Croeso i Flwyddyn Pump

Teacher: Miss Whyte

P.E. days - Monday and Tuesday (please come to school in P.E. kit)

Forest School - Thursday afternoon, alternate weeks (beginning 14.09.23)

Please click here for our Class Information Leaflet.

Class update

Summer 2024

22.4.24-3.5.24 

Another busy fortnight which welcomed our new topic ‘Sparkle and Shine’ this Expressive Arts focussed topic will give children opportunities to explore pictures, paintings and photography. We have continued with playscripts and enjoyed writing, rehearsing and performing scenes from our own scripts, this week saw us delve into Shakespeare and we explored a variety of his plays (comedy, history & tragedy) with a modern twist. We have begun thinking about our own stories and playscripts inspired by Shakespeare. Ask us about some of the facts we learnt about Shakespeare. We have been working hard with decimals, we can now add and subtract decimals and are becoming more confident with tenths, hundredths and thousandths. We have been exploring vector drawings in ICT and learning about layering shapes to create pictures. We completed two missions in Commando Joes, we had to plan and create an assault course using the box of equipment and had to use our communication skills and give verbal instructions as the captain of the ship guided their team safely along the safe route. The children worked hard with Mrs Cornish to further develop our gardens, by planting herbs in our scented garden, they also began weeding and tidying up the edging as well as checking on the trees and other planted areas. We discussed our characteristics and personal qualities and shared with our peers their personal qualities as well as discussed how to keep build our own self-esteem as part of our health and wellbeing, we also discussed safety with online communities and how to be responsible and recognise when an online community feels unsafe or uncomfortable. We also wrote a script in Welsh about a monster titled ‘Bwystfil’ learning the pattern Mae …’da fe (He has…) and Mae…’da hi (She has…). We also welcomed our class link governor Mrs Kersley to join a Welsh lesson where we showed and assessed what we can ask and answer in Welsh, attended Forest School where we looked out bluebells and continued with our development in tennis and touch rugby...... phew, exhausting just writing about it! Have a lovely restful bank holiday weekend and I will see you all on Tuesday. 

8.4.24-19.4.24 

Welcome back pawb! This fortnight we have been busy wrapping up our topic ‘The Scented Garden’ evaluating our science investigation into seed dispersal and completing graphs to reflect the data, they had to explain their findings and conclude the investigation. The children enjoyed writing haiku poems about rivers in a joint project by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales & Keep Wales Tidy. Our rivers are not always in the best of health, and this has been highlighted in the news a lot recently, whether it’s visible pollution like litter, tiny pollution like micro-plastics or invisible pollution like chemicals, we are not caring for our rivers as we should. Ask us what we will do to make a difference. We have also been learning about playscripts, we enjoyed reading, listening to and role-playing myths about trees, The dancing silver birch a German myth and the trembling poplar a Greek myth, we then wrote our own myth in the form of playscript and considered stage directions. We created actions and enjoyed role playing in small groups outdoors using the woodland, trees and landscape. The children absolutely loved learning about budgets in maths, we had some outstanding conversations and reflections when learning about calculating a budget. We looked at spreadsheets and outgoings and considered what essential and non-essential items are. We also completed a payslip showing an understanding of the different elements. This week we have focused on position and direction, we read and plotted coordinates, translated shapes on a grid and plotted lines of symmetry. Everyone has really enjoyed our new sports in PE, tennis and rugby, we have been practicing our skills in these two areas. Dal a ti everyone! We have discussed body image and our relationship and attitudes towards food in our health and wellbeing sessions, we discussed food and drink advertisements and had some very interesting conversations. The children showed that they can read and understand a text in Welsh and created a story map, they reenacted parts of the story with a peer. We really enjoyed sharing our Welsh poem with the families at the Welsh Eisteddfod open afternoon. Bendigedig pawb! Some of us enjoyed sowing seeds and checking on the potatoes with Mrs Cornish, how lucky are we, we can’t wait for our harvest. Home learning available on google classroom, have a lovely weekend. 

