and it has been lovely to spend time getting to know them a little better. We’ve been impressed with how quickly they have settled into the new routines and we are excited to be working with them this year.

Your child will have come home with their reading book (with a new ZPD) and diary. Bookmarks and diaries will be checked daily so please encourage your child to read regularly and they must have their book and diary in every day. Your child’s new water bottle  will also come home with them each evening to ensure that it can be washed and filled ready for the next day. Unfortunately we don’t have spares in school, or cups they can use, so it is important that they bring it in each day. Please also ensure your child brings a coat each day just in case the weather changes over the course of the day - we will still want to get outside for some fresh air even if it is a bit cold or just a bit of rain. 

On Tuesday the children began their swimming sessions and we were delighted with the way they conducted themselves and represented our school. They made a fabulous start to their lessons and this enabled their swimming teachers to get them sorted into swimming groups quickly and begin working on their new swimming techniques. Well done Year 5!

On Thursday the whole school went across to Church to take part in mass to celebrate "The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Again I am so proud of the behaviour of the children - they all showed great reverence, listened well and took part in the responses.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Joshua

Writing Award - Emelia

Maths Award - William

Year 5 Star Winner - William

Our learning this week…

This year, Year 5 will continue working with the Knotted project and the Grand Theatre on the Tales Retold resilience and storytelling project. On Monday, the children had their first session working with Natalie and Helen, who worked with the children in Year 4. It was lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for the workshop and I was impressed with how engaged the children were in the activities.

In English we have begun looking at stories by the author Jeremy Strong. This week the children have read “This is not a fairy tale” and they have begun identifying the key features of his style of writing and have compared this to other extracts of his stories.

In Maths the focus has been on place value.and the children have been reading and writing 5-digit numbers and recognising the value of each digit.

In RE we have been discussing how the world began and have compared their own views against those of their learning partner.

In Science we will be learning about aspects of Earth and Space. This week the children have shared their existing knowledge of this topic and they took part in a Space quiz to see how much they know already. We have also considered different types of evidence, both direct and indirect evidence, for the shape of our Earth.

Our Computing topic this half term is all about the Mars Rover and this week the children have learnt about the automated motor vehicle and have  explored how and why the Mars Rover transfers data. To get an idea of the distance that the Mars Rover had to travel, the children also researched the distance to Mars based on the length of other objects, such as Big Ben, the length of a blue whale, the length of a double decker bus, and the length of a football pitch.

In our art lesson we have begun to look at the work of Hundertwasser and have used viewfinders to select and draw a section of his images into their sketchbooks.

PE days

Full PE kit will need to be worn on Tuesdays (swimming) and Wednesdays.

Homework

Year 5 will use online learning for their homework this year and on a Tuesday afternoon I will post the details of Year 5’s homework on the homework tab. Homework should be completed by the following Monday ready for spelling and times tables tests on a Tuesday. I will add more details next week.

Well done Year 5, you’ve made a great start! We hope you all have a lovely weekend with your families.

Parents, if you need to talk to me, please catch me at the gate at the end of the day or alternatively please email me at year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Welcome to Year 5!

Welcome to Year 5! I hope you have all had a wonderful Summer and are ready to start the new year in Year 5. I look forward to welcoming you into class tomorrow and look forward to getting to know you all!

I just wanted to let you know our PE days will be Tuesdays (swimming) and Wednesdays.


Tuesdays will be swimming and this will start on Tuesday 6th September and take place each Tuesday throughout the year. The children will be accompanied to the pool by Miss Evans, Mrs McCooey and Mrs Hodgkiss .The children will need to come in their school PE kit for the day and will need with them their swimming kit in a separate bag to their school bag. Girls will need a one-piece swimsuit and boys will need swimming trunks (please see photo of acceptable type as baggy swim shorts are not allowed), a towel, swim hat for all girls and boys who have a longer hair style or fringe, and goggles if you returned the signed goggles letter. The children will not need shampoo or shower gel as they will only have time to rinse and get dressed quickly ready to return to school. If your child has asthma, inhalers will be taken to the pool by the teachers so please make sure your child has an up to date inhaler in school as soon as possible.

