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Oak Class 2023-24

 

Welcome to Oak Class pages where we hope you will find out all about our Year 5 children and what they have been learning.

Oak Class has 30 children and the class is taught by Mrs Hayes and Mrs Mankelto, supported by Mrs Boler. Like the other classes they also get up to all kinds of fun learning!

Autumn term class newsletter

Spring term newsletter

Y5 Autumn term spellings

Y5 Spring term spellings

Y5 KIRFs

2022-23

 

KIRF T6 2023

Newsletter Terms 5+6 2023

Spellings Term 6 2023

RSE Letter Term 6 2023


Oak Class had an action packed Term 3 and 4.

Term 3 had a sweet start to it with chocolate tasting! As part of their Fairtrade project, Oak class carried out a blind taste test.  Surprisingly, the cheapest (yet still sustainably sourced) Sainsbury’s chocolate came out the favourite. The least favourite was the Green & Blacks chocolate, which hosts the Fairtrade logo on the packaging. From here they began their healthy cereal bar project, looking in detail at ingredients, nutritional values and packaging.  Then of course came the best part, making them.  It was sticky but fun and of course delicious.

 

In Science, Oak Class have been looking at the topic of Living Things and Their Habitats.  We were looking closely at the life cycle of a chicken and examined the inside of chicken eggs to see where it all began – we had a cracking time!

In RE we created a conscience alley and ‘Pharoah’ and ‘Moses’ were advised by Oak Class on the right decision to make in relation to God’s People. The children were very enthused by this and some brilliant acting was shown by all!

In Term 4, we started off with our hook for ‘Should I stay or should I go?’  Oak class were given paper to form a bridge and communicate as a team to cross the ‘infested water’.

 

Moving on from this, we created paper bridges that had to be able to stand on its own and be able to hold a weighted object.  After our DT lessons on different types of bridges, the children created Truss bridges using paper, splits and nuts and bolts. We had some very competitive children!

In Science, they have been learning about forces and carrying out lots of investigations.  They tested different surfaces with ramps and cars in their friction investigation and even tested the theory of gravity.

In addition, the children have developed their suspense and mystery writing, using ‘The London Eye Mystery’ as their stimulus.  We were all very hooked on the text and couldn’t wait to find out how the main character solved the mystery of his missing cousin!

Term 4 ended with celebrating Easter and a fun Easter hunt. The children have all worked really hard so far this year and I look forward to this new term feeling fresh and ready to learn.

All the best,

Mrs Hayes and Mrs Boler


Oak Class have all been working extremely hard this year and have settled back in to the school routine brilliantly. I am really enjoying teaching them as they are very enthusiastic learners and a pleasure to teach.

We have learnt lots already and had some fascinating topics covered. In Term 1, we read the epic story of Beowulf and the children wrote their own legends, which were really very good. We spent lots of time covering the Vikings and Anglo Saxons and crafted our own armour. We had an exciting Viking day at the end of term, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

This term, we have been learning about the UK; we are now familiar with the countries, capital cities and counties of the UK and we can name some mountains and hills! The children have carried out lots of great Science investigations and we have recently been growing our own salt crystals (please see the photo below).

The children have particularly been enthused by our book ‘War Horse.’ They were desperate to read it in our English lessons, willing Joey and Albert to be reunited. Luckily, after many emotional and thrilling difficulties, Joey and Albert made it back to Devon together and the children were all able to sigh a huge relief!

The children have worked extremely hard this past term. They have learnt new things and revised past learning, as well as writing lots! I really noticed a difference in progress this term and the children have achieved well in their assessments.

I hope you all have a super Christmas break and I can’t wait to see you all in January.

Take care,

Mrs Hayes and Mrs Boler



I cannot believe that we are at the end of another school year - and what a year Oak Class have had.  They have met all the challenges of this year with maturity, confidence and a smile – I could not be prouder of them!

