Year 4/ Year 5 Class

Teacher: Mrs Holloway

Teaching assistant: Miss Lewis, Mr Crippin and Mrs Merrett

English

In English this term we will be exploring a wide range of writing styles linked to the books ’Where the Forest Meets the Sea’, ’Jungle Explorer’ and ’Blue John’. Our main focus in English will continue to be on sentence structure where we will ensure we punctuate sentences correctly and we are confident at using a wide range of sentence types. In guided reading we will use the book ’Street Child’ and alongside this we will explore a wide range of non-fiction texts linked to our topics.

Maths

In maths we will continue working on fractions and decimals. After this we will cover statistics, time, shape, position and direction. In June the Year 4s will be taking the government times table checker test which requires them to know all of the times tables facts. This involves answering 25 random questions based on all of the times tables facts. They have 6 seconds per question with the target of getting all 25 questions correct. Therefore it is vital that your child learns and knows the times tables facts as soon as possible. As a result we have been and will continue to  work very hard on the times tables facts through teaching and using the home school apps (Times Tables Rock Stars and Maths Shed) with the aim of improving speed and accuracy. The more your child practises their times tables at home the easier they will find the maths in class!

Topic

Our geography topic will look at why oceans matter where we will study the water cycle, the Great Barrier Reef, how humans use the ocean and the impact we have. To follow this we will study the Maya civilisation which will include looking at features of ancient Maya cities, their beliefs and the reasons for the decline of the Maya civilisation.

Science, DT, Art and Computing

Our first science topic is ’Forces’, where we will learn about: gravity, air resistance, water resistance and friction. Also we will explore levers, pulleys and gears. . We will follow this by looking at the changes that occur in humans as they develop into old age which will be closely linked to RSE (relationship and sex education). In design and technology we are going to design a mindfulness timer using the microbits and coding. In art we will be investigating various techniques linked to 3D sculpture. Stiperstones will continue to look at e-safety and how to be safe online. Alongside this we will be looking at computer programming using the crumbles and creating media using vector graphics.

Reading

In class we are going to read a historical narrative called ’Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty Also we will look at a range of non-fiction texts linked to the our geography, history, PSHE and our science topics. Alongside these books there is a wide range of books for your child to choose from in class. In school, we provide daily reading opportunities, some of which are guided where we focus on the following skills: vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising. For those children who require further support with their reading they will take part in additional reading sessions as much as possible.

Other

In PSHE we will look at a range of topics linked to ‘Being my Best’ which covers making the right choices and community awareness. Plus we will cover some basic first aid. In French there will be a focus on verbs. Whereas PE this term we will be doing rounders, cricket, athletics and golf. Within RE we will cover ‘What matters most to humanists?’ and ‘ How and why do people mark significant events in life?’