Thank you,

Mrs McVey

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Proud!

On Thursday morning we all had an enjoyable morning at Stanley Park, Year 5’s prize for winning the GULP challenge at the end of Year 4. The children enjoyed an hour on the low ropes and then an hour in the mole holes. They all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were absolutely amazing! I was so proud of how well they all behaved and even more because of how well they all supported each other. Some children found the activities very challenging, but it was so lovely to see the children stopping to cheer each other on and to encourage by giving advice on how to proceed forward in the activities. The instructors at Stanley Park were also really impressed with them . Well done Year 5!!!

Our learning this week…

In English the children have recognised how adverbs can be used to indicate degrees of possibility and have shared their own sentences .

In maths the children have been identifying decimals up to two decimal places and finding their fraction equivalent.

In RE the children discussed why prayer is important and in groups have created their own prayer guide.

Science - This week the children have investigated materials that dissolve have been able to identify whether a material is soluble or insoluble.

Geography - The focus of our lesson this week was to identify four and six figure grid references and the children have located features on a map by using these grid references.

Spanish - This week children have listened to the story “La Oruga muy hambrienta” (The hungry caterpillar) and have joined in with the repeated sections of the story.

In art the children have added layers to their work on art inspired by Chris Ofili.

In Bounce Forward (PSHE) we have been talking about how being part of a team can make us more resilient. We watched a Madagascar movie clip and identified what made the penguins do well as part of a team. Year 5 then had to work as a team to play cooperation ball game, where they had to pass the ball around the circle without using their arms or hands.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Year 5

Maths - Lily T & Tyler

Writing -

Star Award -

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock’s new prize draw competition runs from 6th June until July 24th. Collect 120 or more points using Bedrock to be in with the chance of winning one of their prizes. If you go to the dashboard on your Bedrock account, you will find details of how you can collect points. Remember, you need to complete at least one Bedrock lesson for homework but to earn more points you can do more. Please remember, you should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson each day at home. In addition to Bedrock’s competition, we will also have our final class Bedrock competition too. The member of our class who has the most Bedrock points by the end of half term will win a prize. Good luck Year 5!

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Maisy 372 points

2 Henri 281 points

3 Abigail 278 points

4 Samuel 272 points

5 Gabriella 213 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Get some fresh air (Basics)

  • Develop a life skill (Learning)

Work coming home for the Summer…

In preparation for the end of term, please send in a strong bag (e.g.bag for life) so that all work can be sent home on the last day of term before the Summer holiday. Please label the bag with your child’s name. Thank you!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Teamwork

We had a lovely start to the week with Sports day. Thank you to all of you who were able to come and support the children in their races. It was lovely to be able to get back to normal this year and I know the children enjoyed having you all there to cheer them on. I’m sure you will all agree that the children were fantastic and it was lovely to see them all working as a team and being supportive of each other. Well done Year 5!

Results of KS2 Sports day…

1st Layton 500 points Champions!🏆👏🏻

2nd Marton 473 points

3rd Clifton 470 points

4th Newton 469 points

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun to look at persuasive texts and have identified some of the key features.

In maths the children have solved problems involving fractions.

Science - The focus of the lesson this week was finding the best electrical conductor for a lighting circuit. The children tested different metals in a light bulb circuit and they found that the material that made the brightest bulb was the best.

Geography - This week the children used their maps that they created at home for homework to help them annotate their route to school on a digital map. They included physical and human features and created a key.

Spanish - The children have practised writing the date of their birthday and have also been able to say the birthday of a 3rd person, for example, a friend or family member.

In art the children have continued to work on their Chris Ofili inspired art work of Maya Gods .

