5E's Explanation Text

This week in Year 5 we have been writing explanation texts. We focused on using causal connectives to explain how and why volcanoes occur. Below is Alfie's text:

What is a volcano?

     Volcanoes (such as Damavand, Fuji and Paricutin) are unique types of mountains that all have a conduit that leads into a magma (lava when it’s underground)  chamber. Underneath the Earth’s crust lies the mantle, a sea of molten (melted) rock, which is the result after the core melts the rock in 7500 degrees centigrade. Occasionally, because of continental drift, some volcanoes are submerged in seawater. Also, the noun ‘volcano’ originates from the island ‘Vulcano’, which in Roman mythology, is the home of Vulcan, the god of fire.

Where are volcanoes found?

     Volcanoes are usually found between tectonic plate boundaries, some examples are : the Pacific plate, the Atlantic plate and the Eurasian plate. Most of the volcanoes are found around the Ring of Fire. Volcanoes, though mostly seen above ground, could be beneath us at any moment. Luckily, the last volcano in Britain last erupted 50 million years ago!

How do volcanoes erupt?

     Firstly, as the plates are pulled away from each other, magma seeps through the crust and solidifies creating a cone, a shield shape or a flat hole, then ash billows out of the crater.

Narrative Writing by 5G

This week in Year 5 we have been writing our own narratives based on the story of Marcus, a slave who lived in Pompeii during the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Before beginning our narratives, we wrote a letter from Marcus to the new character we had invented. Here is Harry's letter, we hope you enjoy it!

Villa Helius

Via del Corso 

Pompeii

22nd August 79 A.D.

Dear Brutus,

                    I am writing this letter in great haste. We are in grave danger and must escape Pompeii as soon as we can!

Earlier this morning, I was on my way to collect some laundry for my beastly master Festus but I never made it to the laundry house...Something else distracted me entirely! As I stumbled through the bustling streets (as squalid as always) I felt the ground begin to quake beneath my feet! Crash! All of a sudden the statue of Achilles at the entrance to the market began to wobble and I had to dive to avoid being squashed underneath it!

As I staggered to my feet a street vendor loomed over me. He told me that a fearsome beast lives under the monstrous mountain and causes the earth to rumble when it wakes! I was backing away from him when an old beggar lady approached me. She leaned in and murmured,'This world will burn, you need to escape boy!' 

So, we need to escape, I'm not leaving without you! I'll meet you by the servant's entrance at your master's villa, hopefully I'll have a plan by then...

Yours fearfully,

Marcus 

Moon Landing Recount from Aarthy in 5E

This week in Year 5, we have been writing our own recounts based on the 1969 Moon Landing. We have focused on using a variety of time connectives and varying our sentence length for effect. Below is Aarthy's recount:

Miraculously, the first Moon landing occurred when the Americans sent three astronauts (Neil Armstrong, "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collis) to the colossal Moon on the 20th July 1969. At that precise moment, it was 4:17pm EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). 

The towering rocket that transported them, Apollo 11, was triumphantly landed by NASA. The rocket zoomed across the sky hitting speeds of 17,000mph, as rapid as a cheetah dashing towards its foe hiding in the fresh green grass.

In the midst of the Cold War angst, the Americans specifically chose this date to overtake the Russian's previous space achievements. However, this wasn't the end of the war.

SPaG workshop for Y5 and Y6

On Friday, Years 5 and 6 were lucky enough to take part in a drama-based Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) workshop. It was fantastic for the children to practise their key skills in this exciting context. Below are some photos of the morning.

5E's Victorian newspaper report: Jim's escape from the workhouse

We have been continuing to look at newspaper reports in Year 5 this week. We have just finished writing a newspaper article based on Jim's dramatic escape from the workhouse. Below is Alfie's report:

Rogue orphan escapes death-trap workhouse

By Alfred Washington

During the late hours of Saturday, an impoverished orphan, supposedly named Jim Jarvis, escaped from the most spacious workhouse in London.

Immediately the Matron reported that: “Although lots of labourers escape, they always get caught and whipped. However, Jim was not caught!” she bellowed, ad added: “I never liked him.”

