Master Chef: Food of the Gods

At the beginning of Year 5, we received a letter from Zeus, the King of the Gods, who intrigued us to find out more about him. Since then, we've found out that he is the god of lightning and thunder, he lives on Mount Olympus and has a rather extended family! We've read some Greek myths and are looking forward to reading more. We're becoming familiar with Greek monsters from the myths and some of their heroes too. We've used this information to write character descriptions about our own Greek gods and goddesses and monsters as part of Talk for Writing.

We've also taken part in a cooking workshop led by Eat Greek where the chefs prepared a typical Greek salad and cake for us. We sampled the recipes and evaluated their traditional Greek dishes like dolmadakia (vine leaves), orange cake and Greek salad. We also learnt some tips about Greek cooking, such as always sprinkle on dried oregano to give it that extra wow factor! 

In geography we have been looking at both modern day and Ancient Greece, including city states. In history we have been looking at the chronology of Ancient Greece and where it fits in on a timeline of world history. 

In science we will focus on ageing in mortals - as we know the Greek gods didn't age due to their consumption of nectar and ambrosia! We have already begun learning about the life cycles of mammals, birds and plants. 

In October, we will be turning our classrooms into Greek tavernas as part of our parent workshop this term. Here parents will be able to sample the children's Greek dishes inspired by specific gods. The children will plan, prepare and evaluate this as part of design and technology. Please check our autumn newsletter for more information on this.

In art, we are focusing on our observational drawing skills to draw buildings, thinking carefully about perspectives, shapes and tone. We will then apply these drawing skills to Greek buildings in ancient Athens. In Autumn 2 we will use clay to create and paint Athenian buildings for our very own model Athenian city state.

Kind regards,

The Year 5 Team