Year 5 went on our overnight trip to North and Middle Caicos on the 13^th to 14^th of June and had a blast! We were incredibly lucky with good weather, very few mosquitoes and beautifully behaved children! We visited Mudjin Harbour, Conch Bar caves, Wade’s Green, the Government farm and even visited ‘My Dee’s’, a local restaurant, and the Middle Caicos Co-op to see beautifully weaved baskets and bags. We were so very lucky to have the wonderful support of Mrs. Rochelle and one of the children’s dad, Mr. Olly; thank you both so much! Also a huge thank you also to everyone on North and Middle for making our trip possible.

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Here at Provo Primary, we had a feast of books, books, books on World Book Day! We kicked it off the night before with a wonderful, warm storytelling session where the children heard tales from all around the world, while cozied up in pjs.

The next morning started with an amazing parade from Toddlers to Year 6 of outstandingly creative characters from books. Then the children kindly had brought in piles of old books to swap. We managed to ensure that every child received a different book they had not read to add to their own home library. We even have waiting lists for some of the more popular reads!

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As part of Year 5’s topic on ‘Space and Segregation’ we have been working on researching, designing and creating our very own lunar satellites and Mars rovers. The criteria was to create as realistic as possible scale model of each.

The children have worked exceptionally hard on their research and idea sharing. They have been imaginative and resourceful thinking about the equipment we have in class but also what we can source on island to create a range of unique, creative and superb designs.

We have drafted and re-drafted our designs, had other children assess and evaluate our designs and feedback any constructive criticism.

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Last Thursday the 8^th of November and the previous Thursday (1^st) Years 3-5 had their Sports day and what a set of Sports days it was! Due to the eagerness of the children to carry out a range of races and the temperature at that time of day, we decided to split the events over two sessions. This way the children could enjoy both without feeling over-exhausted or with sunstroke. Our first session involved the track events: 100m, hurdles, 200/400m and relay. The skill and speed of our runners in all year groups really blew us (as teachers) all away; they were superb. It was fantastic to see how determined and how focused the children were on pacing and delivering in each race and quite simply the huge passion so many of them have for running in general.

The next session was based around the field events of discus, javelin and long jump with the focus less on competition with each other and more with themselves. [Read more…]

Year 5 have been learning all about life cycles in science so far this term. We have investigated our own life cycles and then went on to research all about the different life cycles of species of plants and animals we are interested in. From bluebirds to mountain lions to ocelots; we have learnt a lot about the differences in how we are born, reared and our lifespans. We also explored a plant’s journey and drew some wonderful scientific diagrams of this process. We are now researching what makes a mammal different to an amphibian or a reptile or a plant and how we classify these.

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As you probably know by now as a school we are pushing forward with a ‘No straws’ initiative across the classes. The children have been really inspired by this.  In Year 5 we have been having lots of discussions about our world today, the current environmental issues we face and how they can be a part of a better, brighter, more aware future generation.

The children decided to write poems on this fight against plastic and their fears for the future if we did not all act. Their work was completely independent, the choice of their focus and the techniques they used but the content really blew me away! We have stuck these poems up around the school and attached them below in the hope that all of us, adults and children, will be more inspired to remember what is at stake for our future.

Please look around and take a read and hopefully be inspired!

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Year 5 were given the challenge three weeks ago to create a project of their own design on someone in the recent past who has made a significant change to our world. This is a direct link to the topic we are studying this term which involves us studying the life of MLK Junior and the amazing battle he fought for racial equality.

Year 5 were able to use PowerPoint, drama, models, speech alone, literally anything they felt worked to support their presentation.  And wow, they did! We had costumes, models, games, quizzes with prizes and some absolutely fascinating facts.

The children all worked incredibly hard to speak selectively and clearly on why their chosen person had made a difference to our world. The presentations ranged from Ruben Carter, to Nick Vujicic, to Marie Curie, to David Attenborough, to Donald Trump – to name a few!

We all learnt a huge amount about these people but also about how to present in front of an audience with clear, slow enunciation! [Read more…]

This mid-term we have been incredibly lucky to have had the chance to try out a sport that is completely new to most of us here in the T.C.I-Gaelic football Irish: Peil Ghaelach; short name Peil or Caid), commonly referred to as football or Gaelic! It is an Irish team sport, played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kicking or punching the ball into the other team’s goals (3 points) or between two upright posts above the goals and over a crossbar 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) above the ground (1 point). The range of skills this game tests and improves is fantastic and has been a real eye-opener for Key Stage Two!

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Our overnight trip to North and Middle Caicos was a roaring success! We started our day by taking the ferry over from Provo. After landing in Sandy Point, we took our massive school bus over to Mudjin Harbor in Middle Caicos. On the way we stopped at the Causeway to take in the impact of hurricanes and how hard it has been to repair this. Swimming, lunch and walks in caves and trails followed at Mudjin. Then we made our way to the Conch Bar caves.