Term 5 saw us enter the world of the Aztecs with our game of Ullamaliztli or Pok a Tok, an interesting ball game where you cannot use your hands or feet and the ball has to stay in the air continuously – very funny to watch Oak class playing this.  We looked at the story of The Sad Night, telling the story of the Spanish invasion and end of the Aztec civilisation from which Oak Class then wrote their own civilisation story. 

In art, we made Aztec masks using clay, paint and mosaic tiles using traditional patterns as a guide.

We ended our Aztec unit with a Fire Festival in Forest School with s’mores and a fiesta with a delicious chilli con carne (well Mrs Clayton said it was delicious, but that is because she made it!), and another game of Pok a Tok.

Science in Term 5 saw us looking at Earth and Space.  We investigated night and day and how this occurs using torches and balloons; we moved on to looking at the phases of the moon which involved a very tasty Oreo waning and waxing moons lesson.

We finished off the term with a week in Forest School where we made full use of the mud kitchen, made Aztec settlements in the trees and even set up a trading system like the Aztecs – muddy fun was had by all.

In music and RE we looked at Hinduism and the Festival of Colours, Holi.  In term 6 we joined for the week with Willow class where we investigated the colours, patterns and practices of Holi.  We created rangoli patterns with chalks, sand rangoli patterns and beaded bracelets.  This all culminated in our own Holi Festival on the field with music, Bollywood dance routine (choreographed by year 5), some yummy food and throwing of powdered paint.  We all had an amazing if not messy time!

Term 6 started with a whole school hook in the playground where children were introduced to our Inspire topic.

Week 1 saw us learning about Alan Turing and the part he played in cracking the Enigma code and WW2.  We wrote a biography about him and created our own code using the Cipher system.

Week 2 we analysed some photos from a box brownie camera and looked at the story of Flotsam.  This lead to discussions about pollution in our oceans as well as how global warming is impacting upon our oceans.  We created a balanced argument for and against the benefits / damages of plastic in our lives.  We created some global warming art in the style of Banksy and made thaumatropes and flip-books, looking at early animations in computing.

Week 3 we looked at Fairtrade and sustainability and the idea of food miles.  The children had lively debates and discussions around ways we could help our planet and small changes we could make to ensure Fairtrade farmers are treated fairly but we can also live sustainably.  We created our first stop motion animations in computing with some amazing film footage.

Week 4 was our performing arts week where we looked at the Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.  We discussed how the presentation of the poem in different ways could affect how we felt about the poem.  We incorporated our music lessons on musical theatre and how the way a story is told / performed influences an audience’s enjoyment.

We enjoyed our second boxing session as well as a super, salty beach day.  We tried paddle boarding, kayaking and of course a lot of jumping of the paddleboards.  We also had great fun digging in the sand and being buried by Mrs Clayton.

Week 6 was our Sport Week, where we looked at Dame Kelly Holmes and the contributions she has made to sports and young people.  We researched her life from the armed forces to Olympic Games to ambassador for sports and the contribution she has had with schools and sports locally.  We went on to create our own Lympne News Desk, where we created news scripts and delivered the news reporting on the Olympic Games.

Oak class had some interesting and inspiring visitors to open our eyes and hearts to new ideas in science and geography.  Brockhill year 6 students came to teach us about acids and alkaline in hands-on chemistry experiments.  We were able to try out different substances and determine

whether they were an acid by the colour they changed.  We then used spaghetti and marshmallows to build a structure that would withstand an earthquake in the geography lesson.

This term also saw many sporting activities for Oak Class including our Beach Sports Day.  Oak class tried paddleboarding, kayaking and of course, sandcastle building – no-one found any buried treasure though!

Also this term, we also had our class trip to Wildwood to learn about global warming and the impact on our wildlife.  We saw bears and wolves, played in the play area and of course, visited the gift shop!

We had sports day with our traditional egg and spoon and sack races – it was eggscellent fun!

