Happy New Year!  Welcome back to our Spring Term in Year 5.  I can’t believe that we’re almost half way through the year! It was lovely to see you all back in class and to hear about your Christmastime.  On Monday we celebrated our Epiphany Mass. The service was led by Father John and the readers read very well with the choir accompanying the hymns beautifully.

We’ve started the term with our new History topic – comparing the ancient Maya civilisation to the Anglo-Saxons in Britain.  Our very first lesson was an introduction to the Mayan people and the importance of chocolate to them. We learnt that the Mayas believed that the cacao bean (from which chocolate is produced) was a gift from the gods. We investigated how the bean was roasted and then ground to make cocoa powder.  The Maya people mixed it with water and chilli but we preferred to have a cup of hot chocolate at the end of the day to celebrate our new topic.

In Maths we continued revising the formal written method of long multiplication before moving onto learning about prime and composite numbers and prime factors. In English we started our new class book, The Misadventures of Frederick by Ben Manley, and will be planning and writing persuasive letters based on the book.

In RE our new topic focuses on community and how we all have a mission. It looks at the role of the church in different Christian families not part of the Catholic Church as well as the role of the bishop within a diocese and how they all continue the work and mission of Jesus.

Many congratulations to our writer and Stars of the Week.

Please note the change of PE this term.  It takes place on Wednesdays and Thursdays now so please have your kit in school.  Many thanks.

Have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you back in school on Monday. 

Best wishes

Mrs Howard