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Phoenix - Year 4

Miss Moore

Teacher

When I was a child, I loved to read. I can remember weekly trips to our local library and borrowing stacks of books to take home. One of the earliest authors I can remember enjoying is Enid Blyton. My grandad let me borrow his collection of Famous Five books and I loved the adventures the children would go on. I also really enjoyed Malory Towers books and I am sure I read the entire collection and even had them as audio books (which I can remember making my whole family listen to when we went on holiday in the car!). As well as Enid Blyton, I loved to read books about animals, in particular Animal Ark and Dolphin Diaries by Lucy Daniels. One final author that sticks in my mind is Michal Morpurgo. We spent lots holidays on the Isle of Scilly, and I think it is this reason that I really enjoyed his books set on the islands (in particular, The Wreck of Zanzibar and Why the Whales Came).

Mr Jordan Rogers

Support Staff

One of my favourite books since a young age has to be The Twits by Roald Dahl. I still find it funny to this day! Books written by Michael Morpurgo I have enjoyed as well, in particular Born to Run!

Spring 2:

Welcome back everyone, we hope you’ve all been able to recharge your batteries and have all had a relaxing break. We are really looking forward to the rest of the Spring term and welcoming the longer days and brighter weather.

Our topic this half term will be focusing on local area. For history, we will research and investigate Cornwall’s tin and copper mining history and discover why it was a most valuable asset. We will learn about the famous Cornish inventor and scientist Humphry Davy and his achievements and discoveries. For geography, we will complete a local history study. We will look at land use in both urban and rural areas, we will learn about different types of maps and how to read them and create our own sketch maps. We will learn about different types of farming and make comparisons to the past. Farming or mining: Which land use do you think is the most beneficial or profitable? We have also planned a trip to Wheal Martyn during the

Our DT project this half term is food, cooking and nutrition. We will be finding out about healthy foods and designing and making a healthy packed lunch. We will also link this to our Cornwall topic, and for the end product children will be making and baking their own pasties.

In Science, our topic is Rocks. We will be learning about different types, how they are formed and where they are found. We will learn about the properties of these materials and how they are suited for different purposes.

For RE this half term, we will be studying Judaism. We shall learn about Jewish ways of life, beliefs and traditions. We shall explore how Jews observe important festivals celebrating forgiveness, salvation and freedom. We will discover how Jews show their beliefs through worship, both at home and in wider communities.

 In ICT we will looking at different form of communication. We shall use the Purple Mash programs 2Email, 2Connect, 2DIY. We will learn how to compose emails, add attachments and send and receive them using email simulations. We will be learning about the importance of staying save on line and always ask is this a trusted contact. We will discuss passwords and consider how to best keep our personal information private.

In English, we will be starting the Pathways to Write unit based around the book ‘Leon and the Place Between.’ We shall be focusing on improving our writing by using small details to describe characters and evoke a response, using small details for time, place and mood. We shall be practising using the 1st person consistently and writing in consistent past tense. We shall present our work in chronological order with an opening paragraph to share thoughts and feelings and to summarise the day. We shall finish with a personal comment about hopes or concerns for the future

In maths, both Years 3 and 4 will be following the White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning and completing their measures unit. Children will practise measuring in metres, centimetres and millimetres accurately, we will look at equivalent lengths and adding and subtracting lengths. We will be able to calculate perimeters. Towards the end of term, we will moving on to fractions.

This term in  French we will be learning how to build sentences involving number and age, pets, and family members. We will also discover a bit about French culture and how they celebrate on 1st April.

In PE this half term for Phoenix and Peacocks classes the unit is gymnastics. 

In PHSE this half term we will continue to focus on our dreams and aspirations, thinking about how we can achieve our goals and understand the emotions that can go with this. We will learn about being healthy and keeping safe and the importance of making healthy choices and eating a balanced diet. We will discuss how we can keep others safe too. We will explore healthy friendships and learn strategies on how to keep calm and deal with difficult situations.

Spring 1

Welcome back and Happy New Year! We hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing Christmas. We are all excited and looking forward to the year of learning ahead.

Our topic this half term will be the Romans. For history, we will learn about the Roman Empire and their invasions and discover how the Roman army conquered and expanded so successfully across the world. We will become knowledgeable about their way of life and how the impact of their rule is still evident in our surroundings today. We will investigate how their houses were built and were very different according to the wealth of their inhabitants. We will find out about the coliseum and why it was so important to the Romans. We will also learn about the Boudican revolt and the Celtic Britons who were against the Roman Empire and tried to stop the Roman conquest of Britain albeit unsuccessfully.

Our Art will link to our Roman topic, and for the end product children will be creating a printed mosaic picture with a geometric border. This will involve researching and discovering lots of information about Roman mosaics. We will describe and compare these to other types of art. We will then generate a repeating mosaic style pattern of coloured squares on a grid using a stick printing method before designing a central motif for our picture.

In Science, our topic is Forces and Friction. We will be able to explain what a force is and shall be exploring how different surfaces can significantly effect movement. We will also be investigating magnetism and discovering which materials are magnetic and which are not. We will experiment with various magnets and observe how they behave around other magnets. (Repel and attract their poles)

For RE this half term we will be studying the Islam religion. We will discover where and when the Muslim faith first began and how it came to be the second most widely practised religion of the world next to Christianity. We will learn about the Prophet Mohammed and his teachings and the Muslim beliefs about Allah. We will also learn about the key features in a Muslim’s place of worship and key Muslim festivals that are celebrated. We will investigate the Muslim holy book the Qur'an and how is it used in prayer. We will become familiar with the main symbols and images associated with Islam.

 We will be continuing to use Purple Mash and 2Code to investigate coding during our computing lessons, we will learn how to create a simple computer program and what is meant by the term ‘IF’ statement. We will learn how to use coordinates in computing, what the ‘repeat until’ function does and what a variable involves in programming. We will then go on to create our own simple computer game using codes to make them work.

In English, we will be starting a unit based around the book ‘Winter’s Child” by Angela McAllister. Our mastery keys will be to use conjunctions and adverbs to express, time, place and cause, to use a or an according to whether the next word begins with a vowel or consonant, when writing narratives, create characters, settings and plot, and to use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech. Children will plan, write and publish their own story based on the plot of Winter’s Child section by section creating characters, setting and plot.

In maths, both Years 3 and 4 will be following the White Rose Maths Schemes of Learning and completing their multiplication and division unit before moving on to measures, focusing on length and perimeter.

Finally, our PE unit this half term will be Hockey. We will be learning how to keep a hockey ball under control, how to pass accurately in hockey while travelling with the ball and how to receive the ball. We will learn the rules of the game and develop tactical teamwork skills associated with attacking and defending.

We hope you find the resources below easy to access for supporting your child's learning at home and understanding the key objectives being covered. The list below includes:
 
-Knowledge Organisers
This explains the key information and facts your child needs to know by the end of their topic unit with some visual aids and key vocabulary we will learn too.
 
-Calculation Policy 
This provides you with information about the key mathematical concepts and how these are taught during this Key Stage. 
Autumn 1 
Autumn 2
Spring 1