Happy New Year to all

It has been lovely to see all the children back at school after the holidays.  We hope that you all had a peaceful and happy Christmas.  Mrs Luckhurst, Mrs Tate and I would like to express our thanks for the Christmas gifts - it was very generous of you all and we really appreciated your thoughtfulness.  Thank you very much.

Well, the Spring term has got off to a good start, with the Year 5 class beginning new topics in RE, English, Computing, PSHE and Topic, to name but a few!  Our new topic is called Wars of the World and focusses on the issues of conflict and how this can escalate.  This week, we looked at the main reasons for wars beginning and we used the acronym MAIN to remind us that Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism and Nationalism are often the root cause of conflict between countries.  We began by a discussion on who should be given the privilege of sitting on the special class chair and very quickly it led to an emotional, heated debate.  It gave the children a very good insight into how easy it is to start a conflict. Then, we went to look at world conflicts - the children took great interest and asked insightful questions.

In Art/DT, the children are busy finishing off some amazing totem poles that link to our previous topic on the USA .  Their ideas are extremely effective and the finished result will be very impressive.  We hope to display them in the foyer as we are very proud of their efforts. Our RE topic is focussing on our Godly mission, given to us at our baptism.  We have listened to St John Henry Newman's insightful words on how we each have a unique and personal mission to imitate Jesus' mission.

Well, the term has started with great enthusiasm and the Year 5 pupils are all working with energy and maturity.  We are particularly pleased with the work that they are producing in English, on our new book, "Friend or Foe" by Michael Morpurgo.  They are really engaged in the story and this is reflected in the written work and discussion work that we are seeing.

We are all beginning to look forward to our forthcoming trip to Alton Castle in February.  At the meeting, next week, we will give you more information regarding this fantastic experience.

Take care and best wishes,

Year 5 pupils and staff