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5Year 5 started off their year by immersing themselves in Victorian
life. They followed the life journey of a typical Victorian girl, from
school days to the match girls’ strike, joining her with her housemaid
duties along the way as they explored how to use Victorian household
tools.
On Victorian Day the Junior School Hall was transformed into a
gloomy and tense Victorian school room. In the morning the girls
took on the role of subdued Victorian school children then, later
in the day, became Victorian detectives, searching through
the belongings of lost luggage suitcases to identify possible
owners.
In the autumn term, art and design lessons focused
on the work and influence of William Morris, culminating
in a trip to a ceramic studio. There, the girls
translated designs based on the Arts and Crafts
movement onto plates.
In the spring term the theme was Seeing is
Believing with weather as the geography topic.
The girls collected and interpreted weather data,
explored extreme weather and wrote weather
forecasts. They then travelled back in time to the world
of the Ancient Greeks. A personalised learning project
allowed the girls to choose from a variety of learning
styles to independently deepen their learning about both
modern and Ancient Greece. They also studied myths and
legends, made their own mini books retelling Aesop’s Fables
and had a heated debate on the advantages and disadvantages of
being a Spartan or an Athenian! A Greek afternoon of feasting and
drama concluded the unit.
The highlight of the term was the residential trip to Sayers Croft –
an activity centre in Surrey. Staff and pupils were all exhausted at
the end of an action packed few days! The girls managed to cram in
climbing, caving, orienteering, pond dipping, shelter building, team
games, a night walk, bat watching and blindfold mazes!
Above: Artwork in
the style of Patrick
Caulfield and Renate
Keeping.
Left: Year 5 visit to
‘Fired Up’ in Petts
Wood to transfer
William Morris
inspired designs onto
ceramic plates.
On Victorian Day the Junior School Hall
was transformed into a gloomy and tense
Victorian school room.
The Home and Away topic started by going “away” to the Amazon
Rainforest and everyone was enthralled by the Rainforest Man - who
not only helped the girls understand the structure and dangers of
the rainforest but also gave them the opportunity to handle a wide
variety of rainforest creatures. They then came “home” to prepare
group presentations about GDST schools in different parts of the
country, contrasting the geography of the different locations.
A maths investigation inviting the girls to spend £100 from a
catalogue - including offers and discounts - made them realise how
important maths is in everyday life and the trip to Bromley’s Metro
Bank helped further this understanding of money and finance.
It also gave them the opportunity to research how many local shops
sold rainforest “friendly” products – adding fuel to their debates
around the subjects of deforestation and conservation.
The summer trip to Down House, the local home of Charles Darwin,
allowed the girls to draw together their learning from throughout the
year – from maths to art and design and science to RE.
It was a fitting end to a very busy year.
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