This week in Year 5...

This week in Year 5 we have been exploring Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce further. We have been amused by the humour and shocked by the behaviour of Liam (the main character). His behaviour has been so shocking that his poor parents are having to keep a closer and closer eye on him. As a class, we wrote letters to Liam as though we were his parents to explain our position. The following is an example of one of our letters;

"Dear Liam,
Your behaviour is making us very worried. The shopping centre is a place where children have to be accompanied by an adult. You could have been killed if your father had not have found you in that car. We are worried you might get into big trouble because you don't tell people your real age. 

Friends that you can see are better than friends on computers or phones. We are concerned about how much you play video games. Playing video games is making us worried about your social life. We will find you a real friend if you like it or not. Your life will be more fulfilling this way. A friend has to be someone you can see in real life who likes you when you are being twelve year old Liam. We don't understand why you always pretend to be someone else whether it is when you are on video games or acting as an adult. We thought drama club would help with this.

We understand people mistake you for an adult but it is completely unacceptable that you carry on the lie. You have to learn to stop this behaviour yourself rather than because someone else stops you before it goes too far.

From now on you cannot go out without an adult, including walking to school and back and we will be restricting the amount of World of Warcraft you can play. This is for you own good. We need to see you change your behaviour and if you don't these restrictions will get stronger."

Our letters really sounded like they came from an adult. You may be able to follow some of the trouble Liam has gotten himself into by letting people believe he was an adult. We have also began to explore a deeper, sadder side to Liam's character; that he cannot make friends when he is just being himself and this may be the reason behind much of his outrageous behaviour. 

The author has proven very popular with some of the children reading others in the series.

Also this week the children are getting underway with the Christmas tree decorations ready for our addition to the Christmas Fair. The theme is around our Ancestors, Heirlooms and Curios project and Year 5 are focusing on both the spices traded by the Radcliffe family and the changes in the priory building over time.