Year 5: Blog items
Date: 18th Dec 2025 @ 2:49pm
Year 5 have been learning how to identify and write equivalent fractions, as well as how to add and subtract fractions, including mixed number fractions. Through practical activities and visual representations, the children have developed a secure understanding of how fractions work.
A key focus of this learning has been helping the children understand that a larger denominator does not mean a larger part. By using bar modelling and fraction models, they explored how fractions are divided into equal parts and learned that the more parts a whole is split into, the smaller each part becomes.
Date: 18th Dec 2025 @ 2:43pm
In Year 5, the children have been developing their descriptive writing skills through an imaginative task based on a visit to Santa’s Grotto. Using their five senses, they carefully described what they could see, hear, smell, touch and feel, helping their writing to come alive for the reader.
Throughout this unit, the children have focused on using a range of advanced language features to enhance their work. These included fronted adverbials to set the scene and add variety to sentence openings, expanded noun phrases to give more detailed descriptions, and relative clauses to provide additional information and improve sentence fluency.
The children showed great creativity and enthusiasm, producing vivid and engaging pieces of writing that demonstrated both their imagination and their growing confidence with more complex sentence structures.
Date: 17th Dec 2025 @ 1:50pm
In our final Royal Opera House Magic Flute lesson, we brought together all the skills and knowledge we’ve built throughout the last half-term.
We began by revisiting our year group’s composers and reflecting on the musical ideas we’ve explored. Then we warmed up with the lively “Pa Pa Pa” vocal exercise and completed a character role call to refresh our understanding of the story and its key personalities.
To finish, we came together as a full class choir for a joyful performance of “Pa Pa Pa Papageno,” celebrating both our learning and our confidence as performers.
Date: 17th Dec 2025 @ 1:27pm
Today, we used our knowledge of Christianity to produce a picture of the key characters in the nativity. We used silhouettes on a colourful background to make the characters stand out and create a stained glass effect. We then used silhouettes of Mary, baby Jesus, Joseph and the star shining brightly above the manger.
Date: 16th Dec 2025 @ 1:43pm
🏛️ A Quick Look at Today’s Assembly
We had a visitor come in for a 30‑minute assembly to explain what Parliament is and why it matters. They broke it down simply: Parliament is where laws are debated and decisions about the country are made. It’s made up of the House of Commons, where elected MPs sit, and the House of Lords, who review and improve proposed laws.
The speaker reminded us that Parliament shapes everything from education to national policies, so understanding it helps us understand the world we live in. A short Q&A at the end let students ask about elections, debates, and how young people can get involved.
A brief session, but a surprisingly engaging one that made politics feel a lot more relevant.
Date: 9th Dec 2025 @ 3:52pm
Year 5 and 6 had a magical afternoon watching the pantomime Cinderella! From the moment the 'curtain rose', the children were full of excitement—laughing, cheering, and joining in with all the pantomime fun. They loved the dazzling costumes, the fairy godmother’s magic, and of course shouting “He’s behind you!” throughout the show.
It was a joyful day filled with laughter, wonder, and festive spirit—one the children will remember for a long time!
Year 5/6 - Christmas dinner and jumper day!
Date: 9th Dec 2025 @ 3:43pm
Year 5 and 6 had a wonderfully festive day! Pupils arrived in their colourful Christmas jumpers, filling the classroom with sparkle and cheer. The celebrations continued with a delicious Christmas lunch, complete with all the trimmings. What a joyful way to end the term!
Year 5 - What a balancing act!
Date: 9th Dec 2025 @ 1:49pm
This half-term we have been developing our gymnastic skills. This week, we have worked in pairs and larger groups to demonstrate our core strength, balance and team work abilities. As you can see from the photos, some of our pupils challenged themselves and, with the support of teachers and our Sports Coach, worked in larger groups to create a variety of shapes.
