Stanningley Primary School

Today, all children throughout school took part in Sports Day! The children showed amazing team spirit and all enjoyed taking part in the various events. Lots of winners across ALL of the teams - well done to all who took part today!

A fantastic day was had by all at our annual Race for Life! The children worked hard to raise as much money as possible for our chosen charities and they certainly worked hard to succeed and achieve their target! Well done to all!

The children had a FANTASTIC day on their summer trip to the National Coal Mining Museum for England. They had the opportunity to explore the museum grounds, go on a journey through time on the Underground Tour and end the day having an amazing time on the Adventure Playground! A superb day with lost of lasting memories made!

In our science lesson this week, we were exploring the male and female parts of flowering plants. In order to do this, the children each dissected a flower and labelled the various parts that they discovered. Every child was amazed to find each and every part of the flower! Well done Class 5!

As part of our science topic, this term we are going to observe how a range of different seeds grow in different conditions. The class planted sunflower

Today the children were involved in a 'Moving Words' workshop which was produced by our dear friends, Colin, Julie and Adam. The children explored the story line and themes of Romeo and Juliet through movement, voice and drama. At the end of the day, we were able to share the performance with adults from home! It was a super day and really inspired the children with their reading and writing that will continue to be linked to Romeo and Juliet until the end of term. Well done all!

This term, we are exploring Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare through writing and drama. Today, the children were introduced to who William Shakespeare was and we read the prologue to Romeo and Juliet. The children initially found the language very challenging but after lots of discussion and role play work, they were able to explain confidently what was going to happen within the play! I was very impressed!

A huge well done to all of the children who entered the talent show this year! There are a lot of talented children in Class 5! Well done to all of our winning acts - during the first week back after half term we will find out who will be going on to perform at Bramley's Got Talent!

This term, the children have been set the design brief of designing and creating an economical bag/phone case to use instead of using plastic! Each child spent a long time researching existing designs and materials. They then explored how the products are made. Following on from this, they were introduced to the needle and thread! For many, this was their first time threading a needle and so although frustrating at times, I think the children were very proud of their first attempts! I was!

This term, the children have been using a programme called Inkscape to create a tessellating pattern. Each child learnt how to create shapes, copy and paste, rotate and wrap images behind others. I was very impressed by the complexity of the patterns! Well done!

Today, the children devised a fair test (in pairs) that would investigate what happens when different shapes travel through water. Each child had to ensure their shapes were created using the same amount of clay and time how long it took for the shape to sink in the same amount of water! We had some fantastic streamline shapes created within the class and some excellent results!

Today, the children investigated the effect of friction between the sole of a trainer and different surfaces. Each child planned an investigation and made a prediction. Some children were very accurate with their predictions as they understood which surfaces would create the most friction and why. Well done Class Five!

This week, we were lucky to receive a session from a professional goalball player and coach; Catherine. We had an absolutely amazing time learning how to play the game and why such a game is played in the first place. Goalball is a game that is an Olympic sport for players who are visually impaired. The children had to concentrate and listen so hard to enable them to succeed within the game. All of the staff were very impressed!

This term, we are exploring forces within our science lessons. Today, the children used a Newton metre to measure the weight of objects from around the classroom. The children were able to see the link between the weight of an object and the force of the object (in Newtons)!

Class Five had a fantastic Christmas week! We enjoyed eating Christmas dinner together, singing at Church during the Christmas service, making decorations and calendars and of course...our Christmas cards! To end the week, we all danced away to Christmas music in the hall after eating our delicious party food in class. However, no Christmas week would be complete without a visit from Santa who brought every child in class a new book! Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone!

Today, the children showcased all of their topic learning ('Earth and Space') to adults from home and the whole school! Every single child spoke clearly and put so much effort into their role within the assembly. The entire class have loved learning about this topic within ALL aspects of the curriculum. I want to say a huge well done to the children and their dedication to learning this term!

This week, Class 5 have been learning about cubed numbers. To begin our learning, we created cubed numbers using multi-link cubes to help us to understand what a cubed number is and why. We then went on to spotting patterns within cubed numbers so that we could then predict what the next cubed number would be! Very tricky learning!

