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 1?.

Pathways

In our Writing sessions, we will be reading Our Tower, by ward winning poet Joseph Coelho. The current Children's Laureate drew from his own experience growing up in a tower block and looking for adventure. As we explore the story, the children will be developing their writing styles as they produce a variety of different pieces of writing - including letter writing, character/setting descriptions, recounts and diary entries - allowing them to showcase their understanding.

In support of this, and to further develop the children's comprehension, we will be reading The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes. The part modern fairy tale, part science fiction myth, will help develop the children's creative flair by unpicking and interrogating the story about a mysterious metal man and a boy named Hogarth, who work together to try and save the planet from a terrifying creature, and answering a range of comprehension based questions about the story.

Maths

We will be continuing to work through the Maths No Problem scheme of work, beginning our term revisiting multiplication and division, before the Year 3 children explore and develop their understanding of problems involving measurement of both length and mass, whilst the Year 4 children move onto solving problems relating to graphs and exploring fractions.

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 SpringTerm 1 the children will be exploring Sound. They will learn how sound is made and how sound waves travel through a medium to the ear and cause the eardrum to vibrate, which the brain then interprets as sounds. They will explore pitch and volume, as well as identifying what materials are effective insulators of sound during our scientific enquiry.

History

In History this half term, the children will be investigating how Ancient Maya was able to survive for such a long period of time, as well as how and why they came to settle in a rainforest, and their beliefs and inventions. They will also develop their historical investigative skills by exploring what archaeological remains tell us about Ancient Maya cities, before discussing and determining what led to their decline and demise.

Spanish (MFL)

In our Spanish lessons, we begin by learning some of the conversational language in café conversations - including applying comprehension strategies to help discover the meaning of new words and using this to make polite requests about what I want to eat and drink. We finish the half term with some role play, with the children given the opportunity to show off their learning.

Physical Education (PE)

We remain very fortunate to have Mr Kelly-Weekes delivering our PE sessions every Wednesday (now in the afternoons) - teaching the children gymnastics and basketball. In gymnastics, they will be devloping their balance and control to produce arches and bridges - both independently and with a partner, whilst, in basketball, they will continue to develop their understanding of different passing and shooting techniques, as well as developing their spacial awareness and understanding of space in defending and attacking situations. Children are to come to school in their PE kits (white t-shirt and black joggers/shorts) on this day, 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 Art lessons will also be delivered by Mrs Davies, as we split the children into smaller groups in the afternoons. The children will be developing their artistic skills, learning how to darken or lighten a colour when mixing paint, as well as how to use tints and shades to give a three-dimensional effect when painting. They will then apply their knowledge of colour mixing and painting techniques to create a finished piece.

 Computing

In Computing, the children will continue to develop their understanding and computer literacy as they learn how to create their own media. They will use desktop publishing software and consider careful choices of font size, colour and type to edit and improve premade documents. They will be introduced to the terms ‘templates’, ‘orientation’, and ‘placeholders’ and begin to understand how these can support them in making their own template for a magazine front cover. The children will then start to add text and images to create their own pieces of work using desktop publishing software. 

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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 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