Saltwood Church of England Primary School

SaltwoodChurch of England Primary SchoolLove, Creativity and Strength

Class 5

See what Class 5 got up to last year!

 

Saxon vs Viking!

Year 5 have been enjoying Saxon & Viking life! On Tuesday, they visited Eaton Lands, where they re-enacted an "accidental" Saxon attack on a Viking travelling party! Unfortunately for the Saxons, one of the mortally injured Vikings was an important Viking daughter - leading to all out war! King Alfred, in an attempt to restore peace, invited the Vikings to his regal estate on Wednesday, (Brockhill Country Park), where the two armies enjoyed camp-building, fire-lighting, foraging, and story-telling  in the hope of building bridges. Regrettably, talks at the end of the day between Guthrum & King Alfred did not go well... leading to all out War on Thursday at the playing "battle " fields of South Road!

 

 

 

Abstract Art

Year 5 have been investigating the benefits of mindfulness art, exploring the freedom and self-expression that is found in abstract shapes. Developing resilience is a key skill in life, and learning to accept that not everything can be perfect is even more important! What better way to experience this than to explore a form where there is no wrong answer!

 

The Windrush Generation

During Black History Month, the Year 5 children dedicated a day to learning all about this important historical event. From the initial joy and excitement of a new life, through to the awful prejudice endured and the most recent treatment of the Windrush Generation, the class reflected on what racism and prejudice means, how it affects people and what our responsibilities are in creating the fair world we all want to see. We focused on the positive and life-loving attitude of Alford Gardner, (who came to England on the Windrush), and what he has to teach us all. We would encourage you to google him and listen to his interviews! Afterwards, the children created information posters to consolidate their learning.

 

Children in Need 2023!

Year 5 had a fantastic fund-raising day for Children in Need! They even managed to convert Mr Hunt's bald patch into a spotty fashion accessory whilst he was working on his computer at breaktime...

 

Dance Lessons from Brockhill Academy!

Year 5 are getting deep into their dance lessons now with the amazing Miss Scarlett from the Brockhill Outreach Project. We would like to express our deep thanks to Miss Scarlett for her expertise, her fun-filled dance sessions and her end-of-lesson games!


 

 

Courageous Advocacy 2023!

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

We are thrilled to launch our Courageous Advocacy project! We have been thinking about the above words from the Book of Matthew, and reflecting on what Faith means. Trusting in God is a large part, but so too is taking action. The birds, like so many other creatures, are indeed looked after by our Heavenly Father, but it is our responsibility to protect our environment, thereby giving effect to God's Will. From the RSPB website, we are undertaking a year round care-for-nature project. It sets out exactly what action we can take in every month of the year to maximise the wellbeing of our local environment. Check back soon for pictures as it progresses!

 

Resilience Through Artwork!

Following on from our Abstract Art for Wellbeing, Year 5 have been trying out "Resilience Art" techniques - where the set of instructions are the same for all, quite complicated, and the goal is to never give up! Believe in yourself and get to the end! The results are simply stunning!

 

 

Learning about forces

Year 5 have been enjoying their science this month - looking at air resistance, gravity and friction. Water resistance is next! Who knows what will happen!

 

Debate - Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous?

As part of our IT curriculum, (looking at data transfer, the Mars Rover and how systems communicate with each other - often independently from human control), we debated the question: Is Artificial Intelligence Dangerous?
We began with the story of Garry Kasparov - the first human chess Grandmaster to be defeated by a computer - IBM's "Deep Blue" - in 1997. We then examined the rise of the internet and computer aided systems, noting the benefits to the health service in helping to diagnose illness, the wonders of computer aided design and 3D printing, and how many jobs became streamlined and easier. We found many benefits of computers in our lives.
However, as we shared our own experiences of deeper computer integration we found lots of odd experiences with Alexa, some scary scenarios of what facial recognition offers, and even a Peppa Pig story generated on ChatGPT that did not turn out as expected! We also raised the Netflix and social media algorithms for discussion before deciding our debating position.
In the end, our debaters presented some really good arguments for the benefits to humans of A.I, but our counter-arguments for the darker side, the side we do not yet fully understand and which we seem to accept without question, proved quite scary. However, the groundswell of opinion was always toward the positives, provided it was handled properly.
Our final vote after debate went as follows: Is A.I Dangerous? Yes: 5, No: 9, Undecided: 17
The verdict: Proceed with caution!