Larch Class - Year 3 & Year 4 2024 - 2025

The adults in our class

Mr Colecliffe - Class teacher

Mrs Berry - Teaching assistant

What are we learning in Spring 2?.

Pathways

In our Writing sessions this half term, we will be reading The Silence Seeker, by Ben Morley. It is a moving story about an asylum seeker and a young boy who decides to help him find a quiet place in the noisy and chaotic city. As we explore the story, the children will be continuing to develop their writing styles - producing a variety of different pieces of writing, including letter writing, character/setting descriptions, recounts and diary entries - allowing them to further showcase their understanding.

In support of this, and to scaffold the children's comprehension, we will also be reading Ariki and the Island of Wonders, by Nicola Davies. The story tells the tale of Ariki and her friend Ipo who, after getting lost at sea in a tropical storm, discover an uncharted island and have a great adventure. set on tropical islands with some amazing wildlife, it features powerful descriptive language features that will bring the story to life in a magical way. As the children unpick and interrogate the story, they will answer a range of  comprehension based questions to develop both their fluency and understanding.

Maths

We will be continuing to work through the Maths No Problem scheme of work, beginning our term revisiting multiplication and division, before exploring fractions then time. The children will be taught a range of methods and techniques to support and scaffold their understanding, and be given ample opportunity to solve a range of problems using their learned methods.

In addition to this, we will be practising our multiplications on a daily basis, in preparation for the Year 4 Multiplication Assessments, as well as supporting the children's understanding with further fluency sessions, to help develop their maths mastery.

Science

During Spring Term 2, the children will be exploring States of Matter. They will learn about solids, liquids and gases and their properties. They will describe melting, freezing, condensing and evaporating, along with the different stages of the water cycle, and describe how temperature affects the rate of evaporation and, therefore, the water cycle. When working scientifically, When working scientifically, children will be able to ask relevant questions, make predictions for new values, use thermometers to take accurate measurements, record their findings using labelled diagrams, and use results to draw simple conclusions.

History

In Geography this half term, the children will learn about Rainforests. They begin by describing a biome and giving an example of one. They will then learn the location and some key features of the Amazon rainforest, and to name and describe the four layers of tropical rainforests. They will learn about how trees and plants adapt to living in the rainforest and give an example. They will learn what indigenous means and give an example of how indigenous peoples use the Amazon’s resources. Finally, they will learn about how the Amazon is changing, and to articulate why the Amazon rainforest is important, before providing examples of how humans are having a negative impact on the Amazon. Hopefully we have time to visit some of our local woodland to allow us to summarise how it is used and suggest changes to improve the area.

Spanish (MFL)

In our Spanish lessons, we will be learning about some Spanish celebrations. The children will be taught the meaning of festival-related vocabulary. They will alos be given opportunity to use a bilingual dictionary to translate some verbs into Spanish. They will then learn how to express what they like and dislike to do by listening to spoken language and identifying meaning. Finishing off, they will be able to identify appropriate nouns to give more detail about a particular action.

Physical Education (PE)

We no longer have Mr Kelly-Weekes delivering our PE sessions this term. Spring Term 2 will see the children and I go on a journey together on a Tuesday afternoon, exploring different dance styles from around the world before the children work collaboratively to choreograh a 32 count motif to perform to their peers. Skills being developed during these sessions are: to show changes in level and pathway when travelling; to show good timing and control; to communicate effectively within a group; to provide useful feedback; to improve our own performance based on feedback

 Friday mornings will see the children learning cricket. They will develop a variety of skills, including how to throw accurately and powerfully, overarm and with a straight arm, how to correctly grip the bat, along with a range of batting techniques, how to position themselves when wicketkeeping so there are no obstructions to their vision, and how a good ready position provides an advantage when fielding. In order to be successful, we will maintain a focus on the importance to communicate effectively within a group.

Children are to come to school in their PE kits (white t-shirt and black joggers/shorts) on these days, as in accordance to the School Uniform Policy.

Religeous Education (RE)

Our RE lessons will be delivered by Mrs Davies, and the children will be discussing Christianity and Jesus. They will also discuss how, and why, some people have chosen to serve God.

Art

Our DT lessons this term will be taught in a block towards the end of term, allowing the children to really apply their taught skills to create a pneumatic toy. They will be developing their understanding of how pneumatic systems create movement within mechanisms, and will use different types of diagrams to summarise their ideas. They will then design a toy that uses a pneumatic system, before testing and finalising their ideas against design criteria.

 Computing

In Computing, the children will apply their knowledge and understanding of networks to appreciate the internet as a network of networks which need to be kept secure. They will learn that the World Wide Web is part of the internet, and will be given opportunities to explore the World Wide Web for themselves in order to learn about who owns content and what they can access, add, and create. Finally, they will evaluate online content to decide how honest, accurate, or reliable it is, and understand the consequences of false information.

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Home Reading

Our school aim is to complete at least 5 reading at home sessions each week. We will be monitoring reading at home closely by checking Boom Reader (replacing reading diaries) each day and changing children’s books once a week, if required. We encourage children to develop their own sense of 'reading for pleasure' and would love to see the texts that children are also reading at home.

Online Learning Resources

Our children have access to a range of online resources to aid their learning, including TT Rockstars, Spelling Shed and Century, and have been given their login details.  All children should be familiar with how to use these.

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Many thanks,

Mr Colecliffe