In Bounce Forward (PSHE) we have been talking about how we can be more resilient and positive if we think about all the things that we are thankful for. It is easy to be hopeful when everything is going well, but sometimes things aren’t perfect and sometimes we have to look through positivity glasses to be able to see the good when things are tough. Look at the positivity glasses that Year 5 have created…

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Gabriella

Maths - Dainton

Writing - Summer and Henri

Star Award - Evie

Bedrock Competition

Bedrock have launched a new prize draw competition with some more fantastic prizes which started on the 6th June until July 24th. You have all been entered into this competition and for a chance of winning, you just need to collect 120 or more points using Bedrock. If you go to the dashboard on your Bedrock account, you will find details of how you can collect points. Remember, you need to complete at least one Bedrock lesson for homework but to earn more points you can do more. Please remember, you should only complete ONE Bedrock lesson each day at home. In addition to Bedrock’s competition, we will also have our own in class Bedrock competition too. The member of our class who has the most Bedrock points by the end of half term will win a prize. Good luck Year 5!

Here is our TOP 5 on the scoreboard this week:

1 Maisy 276 points

2 Abigail 258 points

3 Henri 226 points

4 Samuel 220 points

5 Gabriella 184 points

Well done to all the children who are on our leader board this week.👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Calming down and making yourself feel better (Coping)

  • Spend time with good people in good places (Belonging)

Work coming home for the Summer…

In preparation for the end of term, please send in a strong bag (e.g.bag for life) so that all work can be sent home on the last day of term before the Summer holiday. Please label the bag with your child’s name. Thank you!

Dates for your diary:

Stanley Park trip to low ropes and Mole holes - Thursday 7th July

We’ll spend the morning at Stanley Park and will return to school in time for lunch.

Storytelling Fair - Friday 8th July

This will take place after school (3.30pm - 5.30pm) - more details to follow nearer the time.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Jesus said, “Know that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time.” Matthew 28:20

What a beautiful week we’ve had! The sunshine has certainly put a smile on everyone’s face and has made us all feel quite positive.

The children enjoyed their own clothes day today. Thank you so much for all your contributions of chocolates and books for the Story telling fair, we appreciate your generosity.

Our learning this week…

In English the children have been writing their own diary entry from the point of view of Billy from the modern Greek myth ‘Bling!’. They’ve been working really hard on their writing and have tried really hard to include their writing targets. I’m so pleased with the efforts put in by everyone and I’m looking forward to reading them. Well done Year 5!👏🏻

In maths the children have continued to work on fractions, particularly finding fractions of quantities, and they have used what they have learnt to solve problems.

In RE the children have learnt about the ways that Jesus is present among us in follow up to their initial ideas last week.

Geography - We began our new topic on the local area this week. We have begun to think about what kind of place Blackpool is and where it is in the world using various maps.

Spanish - The focus has been on being able to say the date and saying when their birthday is.

In art the children have continued to work on their Chris Ofili inspired art work of Maya Gods .

In HRSE we have been exploring the theme of peculiar feelings. We have talked about how we cope when a situation causes us to feel a certain emotion and have thought about positive and negative reactions.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Maisy

Maths - Franchesca

Writing - Malachy & Millie

Star Award - Vinny and Izzy

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Take responsibility for your self (Core self)

  • Get together with people you can rely on (Belonging)

Dates for your diary:

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June 1.30pm - 3pm Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather.

Stanley Park trip to low ropes and Mole holes - Thursday 7th July

We’ll spend the morning at Stanley Park and will return to school in time for lunch.

Storytelling Fair - Friday 8th July

This will take place after school (3.30pm - 5.30pm) - more details to follow nearer the time.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Proud!

We’ve had another good week in Year 5. Yesterday we visited St Mary’s High school and the children took part in some lovely activities linked to both maths and science. They also got a tour of the school and the outside area, took part in a lovely meditation on the theme of community in their upper chapel and made their own rosary beads which they used to pray a decade of the rosary in the liturgy at the end of the day. The children really enjoyed their day and as always their behaviour made us extremely proud! Well done Year 5!

Our learning this week…

In English the children have been planning, developing and writing their own diary entry from the point of view of Billy from the modern Greek myth ‘Bling!’.

In maths the children have moved on to multiplying fractions and have really impressed me this week at how good they are. Well done Year 5!👏🏻

In RE the children have thought about whether Jesus is truly present among us. Initially the children had to think about their own response and then compare that to their friend’s ideas.

History - The children have learnt about the Maya hieroglyph writing system and have looked at some of the glyphs that the Maya used.

