Welcome to the Class Page of 5AR (Austen)

Term 6: Fairgrounds.

For our final topic of the year we will be studying Fairgrounds.  We will combine art, design and technology and science to create our own fairground rides.  Our personal learning goal is adaptability and we will be learning how to cope with changes as well as concluding our PSHE lessons with Miss Barry and the FRIENDS programme. We are looking forward to two trips this term: Leeds Castle for History week and Legoland for our topic.

In storytime we will be continuing with Small Steps and finishing The Demon Headmaster.

In term 5 term we are exploring the topic Champions for Change.  To begin the topic we  held a class election, where the children presented their manifesto to the class and a class Prime Minister was elected.  Using laptops we have researched and created informative power points about significant people including; Malala Yousafzai, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King.

Our new book, in literacy, is The Demon Headmaster by Gillian Cross and our class book is Small Steps by Louis Sachar.  Everyone enjoyed reading Holes, so we decided to read the next book in the series.

Term 3 continues to be a busy one!  Our topic, Being Human, has inspired the children to think about ways of staying fit and healthy. The term began with an exhausting 'Beep Test' to think about effects of exercise on the body.  Using their research skills, the children have explored how the circulation and digestive systems function, creating fascinating fact files.  To develop their mastery of art skills, the children used clay and charcoal to represent the human body in motion.  On Inspire day the children were given the task of helping to making  breakfast more appealing and healthy for children, so they made their own Weetabuddies.

We continue to enjoy the story of Stanley Yelnats in the book Holes, as well as reading in literacy the moving story of August in the novel Wonder.

We hope you enjoy some of the photographs of our learning this term.

Term 1: It has been a busy start to the new year for Austen Class.  We began by learning all about the author our class is named after, Jane Austen.  During guided reading we have been reading Pride and Predjudice and understanding the main characters Mr Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet.  Through animated discussion we have thought about the strengths and weaknesses of these characters and we have taken turns to act out our favourite characters (see our class photographs).

For story time we are enjoying Holes, by Louis Sachar.  The story follows the life of young Stanley Yelnats, a boy who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention centre, for a crime he did not commit.  The Warden claims that digging holes, on a dried out lake bed, is character building.  However, Stanley will learn that he must uncover a greater truth that the boys are not being told, a truth distantly related to his great-great-grandfather and the infamous outlaw Kissin' Kate Barlow.