Topics for next term

Year 3

 This term’s topic is Tremors!

Over the next 6 weeks we will discover the dangerous and ferocious world of natural disasters and glimpse into their savage and deadly effects. We will visit the ancient city of historic Pompeii, frozen in time, then create blistering explosions from model volcanoes that fire foamy lava! 

We will start the term learning about shape, angles and lines in mathematics, then move on to studying multiplication through arrays and the grid method. In English, we will write to inform and will produce informative leaflets about natural disasters. In addition to this, we will be developing our amazing map reading skills in orienteering and expanding our skills in computing coding and speaking French!

Year 4 Curriculum Overview: Spring term 1

Our first topic of 2021 will be Blue Abyss, a science driven topic, which focuses on life within the ocean. The children will learn all about animals and how to classify them, the adaptations that allow them to survive in their habitat and build upon their existing knowledge of food chains by considering the effects of pollution upon their future numbers. Within the topic, we will also look at oceanography, identify seas and oceans and take a closer look at the five layers or zones of the ocean and what weird and wonderful creatures live there.

In Maths, we will continue to practise our times tables, this is especially important as at the end of Year 4, all children will sit a statutory assessment which requires them to be able to recall all multiplication facts up to 12 X 12 randomly and within five seconds. If parents are looking for ways to support their children at home, practising their focus times tables regularly is a huge help to the children. Parents may also want to allow children to practise/prepare their child for the assessment by using http://sumdoglive.tomoliverharrison.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/.

Within maths lessons, we will be working on moving children toward card C methods for multiplication and division (the methods are explained within our calculation policy on the website.) A good understanding of times tables facts really underpins the children’s ability to move confidently toward these more efficient methods and so helping the children to learn their times tables really is a worthwhile way of supporting your child at home.

Please continue to hear your child read at home. Children should read for fifteen minutes at least, every evening. Remember to check your child’s comprehension of what they have read by asking them questions about their understanding of the text, as well as listening for fluency. Some parents requested spellings or discussed handwriting and presentation with their child’s teacher during their parent’s meetings earlier this year, support with these areas should continue, we are beginning to see the positive impact at school now, thank you.

Finally, in writing we will be building upon the writing to entertain skills we have practised this half-term by writing a portal story. The Year 4 teachers are very excited to see how the children transport their main characters to a strange and unexpected land.

Year 5

Year 6

Welcome to the start of a new year and the start of a new project! This term, the intrepid explorers in Year 6 will be braving the icy wilderness of the Polar regions for our exciting project ‘Frozen Kingdom’. We will be inspired by our class namesakes – Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton and their respective polar missions – and set off on a journey of learning which will encompass many areas of the curriculum. We will discover the unique geography of our planet’s polar ice-caps, and analyse the harsh climate and habitat in which life somehow struggles to survive. In our science learning, as well as studying the Arctic habitats, we will study the properties of materials and how they can be used to great effect when considering the environments in our project.

To further develop our pupil’s creative talents, we will study the Inuit Bird Art of Kenojuak Ashevak as well as investigating the engineering behind how boats float – very useful when travelling to the Poles! Linked to this, part of our project will centre upon the Titanic and its disastrous sinking – inspiring both our writing, reading and wider curriculum.

All in all, a fantastic and exciting project which we are sure the pupils will really enjoy. Don’t forget to bring your coats!