We are excited to begin our last summer term and enjoy all it has to offer!
English
During this half term, the children will be writing biographies on a person of their choosing. They will need to gather research, group the information and use this to write the biographies. We will be publishing these as posters and we can’t wait to see what is produced! We will then write an explanation text about an invention, the ‘Teacher Pleaser’ machine. The children will design and explain how it works and why different elements happen – cause and effect. Towards the end of term, LKS2 will also do some more work on poetry.
We will continue to work on proofreading and editing skills each lesson to further improve our writing.
The children will have daily spelling lessons so it is important that they are given opportunities to apply what they have learnt at home. At the start of each unit, the children will record some common exception words in their logbooks and additional words they may find tricky to spell. These words will change each time they learn a new spelling rule.
Please ensure that your child returns their jotter and logbook to school every day.
Maths
Year 3 will start this half term learning about time, looking at telling the time using ‘a.m.’ and ‘p.m.’, telling time to the minute, using analogue and digital time, and telling time by using both the minute and hour hands. Pupils then learn to use the 24-hour clock and clocks using Roman numerals. We will then start to look at statistics (pictograms and bar graphs) and being able to read and interpret information. Finally, Year 3 will be measuring and calculating perimeter.
Year 4 will start by learning about money. They will make links between tenths and hundredths, and decimal notation for money. Pupils will be taught how to round money to the nearest pound and understand contexts – in which this would be a useful skill to know. They will use this skill to estimate amounts and totals. We will then start to look at volume, area and perimeter, and finally geometry, where they will extend their previous knowledge of types of angles, previously learnt in Year 3.
During fluency lessons, the children will revisit a range of strategies they can use to solve mixed calculations with speed, efficiency and accuracy.
We are keen for the children to become fluent with all their times tables so extra practise at home is essential.
Geography
Our topic for this half term is ‘Around the World’, comparing the United Kingdom and China. We will start by looking at place knowledge by locating the UK and China on a world map and comparing key facts and the physical geography of each country. This will then lead on to comparing cultural differences, including Chinese celebrations, food, wildlife and trade.
Science
Year 3 and 4 will continue their learning about ‘Living Things and their Habitats’, before completing lots of ‘Awe and Wonder’ activities towards the end of the half term to practise our working scientifically skills further. This will also be a great opportunity for outdoor learning and pattern seeking.
Art
In Art, pupils will be focusing specifically on painting styles linked to our Geography topic, ‘Around the World’. They will compare paintings and artists from both Europe and Asia to practise different techniques and use these to produce a final piece.
RE
LKS2 will look at different places of worship in the local and wider community and their significance to believers. This will look specifically at how places of worship are used by the community as a whole e.g., playgroups, youth organisations and community groups.
RSE
As part of our PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) curriculum, Year 3 and 4 will have lessons that will focus on RSE (Relationships and Sex Education).
For Year 3, lessons will include pupils learning about the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty and personal hygiene.
Year 4 will learn about the physical and emotional changes associated with puberty including menstruation, wet dreams and personal hygiene.
All pupils will also have opportunities to ask questions.
Music
The children are going to complete two units this half term which involve, exploring the pentatonic scale through traditional Chinese music and make music inspired by technology and computing. Within these units, pupils will explore different ways of notating pitch as they sing, read and compose music, ending with a musical celebration of Chinese New Year. They will also explore and compose sounds for earcons, emoticons, mobile phone ringtones, computer games and apps.
Computing
Children will continue their learning on spreadsheets this half term, further understanding their purpose and collecting data to create their own. Within this, they will look at more advanced functions of the Purple Mash ‘2Calculate’ feature by creating their own pie chart and bar graphs, using the ‘more than’ and ‘spin button tool’ features and learn about describing cells, using their addresses.
Spanish
During this term, LKS2 are going to cover two units including, ‘Shopping’ and ‘My Routine’. Children will learn specific vocabulary about fruit, vegetables, clothes and schedules. They will learn key phrases for asking the questions needed when going shopping and how to read timetables and TV schedules, answering simple questions about these.
PE
In Physical Education, children will be doing athletics and tennis. They will have the opportunity to develop their existing running, jumping and throwing skills. They will be learning about an effective sprint technique, including sprinting over obstacles. The children will be given opportunities to use a variety of throwing techniques, including the underarm and overarm throws, to throw for distance and for accuracy. In tennis, children will develop their forehand, racket control and game skills.
