Welcome to Oak's class page! Here you will find all of the exciting things we have been getting up to!

Autumn 1

In History, we have been covering the topic of World War II. We have covered topics such as evacuation, rationing, the influence of propaganda and the affect war had on people in the country. 

Our English focus this half term was writing diary entries. We looked at the story 'The Matchbox Diary', which detailed the life of a young boy travelling from Italy to America in search of a better life. In the diary entries, the children used figurative language, subordination, the ‘show don’t tell’ technique for characters’ reactions and fronted adverbials.  

In Science we have been learning about forces, looking particularly at air resistance and friction. We have carried out a number of experiments to find out how these forces work in our everyday lives. 

In Music, we’ve had the incredible opportunity to learn how to play the ukulele with Mr. Langford. We’ve learned how to read music, play various chords, and even create our own piece of Halloween-themed music! We have also enjoyed swimming lessons and tag rugby in P.E.

During National Coding Week, we had the chance to use a coding program called 'Scratch' to create a space-themed backdrop with animation and sound. 

We’ve had a workshop in school ran by Nissan. We learned about the different stages of car-building and had a chance to make our own using Lego. We also had a chance to design what a car might look like in the future. 

Students from the Dental School at Newcastle University also came in to lead a workshop about how we can keep our teeth healthy by visiting the dentist, eating healthily and brushing them properly.  

Autumn 2

Armistice Day

We celebrated Armistice Day with an assembly, a two-minute silence and an afternoon creating some poppy art work. Some of our art was taken to Winton Court to be put on display for the residents to enjoy and reflect upon.

DT

In DT, we designed, planned and created ‘doodlers’ using electrical equipment. We needed to make a simple circuit using wires, batteries and motors in order to make the doodler move to create patterns on paper.

Linking Project

Year 5 are lucky to be taking part in a ‘Linking Project’ through the Laing and Shipley Art Galleries. We have been partnered with another school in Gateshead and will be meeting them next Spring term. In the meantime, we have created some bunting with our names and a little bit about us to send to our partner school so they can get to know us a little before we meet them! Emma, who is leading the project, came into school to deliver a workshop and an assembly.

Spring 1

The children in Oak class have had another wonderful and busy half term, continuing their hard work from before the Christmas holidays. 

In English we studied Greek Myths, looking particularly at the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. We enjoyed learning about the character's and wrote our own version of the story. This linked with our History topic about the Ancient Greeks. 

In Science, we carried out lots of investigations linked to our topic of materials and their properties. We explored the best ways to separate different materials, tested which materials were the most absorbent and learned about reversible and irreversible changes. The children worked brilliantly by making predictions, carrying out tests and discussing their findings.

The NSPCC came into school, as part of our PSHCE lessons to deliver an important workshop all about keeping ourselves safe both at home and in other settings. We looked at which situations may be harmful to us and how we could use the support of trusted adults to help us if we ever felt unsure and unsafe. 

We celebrated a range of special events this half term including Children’s Mental Health Week, National Story Telling Week and Number Day. We enjoyed dressing up as numbers and completing lots of maths activities. Storyteller Chris Adriaanse came in to lead a story telling workshop and we have set up BookTok in our classroom to share our book recommendations with our friends. We have also taken part in live lessons about Wellbeing with the 0-19 team. 

In Design Technology, we explored gears and how they work. We investigated why gears are useful and how they help mechanisms move. The children then worked in teams to design and make their own gears before improving their designs so they worked more successfully.

In PE, we enjoyed Boogie Bounce and had our final half term of swimming lessons. We were very proud of how far we had come in swimming technique and confidence.