Spring 2024

11.3.24-22.3.24 

Another busy fortnight in Dosbarth 5 to end another short half term, we began the week with practicing marking our partners in netball and putting together our gymnastics routines in pairs and small groups in the hall. In literacy, we wrote a report on threats to plant health including environmental conditions, parasites and disease. We have then shown our understanding of pollination planning and recording podcasts explaining the process. In maths, we recorded and represented data in tables and worked hard to read and write timetables. We learnt about and made nets of 3D shape, created models and completed activities on perimeter of rectangular and rectilinear shapes. We enjoyed a visit from Technocamps, who supported us with setting up and beginning to explore microbits. We made the microbits light up with symbols, created simple games including rock paper scissors and began to explore ourselves during ‘tinker time’. Some of the children helped Mrs Cornish in the garden to plant and pot up plants to sell at the PTA Easter event today. They also planted a shrub in our scented garden. Some of the children dug a hole to keep the fruit trees warm over the weekend and were supported by Dosbarth Derbyn (R). The children enjoyed their Commando Joes mission where they used teamwork to drop the mail using the parachute. ‘Home is not a place, it’s a feeling.’ They also spent some time with Dosbarth Derbyn (R) on red nose day, where they made animal habitats in small groups using Lego. The children enjoyed working together. In Science, they have been investigating seed dispersal and written an investigation, completed the investigation and evaluated the investigation. They then began tracking the soil moisture of plants and following a code using the micro-bits to complete an investigation. In Italian, they have learnt the days of the week and months of the year and are beginning to learn the parts of the body. In Welsh, they have been learning the parts of the body and have started designing and describing monsters. In ICT, they have been working on data and information, using databases to form and record information. Using questions to sort data into groups. I wish you a happy and healthy Easter break and look forward to seeing everyone after the holidays. Diolch yn fawr for your continued support. Pasg Hapus pawb. 

26.2.24-8.3.24  

WOW! I think I could fill a newspaper, let alone a newsletter with the details of our Cardiff Cultural Residential, the 1st held here at Trellech. It was touch and go regarding the protest which was scheduled for our arrival directly outside our accommodation and at our first venue, and I liaised closely with the Urdd & the Senedd leading up to the trip, both were fantastic. We made extra preparations beforehand including a special entrance, identifying closed roads and timings, allocated coach drop off point and staff collection as well as considering the journey for any possible congestion. We had the go ahead and left promptly at 9:15 and arrived safely at 10:20, no traffic, police presence at every junction and sadly no tractors... The children settled into the Urdd and were visited by Marie & Hannah from the Senedd who explained that we were the only school to be visiting and had to take an alternative entry, we had a wonderful tour and lesson, then explored the Senedd and saw democracy in action listening to the speeches and Welsh National anthem before a short visit to the public gallery. In the evening, we went bowling and had a fantastic time with our peers, we were supportive and encouraging and really enjoyed ourselves. On Thursday we had a gym session with Gwion after breakfast and then headed to the pier to find our boat, we absolutely loved our boat ride down the river it was smooth and gentle. We took a short walk to the National Museum of Cardiff and explored the exhibitions, including the Evolution of Wales and Natural Science galleries. Ask us what our favourite part was. After lunch we went to the first floor where we walked around the historic art galleries. We then had a short walk to Cardiff Castle; Sam led us on a tour of the castle apartments. We enjoyed the Castle’s spectacular Victorian interiors and learnt about the lavish decorations and the visionary people who created them. We walked back to the pier where we returned to the Urdd on the Princess Katherine. In the evening, we relaxed together and watched a film and had a special drop in visit from Mrs Peacock and First Minister Mark Drakeford who was visiting the centre. On Friday we had a leisurely breakfast following by packing, a room inspection and a lovely walk around Cardiff Bay where we experienced sunshine, rain, wind, hail and a rainbow! We had lunch and returned safely.