Date: 9th Dec 2025 @ 12:36pm
Year 5 have been learning about the Christmas Truce during World War I. We explored a diary entry written by a soldier and discussed the events and emotions described. As part of our work, we focused on developing our vocabulary, looking closely at words such as fleeting, truce, and sorrow to deepen our understanding. We also spent time imagining what life might have been like for soldiers spending Christmas on the front line—considering the harsh conditions, the mixed feelings they experienced, and the significance of the brief moments of peace and humanity during the war.
Date: 9th Dec 2025 @ 12:31pm
In Maths, Year 5 have been learning how to compare fractions with both the same and different denominators. The children have learned that when the denominators are the same, the fractions can be compared easily. However, when the denominators are different, we need to analyse the fractions more carefully. Sometimes we use our knowledge of equivalent fractions to help, and other times we reason about the size of the fractions. For example, 4/6 is greater than one half, so it must be larger than 2/9. We then looked at how we would order and compare fractions when the numerators are the same!
Year 5 - PSHE - Personal Hygiene
Date: 5th Dec 2025 @ 2:04pm
In our Year 5 practical lesson on personal hygiene, we explored the many ways we can keep ourselves clean and healthy. We began by creating a colourful spider diagram to organise ideas such as handwashing, brushing our teeth, showering regularly, and wearing clean clothes. Then, in small groups, we acted out different hygiene habits without speaking, while the rest of the class tried to guess what we were demonstrating. It was a fun, active way to understand why looking after ourselves is important for our own wellbeing and for the people around us.
Date: 4th Dec 2025 @ 12:18pm
In Science, Year 5 have been learning about dissolving, filtering and the difference between a solution and a mixture. As part of their experiments, they investigated what happens when soil, sand, and salt are added to water. They observed that salt dissolves in water to form a solution, while soil and sand do not dissolve. The class then practiced filtering, using a filter to separate the sand from the water, demonstrating how mixtures can be separated using physical methods. Through these activities, the students are gaining a better understanding of solutions, mixtures, and practical scientific techniques.
Date: 4th Dec 2025 @ 12:16pm
In music lessons, Year 5 have been learning about The Magic Flute, a famous opera composed by Mozart. They have been exploring the story and characters, and have been singing songs about Papageno, the cheerful bird-catcher, including the well-known tune “Papageno, Papagena.” Through this, the students are not only practicing their singing skills but also learning about opera, musical storytelling, and characterisation.
Date: 26th Nov 2025 @ 12:54pm
This half term we have been learning how to say different pets in French. Working collaboratively with partners we have developed our ability to introduce ourselves discussing what pets we do and do not have. This is building on our previous learning in school. We are going to continue to build our confidence as we move on through this half term.
Date: 25th Nov 2025 @ 1:56pm
This half term, Year 5 have been developing their gymnastics skills with a focus on jumping techniques. The children have learned how to perform controlled jumps on the floor, concentrating on balance, power and safe landings. They have progressed to jumping onto vaults, practising correct take-off positions and body control in the air. Finally, they have extended their skills by learning to jump safely over vaults, combining speed, height and coordination. Throughout the unit, pupils have improved their confidence, strength and spatial awareness while applying key safety principles in every session.
Date: 25th Nov 2025 @ 1:52pm
Year 5 have been studying the Anglo-Saxons this half term. They have learned about when and why the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain, the different tribes they came from, and what everyday life was like during this period. The class also explored how their beliefs changed over time, learning how the Anglo-Saxons moved from pagan traditions to Christianity and how this transformation affected their culture and society.
They have investigated how the Anglo-Saxons defended their land against repeated Viking raids and invasions, discovering the key battles, leaders, and strategies that shaped this turbulent period. They also learned how the ongoing conflict eventually led to the creation of the Danelaw, an area of Britain ruled by the Vikings but influenced by both cultures.
This week, the children examined the growing threats the Vikings posed over several centuries — from early coastal raids to full-scale invasions — and considered how these challenges impacted Anglo-Saxon communities and the development of early England.