Today, the whole class welcomed three fire fighters from Stanningley Fire Station who discussed the importance of fire safety with us. We explored what to do to raise the alarm in the event of a fire and watched clips exploring the importance of only dialing 999 when it is indeed an emergency. In addition to this, we looked at how to stay safe as a passenger in a car to prevent road accidents. The children gained a lot of knowledge from this session and have all been asked to check that their own fire alarms are working. Stanningley Fire Brigade will supply fire alarms free to any homes who need them!

Today, Class 5 attended a workshop led by a professional artist at Leeds Art Gallery. Using teamwork skills, each group created a 'wall' structure taking inspiration from an artist study within the museum (they explored prior). Finally, each groups 'wall' structure was taped together to create one giant structure! This will be on display in the very near future for members of the public to enjoy exploring at the art gallery!

Today, Class 5 were incredibly lucky to enjoy a visit from the Yorkshire Mobile Planetarium! Inside the planetarium, the children were taken on a journey through our Solar System and beyond in such an informative and interactive way. It was such a memorable experience that I am sure the whole class (including the adults!) will remember for some time to come!

Today, the children went to visit the Leeds Grand Mosque. Wow! What an absolutely amazing time we had! I have never heard so many fantastic questions from a Year 5 class! We learnt all about the role of the mosque in the community, listened to a beautiful prayer call, were shown how Muslim and Christian beliefs are very similar and explored the Five Pillars of Islam. At the end of the morning, some children were selected to try on some traditional dress! They were very excited but remained incredibly respectful during this time. Thank you to all of the children for such a fantastic day!

Today, Class Five were involved in a workshop is association with PREVENT. A fantastic member of staff from the Peace Museum, Jude, came into school to talk to the entire class about the history of World War 1 and the importance of choice. We explored different ways of resolving possible conflict WITHOUT resorting to violence. The children were absolutely fantastic and asked so many questions! We were all very impressed!

The children have been learning about materials and their properties this term in their science lessons. Today, they spent the entire morning planning and carrying out a science investigation to explore how foam is created. The children used a range of different materials to form foam and explored which was the best by looking closely at the amount of air bubbles/pockets of gas created. We had a fantastic morning and are very much looking forward to our next investigation!

The children took part in an incredibly mature session about what defines a 'safe' and 'unsafe' adult. They watched an age appropriate film which explores the dangers of child exploitation from an unsafe adult. Myself and Mrs Stott-Moore were blown away by the maturity and conversation of the children. Well done class five!

As part of Black History month, we welcomed back our favourite performance poets; Colin, Julie and Adam from 'Moving Words'. The children from Y5 and Y6 took part in a workshop based around influential black fugues of past and present (Ottobah Cuguano and Usain Bolt). The children performed to an audience and their words and movement was incredibly powerful. Thank you to all that were able to come into school to watch!

To encourage learning through speaking and listening, National No Pen Wednesday was celebrated at SPS today! The children took part in a range of tasks that involved learning through other means than writing! In English, we learnt about what it would be like on board a slave ship during the Middle Passage of the Slave Trade Triangle. The children were amazing and learnt so much!

During our RE lessons this term, Year 5 have been exploring the religion of Islam. This has involved exploring the ways in which Muslim people worship, special religious objects and focusing a great deal on the Qur'an. During our session today, the children heard various stories from the Qur'an that focus upon one of the key beliefs of the religion - kindness. I asked the children to use a diamond nine ranging system to prioritise a selection of kind gestures. Here are our results!

As part of our annual Safety Week, Class 5 welcomed Ann from the Leeds City Council Road Safety Team, who led a fantastic workshop about how we can promote road safety to others. The children created posters, word searches, poems and cards to support this!

The children have been working really hard to write a persuasive speech using adverbials and modal verbs (Y5 English learning objectives). Today, some of the children chose to read their speeches out to the entire class to persuade their classmates that they should be elected as the class representative for school council. I was so proud of the confidence shown from all children! Amazing! The election takes place this Friday.