English

At the start of the term much of our work in English will be based on our class reading book 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo. We will read the book in class and use it to inspire descriptive and emotional writing, diary entries, adventure stories and instructional writing. We will use the text to analyse dialogue, action, structure, characters and settings. The grammar covered will include work on adjectives, apostrophes, commas and conjunctions. Differentiated spellings will continue to be given throughout the term and will be tested weekly. This term, the children will take their first English Speaking Board Exam. As the term progresses, we will support them in preparing their poem for presentation, reading their chosen book aloud and preparing a short talk on something that interests them. This will be a challenge for the children that will improve and enhance their speaking and listening skills and self-confidence.

Mathematics

Year 4 begin the term with a review of work done previously on addition and subtraction with particular emphasis on developing different strategies to help with mental calculations. We will move on to more work on multiplication, this term we linking division to the times tables facts we have been learning, using the inverse of the times tables. We will move on to looking at a variety of mathematical topics including weight, capacity, co-ordinates, compass points, angles and the drawing and classification of regular and irregular polygons. There is a lot of opportunity for practical investigation this term, which always proves popular with the children as it develops and engages a greater variety of learning styles.

Science

In science we move away from the physical processes of the curriculum and begin to look at materials and their properties. We begin the year with the topic, Keeping Warm. This topic looks at materials and their properties, specifically their heat keeping properties and whether they are a conductor of heat or an insulator. This topic is very practical as we will be designing experiments to test which material can keep an ice lolly frozen the longest and which can keep Mr Walker's coffee hot the longest. After this we move on to looking at the state of matter and how they are made up into solids, liquids and gases. With a grasp on this concept we will move gradually onto thinking about how we can separate different mixtures of these states. We will use different techniques such as melting, freezing, dissolving, filtering, condensing, evaporating and sieving. Both topics this term are very practical and really enable us to develop a much greater scientific approach to investigations and investigative write-ups.

History

The children will learn about the Tudors through studying the story of Henry VIII and his six wives. They will learn to place the Tudors within the context of Britain's history, about the life and work of a Tudor monarch and how to make inferences and deductions from portraits and artefacts. They will be taught the dates of the Tudor period, about the break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries. The children will be encouraged to research independently and to make comparisons between life in Tudor times and life today.

Geography

Our work in geography will be based on our school environment. The children will map and sketch different areas of the school, express preferences as to why they like and dislike certain parts of the school and suggest ways in which the immediate environment can be improved. They will extend their area of study into Anstey Park and consider what facilities would be necessary if another housing estate were built in the area. As the trip to Marchant's Hill approaches, the children will study maps of the area, look at the route we will take to get there and draw sketch maps and plans of the site.

Religious and Moral Education

RME this term looks at three topics, celebrations, thanksgiving and self-giving. We will look at the Eucharist and discuss the events leading up to Lent and Easter. These topics allow us to look at the events of Lent and Easter from different perspectives, for example, giving thanks for Jesus' life and his resurrection. This term we will base our PSHME topics around our forthcoming trip to Marchant's Hill. We will look at eating healthily, managing our money correctly and the effects exercise has on our bodies.

French

In the spring term, the children will be further developing their conversation work. They will be able to express themselves in terms of hobbies they like or dislike. They will also be able to share their feelings with others. With a knowledge of the days of the week, the children will produce a booklet describing what they do each day.

ICT

The children will work on vector graphics software (Inkscape), becoming familiar with some of the simpler tools and techniques available, producing designs exploring pattern and tessellation. They will use the Web as part of their research for their ESB presentations.

Music

This term the children will be attending an orchestral concert and, in preparation for this, will be listening to a variety of music and looking at the orchestral instruments in a symphony orchestra. Composition work will introduce pentatonic scales, which the children will use in group music making and singing work. Further pieces will be learnt on the recorder and a performance given in an assembly using recorders and tuned and untuned percussion instruments. New winter and Easter songs will be learnt both in class and choir.

Art and Design

This term we will complete and resolve our entries for the Hellenic Society Competition on "The Minotaur". We will then be looking at the concept of storytelling through pictures in a range of media. Artists we will learn about include the famous African American Slave, Harriet Powers and the notorious Tracey Emin in relation to their quilt making. Basing our ideas on the theme of ‘The Tudors' we will experiment with picture story telling using a range of media including appliqué. We will then combine the individual picture stories, spiriting collaborative practice, into a wall hanging finale for Easter.

Drama

The children will work on a play by Dick King-Smith called 'Lady Lollipop'. They will be encouraged to develop characters, evaluate their own and other's performances, and use their own ideas to extend the characters, settings and dialogue. They will also work on the performance of their poems for their ESB exam.

Physical Education

For the boys, the Spring term begins with exercise and stamina development with cross country running and work on skill levels in the rugby sessions. Later in the term there will be introduction of field and track techniques. Fitness will be assessed prior to the summer term.
In football, the girls will start with basic football skills where we will focus on dribbling, stopping and passing the football. They will work on their movements across the field with the ball. The basic rules of football will also be introduced. For netball this term, the girls will work and develop better ball handling and passing skills. The rules of netball will be reinforced and we will work on team play. The movements around the court will also be practised within team situations. They will learn the basic skills for the game, e.g. dribbling, passing and shooting. The basic rules will also be learned and we will improve their stamina in doing these simple tactics and strategies.

It is emphasised that the above is offered as a guide only, and the school retains the flexibility to adapt its schemes of work to the needs of the individual or the class