English

This term, we are basing our English lessons on the award-winning adventure novel, "Kensuke's Kingdom" written by Michael Morpurgo.  In the story, Michael gets washed up on an island in the Pacific with no food or water, however, he soon discovers that he is not alone...

All our writing will be based around this text, including a discussion text and diary writing in character.

Maths

We have a 2-minute times tables text every week, so that the children maintain and improve their knowledge of their times tables (including division facts up to 12 x 12).  In addition, we complete an arithmetic lesson each week.

This half term, we are covering a range of skills in our Maths lessons including place value, addition and subtraction , angles, rounding, multiples, factors, prime numbers and square numbers.

Science

Our science topic this half term is 'Forces'. 

Key Knowledge:

• Forces are pushes & pulls
• Some examples of forces: air resistance, upthrust, gravity, friction, water resistance.
• Opposing forces act in the opposite direction to each other.
• Gravity pulls objects towards the Earth
• Sir Isaac Newton defined the theory of gravity
• Weight is the measure of gravitational pull & is measured in newtons (N)
• Friction slows a moving object down
• Friction can be helpful & unhelpful
• A conclusion is based on results
• Air creates an opposing force to gravity
• Air resistance slows down falling objects (friction)
• A variable can be changed or measured
• Water resistance is a type of friction that occurs when water pushes against an object & slows it down.
• Streamlined shapes reduce the amount of water & air resistance.
• Mechanisms allow a small force to produce a greater effort
• Examples of mechanisms: levers, pulleys, gears.

History

Our topic this half-term is "Ancient Egypt".

KEY KNOWLEDGE

Egypt is in Northern Africa, most of the population is Muslim, exports include oil and gas, wildlife includes crocodiles & cobras. Capital city: Cairo, Currency: Egyptian Pounds.

Ancient Egypt was a civilisation that existed over 5000 years ago, between 3100BC and 30BC; when Britain was in the Stone Age until Roman Britain.

The Nile is the longest river in the world and life revolved around it supporting farming, craft and trade.

Egyptians did many activities we still do in modern life: build, trade, craft, farm and play games.

Mummies were made to ensure a successful afterlife and they were buried in pyramids with their riches.

King Tutankhamun was an Egyptian Pharaoh who was born in 1341BC and died in 1323BC. He reigned for 10 years.  His chamber was discovered by Sir Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped gods who were responsible for different aspects of life.  There were over 2000 gods/goddesses.

Computing

This half-term our unit is 'Quizzing'

This unit introduces children to the process of designing and creating interactive quizzes using Purple Mash's 2Quiz tool. Through exploring question types, adding creative features, and debugging, children will develop their technical skills and creativity while producing engaging quizzes for others to enjoy.

French

This half-term we are re-capping numbers to 20 and learning numbers up to 60. We will also learn the days of the week and months of the year. Our lessons include speaking, listening, reading, writing and songs. 

RE

Our topic is "How and why do Christians, Muslims and Jews pray?"  Children will know what prayer is and begin to explore why religious believers pray. They will understand the meaning of the Christian's main prayer and write their own prayer.

DT

Our unit this half term is all about Mechanical Systems: Gears and Pulleys.

We will be learning:

• To recognise real life uses of a gear and how they work in everyday objects.
• To understand that gears allow us to increase the output of a mechanism.
• To make and connect a simple type of gear in a group safely using given materials to evaluate the effectiveness of materials used.
• To connect gears in a gear system around an axle and use tools and equipment accurately to cut, join and space teeth accurately.
• To recognise pulleys in real life – how they work and their purpose.
• To use a design brief to make a working pulley system using tools and equipment safely and accurately.
• To evaluate product against a set of design criteria and write questions for market research.
• To provide feedback for market research and research market competitors.
• To understand and use mechanical systems (pulleys and gears) to refine and improve a simple design to solve a problem.
• To work as a team modelling and communicating ideas, incorporating changes as they work.
• To evaluate finished product against design criteria and consider how to improve work.

Music

Our unit this half term is called 'Shaping Music'.

We will be learning how to:

1. Improvise freely over a drone or groove.

2. Compose a short ternary piece using Music Notepad.

We will explore improvisation using the backing of My Best Friend as the accompaniment and stimulus. We will also compose a ternary piece of music using Music Notepad. A ternary piece has three sections andis a great example of how contrast and repetition can be used in music.

PE

Our PE learning is Athletics and OAA this half term.

In Athletics, we will be set challenges for distance and time that involve using different styles and combinations of running, jumping and throwing.  We will think about how to achieve our greatest possible speed, height, distance and accuracy and how to persevere in order to get there. We will be given opportunities to lead, observe and provide feedback to others too.

In OAA (Outdoor Adventurous Activities) we will work individually, in pairs and in teams to solve problems, sharing ideas, creating strategies and plans to produce the best solution to a challenge.  We will develop our map reading skills including the use of cardinal points, scale and direction to create, plan and follow routes around a course.

PSHE

Our PSHE topic this half term is TEAM (Together, Everyone Achieves More).

This unit entitled TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) focuses on the positive qualities of a team, learning how to disagree respectfully and communicate effectively. It looks at the key qualities and skills needed for a team to be successful.  The lessons address collaborative learning and we will learn how to compromise to ensure a group task is completed successfully. We will discuss different types and effects of unkind behaviour and explore strategies for helping situations by creating team support networks. The unit ends by addressing the importance of caring for team members and the shared responsibilities a team has.