Spanish - The children have been recapping their numbers, days of the week and the months of the year.

In art the children have continued to work on their Chris Ofili inspired art work of Maya Gods .

In PE the children have worked in pairs navigating around courses following different maps - they’re really getting quite good at this!

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Jayden-Thomas

Maths - Vinny

Writing - Max

Star Award -

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Exercise and fresh air (Basics)

  • Find time for your interests (Coping)

Dates for your diary:

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June 1.30pm - 3pm Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather.

Own clothes day - Friday 24th June

To take part in this own clothes day, the PTFA ask that the children contribute a used book (for a stall at the Storytelling fair) and some chocolates (for a chocolate tombola at the Storytelling fair) .

Stanley Park trip to low ropes and Mole holes - Thursday 7th July

Please can any outstanding risk forms be signed and sent back next week please - I need to send off the paper work for our visit. Thank you if you have already sent the form back.

Storytelling Fair - Friday 8th July

This will take place after school (3.30pm - 5.30pm) - more details to follow nearer the time.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Our week...

I can’t believe we’re already in to our last half term in Year 5 before they all go to Year 6! The time has flown by and it’s been a lovely year so far and they’ve achieved so much. We’ve had a great start to this half term and they have worked hard - starting as they mean to go on (Well done Year 5!).

Yesterday, we had the first of our high school visits. We spent the whole day at St.Bede’s, taking part in a Science and Design Technology day. The children really enjoyed their day and took part in some great activities and were thoroughly engaged! In Design Technology the children designed and made a popcorn cup and then, of course, tried it out by eating popcorn from it. In Science the children were challenged to a murder mystery and they had to do various scientific tests in order to work out who the murderer was. Both activities were a lot of fun and we were so impressed by all the children’s behaviour - and so were the St Bede’s staff! Well done Year 5, we’re very proud of you!

Our learning this week…

In English we have been looking at and identifying the features of diary writing in preparation for their own diary writing next week.

In maths the children have been subtracting mixed numbers and applying to solving problems.

In RE we’ve been looking at the meaning of the Resurrection and also looked at Pentecost, which was celebrated last Sunday.

In Science, the children identified the properties of materials through investigation and identified possible uses of the different materials.

History - The children have identified primary and secondary sources of evidence and have taken on the role of a historian to examine images (a secondary source) to identify aspects of Mayan civilisation.

Computing - The children programmed the microbit to do a polling programme. The children enjoyed testing their program on each other.

In PE the children worked in pairs to navigate around two courses following different maps.

In art the children have further developed their work from last half term, which was inspired by the work of artist Chris Ofili.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Dainton

Maths - Vinny

Writing - Lily T

Star Award -

Music medal

Well done to Evie, who has been awarded her bronze music medal for drumming.👏🏻


Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Exercise and fresh air (Basics)

  • Find time for your interests (Coping)

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 16th June - St Mary’s Taster Day

During the taster day, the children will experience different activities in small groups along with other children from other primary schools.

We will leave Our Lady’s shortly after the beginning of the school day and will return to school before the end of the school day. The children will wear their usual school uniform and will need to take a packed lunch. If your child is usually on school dinners, or is eligible for free school meals, then school can provide a school packed lunch to take with us (please let school know, so these can be ordered in advance). The school office will have emailed you regarding this.

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June. Further details to follow. Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather.

Own clothes day - Friday 24th June

To take part in this own clothes day, the PTFA ask that the children contribute a used book (for a stall at the Storytelling fair) and some chocolates (for a chocolate tombola at the Storytelling fair) .

Storytelling Fair - Friday 8th July

This will take place after school (3.30pm - 5.30pm) - more details to follow nearer the time.

Hope you all have a wonderful well deserved weekend!

Mrs McVey, Mrs Frost and Miss Mills

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Our week...

Our learning this week…

In English we have begun looking at a modern retelling of a myth/ dilemma story and we have also been working on relative clauses.

In maths the children have been adding fractions and mixed numbers.

In RE we’ve been discussing the importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – a gift that Jesus has given to us which helps to deepen our relationship with him. The children recalled going to their own first confession and have written a guide for younger children.