A wonderful visit, the children behaved exceptionally well. A huge diolch to Mrs Voaden & Mr Smowton for accompanying us. A lifetime of memories made!  

5.2.24-23.2.24

Welcome back! Before half term Dosbarth 5 enjoyed lots of time outdoors in our lovely school grounds. The children enjoyed taking part in the RSPB birdwatch initiative supported by our Eco Committee they spent time identifying birds and then they input their data into a spreadsheet. We celebrated Internet Safety Day with an assembly in class by our Digital Leaders, we also had a special Adobe live lesson which taught them how to uplevel their designing of a poster. They learnt how to split screen, how to get rid of a background on a photo, how to fill a background and how to dual tone a picture. The live workshop also taught them other skills which will enhance their digital work. In literacy the children described how technology and the internet has changed over time and had to think creatively about changes that might happen in the future, they wrote a persuasive, explanation text about how to stay safe online. In maths we had a whistle stop tour identifying angles, exploring properties of 2D and 3D shape and reading and plotting co-ordinates, some revision for our National Tests. The children worked really hard and should be extremely proud of themselves. We continued working on identifying a job we would like to do when we grow up and had to consider what motivates us and what we need to do to achieve it, the children had to find out about and record, the job title, job description, what qualifications needed and what salary we should expect. They also had to consider what 3 steps are needed to achieve their dream job, e.g. go to college, get A levels, graduate from university or begin work as an apprentice. In Welsh we began to learn a play script, the play Merched Beca about the farmer tax riots, and showed their understanding of the text by highlighting words they knew and translated them into English. We were lucky to welcome Mrs Cornish in to work with us on the scented garden, we were very busy and made huge progress in the shared area including removing the plants from the tyres, measuring and plotting our garden outline and planting snowdrops, as well as checking our planted trees and putting together a wheelbarrow. This week we have been busy as always learning about Welsh myths in literacy including the myth of the golden harp, we will create and write a Welsh myth for the Eisteddfod. We also began creating our Welsh mascot, completed our handwriting entries and began learning our recitation, a busy week of Cymraeg. We began investigating ratio and proportion in maths. We are really looking forward to our residential next week.... our Cultural visit to Cardiff. All information available on Google Classroom including menus, itinerary and packing list. Please remember to source a sleeping bag. If there is anything you do not have please ask, and we will help.

It is not too late to enter the Eisteddfod home learning activities:

ICT: Use ICT to produce a poster that advertises Wales and the Welsh language

Photography: Produce a landscape photograph that reflects Wales/Welsh culture

Art: Welsh dragon collage or a dragon sketch

Diolch yn fawr. Miss Whyte  

22.1.24-2.2.24

January has disappeared before our eyes and we are quickly approaching our Cultural Residential to Cardiff, which the children and I are looking forward to planning in the coming weeks. The children have been busy planning, measuring and designing their shared garden as part of our topic ‘Scented Garden’ we enjoyed working with Mrs Cornish who helped us consider what type of plants and what materials we may wish to use. When we finished our designs, we enjoyed looking at one another's, and voted for our favourite three anonymously. We then merged the designs together to create a final design which we were all involved in. We also unwrapped resources that were funded kindly by ACE Monmouth and look forward to using the garden equipment to develop our garden. The children enjoyed their first Commando Joe mission set by explorer and adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, we attempted to beat world records in three activities using our measuring skills and challenged ourselves against the clock. We have been busy in literacy and numeracy revising for the national tests and have especially enjoyed completing reading comprehensions, practicing skimming and scanning. We had a lovely time together in forest school team building and working on our communication skills, we cooperated and helped one another, we love seeing the sheep on our walk over. On Thursday 25th we celebrated Dydd Santess Dwynwen, creating story maps and comic strips, and retelling the story to our peers. Did you know the name Dwynwen means “she who leads a blessed life”. I would like to invite you to a short meeting on Thursday 8th February at 3:40 to discuss our upcoming cultural residential to Cardiff where I will answer any questions you may have. I look forward to seeing you then, diolch yn fawr. 

