Year 5

Both Year 5 classrooms are TIMMS (Total Interactive MultiMedia System) rooms with a PC for every pupil, connected to the school network, and whiteboard with PC, Video and DVD projection. Each workplace has space for the PC keyboard to be tucked beneath the monitor plinth enabling the student to use their writing books. The room enables every student to have a level of control over how they approach, organise and present their work in a way never before possible.

Class KQ

In our first term, 5KQ were looking at the Ancient Romans. As well as exploring what it would have been like to live in Roman times and examining surviving evidence and artifacts, we have investigated some of the technological legacies of the Romans in Britain. For example, one group designed and built 3D keystone arch bridges, based on Roman bridges found in Britain. We then compared structural load against a number of different bridge structures made using the same materials.

We used coins to compare load, so children had to first measure and calculate the mass of different coins and multiply these to find the structural load! Other groups built and tested catapults, and the Roman Groma, an early surveyor’s tool for building straight roads and intersections. We then designed and built theodolytes to demonstrate how maps can be constructed. The projects we cover incorporate a wide range of applied Mathematics skills, as well as writing for different purposes based on the school’s strong language policy, involving writing to debate, describe, or instruct, for example.

 In our second term, 5KQ have been investigating the heart, and fitness. We have calculated our average weekly exercise, and performed a number of experiments to demonstrate the relationship between pulse rate and exercise. Some children have also been looking at the effects of smoking on health.

Across Year 5, we are currently using Space as a vehicle to explore physical forces. We will be investigating rockets and the different forces involved, following this up by designing our own rockets based on different methods of propulsion, such as water and chemical reactions. We have also looked at the gravity and orbits of different planets and the effect these would have on our own ‘planetary age’ and weight.