Willow Class

As the days grow warmer and sunnier, Class 4 have been enjoying writing some outdoor poetry inspired by nature. The fashion show in English lessons have inspired some brilliantly written non chronological reports which will lead us into our chronological reports. Alongside this we will continue with our diary writing, reading comprehensions, weekly spelling tests and class reading.

In Maths, we are finishing off our work on angles and moving onto positions and directions, then decimals, negative numbers and finishing with measurement – converting units. Alongside this we will continue with our ‘fluent in five’ number work and speed times tables tests.

The children are going to thoroughly enjoy discovering more about one of the best natural features their county has to offer – I am talking of course about the Norfolk Broads. They will learn how the Broads were formed, how the land around it is used, what fauna and wildlife can be found there and what ways we humans use it and can preserve it.

In PE, our cricket sessions will continue with our brilliant cricket coach and we will also be exploring the technical aspects of various field events in athletics.

As you can see, the academic year will be ending with a real bang and the children should be starting the summer holiday with lots of wonderful memories.

What an exciting half term we have planned! In Maths, we are exploring fractions, areas, perimeters, and percentages and continuing to practise our multiplication tables on a daily basis. In English, we are continuing to enjoy The BFG and doing some character development based on this novel. Our work on non-chronological reports is continuing with the children looking at different examples before they begin to write their own versions. In French we will be finishing off the topic of clothes and starting on 'travel'. History turns to Geography as we explore around the world looking at rivers to start with. What with some singing in music, more exploring of colours in art and skills developing in computing, the children will be kept extremely busy!

This term, I am really looking forward to welcoming Class 4 back to what promises to be an exciting learning journey. In English reading we will be finding out what happens to the four children in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (writing some persuasive letters) before launching into The BFG by the one and only Mr. Dahl…some of the themes covered in this novel fit in with our PSHE/RSE lessons of accepting each other with all our differences. We start our writing focus on non-chronological reports and then a ‘meeting tale’ inspired by BFG. In Maths, we will be continuing to build on multiplication and division using a variety of methods to suit each child’s individual preference. There will of course be an on-going focus on times tables. Our History topic starts off dramatically with a visit to the Egyptian exhibition held at Norwich Castle; which will brilliantly help bring to life their studies on Egyptian civilisation. As we move further into the unit of work, we will be comparing the richer and poorer elements of their society. In PE, we will continue to build our cardiovascular and muscular fitness and skills with a variety of exercises, some cross country, touch rugby, football and hockey. In Art, we will be developing colour mixing skills, learning about composition and plan are own still life to paint. Alongside all of this is the fascinating continuation of the ‘Renaissance Samurai’ philosophy!

In our topic this half term Class 4 will be investigating the question, ‘Who were the Normans?’ We will be using our skills to set the Norman Conquest within a historical time line of British History.  We will be learning about The Battle of Hastings and we will compare the different ways that the rich and the poor lived in the Middle Ages.    In RE we will be thinking about stories from different world religions.  Our Art will be inspired by The Bayeux Tapestry; we will be exploring how textiles can help us to tell a story while we develop our design and artistic skills.

In English our introductory unit will be focusing on familiar settings to enable us to develop our descriptive writing.  We will explore characters before developing our own characters to inspire our writing.  We hope to improve our use of adverbs, fronted adverbials, prepositions and expanding our sentences using subordinating conjunctions.  We will then be learning about recounts as we explore outer space and unidentified flying objects.   Our key texts will be ‘Horrid Henry’ by Francesca  Simon  and ‘The UFO Diary’ by Satoshi Kitamura.  Our final English focus will be writing biographies and autobiographies.  We will develop our non-fiction writing using the key texts of ‘ Homecoming’ by Michael Morpurgo and ‘Boy’ by Roald Dahl.

In Maths we will be expanding our learning about place value before consolidating our understanding of addition and subtraction in relation to decimals and how these relate to money.  We will also be learning about the properties of 3D shapes.  Multiplication tables are now used in all aspects of our curriculum and the children should be practising these as often as possible at home and in school.