Wednesday was a very wet day – we had a chaotic water fight on the field, and having chance to unwind after a very busy final term.  Finally, Thursday saw us having our traditional end of term family picnic on the field with the whole school and their families – a perfect way to end a wonderful year at Lympne School. 

Year 5 are now ready to become the head of the school and I know that they are going to do you all proud.

I would like to say thank you to all the parents and grandparents for making me so welcome and being so supportive over the last four terms.  I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching your children.  I have seen them grown academically, emotionally and in humour and I could not be more proud of them but it also makes me incredibly sad to be leaving them. 

I know you will continue to be amazing Oak Class – have a very happy summer.

Mrs Clayton x


 

Oak Class have had an action packed Term 3 and have taken all the changes in their stride like the true superstars they are.

Term 3 had a sweet treat to kick start it with chocolate tasting – yummy.  As part of their Fairtrade project, Oak class carried out a blind taste test.  Fairtrade chocolate came out the favourite.  From here they began their healthy cereal bar project, looking in detail at ingredients, nutritional values and packaging.  Then of course came the best part, making them.  It was sticky but fun and of course delicious.

In Science, Oak Class have been looking at the topic of Living Things and Their Habitats.  We were looked closely at the life cycle of a bird and examined the inside of chicken and duck eggs to see where it all began – we had a cracking time; it was eggscellent!  We then looked at the life cycle of a amphibians and acted out being frogs laying eggs with bird seed and plastic cups.

 

In RE we created a conscience alley and ‘Pharoah’ and ‘Moses’ were advised by Oak Class as to the right decision to make in relation to God’s People.  I can see some budding actors amongst Oak Class already.

It has been a busy term and the children have eggscelled in their learning (sorry - last one). 

In Term 4, we started off with our hook for ‘Should I stay or should I go?’ question.  Oak class were given 10 planks to form a bridge and communicate as a team to cross the ‘infested water’.

Moving on from this, they created paper bridges that had to be able to stand on its own and be able to hold a weighted object.  After our DT lessons on different types of bridges, Oak class created Truss bridges using spaghetti and marshmallows.

In science, they have been learning about forces and carrying out lots of investigations.  Their levers investigation was to identify different types of levers and locate the fulcrum, effort and load and create their own catapult lever; they created pulley systems to lift filled containers; tested different surfaces with ramps and cars in their friction investigation and even tested Galileo’s theory.

 

Oak class have developed their suspense and mystery writing, using The Viewer by Gary Crew as their stimulus.  Along with the intriguing story, the illustrations through history really captured their imagination and led to in depth discussions and predicting, culminating in writing their own alternative ending.

Term 4 ended with celebrating Easter and a fun Easter hunt – they have worked so hard and need half term as they must be eggshausted (sorry could not resist the very last one).

 

Wishing you all a wonderful half term and a Happy Easter.

Mrs Clayton and Miss Watts


 

Oak Class have had an interesting and jam-packed year so far! They have all been working extremely hard and have settled back in to the school routine brilliantly. I am particularly proud of how well they have adapted to me teaching from a screen!

We have learnt lots already and had some fascinating topics covered. In Term 1, we read the epic story of Beowulf and the children wrote their own legends, which were really very good. We spent lots of time covering the Vikings and Anglo Saxons and crafted our own armour.

This term, we have immersed ourselves in World War One, which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. We started by baking some traditional war time biscuits, which the children found very tasty – much to my surprise! We are ending the topic by designing and building our own trench models.

     

   

  

 

We have discussed in detail about what war must have been like for both the soldiers and animals; the children have been hooked on finding out as much as possible and our text ‘War Horse’ has opened their eyes to lots of the sad truths.

The children have worked extremely hard this past term. They have learnt new things and revised past learning, along with written lots! I really noticed a difference in progress this term in particular and this has been reflected in their great assessment scores.

I hope you all have a super Christmas break and I can’t wait to see you all (albeit behind a screen) in January. Stay safe.

Mrs Hayes and Miss Watts