Reading

In Reading, we have explored the books ‘Pax’ and ‘The Amazing Night Sky Atlas’. The children have been really exploring the non-fiction text that links closely to our Science unit. They have illustrated images, learnt new vocabulary as well as exploring the differences between non fiction books

English

In English, we started the year with abstract poetry. We wrote our own version of the poem  ‘The River’ by Pie Corbett. We then moved on to creating the opening and build-up of a suspense story and writing a letter to advise. The children have really enjoyed taking part in debates and setting up a mock court trial as well as debating if children should be allowed to use their phones at break and lunch time.

Maths

In Maths, we started the year with place value. The children learnt how to manipulate base ten numbers using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations.  We then moved onto addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division where we got to expand our understanding of different methods to help us calculate problems. In mastering numbers we have been learning about multiplication and division facts. We have been learning about fact families, factors and multiples.

Science

We started the year with a unit on Space. The children have loved learning about the solar system and have participated in practical activities such as going outdoors to represent the planets in orbit. We have also looked at the phases of the moon and used playdough to represent the different phases. Next term we’ll move on to a new unit on forces where the children will use physical resources and objects to represent the different forces.

Music

In music, we have been learning the pocket trumpet. It has been amazing to watch the children progress from using just the mouthpiece to making a sound with the trumpet and learning to read music and play notes on the stave. Children are beginning to develop a keen sense of pulse and their rhythmic fluency.

Value of the term – resilience

Our value of the term is resilience. We have been learning about Anna Nzinga Mbande. She was a warrior queen who founded a new kingdom called Matamba (modern day Angola) and kept fighting for her people and their right to be free.

Coming up next:

• In English we are continuing with our unit on discussion texts and will then move onto playscripts.
• In maths we are going to continue our unit on fractions until Christmas. Then we will move onto multiplication and division after Christmas.
• In history we are going to start our unit on Vikings.
• In French we are continuing our work on naming and understanding different animals.
• In PSHE we are continuing our unit on celebrating differences.