In PE we will be covering rugby skills and the use of our limbs in indoor floor work.  Mrs Cuthill will continue to teach Science and this term the topic will be Lifecycle of Plants and Extraordinary Scientists.  In Computing we will be learning how to write programmes using the SCRATCH website.  Finally, in Music we will be working towards our performance in Norwich Cathedral to Dippy the Dinosaur in November – more details to follow nearer the time.

November 11th marks the centenary of the end of the First World War, and this will be our theme for the half term.

ENGLISH: We will be exploring descriptive writing using the book War Game by Michael Foreman as our stimulus. This is a lovely book, based on both the author’s own family and the famous story of the 1914 Christmas Day truce. We will be exploring a number of ways to get description into our writing using noun phrases, fronted adverbials, similes and tenses. We also have our visit to Norwich City Football Club to tie in with this.

HUMANITIES/ART/COMPUTING/PE: We continue with the WW1 theme in Geography where we will be investigating modern day France, and will be exploring the work of the French impressionists in Art. We will hone our presentation skills in Computing by using Powerpoint and our gymnastics sessions continue with Miss Gillespie.

MATHS: We will be investigating multiplication and division using written methods to solve equations with 2 and 3 digit numbers. We then move on to looking at different ways to represent data, such as line graphs and bar charts. The children will continue to learn their times tables to 12. Times Tables Rock stars is great for this. Please do let me know if your child has misplaced their sign on, or they are unsure of how to use it.

Group reading continues to be on Wednesday. Please ensure your child brings in their completed homework and reading book. Spelling tests will be on Fridays, and PE continues on Tuesday and Friday.

Please do let me know if there is anything you are unsure of or you require more information about.

English: This half term the children will be studying the book ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty, exploring the text though drama, character description and dialogue. We will also be looking at biographies of some prominent Victorians such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Dr Barnardo. Group reading continues to be on a Wednesday and there will be homework to be completed each week, usually consisting of reading the text and an associated task. There will also be spellings to learn each week to be tested on Fridays.

Maths: We start the half term looking at place value of 4 digit numbers, rounding numbers to the nearest 10,100 and 1000. We will move on to addition, subtraction and multiplication solving one and two step calculations. Your child will also have weekly maths homework consisting of times table practice. This will be given each Friday. Using Rock Star Maths your child can learn times tables in a fun way so do ask if they don’t have a login.

Science: This half term the children will be looking at forces with Mrs Cuthill, including weight, drag, pull and of course, a look at the life of Sir Isaac Newton and his work on gravity.

Humanities: We will be looking at the Victorian era, finding out what life was like for children in the countryside and the city and the impact of the railways on settlements. This work will continue in our DT session where we will be exploring bridges and bridge design linked to learning about Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

PE: Miss Gillespie will be teaching us gymnastics on Tuesdays. On Fridays the year 5’s will be doing hockey, while the year 4’s have outside learning with Mrs Stanbury. Please can you ensure the year 4 children have appropriate clothing for these sessions, as the children will be outside regardless of the weather.

I look forward to working with your children over the coming year.

ENGLISH: We will be finishing off our work with The Jungle Book in the first two weeks of this half term focussing on diary and letter writing and the grammatical processes needed to complete these styles. Our continued work on the use of more complex vocabulary in our writing will be focussed upon to ensure we all P2S. We will then be immersing ourselves with the World Cup and using this as the vehicle to further progress our understanding of story and report writing with the potential to enter a national competition with our work (parental consent permitting).

MATHS: This half term we will be returning to the four operations and place value as our focus ensuring that we are secure with our understanding of the mental and written methods to help support our increasing mathematical knowledge. We will also be using Times Tables Rockstars to support the children’s times tables knowledge, as well as the ongoing continued support at home with this skill. I hope that all children will be able to share the sense of achievement by completing their challenge set at Christmas.

