In English, we will be continuing our journey with Skellig, using this rich text to inspire both our sentence-level work and our longer pieces of writing. We will continue to explore the text, both through our guided reading lessons and also our English lessons, developing both our comprehension and writing. The children will build their skills over the term to allow them to write non-chronological reports and balanced arguments, as well as some smaller narrative-based pieces that cover both character and setting descriptions. This range of text types will allow the children to explore their writing skills and think about the appropriate information to include in a variety of different pieces of writing. We will be using the text to develop and improve our grammar skills by focusing on identifying imaginative vocabulary and techniques, as well as thinking about how we can construct complex sentences that create interest for the reader. We will look carefully at the use of adverbials within our writing, as well as the importance of identifying main clauses and subordinate clauses within a sentence in order to add more detail. We will explore modal verbs, persuasive verbs and conjunctions, as well as the more technical vocabulary and structural devices used in non-fiction writing. The children will think carefully about creating cohesion within their writing, and we will also be ensuring we develop our accurate use of a wide range of punctuation. 

Children will continue to participate in a weekly spelling test with the expectation that they will practice their spellings at home. These will start from the second week and will continue throughout the school year.

In Maths we will continue to embed our work on our place value skills, which will include reading, writing and comparing numbers and rounding. We will be continuing to develop our understanding of multiplication and division, addition and subtraction. We will extend this work by starting to look at fractions, particularly focusing on equivalence and simplification of given fractions. This will utilise our work on multiples and factors from last term, so it is important that the children continue to work on their multiplication tables at home. We will also be looking at how we can convert between different units of metric measure and how we can apply what we have learnt to look at money. To tie this all together, as we work through, we will be applying everything we learn to word based problems, which will help us develop our reasoning and deeper understanding of the concepts we cover.

In Science, we will be exploring classification in greater depth. Building on previous learning, the children will find out more about how scientists group living things based on their features, and they will study the work of Carl Linnaeus. They will discover how plants and animals are classified into kingdoms and species, and learn about different types of invertebrates, including insects, arachnids, molluscs and cnidarians such as jellyfish and coral. Alongside this, the children will work scientifically to sort, classify and explain their reasoning, thinking about what makes each living thing unique.

Our Geography topic this term is all about spatial awareness and building geography-based skills. The children will learn how cartographers use imaginary lines like latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth, and they will explore how maps show features such as height and terrain through contours and colours. We’ll also discuss how stretching a globe to fit a flat map can change how land looks, and learn about map scales, hemispheres and topography. By the end of the unit, the children will have a much clearer picture of how we represent our world through maps.

Our art lessons this term build on the children’s previous learning about the Italian Renaissance. We will start by revisiting the concept of linear perspective through the work of Brunelleschi and his design for the dome of Florence Cathedral, before exploring Ghiberti’s relief sculptures on the doors of the Florence Baptistery. The second half of the unit focuses on Michelangelo — not only as a painter, but as an architect and sculptor. The children will study his famous David sculpture and compare it to both classical and modern works, including those of contemporary artist Thomas J. Price. They will then use their drawings and knowledge of Renaissance art to design and create their own clay relief sculptures, developing their skills in rolling, modelling and carving.

In RE this term, we will be exploring the relationship between being human and being creative. Through studying a range of religious traditions, practices and texts, the children will investigate how creativity — particularly through music — can express identity, belief and belonging. They will draw on ideas from theology and the human and social sciences to consider big questions such as whether creativity really matters in religious worldviews. This unit will encourage deep thinking, reflection and discussion about what it means to express who we are.

Finally, in Design Technology we will be designing and building some water walls, using simple mechanisms like pulleys and Archimedes’ screw to move water in creative ways. As the children explore how these devices work (just like those found in playgrounds, wells, and even washing machines) they will learn the importance of making their structures strong and stable. We will discuss how choosing materials carefully can reduce plastics pollution, encourage recycling, and help protect our planet. Our discussions will also touch on how using less electricity can combat global warming, and we’ll be inspired by engineers like Nav Sawhney and the Washing Machine Project, who create solutions that are both useful and environmentally friendly. Throughout, children will be encouraged to think about the best materials for their water walls, making thoughtful choices that show care for the environment.