Sheepstor Y5&Y6

Welcome to Sheepstor Class – Year 5/6

In Sheepstor Class we promote the development of a passion for lifelong learning, and aim to equip the children with the skills they need to achieve to the fullest of their potential. We encourage the children be curious; to question, reflect and form their own opinions; and to develop ownership of their own learning journeys. In this way, our goal is to ensure that the children become independent and resilient learners, setting them in good stead for the next stage in their education, and beyond. 

On this page we have information about our curriculum, home learning opportunities and useful websites for both parents and children.

SPRING TERM 2023

 This term Sheepstor Class will be learning about Ancient Egypt (Spring 1) and how we can live more sustainably (Spring 2). The topic web, which covers all aspects of our learning in more detail, is available below. 

Our Class Prayer

Dear God,

Thank you for the opportunity to get an education.

We are all grateful for the kind and loving teachers who take their time to educate us.

Thank you for all our friends who care for us and help us achieve our learning goals.

Please help us to continue to love and care for one another and to be grateful for all the resources we have.

Amen

Week Ending 27th January 2023

One of the best things about being a teacher is seeing the children celebrate their successes and realising the progress they are making. It has been a week of many achievements, and the class are deservedly feeling very proud of themselves; most especially for their diary entries in role as a cabin boy (Syms) on board HMS Beagle. They have really been challenging their vocabulary and getting into character. To bring our learning alive, we explored a range of replica items that would be found on board a ship of the 1830s, including a beautiful brass barometer, sextant and pocket weather forecaster. We even have a ship's cat in the classroom, who I understand is now called 'Mr Whiskers'!

A huge well done to everyone this week in our arithmetic and spelling tests. It was a bumper week in terms of progress, and that's all down to the children's perseverance and determination to master the new concepts we are learning.  

Week Ending 20th January 2023

In English this week, we have been focussing on how authors use different sentence openers to add variety and interest to their writing. DADWAVERS is an acronym which helps us improve the quality of our narrative writing by reminding us of the range of strategies we can use. We have analysed extracts from Darwin's Dragon using DADWAVERS and are now ready to complete some descriptive writing of our own to put what we have learnt into practice. Check back next week to see some examples of our work! 

We were very excited to start our learning about Ancient Egypt this week, and have set up our class museum with lots of hands-on artefacts to explore. The replica Rosetta Stone has caused much discussion in particular, as have X-Ray images of Tutankhamun's mummy. We are really looking forward to immersing ourselves in all things Ancient Egypt next week!

Miss Harris and Sheepstor Class

Week Ending 13th January 2023

This week we have been learning all about fractions, with a focus on finding equivalent fractions and converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions. We have also started our new class book, 'Darwin's Dragons' and began to look at the life and work of Charles Darwin. We found it particularly entertaining to learn that he once rode on the back of a giant tortoise in the Galapagos islands! 

In our writing, we imagined that we were shipwrecked on an island and discovered a new species. This led to some highly animated discussion and some really creative thinking! 

We have also been learning about Fair Trade in Geography, and learnt about the life of banana farmers before they received fair trade status. We were quite shocked to learn that the farmer received less than 10% of the final selling price of non fair-trade bananas and we have discussed how we might change our behaviour as consumers in the future. 

This week has been full of really interesting discussions regarding some 'big' ideas and I have been particularly proud of the children for their curiosity and reflectiveness, as well as their willingness to contribute with energy and enthusiasm.

Craft Afternoon (8th December 2022)

A really big thank you to all the parents (and siblings!) who were able to support us in this event. The children had a really wonderful time and we even had a very special guest come to visit... Father Christmas!

Week Ending 9th December 2022

Phew! What a busy week it's been in school! We have been practising our whole-school nativity, been super scientists and very creative artists during our craft afternoon, alongside all our other learning. 

In Science, we learnt all about how to separate liquids and insoluble materials through filtration. We explored the effectiveness of different filters and looked at them under a microscope to see if we could explain our results. We discovered that filters with the smallest holes are the most effective, but also that dissolved particles cannot be separated through filtration. More on this next week!

Here are some photos of us busy at work.

Week Ending 25.11.22

Our highlight this week was our visit to Morwellham Quay! We spent the morning in role as Victorian school children (and were shocked by how strict the teacher and punishments were!); followed by rock-breaking to find copper ore. This would have been the job of the girls and women whilst the boys and men toiled down in the mine. 

In the afternoon, we went on the train through the mine. This was particularly exciting! We learnt about the development of mining techniques and what life would have been like for the miners who worked there. We did get a little wet but this was mostly because we kept asking the train driver (George) to slow down as we went under the mine shafts above us, which were open to the sky!

The children were impeccably behaved and all the staff were very proud of them. A big thank you also to our parent helpers who gave their time to come with us. A great day was had by all!

Week Ending 18.11.22

This week Sheepstor have been busy working on short and long division. Here is a photo of us enjoying ourselves doing 'big paper' Maths!

We have also been investigating the factors that affect the rate of dissolving in Science. We looked at different sugars under a microscope and compared the size of the crystals with the time each type took to dissolve. 

Week Ending 11.11.22

Sheepstor have been learning how to use long multiplication! We have made some videos to show adults at home the method we use. For our Ukrainian guests, Ailia and Masha have created a version in Ukrainian, using their slightly different version of the method. We had great fun making these and hope that you enjoy watching them!

This is a very useful Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary guide with activities and quizzes covering all the elements of the Year 6 Spelling and Grammar (SPaG) test. It would be a great idea to download this and work through it in the months leading up to the SATs – it will reinforce everything the children are learning in class, as well as enriching their writing.