Last night, we can only imagine the the walking igloo rolled down the littered, frozen, ice-rink streets of London, given that this the month had been a chilling November of shuddering bodies.

On the other hand, in the workhouse, it appears to be a megladon with the amount of body parts being lost because of the machines. The workhouse is like a death trap.

Furthermore, another concern has arisen: why was Jim so enamoured to leave the only building in which he could eat and lie on a bed ? That is a question you have to answer! Send a letter to 9 Vicarage Way in London to try and guess.

Meanwhile, we hope the eternal future will enfold good luck for the young lad. We will keep you updated whatever the weather brings to us.  

Newspaper Article - Jim Jarvis Escapes by Alex 5G

This week Year 5 have been looking at newspaper reports. We have written articles from the viewpoint of a Victorian reporter describing the escape of Jim Jarvis from the workhouse. We have been focusing on our connectives and generalisers!


Orphan pulls off audacious workhouse escape!


Last night a famished boy executed an escape from the indomitable workhouse, a remarkable feat. Jim Jarvis, a resident of the wretched workhouse, was nowhere to be found at bedtime. Panic-stricken, the matron and overseers craned their heads all over the workhouse but there was no sign of the missing boy.


Tip, another dejected inhabitant of the large monolith, reluctantly divulged further details.
"We were carrying heavy burdens of carpets into the frozen yard when abruptly, Jim turned to me with a gleam in his eye. Then he scanned the bleak grey surroundings and darted for the steel gates'.


Although it appears that Tip is Jim's only friend, he did not join his friend in the daring escape, being too fearful of the consequences if caught. As this is a particularly cold November, it may be that the weather also gave him a reason to be wary of stepping out of the confines of the workhouse.


Whilst Jim is reportedly an orphan, it is believed that he has sisters still living and that this escape may be an attempt to reunite with them. The public is urged to contact the workhouse with any details of the boy and his whereabouts should they happen to see him. He is described as being short, with ribs visible through his clothes, and dirty brown hair.


Alex, 5G

5E's Workhouse Poetry

In Year 5, this week we wrote atmospheric Victorian poetry about the workhouse. Below is Leo's entry from 5E. 

In the workhouse of despair,

Where the rags that scratch are what you wear,

A petrifying place you can scream,

It’s as punishable as it seems.

Horror, terror, screeches and shouts,

The workhouse of heart broken glares,

Not difficult to find, they’re certainty not rare,

The cops will find you, so take care,

Where you hide…

A letter from a Victorian Workhouse

Wednesday, 10 September 1810

Hackney, London

Dear Matron,

I am writing this letter as a plea for you to consider letting me leave this miserable workhouse. It is like hell on earth. Although I should be grateful that you have put a shelter over my head, I cannot spend another sleepless night of fear and terror here. As the cold, misty nights turn into long, bleak days, I regularly question how long it has been since I arrived through the doors of this soul-destroying prison. Maybe it has been a month. Maybe a year. It feels like a lifetime. If I stay much longer my future is doomed.

The workhouse is unbearable. Every time tears flood my eyes, I get whipped with a belt. It is like lightening striking my body. The food is horrendous, even the thought of it makes me heave. I am living in a nightmare, the fear and terror flooding my mind like the deep, dark, Atlantic Ocean.

I am only in the workhouse because my beloved family have all deceased. Living on the rough, bustling streets of London, without a penny to my name, I had no other choice but to steal. I was ravenous. One single waft of the sweet smelling bread from the bakery. I could not resist! My stomach was crying out, wild with hunger! Unfortunately, one day I was caught by the bobbies and forced into this treacherous workhouse.

I beg you, with all my heart, to take your time to consider letting me leave. I am asking in desperation. Please let me walk to freedom so I can hear the cries of the city again.

Yours Sincerely,

Spinly

Thomas, 5C

Street Child Narrative

In Year 5 we have adapted Street Child slightly to create our own original version. From 5E, here is Yeganeh's start of her story. Can you see what aspect she has changed?

