Walnut

Thank you for visiting our Walnut Class Page.

Walnut is a year 5 class taught by Mr Dalton with Mrs Hirst.

Our new topic for this half term is The Titanic. The children are very excited about learning more about the tragedy and what may have contributed it!

The children researched the types of food served on Titanic and the differences between the classes and used this research to design their own menu.

As part of our Topic “Oceans Alive” we visited the Sealife Centre in Birmingham. The children had an fantastic time seeing all the amazing sea creatures especially the sea otters,

They also enjoyed a workshop about pollution in our oceans and how we can all play a part in reducing this pollution.

Mr Dalton built a raised garden for the children in Walnut to plant flowers in Memory of Ron, his Grandad, who the children all met at our Kempsey Cafe.

Our new topic for this term is Oceans Alive!

Following on from our “Texture of Water” sketches using oil pastels, the children went on to design a feature showing ‘Movement in Water’.  They were encouraged to choose textures and materials to make it look like the ocean.

In our art lessons, we have been exploring how to create texture using oil pastilles and then later trying to create movement and texture using materials.

Our current topic in Science is the Solar System. We are learning about the planets, their order, their orbits and their distances from each other.

As the final stage of our DT project, the children built their ‘Earthquake Proof’ structures using dowel and hot glue. We will be testing them later.

Walnut and Sycamore Classes were honoured to welcome guests from the Science Department at Worcester University, who spent the day doing experiments with the children.

The children learned how to extract DNA from strawberries and raspberries.
We all had an amazing day - Thank you so much to our guests.

Continuing our ‘Earthquake’  topic and following on from our designs for earthquake proof buildings, the children moved on from their paper designs by recreating their designs using K’Nexx.

Walnut and Cedar classes hosted a Valentines themed café for guests from the local community.  Our guests were treated to coffee and an abundance of cakes generously donated by the families of the children.

The children were amazing and enjoyed sharing their school books and chatting about their learning with our guests.

A game of BINGO with prizes was a great success and as an impromptu finale, the children treated our guests to a couple of tunes on the clarinet, which they have been learning to play as a whole class.

Walnut and Sycamore Classes have read ‘The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe’ from the Chronicles of Narnia. They have also watched the film version and  are currently writing their own amazing setting descriptions based on Narnia.

As part of our topic the children designed an earthquake-proof structure with paper to explore what properties would be needed in order for the structure to withstand an earthquake. 
As the next step of this design technology project, the children have started designing a building that will withstand an earthquake, taking into account, strength, stability and flexibility. They will then be constructing their buildings and testing their results.

Our focus in P.E for the spring term is volleyball. The children are learning  what the different shots are called and practising how to perform them. They are also learning the rules of the game so that we can play mini games and later a full game.

Every Friday, the children from Walnut class meet with their “Book Buddies” from Cedar Class.  They share books and read to each other as well as building good relationships with the younger children. The children enjoy this immensely and love the responsibility.

We investigated the role of friction and how it affects the speed and distance of moving objects.

Our science “Eggsperiment”.

Walnut and Sycamore classes explored gravity and air resistance in our science lesson. The children were challenged to make a parachute for an egg that would increase air resistance and reduce gravity.

The egg, in its parachute, was dropped from a height to see if the air resistance from the parachute would slow its fall and prevent the egg from breaking.  Many of the parachutes did work and the children were able to explain why the air resistance from the parachutes worked against gravity.

Fundraising for Sight Concern.

Walnut and Sycamore participated in a fundraiser called “Flourishing a Fiver” in order to make some money for sight concern. They worked together in groups of six to come up with a business plan. They decided what their idea would be, researched the costs involved and made their own shopping lists.  They made their own goods  and then held a table-top sale to sell them to the other children in the school.  The children raised £217 for Sight Concern!

Santa and his reindeer came to visit.

Pumpkin Carving.

Walnut were awarded “Best Pumpkin” in the PTFA pumpkin carving competition.

Celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

Walnut marked the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by creating a large collage of

Queen Elizabeth II on a postage stamp. The children were split into four groups with the stamp being created in four separate pieces which were then joined together to complete the finished article.

We designed and built “Viking Longboats” and sailed them in the brook in forest school. Some sailed better than others, but I think we have some lessons to learn.