Year 5 went to Intech's planetarium. First we spent some time exploring Intech for ourselves; we went on all sorts of fun things. My favourite one was the system for moving grain around: there were four things that you had to turn to make the grain go round the whole system.
At 11:30 it was time to go into the planetarium. When we went in, we were surprised to see that it was like a cinema. We sat down in the most comfortable seats and watched the show. It was funny because when the start exploded it made a big, loud bang, but in space you wouldn't hear it because there's no atmosphere. I found it very interesting.

Autumn

Autumn is a time
when leaves fall down.
They make a crunching noise
on the ground.
The leaves turn different colours,
yellow, brown and red.
And conkers fall down
and bang me on the head.
Squirrels collecting acorns
for the winter feed.
Plants have grown very tall
from such a tiny seed.

Hannah 5B

Winter

Winter is the time when Christmas is near,
Winter is the time when it's nearly a new year.
Winter is the time when snow flakes fall,
Winter is the time when I grow tall.
Winter is the time when there's no more sun,
Winter is the time to have some fun.
Winter is the time to give love,
Winter is the time to look more above.
Winter is the time to celebrate,
Winter is the time to open a new gate.

Year 5 went on a walk to Alton High Street. There were five groups, each one with a teacher and we got into pairs with the people in our group.

Once we got there, we dropped off a group at a time until we were scattered around the High Street in our groups. Each pair got a clip board with tally charts and questionnaires on it. We counted what type of vehicles we saw in five minutes ad were very surprised by how many bikes there were. We also interviews young men and women from Alton College and got some interesting answers from them about the traffic and how it is controlled in the area. We looked at that as well.

On Wednesday 24th September, the U10 netball team went to Portsmouth to play Kingscourt. The U11 team camm too and they played first. Kingscourt started with teh ball but soon enough we got the ball. Eshana scored in the first half, then we got oranges. We got on very well with the Kingscourt team. In the second half, we got possession lots of times and tried to shoot, but failed. Kingscourt won 2-1, bu we really enjoyed the match. I was man of the match and we had a great team, with Rebecca (GS), Eshana (GA), Claudia (WD), Anna (WA), Katya (GD), India (C) and me (GK).

On Wednesday our U10 rounders team played Daneshill. It was a mixed team of Year 5 and Year 4. It was a great game, although because the pitch was wet and slippery, it was a bit different... We weren't allowed to run and so had to do star jumps instead, with 10 jumps for half a rounder and 20 for a full rounder! In the end, we won 5½  to 3. Everyone played well, with Millie as player of the match.

Flora, 5M

The Isle of Wight has been the best residential trip we have ever had with the school! We stayed at the Rooftree Hotel, owned by Ann and Futoshi. Here are a few of the many highlights of our trip. The boat tour around the Needles was one of the best highlights, we got great pictures and fabulous views. Glory Art Glass was great as well, especially when they blew the glass bubble and popped it, which made everyone jump! We also had a fabulous dance class with Ann, the hotel owner, and a disco.
We brought sweets, money and our teddy bears for the competition, where you had to make a scene with your teddy bears: some examples were, a hot air balloon ride and a barbecue on the beach. We also had the tidiest room competition, and the boys never won!
Friday came too soon and before long we were heading back to Portsmouth and then back to school.

In the ISA regionals Francesca, India Abi and I, and our mums all went up to Eton, for one or two races. When we arrived there it was extraordinarally big. We all waited for 2,3 or possibly 4 hours! Abi ran 600 meters and came first! All of our Mums packed a huge lunch, we barely ate any. We borrowed some money to go and buy some chips, they were delicious!!!

Then I did my ball throw, I came 8th out of 11, but two got disqualified. Year 5 also took part in the Regionals. Then an hour after the ball throw Abi, India, Francesca and I all did a relay it was fantastic but scary. When the man shot the pistol that looked like a gun, I sprinted as fast as I could. When I passed the baton to India I got nervous that I would drop it but I didn't. India also sprinted as fast as she could until Francesca overtook people like India and I did. When Francesca passed to Abi she was phenomenal. At the end we won all of our races. We were all proud of ourselves and so were our Mums. A couple of days later we received our medals in assembly and Abi received two. We enjoyed it very much and we hope we can have another experience like that again.

On 5th June Annabelle, Grace, Josh and Matthew (Y5) went to Portsmouth Cathedral for the Good Shepherd Appeal Mass. We left at half past nine with Mrs Bird. When we got there we went into the Cathedral and sat down, then Josh and Matthew got up and joined the procession of banners. Near the end of the mass, Annabelle and Grace went up to give the Bishop the check for over £2000.
At the end of the mass, we looked around the Cathedral and we had our own little organ recital by Paul Inwood. There were so many buttons on the organ! We went to the park across the street. We had a picnic and then Mrs Bird treated us to an ice-cream. We all had a great time and we cope we can go next year!

As part of the school's Shakespeare Day celebrations, we were delighted to welcome five-time Foyle Young Poet Award winner Helen Mort to the school to run a couple of poetry workshops. Year 6 were joined by a number of pupils from neighbouring Bentley Primary School for a workshop which explored the ways that poetry, in contrast to Auden's view, can change the world. The children explored techniques for writing poetry of their own, such as thinking from the perspective of other senses or exploring the impossible. The workshop concluded with Helen reading some of her own poems, and answering pupils' questions on her life and work as a poet. The Year 5 workshop followed a similar format, although with this group Helen also had chance to hear some of the pupils perform their ESB poems. We've purchased a copy of Helen's collection of poems, The Shape of Every Box, for the prep school library.