Date: 21st Nov 2025 @ 10:59am
We have been learning about irreversible changes in science. Last week, we looked at the three things needed for a fire and discussed what would happen if one of them was missing. We used jars to reduce the amount of oxygen and observed the results. This helped us understand that combustion is an irreversible change. We also observed how the flame was extinguished when the oxygen supply was reduced. As the jar covered the candle, the flame began to shrink and eventually went out because it no longer had enough oxygen to keep burning. This demonstrated that all three elements of the fire triangle—heat, fuel, and oxygen—are essential, and removing even one will stop the fire.
This week, we investigated different substances to find out whether they were acidic, neutral, or alkaline. We then poured vinegar (an acid) into bicarbonate of soda (an alkali) to see what would happen. We observed a chemical reaction and learned what occurs when acids and alkalis mix.
Year 5 - Reading into Writing - Stories from other Cultures
Date: 20th Nov 2025 @ 10:35am
This week in Year 5, our Reading into Writing journey has taken us on an exciting exploration of stories from another culture. We have been analysing WAGOLLs (What A Good One Looks Like) based on Aboriginal tales, focusing on their unique features, themes, and language. This deep dive is helping us understand how cultural context shapes storytelling and is preparing us to draft and write our own stories inspired by stories in the Dreamtime.
Date: 12th Nov 2025 @ 8:48pm
This week in Computing, Year 5 have been developing their programming skills using Scratch. They learned how conditional statements work using if, then and else and how these connect a condition to different outcomes in a program. Using selection inside a forever loop, they created programs that constantly checked for things like key presses. By the end of the lesson, the children could identify the condition and outcomes in blocks of code and design their own Scratch projects that behave differently depending on what the user does.
Date: 11th Nov 2025 @ 11:15am
Today, Tuesday 11th November, each pupil from Boundary Primary School made and planted their poppy in the school Remembrance Garden. On each poppy they had written the name of a soldier who had died in the First World War. Afterwards, the school took part in a service where the pupils remembered these soldiers and others who had sacrificed their lives in past and present conflicts. The service was led by Year 6 and Reverend Peter. The pupils also had further opportunities to reflect as they took part in a whole school art week based around the theme of poppies, using different techniques, such as collage, print and sketching.
Date: 7th Nov 2025 @ 9:18am
Children in Year 5 have been looking at Remembrance and have learnt more about why the Poppy is a symbol of remembrance. They have then sketched poppies in a variety of styles and using a range of different techniques. Their final piece will be sketched onto battle field maps, flight plans or plane diagrams from World War 1 and 2. The children have also been busy making poppies that have the name of a soldier that they will keep in their thoughts when they plant them during our whole school act of remembrance on Tuesday 11th November.
Date: 6th Nov 2025 @ 7:57pm
Today, Year 5 had an amazing visit from The Global Music Academy! Saied and Emma came in to teach us all about global music, focusing on sounds and instruments from Palestine and the Congo. The children learned how to sing together in unison and even explored harmonies, which sounded incredible! They also talked about how music helps people express themselves and share stories about their lives and cultures. Later, the class performed as a whole ensemble using a mix of percussion and traditional instruments from both regions, it was full of energy and rhythm! To wrap up the day, all of Key Stage 2 joined in to celebrate Year 5’s learning. Emma got everyone in the hall singing beautifully together, while Saied wowed everyone with his amazing Oud playing. It was such a special experience!
Date: 17th Oct 2025 @ 2:34pm
Children in Rowan have been collecting items for our class Autumnal Table all half-term! On Friday we used the leaves and conkers to create unique pieces of art! We had great fun and will be taking our pieces home when (if!) they dry!
Date: 17th Oct 2025 @ 12:11pm
This half term in Reading into Writing, Year 5 have been exploring biographies! We’ve enjoyed learning about the features of this text type and discovering how writers tell the stories of inspiring people. For our Hot Write, everyone wrote a biography about Bob Marley, showing off everything we’d learned about structuring information, using formal language, and celebrating someone’s achievements.