8.1.24-19.1.24

Blwyddyn Newydd Da! It was a pleasure to welcome Dosbarth 5 back last week after a restful break. We began the new term with a new topic, Scented Garden as part of the whole school topic Wonders of the Earth. We are lucky to have Mrs Cornish and Mrs Marsh supporting us with gardening this term; we have started measuring the proposed areas, discussing plants and have even begun planning our shared garden using ICT. In literacy we have been working towards an explanation text about the life cycle of a plant including reproduction, we have completed research, made notes, created a glossary of technical vocabulary and used time adverbials and subordinating conjunctions. In maths we have been using the long multiplication method; multiplying 4-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers, estimating answers, solving problems and using skills in reasoning. We have been exploring physical computing, modifying command values, connecting a Sparkle to a Crumble and then programming the Crumble to make the Sparkle flash different colour patterns. We have really enjoyed this! We have learnt about and described the life process of reproduction in some plants and recapped the life cycles of different organisms. We enjoyed learning the importance of marking our partner in netball and attempting to intercept a pass, we also practiced shooting a ball and learnt the technique. We began gymnastics and started with a variety or jumps and leaps, we then performed teddy bear rolls aiming for precision, control and accuracy. In Welsh we practiced past tense taking the patterns Es i… Gwelais i… Ces i… Clywais i…  Prynais i…, Bwytais i… Yfais i… Chwaraeais i… Roedd yn… to fluency, we began writing sentences and responded to an email. We enjoyed our first visit to the forest school site and explored seed dispersal through an experiment where we made predictions, challenged and reviewed. We explored our hopes and dreams through considering the lifestyle we would like when we grow up, we had to understand money may be needed to help us achieve our goals. We also explored a range of jobs and careers and explored how much people earn. A bustling and busy first few weeks but just how we like it! Home learning suggestions created by the children is available on Googleclassroom for them to access. Diolch for your continued support. 

27.11.23-8.12.23

What a wonderful time of year it is! Definitely one of my favourite seasons. The children have been super at adapting to the weather, to the heavy rain and the frosty cold, dark days with positivity and get up and go. In literacy, health and wellbeing and humanities we continued to read Coming to England and discussed in detail the experiences Floella faced including racism and wrote a persuasive piece of writing in the form of a manifesto. We explored experiences of men and women in football and considered ourselves, our school, our community and the wider world. I was so proud of the discussions that have taken place during this topic. We studied emotive language, evidence to support points of view, opening sentences and adverbs, we also used rhetorical questions to really involve the reader. This week we have started researching for a piece of persuasive writing linked to the Caribbean islands, we are learning how to take notes and skim and scan. We are working in pairs to research, using questions to support us. In maths we have been learning about percentages which will support us with our enterprise project for the Christmas fayre. We now understand percentages and are beginning to find percentages as fractions and decimals. Dal a ti Dosbarth 5!  In netball we have been getting into a space and receiving the ball which is more difficult than it sounds, the children will this week begin marking another person to stop them getting the ball. For our enterprise Christmas project we last week considered what other peoples like and dislikes are and what might be appropriate to make and sell, and this week we have looked at designs and costings, including writing a shopping list and pricing up materials, the children also helped write schoops and are enjoying taking ownership of the enterprise. At forest school we completed a team building activity where we had to create an obstacle course with a set criteria, they absolutely love being in the woodland and work so beautifully together, ensuring everyone is included and supporting one another with activities, we each completed the obstacle course and some were more adventurous than others taking some of us out of our comfort zone, we certainly didn’t feel the plummeted temperatures that Thursday afternoon. In Welsh we enjoyed reading a new book about the planets and identified known and unknown words in ditectif darllen using our reading skills prompt card. We have begun learning carols for our upcoming carol service at the church, we hope you can join us. A huge diolch to Mrs Cornish & Mrs Marsh who supported us with the tree planting last week, the children worked alongside their little peers in Reception and were super role models as always. Home learning will be shared on Friday and spellings available every Monday. Diolch yn fawr iawn, busy few weeks ahead so enjoy a restful weekend. 