SCIENCE: Mrs Cuthill will be leading this subject and looking at Teeth. She will be completing many interesting and inspiring experiments including one with egg shells and a variety of liquids that may just change what drinks your children wish to drink.

HUMANITIES: Class 4 will be continuing to look at Sikhism in the first couple of weeks and then the World Cup fever will take us on a journey around all the participating countries to find out all about them and increase our worldly knowledge.

PE: This half term will be Athletics on a Tuesday afternoon. We will also be practising our throwing and jumping skills on our Friday session for the first few weeks in preparation for Sports Day and also look to participate in team games such as rounders and cricket as well as some PSHE mindfulness activities. A taster archery session will take place in July.

English: We will be exploring The Jungle Book as our class text over the Summer Term. This will help us explore writing formats such as fact files and reports, and the grammatical processes needed to complete these styles. Our continued work on the use of more complex vocabulary in our writing will be supported through different interpretations of this fantastic story. To help further support our spellings we will have specific lessons looking at spelling rules so that the children have a greater understanding of how words are created.

Maths: We will review and extend our knowledge of time in the first weeks of term and then move onto using different units of measure. Following this we will focus on Shape & Geometry. Continued support at home with times tables, so that all children can complete their challenge, will be fantastic.

Science: This term’s science will be supported by our English work, where we will be investigating living things and their habitats. Children will practise using keys and grouping plants and animals with a focus on the difference between our local environment and the setting of The Jungle Book. On Fridays Year 5 will enjoy an outdoor Science/Forest School session led by Jane Steed.

Humanities: We will be studying India and Its diverse biomes as well as looking at its various religions. If anyone was any materials or artefacts that can support our learning journey that can be borrowed please let Mr Barnard & Mrs Cuthill know.

PE: On Friday afternoons Year 4 will be swimming this half term at Aylsham High School, while Year 5 will be practising their athletic skills with Mrs Cuthill. Our Tuesday session will be led by Premier sports where the children will need outdoor attire. Please ensure your children have a bottle of water to keep them hydrated during these sessions, as fingers crossed it’s going to be a sunny term.

Art: Lessons will be linked to our topic of the Jungle Book and India. We will create 3D maps of the Country, and also the creatures that inhabit it.

English: We will be completing our story writing based around the classic fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, moving onto exploring some classic poetry (e.g. From a Railway Carriage). The great outdoors will inspire our poetry, using a range of poetic devices to engage our audience. We will focus on varying the use of different sentence starters, making use of subordinate clauses to add detail and description. In preparation for our Class Assembly on Friday 9^th March everyone will work collaboratively, writing and performing scripts, speaking with confidence and clarity.

Maths: In Maths we will progress to success with our times tables as well as develop our ability to tell the time and solve time problems. Could your child be the third to complete the Times Tables Challenge? We will move onto investigating the intriguing world of geometry later in the term. Our continuing work on class fitness will help us to understand data and statistics through 2018, when we revisit it later in the year, comparing and contrasting the data collected. Our work on times tables will continue, which has been supported greatly at home (Thank you),

Science: We will be reviewing and expanding our knowledge of forces with lots of exciting investigations planned by Mrs Cuthill.

PE: Tuesday PE will be dance for this half term focusing around the topic of the Antarctica and Friday’s lessons will be swimming with Mr Barnard, netball with Mrs Cuthill for the Year 5’s and Year 4’s will be practising their hockey skills with Mr Care. 

Art/DT: We will be creating African instruments, using the Djembe drum to compose pieces of music. Our Art/DT work will be linked to our English work, focusing on using the great outdoors to learn about landscape artists as well as create our own works of art.

PSHE:  To ensure and continue to make the good choices that will lead us to success, we will continue to focus on a positive mindset through our PSHE lessons utilising discussion and meditation to promote a positive half term for all in Class 4. This will hopefully also lead to our good choices jar being filled to the brim and our fantastically exciting treat will take place in the coming weeks, keep an eye out for the letter and clean up your wellies Class 4!

