Mr Matthews is the class teacher in Giraffes. Mr Matthews really enjoys History and Reading, especially reading our class story. For the Spring Term, Mr Matthews is really looking forward to our Geography learning where we will be comparing the East Midlands region with Campania in Italy as it is one of his favourite countries! In Giraffes class, on Fridays we do our spelling test and check reading at home and homework. Homework is shared with the children on Friday morning, and they have until the following Thursday to complete this.

This term, our PE days will be Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Mrs Hollywood, Mrs Cowan and Miss Swinscoe are teaching assistants working within Giraffes. Mrs Hollywood loves horse riding, exercise and spending lots of time with her family.  Mrs Cowan is the teaching assistant in Giraffes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Mrs Cowan enjoys being creative and doing crafty activities, both inside and outside the classroom.  Mrs Swinscoe is a Teaching Assistant who will be spending some time in Giraffes.  She is really looking forward to working in years 3/4. Outside of school, she enjoys spending time with her family, shopping and taking her dog Rascal for a walk. She is looking forward to all the new topics we will be learning. It is going to be a fun year!

 

Geography

Our Spring Term has a geography focus in year 4. Our topic question is East Midlands and Campania, Italy – What are the similarities and differences? Within this topic we will develop our map and atlas skills looking at countries and capital cities within Europe. Furthermore, we will investigate the human and physical features of both areas. Additionally, we will focus on what leads to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

 

Writing

Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit will be the inspiration for our first piece of writing ‘Creating Connections’ with our geography topic. Here the children will write their own historical narrative. Our second piece of writing will be inspired by the book Amazing Islands by Sabrina Weiss and Kerry Hyndman. The children will use this beautiful book to write their own adventure story from the point of view of a boy. Throughout our writing, we will continue to develop our grammar, punctuation and spelling through our Gateway, Mastery and Feature keys.

Reading

Our children will be reading a range of texts, including non-chronological reports entitled Dental Hygiene and Iron Age Celts, a narrative called Story of Lord Krishna and a poem about rainforests! In each unit, children develop their word reading and fluency through engaging activities like echo reads, timed reads, and fluency grids. Texts include high-frequency and common exception words, allowing students to read aloud and grasp new vocabulary meaning via repeated and contiguous reads. They are encouraged to use their vocabulary to understand the material, discussing and linking new words to their existing knowledge. A focus on retrieval skills helps the children identify and explain key elements in various texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. They summarise key points from texts, practise sequencing events, and learn how information items connect. Children will also make simple inferences, delving into characters’ feelings and motives by justifying their thoughts with textual evidence. To further enhance comprehension, a range of vocabulary and inference questions will be used throughout these learning activities.

Maths

Maths in the Spring Term is split into four key areas:-

1. Multiplication and Division
2. Length and Perimeter
3. Fractions
4. Decimals

The children will learn to multiply and divide 3-digit by 1-digit numbers and by 10 and 100. They will also investigate equivalent and missing lengths and perimeters of rectangles and rectilinear shapes. With fractions, there will be a focus on mixed numbers and improper fractions. Finally, our first of the years decimals units will look at hundredths as fractions and decimals.

Art and Design and Technology

Sonia Delaunay will be our focal artist for the term. We will become familiar with the early life and artwork of Sonia Delaunay exploring how Sonia Delaunay created rhythm and movement in her artwork. Our children will discover the influence and legacy of Sonia Delaunay.

In design and technology, children will investigate electrical systems. They will evaluate torch design, before designing and assembling their own torches.

 

RSHE - Relationships, Sex and Health Education

No Outsiders for the Spring Term inspires us to be proud of who we are and to find common ground. Additionally, we will look at families and other relationships and consider when we have rights we also have responsibilities. E-safety remains a focus throughout the year. Online Reputation – where we explain ways that some of the information about anyone online could have been created, copied or shared by others. Online Bullying - explaining why people need to think carefully about how content they post might affect others, their feelings and how it may affect how others feel about them (their reputation).

Science

Our first science topic – Human impact on the environment is a biology topic. It will allow us to recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things. We will think about the impact of litter at school, how microplastics get into the food chain and what we can do to prevent this. Digestion and Food Chains is our second topic. Following this module, we will be able to describe the simple functions of the digestive system in humans. Additionally, we will identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions. Finally, our children will construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey.

PE

Our PE will lead us to gain skills in dance, gymnastics and games. Within games, we will hone our striking and fielding skills with cricket e.g. passing a ball with increasing speed, accuracy and success in a game situation. Additionally, badminton will be a focus. Our children will develop hand-eye coordination to strike a moving and stationary shuttlecock building a rally with a partner. In dance and gymnastics, we will look at using an increasing range of actions, directions and levels in their sequences and at carrying out balances, recognising the position of their centre of gravity and how this affects the balance.