Thorney Close Primary SchoolSpruce Class 2025-2026
Welcome to the Spruce Class page! Over the course of the academic year, this space will be filled with photos, videos and updates that capture our exciting journey. You’ll be able to see what we’re working on, along with the special moments that make our class unique. Keep checking back to see how we grow, learn and celebrate our achievements together!
Class Information
Teacher: Miss. H Mitchell
Year Group: Year 5
PE Days:
News
Reading Records
The class have been given their reading records to bring home. As they are now in Year 5, they can read independently and ask you to sign it. Ideally, they should complete three nights a week of reading their book and two of ReadingPlus (which absolutely still counts and can be signed for).
Bikeability
Year 5 children will be taking part in Bikeability training from Monday 13th to Friday 17th October 2025. If your child doesn’t have their own bike, please try to borrow one from a friend or relative if possible. Also, ensure they have everything they need for the sessions, including a helmet and waterproof clothing if necessary. This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to build their confidence, improve their cycling skills, and develop a greater sense of independence.
Welcome
We are so excited to begin this new school year together. This year will be filled with learning, growth, and plenty of fun along the way.
Gallery (most recent photos first)
Click on the photos for further information.
Investigating Electrical Conductors and Insulators
Today, Year 5 investigated which materials conduct electricity and which act as insulators. We discovered that there are very few materials in our classroom that conduct electricity, helping to keep us safe in our everyday environment. Well done, Year 5, for your excellent scientific thinking and investigation skills! ⚡🔬👏
Planting Together
A big thank you to Year 5 for helping Year 1 plant their flowers. 🌸
The children showed fantastic teamwork, kindness, and support while working together so beautifully. 🌟
Understanding Late Adulthood
We have moved on from puberty and are now learning about late adulthood and how life changes as people get older.
Working in groups, we sorted statements into true and false and discovered that older adults can still learn new skills and may need dietary changes, while also understanding that not all older people need help to walk.
Exploring Photography
Today, the children practised taking close-up, long and zoom shots outdoors, developing their photography skills.
They showed great creativity and enjoyed experimenting with different perspectives!
Happy World Book Day!
We had a fantastic day celebrating our love of reading, sharing costumes and helping with a fun book treasure hunt.
The children showed great teamwork and enthusiasm—what a brilliant way to celebrate books and imagination!
Exploring Life Cycles in Science
Year 5 followed their computing lesson with science, where they first reminded themselves about the life cycle of amphibians. They then used this knowledge to explore the life cycle of invertebrates and began creating a model of a dragonfly life cycle, which they will continue in the next lesson.
Designing Our Zoo
Today in maths, we used our knowledge of area to plan and design our very own zoo.
We calculated the total area and worked out the cost for each animal section using our maths skills!
Coding with Micro:bits
This afternoon in Computing, we programmed our micro:bits to display different images on the LED screen when we pressed specific buttons.
Button A showed a happy face, Button B showed a sad face, and we even designed our own image to appear when the micro:bit was shaken!
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Spruce class took part in PE, focusing n building teamwork and listening skills.
Reading Plus September Stars
Well done to our September Reading Plus superstars who all moved up a level! 🌟 Keep up the amazing work!
Watercolours
In Art, we carried on with our space theme by using watercolours to paint colourful nebulas! We explored the colour wheel, practised blending, and mixed shades to create amazing galaxy-inspired pictures.
September Stars
🌟 Celebrating our September Stars of the Week! 🌟
Planets
The class had an exciting time learning about the planets and how they orbit the sun at different speeds! 🌍☀️ To demonstrate this, we did a fun activity where we "orbited" a person acting as the sun. Each planet moved at its own unique speed. 🚀 Some of us ended up feeling a little dizzy from all the rotations (oops! 😆) Neptune, just like in real life, took the longest to complete its orbit!
Perspective
In Spruce Class, we explored the idea of perspective, learning how the foreground and background work together and how objects appear smaller as they move further away. The children really enjoyed experimenting with these techniques to bring depth and detail to their drawings!
Sporty Monday
Super sporty Monday! This afternoon we enjoyed a calming yoga session, practicing poses like tree, child’s pose, and cat-cow. There was lots of stretching, focus, and relaxation. Ready to kick off our Meet Your Brain module with My Happy Mind.
Dodgeball
We have enjoyed our very first PE session with Craig from the Foundation of Light! The children had a fantastic time playing dodgeball, it was such a fun and energetic way to start the day.
Syncopation
In Music we learned about syncopation – playing rhythms off the beat to make music more exciting. The children had the chance to try this out using different instruments, including the darbuka and claves!
School Council
In class we thought carefully about the qualities of a great school council member – such as being fair, a good listener, and representing everyone’s ideas. After our discussion, we held a class vote and elected Spruce Class’ new school council representative.
Giraffes
Working in pairs, the children created informative fact files all about giraffes! They practised using organisational features like headings and subheadings, carefully considering how to structure each section so that readers could easily find key information.
Room 13
We’ve started our brand-new class book, 'Room 13' by Robert Swindells! We've been diving into the first three chapters and working hard to write our own summaries, capturing the spooky and suspenseful start to the story. Our dramatic reading really set the scene, there were even a few surprised screams as the tension built!
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Videos
Bikeability
/i/video/September_2025/Bikeability_2.mp4
/i/video/September_2025/Bikeability_1.mp4
Useful Links and Learning
Top Marks - Top Marks offers a wide range of fun and interactive games and activities that help support learning in maths and English. These resources are free to access at home and are a great way for children to practise their skills while having fun.
Letter-Join - To help children develop clear and confident handwriting, we use the Letter-join programme in regular handwriting sessions. We adapt the activities where needed to make sure they suit the needs of every child. The great news is that Letter-join can also be used at home! If you would like the login details, just let us know and we’ll be happy to share them with you.
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