Upper School

Year 5

What an action-packed year it has been in Year 5, where the children have thrived and grown, physically, emotionally, and academically. A year full of trips and themed days, residentials and drama workshops, and assemblies and concerts; wonderful opportunities for all the children, whatever their talents, to shine and build their confidence. The year started with a challenging residential at Cobnor, challenging because, thanks to covid, this was the first overnight school trip for many. The children faced their fears of heights or water, and tested their resilience as the wind blew and the spray flew. The children thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and range of activities - canoeing, kayaking, sailing, problem solving, low ropes, and climbing, to name but a few. They supported and encouraged each other throughout the trip, and although tired, they all had a great sense of achievement on the coach home.

Later in the term, they spent an exciting day at Gilbert White Field Study Centre, where they increased their knowledge of the lifecycle of plants and developed their investigation skills. In the afternoon, they developed their group work skills, by devising hypotheses and analysing the flora using quadrats. Spring Term had a history twist, with a trip to see the Mary Rose at the historic dockyard in Portsmouth as part of the Tudor topic. The children spent an informative session in the science labs, investigating replica and genuine artifacts from the recovery of the ship. They thought about the practicality of the materials used and whether there would be a modern-day replacement. They were introduced to the wonders of King Henry’s flagship, and toured the museum, topping up their knowledge and understanding for work back in class.

Continuing with our Tudor theme, The Young Shakespeare Company returned and enthralled the children with their rendition of The Tempest. The actors brought the story to life for the children by performing sections of the play, and explaining the characters and plot as they went along. The children were completely absorbed and contributed to key parts of the play as directed by the cast.

Another welcome return after covid was the Petersfield Music Festival; a wonderful experience, singing alongside other schools with an orchestra, and being part of the local community. The concerts took place over two evenings at The Festival Hall. The children were fantastic ambassadors for the school, performing a selection of songs to raise awareness of important environmental issues of our time. Well done Year 5! Our assembly highlights have included a presentation by 5R about the solar system, linked to the Y5 book, The Darkest Dark, written by Chris Hadfield, the world-renowned astronaut. 5B have presented an assembly about The Platinum Jubilee in this year of celebration, and celebrated the life of Rosa Parks, the American civil rights campaigner. The children were able to speak with Rosa remotely to ask her about her fascinating life and times. The growth of the children through the year was clear to see, as was their excellent delivery and calm and confident attitude shining out. What a year!

Year 6 have had a wonderful year - challenging themselves to go further and be better with each passing term. It began with a test of resilience, visiting PGL on the Isle of Wight to participate in some challenging team-building activities. Heights were the order of the day as they scaled huge structures, and were pinged into the air on the giant swing. It certainly pushed some to their limit, but after taking a deep breath, they all overcame their fears to have a truly exhilarating experience.

As the Autumn Term progressed, Year 6 enjoyed finding out about the lives of the Victorians, reflecting on how the lives of children have changed so dramatically over the past 150 years. This included a trip to Milestones Museum, where the children got to experience life in a Victorian school and find out about the amazing mechanical feats of the industrial revolution.

During spring, Year 6 learnt about how to be a good citizen, looking at the UK values of democracy, individual liberty, rule of law, tolerance, and mutual respect of different beliefs and backgrounds. They were led through some basic first aid training by the fabulous Nurse Julia, experienced a virtual tour of the Houses of Parliament, and learnt some water survival skills. This topic culminated in a fantastic trip to London, visiting the Tower of London, as well as Westminster Abbey.

Special mention should be given to MasterChef, which put the children’s teamwork, creativity, and culinary skills to the test. In groups, they chose a recipe, researched and shopped for ingredients on a budget, and completed a workshop on basic food preparation and hygiene. The children blew the teachers away with sizzling steak, spicy fajitas, homemade meatballs, and exotic katsu curry. Needless to say, these were some very impressive dishes created by a team on a tight budget!

As the Spring term drew to the close, Year 6 enjoyed their Swimming Gala, competitively racing each other and having fun earning lots of points for their various houses.

The Summer Term was dominated by some main events: the boy’s football team attending the IFSA National Competition at St George’s Park, the one-week residential to Land and Wave in Bournemouth, the Year 6 end-of-year production, a visit and workshop from author Vashti Hardy, and getting ready for their transition to senior school.

After a fantastic football season, U11s CCJS qualified to attend the IFSA National Tournament at St George’s Park. For many of the boys who had the opportunity, it has become a standout memory of their time at the Junior School, highlighting their resilience, teamwork, and maturity as they travelled to stay overnight and represent the school at a national level. We are all so proud of you!

Year 6 set off on their longest residential, spending five days, four nights away from home at Land and Wave in Bournemouth. Resilience, resourcefulness, responsibility, and teamwork were all key skills needed throughout: hiking in the rain, climbing cliffs and inventive indoor climbing walls, swimming in the sea and balancing together on jumbo paddle boards, lighting fires, preparing grouse and trout for cooking, and so much more. Nevertheless, the most impressive aspect of the trip had to be the pupils unflagging support and encouragement of each other throughout, looking out for those who felt home-sick, or cheering someone on who did not think they could climb to the top. All of the pupils should be extremely proud of this achievement, and take the confidence they built during the week forward with them.

Throughout the final term, Year 6 were extremely busy practising for their wonderful end of year production - Darwin Rocks! There are some extremely talented actors who performed with confidence in front of their enraptured audiences. The songs had to be a standout part of the production, as the whole year group were on stage singing and dancing.

Well done Year 6 on a hugely successful year, and the best of luck in your new schools!