In computing the children have had fun this week learning about a device called a Micro:bit and they explored the blocks within the code editor.

History - The children have learnt how important religion was to the Maya civilisation and have learnt about their gods and rituals such as blood letting.

In PE the children have worked together to complete orienteering activities.

In art the children have been learning about the Manchester born artist Chris Ofili, who uses colourful layering techniques, and have been experimenting with designs on the theme of the Maya Gods using his style.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Abigail

Maths - Sam

Writing - Maisy

Star Award - Idana & Kyran

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                361 points    

2      Gabriella 298 points

3      Samuel 264 points

4       Ebony 234 points

5       Henri 222 points

Well done, keep up the great work!

Music medal

Well done to Vinny and Max, who have both been awarded their bronze music medals for drumming.👏🏻👏🏻

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Exercise and fresh air (Basics)

  • Find time for your interests (Coping)

Dates for your diary:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - Friday 20th May

On Friday 20th May Key Stage 2 will be holding a ‘Street Party’ on the KS2 Yard to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. On this day the children will be asked to wear red, white and blue clothes for the day. We are asking parents for a contribution to PTFA funds of £1 for each child - please see the letter that came home yesterday from our PTFA. The rest of the afternoon will be spent engaged in playground games, craft and fun activities all relating to the Platinum Jubilee. Please keep your fingers crossed for lovely weather! Many thanks.

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June. Further details to follow. Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather - but again look our for further details. Just wanted to give you advanced notice!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend Year 5!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Dates for your diary...

Just a few dates for your diary ...

Blackpool Beating Bullying Bronze award

A reminder…

Further to the appointment of 8 new anti-bullying ambassadors in school, we are now working hard to achieve the Bronze award for Blackpool Beating Bullying. In order to achieve the relevant threshold, school needs to carry out surveys on different groups of people in school. There will be 4 surveys/questionnaires aimed at the following groups: 

  • children - Year 5’s will complete theirs in class.

  • parents - below is a link and we invite you to complete the survey.

  • teachers

  • governors

All questionnaires are on line and only live for one more week.

Here is the survey link for parents, we would very much appreciate it if you could complete the survey, if you haven’t already, to enable us to make steps forward to receiving the Bronze award for school. Thank you for your support.

Parents/Carers-

https://forms.gle/TP2A4mnpJwBwmT6R6

Dates for your diary:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - Friday 20th May

On Friday 20th May Key Stage 2 will be holding a ‘Street Party’ on the KS2 Yard to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. On this day the children will be asked to wear red, white and blue clothes for the day. We are asking parents for a contribution to PTFA funds of £1 for each child. The rest of the afternoon will be spent engaged in playground games, craft and fun activities all relating to the Platinum Jubilee. Please keep your fingers crossed for lovely weather and keep an eye out for the PTFA letter which will be sent home soon with further details! Many thanks.

KS2 Sports Day - Monday 27th June

KS2 Sports Day will be held on the afternoon of Monday 27th June. Further details to follow. Parents will be invited to watch their child take part in our activities and races - this date is subject to the weather - but again look our for further details. Just wanted to give you advanced notice!

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Why walk when you can dance?

Today we celebrated International day of dance💃. The children looked fabulous in their dance outfits and in the morning they were treated to two dance sessions, Zumba and Country dancing, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. At the end of the morning, KS2 came together in the hall to watch children from Year 3 to 6 who had prepared a special dance to perform to the classes. A big well done to Alisha 👏🏻 and Ebony 👏🏻who performed from our class. Take a look at some photos and videos of our morning…

Our learning this week…

In English the children planned out their Greek myth from the point of view of Pandora ready to write their story.

In maths the children have been adding and subtracting fractions.

In RE we looked at the meaning of sin and reflected on how sin hurts us, others and our relationship with God.

In our Science lesson this week the children have identified the main stages of a baby’s development in the womb and have also compared the gestation periods of different mammals.

In history the children have begun to find out about the Maya civilisation and have explored events on a timeline.

