English

Reading – the students will be taking part in reading activities everyday to strengthen their decoding and comprehension skills. Students will also be expected to practice their reading skills daily at home.

Writing – this term both Year 3 and 4 students will focus on extending their understanding of writing narratives (stories). The students will revise the structure of narratives while sharpening their use of punctuation and sentence structure.

Spelling – regular practice of spelling will take place within the classroom based around specific spelling patterns, e.g. ‘sh’ words. Children will have weekly spelling lists and sometimes activities to practice at home to help consolidate classroom activities.

Maths

Both Years 3 and 4 will have a continued focus on the automatic recall of number facts such as times tables, doubles, near doubles and fact families.

Year 4- Students will be building on their knowledge of the year 3 curriculum. They will study numbers to 1000 and their place value, look and 2D and 3D shapes, measurement using formal units such as millimetres and metres and revise the 4 operations (+, -, x & ÷).

Topic Work (I.P.C and Science)

This term children will learn about the Habitats of all living creatures. Briefly, students will study the different types of habitats and how habitats have been affected by human and natural activities. The unit of work will involve children using their research skills to locate information. Students will also improve their ability to communicate what they have learnt. This topic work will be complimented by an excursion to Colchester Zoo.

Music- Mrs Gold

Having focussed on individual practice and performance last year by learning recorder, this year students will concentrate on ensemble musical skills, by working as a group in a percussion band. This will be a year-long project, in which this term we will play untuned percussion, including a drumming workshop from a visitng percussionist. There will be a strong focus on reading rhythm notation. I hope to find opportunities for them to perform as a group. Jointly with Aral we will explore musical theatre, listening to and singing examples of the genre and writing a small one of our own.

Spanish – Mrs Fernandez

This term we will be continuing with our songs, dances, silly stretches and other physical activities, while incorporating a grammar-based approach to give the children the basics they need for effective communication. For example one song focuses on the various forms of ’ser’ (to be), another one on forms of ‘estar’ (the other verb ‘to be’) etc. The children will learn the songs and then practice the language actively in the classroom, the emphasis still being on oral communication skills. Homework will be given periodically, although it will be rather different from usual written work as it will incorporate NLP principles - this basically means that I would ask you to encourage and help your child to use the body as much as possible (instructions will be given of course!)

Nature Studies – Mrs Rigby

While the weather is good, we will be tidying up the allotment and preparing the soil in readiness for next Spring’s planting. We will be looking at wildlife habitats as well as studying the effect of the changing seasons on our surroundings. Please ensure children bring a coat and wellies for this subject area.