English

This half term we are continuing reading the exciting novel ‘Eragon’ written by Christopher Paolini and comparing the novel with the 2006 film version.

The book tells the story of a farm boy named Eragon, who finds a mysterious stone in the mountains. Not knowing the stone’s origin or worth, he attempts to use it as payment to a butcher. A dragon he later names Saphira hatches from the stone, which was really an egg. When the evil King Galbatorix finds out about Eragon and his dragon, he sends his servants, the Ra’zac, to capture them. Eragon and Saphira are forced to flee from their hometown, with a storyteller called Brom, and decide to search for the Varden, a group of rebels who want the downfall of Galbatorix.

This half term, we will be taking inspiration from Eragon to write our own fantasy adventure story endings and write a set of instructions about training a dragon. 

Maths

This term, we are covering a range of skills in our Maths lessons including: coordinates, translation, reflection, statistics and algebra. We will also be revising all areas of Maths as we prepare for our upcoming SAT tests.

Here are some websites that might help:

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/mental-maths

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/maths

***Our Maths Booster classes continue to run every Monday and Thursday (until 4.00pm) until our SAT week in May. ***

Times tables

Remember to practise your times tables at home using TTRockstars to help! On a Friday we have a times tables test with 100 questions. The idea is to beat your score from the previous week!

Theme

Our Theme this term is ‘Mountains'

This unit of work is Geography-based and we will cover the following objectives:

• Locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
• Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)Use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and key (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build of the wider world

Science

Our Science Topic is ‘Evolution and Inheritance’. This unit builds on the children’s learning from the Year 3 Rocks unit as well as the Animals including Humans and Living Things and their Habitats units. As such, it is important that children have the appropriate understanding of fossils, habitats and human development in order to grasp the concepts and ideas presented to them in these lessons. Children will learn about variation and adaptation. They will be able to explore how both Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace separately developed their theories of evolution. They will examine the scientific evidence from plants and animals that has been gathered to support the theory of evolution.

Art and Design/Design Technology

Our Design Technology this term continues to focus on Food Technology. We will be exploring the nutritious values of burgers from fast food restaurants and comparing these to alternatives that can be made at home. We will follow recipes carefully to prepare and cook burger patties and a range of sauces, ensuring hygiene and safety rules are fully in place. We will evaluate the suitability of burger buns and look at alternatives for those with allergies. Our topic will culminate in planning, cooking and evaluating a whole burger of our choice.  Yum!

French

This term, our French theme is ‘Where I live’. We will learn the French vocabulary for different rooms within our houses and the names of countries by parroting phrases and playing a range of games. We will use our language skills to build phrases and write short paragraphs.

R.E

Our topics in R.E this term are ‘Symbols of Faith – Why are they important to believers?’ and ‘Salvation – What difference does the resurrection make for Christians?’. Children will explore different symbols in different religions and the meaning behind them. They will then explore the film ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and find links between the film and the Easter Story.

Music

Our Music this term is focused around one song: Dancing in the Street in a Motown style. We will be using our key musical skills of listening and appraising, performing, composing and improvising.

P.E

During our P.E lessons this term with Mrs Barker, we will be continuing with Gymnastics. We will explore travelling, using core shapes, balancing, transferring weight on hands both on the floor and apparatus and make sequences with all of these actions.

Our Sports Coach will lead us in hand ball skills. 

Computing

In our computing sessions this term, we will be learning how to use blog. 

• Children will understand how a blog can be used as an informative text.
• Children will understand the key features of a blog.
• Children can work collaboratively to plan a blog.
• Children can create a blog or blog post with a specific purpose.
• Children understand that the way in which information is presented has an impact upon the audience.

PSHE

Our topic this half term is ‘Digital Safety’. This unit is inspired by the idea that it is important to understand and have digital wellbeing. Children will consider ways they can use the Internet positively and how they can look after their wellbeing while being online. Children will learn about potential risks of being online and when using digital technologies as well as strategies to stay safe and to get help. They will also learn about online relationships and what a respectful and healthy online relationship looks like, as well as signs of an inappropriate online relationship and ways to get help. The benefits and risk of social media will also be explored, as well as how social media can be used responsibly. Children will also learn how to recognise what online bullying looks like and how to help make it stop. Finally, the concept of ‘fake news’ will be explored with children learning how to be able to tell if something online is reliable or not and what they can do to stop the spreading of unreliable information