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As part of our topic on ‘Space and Segregation’ we have been studying in detail the famous ‘I have a dream ‘ speech by Martin Luther King Junior. After identifying all the techniques he used so well to make such a powerful and emotive speech, we decided to write our own speeches.  Year 5 were encouraged to think of any issue at all that they felt really strongly about or wanted to change on a global or personal scale. The range of issues is both interesting and thought-provoking. The children then drafted and re-drafted their speeches in their best handwriting, ready for our classroom wall – please feel welcome to come in and read them. They then had to memorise their speech (as much as they could) before being filmed performing it. We hope you are inspired by their persuasive and compelling reasoning and formal, emotive language!

Here at Provo Primary we are very proud of our Spanish Language programme and we want to make sure that our parents know just how fantastic it is, the progress their children are making and just how much they can do in Spanish!

One of the ways we hope this will be made clearer is through the introduction of our Language Passports. These have also been created to help the children see just how much progress they make from year to year and to keep track of any areas they need to work on.

The passport is made up of ‘can do’ statements which the children colour in when they feel they can carry out the statement, and have shown this understanding to the teacher.  This allows the children to self-assess their ability and the teacher to understand where the children need help and where they are confident.

We will be launching the passports after half-term to Years 1-3 to start with to see how they work. Please feel free to ask Miss Cara or Mrs. Yorka to see your child’s ‘Passport to Spanish’.

As part of our focus on National Heritage Month, Year 5 have been looking at basket weaving in the T.C.I. and how we use different natural plants to create beautiful hats, baskets, bookmarks, bracelets and more.

We were lucky enough to have the expertise of Daphne Forbes (who we will definitely be looking to invite in again) to help teach us how to weave silver palm. Although tricky at first, the children became experts in next to no time. We were also incredibly fortunate to have one of our students teaching us a different weaving method with amazing patience- a teacher in the making!

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Year 5 are extremely happy to be using their class interactive whiteboard this term.  A particular favourite at the moment is the Big Writing program where the children can learn about how to use punctuation, sentence structure, connectives and openers in a fun, interactive way. They also love the widget timer, which guides them to complete creative writing tasks within a certain time frame.  It plays classical music in the background and offers vocabulary choices to help stimulate their ideas. [Read more…]

Year 5 have worked long and hard studying persuasive speaking and writing. We have analysed the different techniques used by MLK Junior in his most famous ‘I HAVE A DREAM’ speech. We have also looked at past and present politicians clever techniques as well as the power of advertising.

We have written our own speeches on a range of issues that we care about from the proposed local 12-storey development, the state of government schools to gun crime. The children worked hard to include as many different persuasive techniques as they could. We are now working on our debating skills and each day this week we are tackling a new issue. Come along on Friday afternoon and take part in one, but be warned, the Year 5’s debating skills are well-honed!

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In Year 5 we have been looking at poetry and, in particular, performance poetry; how we create poems and what makes a poem particularly good to perform. We read and analysed a wide variety of performance poetry together.

Using inspiration from these, as well as events that happened that week such as Remembrance Day, the children were given free choice to create their own poem. The range of topics and the powerful way the children manipulated their language, whether it be humour, sadness or beauty, was truly impressive.  What has astounded me is just how poetic Year 5 are and how fantastic their imagery and wordplay is. Take a look yourself!

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Year 5 students have written a recount of their coastal investigation field trip in which they learnt to use a clinometer.

First, Year 5 went to the DEMA building to pick up Mr Roddy Mcleod. We walked across the road with him to the beach by the Bight Park. Mr Roddy showed us how to use a clinometer. He explained to us it is something that measures whether the slopes on the beach have risen or fallen.

“Roddy is a Provo Primary Alumni.  How wonderful that he has followed a career path that focuses on looking after our environmental and is now sharing his knowledge and passion, inspiring a new generation of Provo Primary children”. Miss Sian [Read more…]

Last half term, the Year 5 took a closer look at our beautiful coastline here in the Turks and Caicos Islands!

With a combination of class-based and out-in-the-field learning, the children have gained new knowledge about the geographical features of our coastline, the huge varieties of species that live and depend on our coastal habitats, the impact of nature and the importance of ecotourism.  They also have a greater awareness of what they can tangibly do in their own lives, and what they can tell others to do, to help protect the beautiful coast that we have.

A big thank you to all of our community teachers and to everyone who helped out with our field trip transportation.

This topic has provided many opportunities for nurturing wonder and respect toward our local environment and the planet through observation, hands-on learning and the sharing of expertise.  Phew, it’s been busy half term, but so worthwhile! Just ask one of our Year 5s!

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