In computing we have looked at the positive and negative effects of online communication and have explored different forms of communication including emojis, gifs and memes. The children also enjoyed creating their own memes

PSHE - In Bounce Forward the children identified emotions and learnt that they can link to the way we behave. They also explored positive coping strategies and created their own coping plan.

Spanish - The children consolidated the days of the week and the months of the year and found out about saints’ days and the Spanish custom of celebrating the day of the saint who has your name .

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Max

Writing Award - Alisha

Maths Award - Lillie S

Star Award - Idana

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Good housing - keep your bedroom tidy (Basics)

  • Take responsibility for yourself (Core self)

Please take a look at the new family version of the resilient framework which will help your family build resilience at home. There are some lovely ideas for resilient moves that you can make as a family.

Family version of the resilient moves framework

Our Lady receives prestigious National Award

We are delighted to announce that Our lady of the Assumption has received a prestigious national award for our role in giving young people access to cultural and creative learning as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) Associate Schools Programme (ASP). To find out more please read this letter.

Blackpool Beating Bullying Bronze award

Further to the appointment of 8 new anti-bullying ambassadors in our class, school is now working hard to achieve the Bronze award for Blackpool Beating Bullying. In order to achieve the relevant threshold, school needs to carry out surveys on different groups of people in school. There will be 4 surveys/questionnaires aimed at the following groups: 

  • children - Year 5’s will complete theirs in class.

  • parents - below is a link and we invite you to complete the survey.

  • teachers

  • governors

All questionnaires are on line and only live for 2 weeks from the 3rd May.

Here is the survey link for parents, we would very much appreciate it if you could complete the survey to enable us to make steps forward to receiving the Bronze award for school. Thank you for your support.

Parents/Carers-

https://forms.gle/TP2A4mnpJwBwmT6R6

Enjoy your three day weekend and I’ll see you back at school on Tuesday. Swimming will take place as usual on Tuesday so don’t forget your swimming kit.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Our week...

Welcome back after the Easter holidays. I hope you all had a wonderful Holy week and enjoyed your time together. We’ve had a lovely week back in school and the children have worked really hard. However, I can’t believe that we’re already in the last term of our time together in Year 5, time truly does fly when you’re having fun!

Our learning this week…

In English we have been working on creating and punctuating complex sentences.

In maths the children have been comparing and ordering fractions greater than one.

In our Science lesson this week the children have looked closely at the life cycle of humans and have identified some of the main features of each stage.

In geography the children have been learning about the three stages of a river (upper, middle and lower) and have identified and described the features.

In computing the children have been using live loops to create music using Sonic Pi and then have worked with other children to evaluate their compositions.

PE - This week the children took part in relays as part of a team, which developed their understanding of basic orienteering symbols using a map key. They worked really hard and all teams successfully completed the challenge.

PSHE - We began our ‘Think Good, Feel Good’ sessions of Bounce Forward today which link to the Coping and Core Self Potion of the resilient framework. Using Disney’s Inside Out film, we explored all the emotions the children might feel and reinforced that it is ok to feel different at times and that is ok to feel sad, angry etc. It’s how we cope with it that helps us to be resilient.

Spanish - The children have been learning the days of the week and the months of the year.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Ollie

Writing Award - Samuel

Maths Award - Malachy

Star Award - Gabriella

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves of their Easter fun this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Get together with people you can rely on (Belonging)

  • Take responsibility for yourself (Core self)

RSC Youth Advisory Board Success

Well done to Maia who recently applied to the RSC to become a member of their Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which reports directly to the RSC’s main board. The YAB is made up of 30 young people aged 9-18 from Associate Schools from all over the country who have all chosen to take on a position of responsibility and advocate for Shakespeare and the Arts. They are all passionate about making a difference and wanting their voices to be heard. As Lead Associate School in this area, we are really proud that Maia will be our third pupil from Our Lady’s school to be accepted onto the board. Congratulations Maia, we’re sure that you’re going to do a great job!

