On Tuesday, year 5 attended their last chess club session this year.  The group have been fantastic, sharing tips and techniques and always demonstrating excellent manners.

It has been a pleasure watching the children engage politely and avidly with each other.

Our last session was extra special as Riley O'Shea brought an incredible chess themed cake for us all to enjoy! It was as delicious as it looked.

A huge well done to Millie in Pine Class who won the Stevenage Borough Council run competition to design a poster with items that can be composted. Millie went to the council offices to meet the Stevenage Mayor and author Polly Owen to receive her prize of a wormery and a signed copy of the book Darwin’s Super Pooping Worm Spectacular. Millie’s poster was chosen from 61 entries from school children in Stevenage! Millie had a lovely time and was treated to a hot chocolate and biscuits from the mayor. Well done to all Fairlands children who entered the competition, I saw some fantastic entries across the school.

Herts Haven Cafés for 10-18s is opening in Stevenage.

Safe and Welcoming Spaces for Young People to Embrace their Emotional Wellbeing

Hosted by Hertfordshire Mind Network, these safe and welcoming spaces will offer compassionate face to face emotional wellbeing support and guidance from trained workers, without the need for a professional referral.

Workers at the Cafés will provide empathy and a safe space for young people to learn more about emotional wellbeing, ways in which they can keep themselves emotionally well and various ways in which they can better understand and/or express their emotions. Through open and caring conversations, they aim to create a sense of belonging and connection.

Practical help may include guidance on coping strategies, stress management techniques, and problem-solving skills. The Cafés will also provide a safe space and hardware to access digital support including The Sandbox and Lumi Nova, as well as opportunities to talk through alternative services.

Café is at Bowes Lyon Young People’s Centre, St George's Way, Stevenage SG1 1XY

Tuesdays (from 4 July) 3.30pm-8pm

Wednesdays (from 21 June) 3.30pm-8pm

Café staff encourage under 13s to be accompanied by a trusted adult and young people ages 13 and over can either go along on their own, with a friend and/or a family member. Drop-ins from young people will be accepted until 30 minutes prior to closing time, to allow time for the team to best support them.

On Wednesday this week, Year 5 attended a trip at the STEM Discovery Centre. We had a really fantastic day: exploring the many exhibits that the centre has to offer; creating our own alka-splat rockets; and learning all about Mars and the amazing Mars Rovers (we even got to see them in real life)! I'm sure we now have many children who are inspired towards a career in STEM in the future.

Last Friday, Fairland's Year 5 boys were invited to a Tag Rugby tournament hosted at Giles school. We had an excellent, if not very hot afternoon, and the team played excellently. They showed superb determination and teamwork, and the coaches in charge commented on how much they improved throughout the afternon.

It was fantastic to see their attitudes develop too - realising that it is very important to keep positive and support each other. They even played against some Year 6 teams and held their own too!

In Year 5, our new topic this term is Captain Caveman. We are learning all about pre-historic times. Today, we explored the different types of homes that people during different historical periods would have lived in. We drew and labelled pictures in groups and talked about the differences in our homes today.

Last week, a selection of children in Year 5 who are taking part in the Brilliant Club had the opportunity to visit Oxford University for the day. We spoke to student ambassadors and found out what university life is like, discovered the huge range of subjects on offer at university and took a tour around Oriel College. We even saw the halls of residence of the famous writer Lewis Carroll and saw the actual tree which inspired part his well-known poem The Jabberwocky. We had a great day and left feeling thoroughly inspired!

We had a fab day today, celebrating all things science. The children investigated finger prints, made science competition posters and demonstrated an array of wonderful experiments that they had brought in from home. Poplar class is full of scientists in the making! 

Today, year 5 had their last visit by the wonderful PCSO team.  They brought some toys to play with too - very loud toys!  The children got to participate in a bleep test; part of the requirement for becoming a police officer, and even got to sit inside a police car and van.  Some were even "fortunate" enough to be locked in the on-board cells!

They have all been given a certificate for participating in this 6-week long programme.  They have learned all about anti-social behaviour, road safety, racism and homophobia as well as many other community-related topics.

Our topic this half term is Raging Rivers. This afternoon, we used iPads to research different rivers around the world to increase our knowledge. We found out about each river's source, where its mouth is, the countries on its course and its length.