Here’s an update on what P5B have been learning and what we’ll be focusing on.

Olivia reports, “We’ve been learning about the Scottish Wars of Independence.  So far we have learned about the death of King Alexander III and the selection of John Balliol as king with King Edward I of England as Overlord of Scotland, the creation of the Auld Alliance when Scotland and France refused to join England in battle against each other.”  “After King Alexander III died, Margaret Maid of Norway became queen but on her journey to Scotland she fell ill and died,” recalls Phoebe.

Izaan says “I’m looking forward to learning about when King Edward gets angry when he finds out about Scotland refusing to battle France.”  “I want to find out what happens when Scotland and England battle,” says Finn.  Kate is interested in discovering more about the Battle of Bannockburn and Noah is curious as to whether William Wallace will feature in any battle.  Through this focus, P5B are developing their awareness of significant figures and events from the past and their influence on the future.

Scott has found it interesting and fun learning about Figurative Language, especially alliteration, and is looking forward to learning about other types and spotting examples when he is reading.  “I have learned to regularly use similes successfully throughout my writing,” adds Phoebe.

Chloe says, “I enjoy using the Communication Code as everybody has their turn to speak and I like having questions to think about and share our ideas on.  My favourite discussion so far was on what time the school day should start!”  Kate would like to discuss whether it is acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity or if they should only be in the wild.

We have been creating persuasive texts about Scottish landmarks.  “We have been working on using wow words, figurative language and bossy verbs to persuade,” reports Sherwan.  Lucy is excited to create her own imaginative text, inspired by the Wars of Independence, featuring soldiers and weapons.  Olivia reflects that “I can regularly and successfully use persuasive language throughout a text.”

Ruby recently enjoyed measuring playground items to find their perimeter and area and would like to do more of this, selecting what to measure herself and says “I feel like now I can always confidently measure  perimeter but am still developing my skills in measuring area.”  Zara is keen to learn more about algebra as she did some work on this in P3 and enjoyed it.  In our number talks work Olivia and Corey enjoyed learning the grid method and found this an easy way to multiply.  Kate prefers long multiplication but enjoys learning lots of different strategies then choosing the best strategies to find a solution accurately.

Emma says “We made calm jars for when we feel angry or stressed and we can shake it and it will relax you.  I find my one really relaxing, it’s not entertaining because that would be distracting, instead it helps to make you calm.”  “I think the calm jars are really good and I would also like to make a stress ball,” added Scott.  We will go on to learn about  food and hygiene and Taha is keen to learn how to tell when meat like chicken is cooked properly because if it’s still raw he knows you could get sick.  Finn knows that you can get food poisoning and would like to learn how to avoid this.

Chloe has enjoyed doing gymnastics as she has been able to share her skills and experience with others.  Leena enjoyed using the equipment, especially when she had to do a balance on top of the table and Amy enjoyed doing forward rolls on the horse.  Iain is excited to work on his badminton skills because “It’s really energetic and the racquet is more powerful than you think.”  Others would also like to try out some hockey, volleyball and netball.

Billy is enjoying our science topic, Materials, because “It’s fun to mix different materials and time how long it takes for a substance to dissolve.”  Emma would like to experiment by dissolving other materials and would like to learn more about rusting by putting a nail in a variety of substances.

Andrew tells us “I enjoyed researching internet safety and creating a PowerPoint to develop my presentation skills and share my learning,” and Abdullah is keen to develop his coding skills further while Izaan would like to create more PowerPoints.

Judah has enjoyed creating his own monster and describing it in French.  Zara is enjoying learning how to introduce family members in French and would like to learn how to order food and drinks at a French café.

Awesome Achievements

Well done Corey for showing commitment to her new dancing class where she is developing her dance skills and confidence.  Congratulations to Noah and Oscar who performed their first live gig playing their instruments!  And well done Kate who has been really responsible at home helping looking after their new family pet, Zoe the puppy!

Article 29: You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for other’s rights and the environment.