2022-24 Year 5 Blog

  Year 5 started our lesson by discussing what we know about Anglo-Saxon beliefs from our Sutton Hoo learning and exploring the image above. Could this be another grave? A tombstone of a king? Some kind of monument? What does it show? As this monument is a cross, it shows us that the Anglo-Saxons must have been Christian. Miss Studd explained with her Christianity-o-meter that Angles, Saxons and Jutes were Pagan... But that Christianity boomed in Britain in the Early Middle Ages. So what caused this? Year 5 set off on chromebooks to find clues. Who was spreading Christianity? Where did it come from? In our research, we found out that Christianity mostly left when the Romans left and that some Christians worried that Christianity was being brushed aside. Because of this, Pope Gregory sent St Augustine to Britain to convert people to Christianity. They started by converting Kings and hoping that everyone else would follow... But it mainly just stuck with the royal types! It was a dif...

 This afternoon, Y5's mission was to (literally) piece together the artefacts found in the fascinating ship burial site of Sutton Hoo. We began to wonder... What were these objects used for? And... Why were they buried underground? These artefacts have lead historians to believe that a powerful king must have been buried in a 27 metre long ship, along with countless treasures. Fascinatingly, archeologists haven't found a body among the artefacts. Perhaps it was dissolved by the acidic soil which has covered it for hundreds of years.  So what can the finds of Sutton Hoo tell us about the Anglo-Saxons?  Y5 came up with some incredible deductions and theories. They must have had royalty They were clearly rich (or at least, some were) They were able to travel around the world (some of the treasures came from as far as Sri Lanka) Perhaps they were raiders who took treasures from other places across the globe If this kind was a 'King of Kings', could these treasures have been...

 This week, year five started their exciting new topic - Anglo-Saxons and Vikings! We started the lesson by making a prediction. What do you think happened after the Roman soldiers left Britain? Many children suggested that perhaps Britain became more peaceful… We quickly learned that this was not the case! The Middle Ages were filled with invasions, raids and battles. Britain was invaded by Picts, Scots, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, and Normans, too! We explored and colour-coded maps to show where some of these invaders came from, and studied a timeline that shows us when each group settled in Britain. Next time, we will explore the reasons behind the Anglo-Saxon invasions as we begin to piece together a picture of life at this time in Britain.

 Today, Year 5 began their lesson by exploring and labelling a map of Ancient Greece. Though they could see that Athens and Sparta were not far away from each other, they were very different! Did you know that if a Spartan baby seemed weak, it would be thrown off a cliff!? Did you know that Spartan boys joined the army at the age of 7 and didn't learn reading, writing or maths? We know now that Athenians were much more focused on culture and the arts. Priory and Alum class were then asked: where would you rather live? Children were brilliant at expressing their view and backing it up with historic evidence. Well done, year 5. Below: a Spartan and an Athenian showing their priorities!

Some historians say that women weren't allowed to leave the home. Some say that women would collect water from the well. Some say that women would only cook and clean. Others say that women were muses and musicians. What is the truth? Year 5 explored primary sources in order to discover the truth about life for women in Ancient Greece.  We already know for sure that life wasn't great - women weren't allowed to vote and girls weren't allowed to go to school. But why do different sources say different things about life for Ancient Greek women? Children discovered from images of pottery and artwork that the wealth of a woman would change her lifestyle. Wealthy women stayed at home while their slaves went to markets and wells for them. Meanwhile, poor women had to do these jobs themselves. Location also had an impact on lifestyle - Spartan women would exercise and play games, while Athenian women would not.

Today in History, Year 5 learned how to use a Venn Diagram to show similarities and differences. These diagrams were a handy way to show our knowledge and understanding of everyday life in Ancient Greece, and how it compares to our modern lifestyle. Miss Studd was so impressed to see every pair working beautifully together. Later, we had a discussion about what we had found out. On one hand, Ancient Athens was similar to our modern life. They had courts, laws, juries, policemen, politics and votes, like we do today. On the other hand, girls were not allowed to go to school, and women were not allowed to vote. Did you know the Olympic Games were held every four years in Greece - just like modern times?

Today in History, year 5 met their new teacher!  Our key question was: why do we study History? We had a really interesting discussion inspired by the famous quote, "the more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future" ~Theodore Roosevelt. We explored some examples of how beneficial it can be to learn from the past. For example, learning about past wars can help us learn how to stop future wars. We then discussed the two types of sources that historians might use in order to learn about the past: primary sources and secondary sources. Finally, we started to explore events that occurred in the time of the Ancient Greeks. We explored the meaning of BC and AD and used our knowledge to un-muddle a muddled timeline of these events. We are so excited to learn more!