ENGLISH: Class Four will be finding out what happens to Kay in the classic fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. This will be the main focus for our English work, supporting our winter descriptive writing, widening our vocabulary and use of different sentence structures for effect. Alongside narrative writing, we will have targeted National Curriculum grammar lessons.

MATHS: We will be extending our knowledge of decimals, fractions and percentages, using our learning in different contexts and to solve problems. Also, we will be refreshing our understanding of length, specifically area and perimeter, converting measures. We will be completing a class fitness test that will help us to understand data and statistics through 2018. This will be used later in the year to compare and contrast the data collected. Our work on times tables will continue, which has been supported greatly at home (Thank you). I would like to congratulate Connie and Tilly who have completed the initial challenge and will be looking forward to practising and cementing their prize winning knowledge, whilst hoping to be joined by others in the class in the coming weeks.

HUMANITIES: We will be building on our knowledge of oceans and rivers globally which will support our scientific investigations into the water cycle through various experiments and demonstrations. In order to continue to make the good choices (that will lead us to success) we will focus on harnessing a positive mindset through our PSHE lessons, utilising discussion and meditation to promote a positive new year for all. Our Tuesday PE will be dance for this half term and Friday’s lessons will be either karate/netball.

This half term, Class Four will be completing our epic journey through The Arrival by Shaun Tan, and finding out if Jessie is reunited with her father… After this we will be using Robert Swindell’s book ‘Ice Palace’ to inspire our adventure writing as well as extend our descriptive vocabulary. We will also be continuing our in class spelling activities and targeted grammar lessons to help support our Progress to Success.

Maths: In Maths we will be focussing on multiplication and division methods, which will be supported by our work on the times tables which is being supported at home. We will then be investigating shapes and their properties and finally to finish 2017 off coordinates will be the focus.

Humanities: We will be visiting Walsingham to learn about pilgrimages which will be closely  linked to our Tudors Topic.

Science: Our scientific brains will be experimenting around the states of matter, drawing on previous knowledge and expanding it through varied experiments and demonstrations.

PSHE: To ensure we are focussed and continue to make the good choices that will lead us to success, we will continue to focus on Positive Mindset. Our PSHE lessons will utilise discussion and meditation to continue our positive year for all.

English:  Using ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan, we will be interpreting this visual book through drama, letter and diary writing and group discussion. The book will be the focus for our artwork in the later part of term after we have created our own Picasso portraits which will be displayed in the learning street. Will you be able to name all thirty when they are up? Group reading will include weekly supported home reading as well as other book related tasks. Children will receive weekly spellings to be completed for Tuesday tests and occasional maths homework to support their learning.

Maths: This term will be focussing on number. We will look to Progress to Success with our knowledge of number bonds, 10, 100, and 1000 more than a given number. We will also be revising the written methods used for the four operations (crib sheets for the methods we look to use can be provided to help you support at home if required). We will also be using a fitness circuit and the results produced to P2S with our knowledge of data and statistics.

Science: We are investigating forces and I’m looking forward to some exciting experiments around gravity, buoyancy and air resistance.

PE: Gymnastics is on Tuesday mornings and then on Friday afternoons the year 5’s will be practising Football with Mr Barnard while the year 4’s will be learning hockey with Mr Care. Please ensure your child has the required kit.

Humanities: Our topic is the Tudors and I look forward to sharing learning around how the Tudors came to power (Battle of Bosworth) and then all about Henry VIII and his interesting life.

PSHE: We look to discuss topical issues and practise Mindfulness, an area of great interest.

Music: We will be studying The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky.  We will explore how composers use rhythm, tempo and dynamics to create variations on a theme and use these ideas to compose our own fanfare.
I look forward to meeting all my parents throughout the school year and hope your child enjoys their educational journey in Class 4.