Enjoy your weekend Year 5, I hope you get to enjoy more of this lovely weather we have been having.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Sponsored walk against hunger

Today we undertook our sponsored ‘Walk Against Hunger’ walk and had our picnic outside the Solaris centre with a small reflection to think about those we were walking for. Thank you so much for all of your generous donations, together we managed to raise so much money for CAFOD and Brian House. The children behaved really well and made us all incredibly proud, well done Year 5!

Our ducklings …

On Monday morning our 6 duckling eggs arrived in school and we were all very excited. Our first two ducklings hatched on Monday night, two more arrived on Tuesday and then two more hatched on Wednesday. We will enjoy looking after the ducklings till next week when they go to their new home and over the course of the week, we will observe them as part of our Science work. Meet Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio, Don Pedro, Hero and Leonato…

Resilience conference

Well done to the children who took part in the Resilience conference this week. They shared their Shakespeare work with others and held mini workshops. Well done!

World Book Day…

Last week in school they celebrated World Book Day. I was sad I wasn’t there to celebrate with them but so pleased to see just how good they looked. Thank you for all your support in providing the children with great costumes…

Much Ado About Nothing

During our performance at the Theatre, professional photos were taken of their performance. Take a look, the children look great and the photographs capture their fantastic performance beautifully…

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Be brave (Coping)

  • Spend time with good people and in good places (Belonging)

Social media warning

Dear Parents,

I feel that I need to bring to your attention some of the issues that we are currently having in Year 5.

In recent weeks, I have been informed of a few issues where children are using inappropriate language/messages on social media towards each other. Although this bullying activity is not happening on the school site, it then affects behaviour, anxiety and subsequently lesson time and the learning of pupils in school.

We cannot regulate the online access that pupils have outside school, but if an issue of cyberbullying is reported to us, then we have a duty of care to inform the parents of the children involved.

There is clear guidance on the appropriate age ranges for certain online apps and I would like to draw your attention to these below.

WhatsApp recently announced a change to their terms and conditions for users based in Europe. Users need to be 16 to use WhatsApp.

Nearly all other social media services require users to be at least 13 years of age to access and use their services. This includes Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, Musical.ly and Skype.

Whilst there is no age restriction for watching videos on YouTube, users need to be 13 or older to have their own YouTube account (enabling them to subscribe to other channels, like videos, post comments, share their own content and flag inappropriate content).

The online world is a minefield for children and the situation has changed significantly in the last 10-15 years, as a whole range of unlimited content, both good and bad is a few clicks away. Once something has been posted on social media, it is very hard to get rid of.

 I would ask parents therefore, to be vigilant and monitor what children are posting online.

Please also see our new online safety newsletter for further guidance.

Thanks for your support.

Covid

Despite the legal rules on Covid changing, we still ask parents NOT to send their child to school if they suspect they have Covid or have any Covid symptoms. The virus remains highly contagious and we have had a number of Covid cases in Year 5 and throughout school, so PLEASE do a test if you are not sure and keep your child at home. Many thanks.

As I’ve not been in school for most of this week, we’ll leave awards and update on our Bedrock competition next week. Next week concludes our Book club Lenten challenge - if your child has yet to finish their Lenten challenge book please encourage them to finish it this weekend so they are able to join in with our celebrations. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Posted
AuthorKay McVey

Lenten Challenge - 'Walk Against Hunger'

Today, Year 5 have all come home with a sponsorship form. This Lent, Our Lady of the Assumption is looking to fundraise for both CAFOD (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) in its campaign to ‘Walk Against Hunger’ and also our local children’s cancer charity – Brian House. We will make it our own ‘Pilgrimage’ during Lent knowing that each little step we take will make a BIG difference. Each class will set its own Lenten walking target and in Year 5 we have chosen to do our walk to the Solaris Centre and the glitter ball on the promenade. Whilst we are there, we thought it may be nice to take a packed lunch and sit and have a picnic before returning back to school. The date we will go has not yet been finalised but I expect it to be in the last two weeks of this half term before Easter. I will update you soon. In the meantime, school are asking parents/families to sponsor their child/children to undertake their special ‘Pilgrimage Walk’. Once we’ve completed our walk, we will add our kilometres to CAFOD’s ‘ Walk Against Hunger Totaliser’.  The aim nationally is 40,000 km! This is a massive challenge, but by joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time. CAFOD is also supporting the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Thank you for your support.

