Our class teachers are Mrs Scott, Miss Rawlings (currently on maternity leave) and Mrs Wilkinson (Term 3)

Mrs Scott Monday - Thurs morning. 

Mrs Wilkinson Thurs morning - Friday (Term 3)

We also have the lovely Mrs Blundell supporting our class too. 

At St Mary’s we have a mixed Year 5 and 6 class. We aim to create an enjoyable learning environment where each child can acquire knowledge, skills and practical abilities through a variety of topics. Our curriculum is carefully planned as a whole school to ensure continuity and progression for all. The children are regularly taken on journeys to new worlds through the books we read, covering a wide range of genres and cultures.  

In Priory Class, we understand that all children learn at different paces and in different ways. Lessons and resources are chosen carefully to support all children to become independent learners. We celebrate marvellous mistakes and are courageous in asking for help when we need it. Our learning and class-based discussions are linked to our four school values: courage, curiosity, community and compassion – values we aim for all children to leave our school with a good understanding of. Additionally, St Mary’s School is linked to the nearby Church and we attend regular worship and whole school celebrations there. 

In our class, we enjoy working as a team and learn to share, take turns, help each other and always use kind words. We feel it is very important that the children feel happy and safe in the classroom. We discuss how we can all work together to understand what makes a 'good listener' and how we can look after ourselves, our classroom and each other. 

Term 1:

We spent the beginning of term getting to know each other and settling into our new year groups and new routines. At this time of year, we always select new Captains and Vice Captains. We had lots of brave children write inspiring speeches and then they shared these in their houses. From this, 4 Captains and 4 Vice Captains were selected and are now the representatives for their teams. We look forward to their input throughout the year. 

We have already enjoyed lots of fun and gripping books including: Ten Tiny Tales, The Dam and The Lost Whale. They have all helped to inspire our writing. One of our big writing projects this term (linked to the Dam) was writing an information text about the Kielder Dam. We have worked hard to publish these and Mrs Scott then sent them in the post. We are excitedly waiting for a response. Additionally, we have been learning a lot about grey whales in order to write a non-chronological report about them. Again, we had to work incredibly hard on these, as they will be sent off to the WDC charity (Whale and Dolphin Conservation) to help support them to raise awareness of this incredibly and majestic creature. 

In PE, we have been honing our skills in hockey. We have developed our passing, dribbling, attacking, defending and shooting skills amongst many others. PE lessons are a great opportunity to strengthen our team work skills and build effective communication. We have really noticed the children all getting involved and representing their team each lesson. We are now able to hold lots of mini-games - with most teams working on a 'game plan' beforehand. 

Our Art topic last term was Space. We compared the work of Peter Thorpe and Julie Perrot. We learnt about how they use colour pallets, and techniques such as blending. Then we experimented with shades, tones and blending pastels to create 3D effects. We then designed and created our own planet to go on our class Space display. 

Term 2:

In November 2024 Sid Richards (an ARP Warden) visited our class. He talked about how we could keep safe during the Blitz – by blacking out our windows, taping windows in case the glass was smashed, tilting car headlights down and to not be outside at night with lights like torches. He talked about his role as an ARP Warden and how he had to direct members of the public to the nearest public air raid shelters. We listened to an air raid siren signalling the start of a raid and we also listened to an all-clear siren to hear the differences. We talked about how thousands of children were evacuated from London to the country side and we had fun imagining we were on the train waving goodbye. It was a very informative morning brought to life by an amazing character from WW2.

“It was amazing!”

“He did a lot of fun activities with us such as an air raid shelter game with a siren.”

“He explained all the information linked to WW2 very well.”

“He explained everything really well and now we know what life was like during the Blitz when it was WW2”

Linked to our History topic, we have also been reading and learning about Anne Frank in our English lessons. The children have found her story fascinating and are able to recall many facts about her life before, during and after hiding. Some children have been inspired so much, they have bought her translated diary. From this, we have written a newspaper article detailing key facts and using eye witness accounts. I am sure the children would be able to discuss WW2 with you at length if you asked them. 

Special update - we received a reply from Paul Nichol (Operations Manager Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust) from our work that we sent off in Term 1. This reply has really shown the children that writing does have a purpose! He sent lots of photos and lots of information, which the children really enjoyed reading about. They were very impressed about some of the 'top secret' information that was also shared with us. How exciting?! 

 

We hope you have a relaxing break. Merry Christmas. Mrs Scott and Mrs Hill.  

Term 3:

Term 3 has flown by with the children continuing to work incredibly hard. We have had a big class focus on looking at 2/3 mark questions in our guided reading lessons. Questions like: What impression do you get of the main character of the text? We have looked at how to answer this effectively, using evidence to support our answers, whilst not overwriting. We have discussed point + evidence + point + evidence. The children are all showing a better understanding of how to answer these types of questions now. 

In maths, we have covered a very large fraction unit. We have revised adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators, we have learnt how to multiply fractions by integers (3/5 x 6), how to multiply fractions by fractions (3/5 x 6/7), how to divide fractions by integers 3/4 / 6, and how to find fractions of amounts (3/7 of 49). We will continue to revise this content over Term 4. 

In Art this term Priory have been studying The Surrealists. We explored the different ways that these dream-like pictures are presented and created some of our own surreal images using photography and mixed media.  Finally, each student created their own surrealist picture based on an imagined dream.

Our Science unit this term was Properties and Changes of Materials.  Everyone has enjoyed all the practical work as we have explored state changes and reversible and irreversible reactions.  We have learnt how to control variables to ensure that the results of investigations are reliable and used lots of scientific vocabulary to report our findings. 

 

Term 4:

This term we have been learning about segregation and racism. We have been reading Hidden Figures and have studied Dorothy Vaughan at length. We know she was an inspirational figure and was one of the main reasons that America was able to send a man to the moon, winning the space race. The children have been imagining what her life must have been like, what obstacles she had to face and overcome, and how she had to fight to have the same rights as her white, male colleagues. We wrote a diary entry describing her first day at NACA and then used this to help write a formal persuasive letter to the Director of NASA. As Dorothy Vaughan, we asked him to end segregation; the children were able to state many reasons as to why he should abolish segregation at the Langley Centre in fairness of equality. 

This has linked well to our History topic: The Windrush Generation. The children have been fascinated to learn that Great Britain, after WW2, needed help to rebuild the economy and so asked Caribbeans to journey to their Motherland, but they did not receive the warm welcome they were expecting. Life was very hard for them and, sadly, they were treated as foreigners. With this being said, we have also looked into some brave individuals who, despite the ill-treatment at the time, made careers and established roots, people like: John Jellicoe blair, Norma Best and Sam King. We will continue this unit into Term 5 to finish it. 

DT - the children have been busy studying fairgrounds and making prototypes using resources like straws, lollipop sticks and a significant amount of sellotape (we won't judge them too much). These have been displayed on the windowill. The children will be using circuits to make further prototypes that move - hopefully - before the end of Term 4.