24.11.23

So the weather is on the change, and we can finally enjoy a crisp, cold autumn before we embrace winter. Dosbarth 5 have been very engaged, hardworking and a delight to teach. Last week we created a shared narrative poem in Literacy for remembrance, we upleveled vocabulary, stuck to the success criteria and included poetic devices. We also impressed everyone with our drawings of poppies in our artwork. In maths we continued with division and multiplication looking at multiples, factors and prime numbers, this week we have been focusing on square and cubed numbers as well as multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. We enjoyed creating artwork in forest school using natural resources to show our knowledge of pop art artist Andy Warhol. In PE we enjoyed our session with County in the Community and our first netball session where we learnt how to pass the ball 3 ways, shoulder pass, chest pass and bounce pass. We enjoyed mini matches and worked so well together as a team. In Welsh we are learning about hobbies and sharing our likes and dislikes using the phrases “Dw i’n mwynhau / dwlu ar / casáu” (I enjoy/ love/ hate) and will continue to practice this, this week. We began our creating media unit in ICT which the children are excited about. We finished the week celebrating Children in Need with a pyjama party (I could definitely get used to this soooo cosy), the daily mile lap count and of course the famous school disco – diolch to the PTFA for a great evening! In literacy this week we have continued to share Floella Benjamins journey and new experiences as she arrives safely in London, but it isn't quite what she expected... we will be learning how to write a piece of persuasive text by creating an anti-racist manifesto outlining the ways in which we as a class, school and wider community will promote and adopt behaviours to ensure an anti-racist society. In Italian we have been rehearsing greetings. Buongiorno – Good morning, Come stai? - How are you? Bene, grazie - Fine, thanks. Home learning available on GoogleClassroom, please encourage children to read. Diolch for your continued support, enjoy your long weekend. 😊 

  10.11.23

Wow! What a busy fortnight with a half term in between for good measure, the last week of term saw us share our school with some important visitors, and the children were a credit to us all. Sharing their learning, asking and answering questions and showing what super engaged learners we are. We enjoyed a bridge challenge in Forest school, working in small groups to create a natural bridge with a robust success criterion, we enjoyed walking over with Reception and are forming special bonds. We had a great session with our County in the Community football coaches as well as our third swimming lesson where we completed a swim safety test, we are all doing so well with our technique. In literacy we role played, freeze framed and wrote an informal letter, whilst learning more about Floella's journey to England. Did you know between 1948 and 1970 500,000 people left their homes in the West Indies to live in Britain. In maths we worked hard to complete multi-step addition and subtraction word problems.  

This week we have hit the ground running with our first story of the term in literacy, entering the BBC 500-word competition writing a short story of our choice focusing on character, setting and plot, we are keeping our fingers crossed one of us makes the final... In maths we have moved on to multiplication and division, beginning with multiples and factors. Everyone has worked really hard using resources to support them including one hundred squares. We had our final swimming lesson, a brilliant session with County and the Community and welcomed MonLife leaders on Thursday to support us as Playmakers to support all the children within our school community with activities, games and play during free time. 

I hope you all had a restful half term, we have an exciting half term ahead with the Y4/5 Christmas Carol Service, Christmas enterprise and all things winter. Diolch for your continued support. 