Our Lent book challenge 📚🌟

I’m delighted with the enthusiasm the children have shown this week for our Lent book reading challenge. This week I was pleased to see so many of Year 5 finishing their first chosen book, taking their quiz and then challenging themselves to reading another. This is amazing Year 5, keep up the great reading!

Much Ado About Nothing 🎭

Show time is almost upon us and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your children for your dedication and hard work. We are incredibly proud of all your children for the work they have put in and we really hope that you are going to enjoy their performance.

Just a reminder of the details for Monday and Tuesday…

Monday 14th March - Technical rehearsal

We will go to the Grand Theatre by coach for our rehearsal at 10am and will return to school around 11am. The children are asked to come in their costume - black jogging bottoms, black t-shirt, black socks and black school shoes with school PE jumper/hoody.

Tuesday 15th March - Performance day

Children should come to school wearing their costume (as above). During the morning the children will be having a full dress rehearsal and they will have the opportunity to watch the other schools perform..

The children will need to bring with them a packed lunch and a water bottle. No sweets or fizzy drinks. The children will remain in the theatre during this time with staff. As there will be quite a bit of time spent between scenes in the changing room, the children may want to bring with them some small activities to keep them occupied whilst they are waiting - for example a book,  comic, colouring book, paper and pen… No electrical devices are allowed and nothing too noisy as the changing rooms are directly above the Grand Theatre stage.

After the first performance, you have arranged for your child to be collected from the stage door at Matcham Court at about 2.30pm (as soon as we can get the children out after the 1pm matinee performance).

During this break between performances, please make sure that the children eat before returning for the evening performance. Children need to return to the stage door in costume at 4:45pm for an ensemble workshop with the RSC. They will also need a water bottle.

The evening performance starts at 6pm and is expected to finish just over an hour after that - there is no interval. You will then be able to collect your child at the end of the evening. As there will be other schools leaving the theatre at this time, the children can be collected at about 7.30pm from the designated point not the stage door. Your child can be collected from outside the Body shop on Victoria Street. As we have duty of care at this time, please do not take your child without first signing them out from Our Lady’s staff. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Thank you all so much for your support.

Our award winners:

Golden Award - Evie

Maths Award - Izzy

Year 5 Star Winner - Evie and Gabriella

Bedrock Competition

Here is our TOP 5 winners on the scoreboard:

1        Maisy                258 points    

2      Gabriella 214 points

3      Abigail 192 points

4       Franchesca 186 points

5       Ollie 181 points

Well done, keep up the great work!

Bikeability

Congratulations to the children from Year 5 and Year 6 who took part in the Bikeability training this week. The children spent two days outside with the Bikeability team, first on the playground and then out on the roads around our school, learning how to ride their bicycles safely on the road. The team were delighted with the behaviour of the children and the children were awarded their Level 1 and Level 2 badges. Well done cyclists! 👏🏻🚲

Resilient moves…

Thank you to those who have shared their resilient moves this week…

What resilient moves will you make this week? Please email me photos of your resilient moves you make this week to year5@our-lady.blackpool.sch.uk I look forward to receiving them.

This week’s resilient moves challenges are:

  • Highlight achievements (Learning)

  • More healthy the relationships the better (Belonging)

World Book Day at Our Lady’s - 25th March

A reminder that although World Book day took place nationally at the beginning of March, we are going to celebrate it on the 25th March. We would like the children to dress as your favourite character from a book. Start thinking about your favourite character and what you might wear! I will also be asking the children to bring in their favourite book to support some activities that we will be completing on the day.

Phew what a week this has been! It has been a really busy one and the children certainly deserve their rest this weekend - well done Year 5! Hope you all have a restful weekend, ready for your performance next week!

Mrs McVey, Miss Evans and Mrs Frost

Blackpool Council have launched the Digital Blackpool Project to improve digital access to residents by providing them with the equipment, skills and confidence needed to access the digital world. If you’re interested please see this flyer for more information.

Posted
AuthorKay McVey