Unfortunate, infant Jim Jarvis was using the last of his energy to purchase a marvellous, attractive meat pie with his last shilling. Rambling amongst the crowd, he was trying not to touch the delicious morsel until arriving home.

Ma tenderly lay on the rough, pathetic bed like a broken twig. Her pale glow drowns in the blacked out room. Emily, terrified with fear of her mother's impending death, approached her mother. Louise, petrified of dying in starvation, her face lit up as soon as she witnessed the odour of the meat pie wafting through the formidable door.

Jim, Emily and Louise greedily scoffed their meat pie down to stop guilt gulping up the three of them. A trio of crumbles were left on the floor for the next morning. All hope was shattered. Their shillings were now extinct, like dinosaurs. What will happen to them next?

Sun shines outside yet neither Jim nor Louise nor Emily were awoken by it due to the fact that their room was heavily blacked out. Ma woke to the rustlings of street children outside. "Will I one day be living outside amongst them?" Jim wondered to himself.

Silently, the doorknob turned. Outside was a vexed person, who was known as Mr Spink, the house owner, standing as still as a stick. 

"Time's up!" Screeched the ogre. He waited. He picked up the purse. "It was an honest rent. It was only one shilling!".

A few seconds later, Jim found himself telling the truth. 

"Save it, sonny! Out with you all. NOW!". Mr Spink wandered around and picked up Louise's boots and threw them out. 

Petrified about their troubled and uncertain future, the children's heavily fatigued mother led the desolate way towards the land of her second to last hope: Rosie's house. As soon as the door opened, Rosie was filled with joy.

"Long time no see!". 

Street Child - Diary Entry

In Year 5 we have been reading 'Street Child' by Berlie Doherty. We have written diary entries from Jim Jarvis, a Victorian child, who has suffered a series of unfortunate events and is now being forced to live in the workhouse. 

This is an entry from Juvan in 5E.


Friday, 3rd January 1873

Dear Diary,

                  As the days quickly passed by, Ma whispered to leave because she was too ill to sleep in the crooked bed. But the saddest thing is that I can’t see my stricken sisters again although they were a bit annoying. Also I feel very sorry for my mother because she’s sick…

                 So, I know that she has to be respected with… LOVE! So, I will earn 5 shillings for my mum by working so very hard. Even though I’m very stricken, I’ll still try hard to earn a shilling! But, as I walked to the coin factory, I accidentally breathed in carbon dioxide…

From Jim.

Welcome back!

Welcome back to the Grove Academy! This half term's learning focus for our blog is writing, and our wonderful wordsmiths have already been producing some cracking compositions. We are really excited to share these with you over the next few weeks, and the children love receiving feedback so comments are very welcome. Before you submit one, please take a few seconds to read the blog rules below.

 

In Year 5, our theme for this half term is Victorians, and we will be writing diary entries, narratives and narrative poetry in this context. Meanwhile, Year 6 will be writing war poetry and narratives, focussing on creating atmospheric texts and character descriptions, all related to the First World War.

 

Keep checking back for regular updates!

The Year 5 and 6 Team

French Olympics

On Wednesday, a team of 12 Y5 children, along with teams from 4 other local primary schools, travelled to Bushey Meads to compete in the French Mini-Olympics. The children - Isabella, Zoe, Madison, Hamsy, Vamsi, Mel, Haya, Hilary, Ted, Connor, Pola and Kitty - spent the day participating in a variety of sports-based French activities, topped off with a very welcome ice cream (ordered in French of course!) The children demonstrated excellent team work and enthusiasm by the bucketload, and tried very hard to use their French. The secondary school teachers commented on their initiative and leadership skills, too; the children really did the school proud. Their efforts were rightly rewarded with silver medals, which the children treasure greatly. Bravo!