      

20.10.23

Another speedy fortnight! I have to applaud all the children for their wonderful effort and participation during our first two swimming lessons, they have listened well, worked hard on their technique and their behaviour during changing and on the bus has been exemplary. They really are a pleasure to take off site, and this was evident again last week on our second forest school visit, the children supported the reception pupils on the journey to the woodland again and were super role models. We enjoyed creating leaf mobiles, searching for natural habitats and one group made a look out. A huge diolch to Dosbarth 6 who led the Harvest Festival at the Church, I was so proud of how beautifully our children sang, a tricky song with lots of verses, but a firm favourite of mine and the children and I really enjoyed listening to all the other classes perform. The children worked extremely hard during their Playmakers workshop with Monlife and worked very well as part of a group and pair, answering questions carefully, and giving reasons. We looked at qualities of a good and bad leader and identified leaders in our lives. The children enjoyed working together and will continue to create and develop games and support children within the school during break and lunch time. In literacy, we have been exploring refuge and what refuge means to us as we celebrated National Poetry Day, we read and discussed a picture book ‘I am not refugee’ which supported us in discussions about our safe place/persons/items. We created a ‘collum lune’ and added meaning to our poems through shape. Da iawn pawb! We have learnt and explored more of Trinidad and compared the culture, values and lifestyle as well as the value of religion. We have created a short role play and explored the challenges and benefits of the Windrush. In maths, we have begun consolidating addition and subtraction, starting with mental strategies and using the concrete, pictorial and abstract approach for calculations. We have been working hard with Newport County practising our skills in football and look forward to developing further during the term. Please keep an eye out for us on Twitter. Have a restful weekend. 

6.10.23

Dosbarth 5 have been a joy to learn with, we have been exploring emotions and how they influence us as part of our ‘Guess Who?’ topic and through literacy have become poetry detectives, identifying poetic techniques including metaphor, personification and onomatopoeia. We have drafted, improved and written a poem to enter the Young Writers competition and hope at least one of us will have our poem published... watch this space! In numeracy we have been consolidating our knowledge and understanding of place value, comparing and ordering numbers to 1,000,000 and rounding within 1,000,000. The children enjoyed visiting the forest school site and supported the learners in Reception with the journey to and fro, they were superb role models. We enjoyed exploring the habitats at the site and became nature explorers as we looked out for animals and plants in the woodland. In Italian, the children are consolidating numbers to 10, learning colours and greetings, please ask us to share with you what we know. We have been discussing our rights and responsibilities as citizens and learning about refuge, which led us on to celebrate National Poetry Day 5/10/23 with the theme refuge. In Welsh we have started fact files including language patterns: enw, ble, gwalt, llygaid, gwisgo, hoffi wneud. Finally, we have had great fun with country dancing learning new routines. Oh, and I mustn't forget, da iawn to the 10 pupils that entered the Monmouth Cluster Cross Country event, your determination and perseverance was superb, I really enjoyed watching you, a huge diolch to our adult helpers for accompanying us. Home learning including spellings on Google Classroom, please do follow us on Twitter and keep an eye on Schoop for any updates. Diolch yn fawr iawn! 

22.9.23

Wow, what a fantastic first few weeks in Dosbarth 5! We began our topic ‘Guess who?’ with exploring ourselves and our peers through questioning and creating profiles and wrote a biography about a friend for our first star write of the year. This week we have been focusing on ourselves and have studied types of sentences, nouns and learnt how to infer and deduce information ready to write an autobiography. In maths we have been working on place value and have been using previously learnt knowledge to support us with numbers up to 1,000,000. We enjoyed learning two new country dances in our dance sessions and have been extremely fortunate to welcome members of Newport County on behalf of County in the Community to teach us skills in football as well as supporting us with keeping active. We enjoyed identifying trees, fruits, seeds and leaves in forest school and were extremely fortunate to take part in an archaeological dig right here in the heart of Trellech, where the extremely talented Kate Churchill and Dr Mark Lewis from the National Museum in Cardiff shared some exciting history with us, please ask us about it! We also began reading an autobiography by Baroness Dame Floella Benjamin which describes her journey in ‘Coming to England’ we look forward to studying Floella's experiences and comparing them with the journey of those that came to Trellech all those years ago and of course our own journeys as we develop and grow together. Diolch yn fawr for your support with home learning.