Kestrel Class - for Year 5 and 6

Children in Kestrel Class are expected to complete the following each week:

• 1 Doodle Maths activity
• 1 Doodle English activity
• 10 minutes of reading each day (or this can be done in longer sessions over the weekend)
• Weekly spellings, handed out on Fridays, to be practised in preparation for a test on Tuesdays

Kestrel Class has made a brilliant start to the term, settling confidently into new routines and responsibilities. Pupils have embraced their class jobs and are showing great teamwork and independence. In English, we’ve been honing our skills in handwriting, spelling, and punctuation, with a strong focus on building fluency and accuracy. Our Math lessons have centered around developing a solid understanding of place value, laying the foundations for future learning.

Guided reading has been a real highlight, as we’ve delved into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The magical world of Narnia has sparked lively discussions—especially around the snowy scenes, which have us all looking forward to the festive season! In art, we’ve explored self-expression through self-portraits, celebrating individuality and creativity. Weekly swimming sessions and Forest School have been standout moments, offering opportunities for physical development, outdoor learning, and lots of fun.

It’s been a fantastic start for Kestrel Class, full of enthusiasm, curiosity, and growth. We’re excited to see what the rest of the term brings!

Last week, Kestrel Class explored water resistance in their Science lesson and investigated whether the surface area of an object affects water resistance. They tested this by shaping Blu Tack into different shapes and timing how long each shape took to sink in water. After collecting the data, the class learnt how to calculate the mean average to compare results. It was a fun and practical session that combined science and math skills. As summarised by a Year 6 girl "It was a really fun lesson because we got to use water, blu tack, ipads and I got to work with my friends. "

Kestrel Class has had a wonderfully busy term! In writing, we’ve been diving into character descriptions, bringing Miss Trunchbull to life through vivid details about her actions, speech, and personality. Maths has kept us on our toes with our daily Tough 10 arithmetic challenges.  We’ve honed our multiplication and division skills and applied them to problem-solving challenges. Science has been hands-on and exciting as we explored forces through practical experiments on gravity, air resistance, and water resistance. Guided reading has introduced us to a range of texts, and our magical daily story time under the fairy lights has been a highlight, with everyone taking turns to relax in the cosy calm corner while listening to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

 In PSHE, we have reflected on celebrating differences, focusing on kindness, anti-bullying, racism and the impact of rumours. Singing practice is in full swing for our upcoming carol concert and in Topic lessons we’ve been investigating why population has changed over time.  In RE, we have started learning about Islam and its beliefs and practices. Kestrel children have enjoyed playtimes, muddy mornings in Forest School, Kahoot quizzes and so much more! Overall, it’s been a brilliant term  so far filled with learning, laughter and countless moments of curiosity and joy!

It was wonderful to be able to showcase the great learning completed by Kestrel Class during our open evening event. We're so proud of them.

Kestrel Class is ready for another busy and exciting term filled with learning and new opportunities. In Maths, we will be exploring fractions and decimals, building on our understanding and applying these skills in different contexts. Alongside this, we will continue our daily times tables practice, use Doodle Learn and take part in extra problem-solving sessions to challenge ourselves and develop confidence.

In writing,  punctuation and grammar will be a focus throughout the term as we hone and master key skills. We will then build towards writing a non-chronological report linked to our science topic of classifying animals big and small, before moving on to creating dramatic moments in a narrative. Our reading journey will take us into the pages of No Ballet Shoes in Syria, a story that will spark discussion and reflection.

Our PSHE lessons will explore the theme of dreams and goals, encouraging us to think about aspirations and how to achieve them. In topic lessons, we will dive into history with the question, “What did the Greeks ever do for us?” and in RE, we will consider “Why do Hindus want to be good?” These thought-provoking topics will help us understand the world and its cultures more deeply. PE will keep us active and engaged as we learn and play tag rugby, developing teamwork and resilience.

Just a reminder that spelling homework will be sent home every Friday in a spelling folder. Spellings are to be learnt and homework is due in on the following Tuesday for our weekly spelling test. Keep going with Doodle Learn activities in grammar and in maths as well as times tables practice on TTRS. Make sure to keep reading at home and handing in your reading bookmarks so we can celebrate your progress. 

With so much to look forward to, this term promises to be full of exciting learning experiences for Kestrel Class!

So far in Kestrel class [ yr5 and yr6 ] we have accomplished a variety of experiences. First , we will go over the visitors that have been helping us , such as Miss B, who is a French college student and helps us learn French. We have also had a professional music teacher come in to help us learn traditional English dances and pop songs. Additionally, we have been lucky enough to have Rocksteady [a music company ,which goes to schools in Britain, to form bands with musical students ] come to our school to teach us about music.

Next, we will talk about our curriculum subjects. In Maths, we are learning all about fractions and their many properties and in Writing we are preparing to write a non-chronological report about an animal of the our choice. We are also doing science and history, in which we are learning about the ancient Greeks and classifying animals on their characteristics.  PE is being done by Mr Hunt who is teaching us how to play dodge ball and stay healthy in health and fitness.

In Kestrel class, we now have the ‘wow wall’ , which is helping us to put more effort and determination  into our work. It also gives us confidence as seeing our work on a special wall can boost joy [ one of our school values ]  and creativity [the will to get on there again ] .

We also have our Spelling homework , which is given out every Friday to practice over the weekend. We do the test on Tuesday which is to improve our spelling skills, We use our curriculum spellings and spellings with specific suffixes in our tests. This greatly helps us with our spelling and PAG for the future.

Overall, it has been an amazing term and we greatly look forward to our trip to Ufton court with Heytsbury primary [ contact for more information ] to pretend to be Greeks ! We are all looking forward to  the rest of the school followed by half term.

Written by :  Daisy and Darcey

Year 5 and 6 enjoyed exploring a variety of plants in their science lesson, carefully observing their features and classifying them into different groups, with a big thank‑you to Mrs Sage for kindly bringing them in.