Visit from Katherine Rundell

We were extremely lucky to be visited recently by the author Katherine Rundell, who led a writing workshop for a group of Y5 children. You may remember that Y5 and Y6 took part in judging the Blue Peter Children's Book Award, which was won by Katherine with her book 'Rooftoppers'. Katherine was so impressed with our children's questions during a Skype Q&A that she asked to come and write with them! After a brief talk about being a writer and the inspiration for her books, Katherine led the children in creating a new character and plot for a story, and the group then wrote some description of their character and an effective first line. Hopefully the seeds have been sown for some stellar writing! We will all benefit greatly from the tips we received, such as taking your fourth idea for a description and ensuring your characters have three clear characteristics. Before we went home, the group had the honour of being the first children in the world to hear the first page of Katherine's new book! There was just time for a few autographs before the children went home, smiling and hopefully inspired.

Y5 visit to Guardian News and Media

Last week, all three Year 5 classes were lucky enough to visit the Guardian News and Media Education Centre in London, for a workshop based on the Victorians, our theme for this half term. The children spent the day in the Guardian newspaper office building, creating Victorian newspaper front pages following the real newspaper production process. A variety of resources such as books and real Victorian archive material were used to research news stories ranging from the marriage of Queen Victoria to the Great Stink in London, and the children worked in pairs to write their stories, before subediting their copy and adding headlines and pictures. The workshop was highly successful and all children were able to take home copies of their completed front pages. Education Centre staff were highly impressed and full of praise for the children’s behaviour, application to the task and standard of writing – which they said was better than that of many of the older children they work with! Our budding journalists were a real credit to the school and the day was a great introduction to our new theme.

Victory!

The Grove Academy's new football team has got off to a glorious start, winning our league!

After a series of hard-fought battles against some very strong teams, the Year 5 and 6 boys came out on top. As a result, they progressed to a 'Champions' League' type tournament against other league winners, held at none other than Arsenal's training ground. Mr Field's report of the day is below, along with a selection of photos. Congratulations to all the boys who have taken part this year, and many thanks to Mr Field and Miss Essex for their expert coaching, and to all parents and staff who have supported the team.

The day was comprised of the 6 winners of the regional leagues in Hertfordshire, who were invited to play a tournament at Arsenal's Training Ground in London Colney. The 6 teams were split into 2 groups of 3 and played each other in a round robin on the indoor astro-turf pitches. The standard was very high (as expected) and we played valiantly. We lost our first game 4-2 against Bushey Manor and lost our second 3-1 against St Nicholas. This unfortunately meant we didn't get through to the semi-finals/final.

We played St Anthony's in a 5th/6th place play-off and drew this game 1-1.  This meant despite not winning a game, we can still boast that we are the (joint) 5th best team In Hertfordshire!

 

Bryn was on target as usual and scored all of our goals. The boys will all receive a medal for winning our regional league in Friday's assembly.

 

We also managed a bit of celeb spotting and caught glimpses of Arsenal and England players - Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain!

 

 

 

 

Vive la France!

As part of our French learning, we have been examining different objects linked to Francophone culture. In many cases we weren't sure exactly what they were or how they were relevant! Here are some pictures of Year 5 children investigating the items. Do you recognise any of them?

 

 

 

 

Next, we used our shiny new laptops to research different Francophone countries, such as Madagascar, Congo and Vanuatu. Again, we learned a lot about some countries we had never even heard of before! Year 5 now have a real understanding of what a truly global language French is!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess my number!

In Year 5, we have been playing a great Maths game called "Guess my number". It has really improved our understanding of number properties and it's good fun too! Here's how to play the game:

1. One person chooses a number
2. Another person asks a question with a yes or no answer, related to the properties of numbers
3. The first person answers yes or no
4. The other player(s) use the answer to think of another question.

We have been making this really challenging for ourselves by choosing numbers with decimals and asking questions such as "Is it a triangle number?"

Try playing the game at home!
Tip: think carefully about which questions you need to ask first to get to the answer as quickly as possible. We like to start with "Is the number an integer?", and if so, next we ask whether it is odd/whether it is even, and whether it is greater than/less than a certain number. Try to rule out as many numbers as possible in one go!

Here are some more questions you could use:
- is it a square number?
- is it a prime number?
- is the tens digit greater than the units digit?

Let us know how you get on!