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Kestrels
Welcome to Kestrels 2021 - 2022!
We hope you enjoy looking at our learning on this page.
Please remember our home learning is always due in on a Thursday and will be sent back out the next day. We also collect reading records in once a week on a Friday.
Please ensure they bring a water bottle into school for fruit and drinks time after play time. Our PE days are Monday and Thursday - please ensure your child comes into school in PE clothes and a school jumper.
Thank you
Grangewater Outdoor Activity Centre
The Victorians
This term, Kestrels are learning about the Victorians. The period of Queen Victoria's reign was marked by sweeping progress and ingenuity. It was a time of the world's first industrial Revolution. The Victorian Era was a very productive time for new inventions. Many household devices that we take for granted today were invented during this period. The children will be learning about some of these great inventions and the people who invented them. The children will be exploring how schools in Victorian times were different to today.
Victorian Inventions
The Victorian period was a time of huge change, a time of innovation. The children in Kestrels worked extremely hard to make 3D models of Victorian inventions. These include:
- a gramophone
- a typewriter
- a locomotive
- a bicycle
- a radio
Material Madness
During the topic, Kestrels grouped and classified materials according to their properties. They discussed why some objects are made using certain materials. The children investigated whether different solids would dissolve in water. After that, the designed and carried out their own investigations linked to dissolving.
Below are each group's key question:
Does the amount of water affect the rate at which a solid will dissolve?
Does the type of water affect the rate at which a solid will dissolve?
Does the amount of solid affect the rate at which a solid will dissolve?
Does the size of the beaker affect the rate at which a solid will dissolve?
Rainforests
In Term 4, the children will be learning all about the layers of the rainforest, climate zones and deforestations. They will be reading extracts from Journey to the River Sea and The Explorer. During World Book Week, we will be used The Great Kapok Tree to explore the theme of storytelling.
Ancient Greece
The children explored Greek pottery by first researching Greek lifestyles, art and culture. After the research, they began designing a Greek pot. The children first sketched their ideas through observing real life Greek pottery. These looked great! Then they use pottery techniques to make a Greek vase. The photos below show the making process. The finished products will be added soon.
Material Madness
This term, Kestrels have been learning about the properties of materials. First, they sorted and compared a range of objects, choosing how to sort the objects. The children discussed the uses of each of the objects.
Kestrels learned about dissolving and investigated whether different solids dissolved in a liquid.
Beautiful Bread
There's nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread.
Year 5 recently turned their classroom into a bakery to learn how to make the perfect loaf of bread. To begin, they investigated and evaluated different bread products.
These included:
- White loaf
- Sourdough bread
- Naan bread
- Chapatis
- Pitta bread
- Challah bread
The budding bakers donned their aprons and were guided through every stage of the bread making process. Pupils practised the craft of mixing and kneading their dough and shaping the loaves before baking their own focaccia bread.
The sessions formed part of the Year 5 pupils’ English and science curriculum where the children have been developing their listening, language, and independent learning skills and learning about how materials and ingredients change.
Out of this World
This term, we are learning all about space.
Royal Observatory Greenwich
To deepen their learning about space, Kestrels visited the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
As part of the visit, the children were able to explore the grounds and see the meridian line which represents the Prime Meridian of the world, Longitude Zero (0° 0′ 0″). Every place on the Earth is measured in terms of its angle east or west from this line. Since 1884, the Prime Meridian has served as the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and this line runs across the courtyard of the Royal Observatory where the Planetarium is based.
During their visit to the Planetarium, they watched a 3D show which took them on an exhilarating journey through the Solar System. They were very keen to ask questions and find out more about the planets.
This is what some of the children thought about the day:
Gurshaan: I thought my day was very good because in the Planetarium, it looked very realistic. It was 3 dimensional! I learnt that you can use the stars to find north so if you ever get lost, just look and the sky and you will be able to find your way!
Eliza: I saw something amazing! I looked up into the sky and saw the planets and the Solar System. I saw stars, moons and asteroids. My favourite part was laying back and looking at the Solar System.
Jessica: I liked visiting the Obscura camera. It was really interesting to see.
Around the World in 80 Days!
In Term 1, we have been reading 'Around the World in 80 Days'. We have been learning about places such as Brintisi, Suez, Mumbai, Kolkota, San Francisco and New York. We have been linking our reading to Geography. We have been learning about the physical and human geographical features of some of these areas. During this topic, we have been focusing on extreme weather and climate. The children researched extreme weather and discussed the short term and long term affects these weathers may have.
Kent Police Open Day 2021
Kestrels has the wonderful opportunity to attend Kent Police Open Day. The event was held at the Kent Police College and was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the work Kent Police does across the county, watch Police teams in action. We also listened to police officers who told us how to keep safe! During the day, we watch displays by the police dogs and horses as well as learning about how the police use finger printing to identify suspects.
