Chestnut Class - Spring term 2022

 

Welcome back to school after the Christmas break This is just some information about what we will be covering this term, and always feel free to speak to me if you have any further questions.

 

English

We will be linking all our English work to our topic theme of ‘How can we make a difference?’.  We will be learning about plastic pollution in the oceans and using that information to write persuasive letters.  We will also be learning debating skills to help us hone these persuasive techniques.  In term 4 we will be linking our English work to the Science topic, states of matter by creating an information text on the water cycle.  Finally, we will be creating a dilemma story based on The Great Kapok Tree, a story about deforestation. 

Our whole class guided reading will be the book The Boy Who Grew Dragons by Andy Shepherd.  This whole class approach gives us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in a text and to develop not only reading fluency but also comprehension skills such as retrieval, inference and prediction.

Spelling will focus on the statutory Year 3 & 4 list, adding suffixes, prefixes and looking at unusual spelling patterns.

We will be covering a wide range of the technical aspects of writing in our grammar sessions including apostrophes for possession and contraction, recognising and punctuating direct speech, noun phrases and expanded noun phrases, prepositional phrases and word families.

 

Maths

We will be completing work on perimeter before moving on to multiplication, division, length and fractions.  We will have dedicated time to work on times tables fluency, but it would be beneficial for children to practise these little and often at home to support this.

 

RE

We are using the RE curriculum Understanding Christianity again this year and will be examining some key concepts on the themes of Gospel and Salvation

 

Science

States of matter will be explored in these sessions. This will cover the features of solids, liquids and gases and the water cycle.

 

Topic

Our topic is ‘How Can We Make a Difference?’ and will focus on plastic pollution in the ocean, deforestation of the rainforests and aspects of government and decision making.

 

Art and design

Our art and design will link closely to our topic and we will be creating sculptures using materials that would otherwise be discarded.

 

Music

We will continue to have weekly ukulele lessons with Mr Lawrence.  Instruments are provided by the school.

 

ICT

We will be completing units on Effective Searching, linked to our topic research, online safety and coding..

 

PE

Our PE session will take place on a Monday afternoon with Mr Luckhurst.  Please ensure your child has a labelled PE kit in school all week.

 

Homework and reading

Homework will be issued on a Thursday and is due back on Monday.  It is not intended to be overwhelming, but gives your child an opportunity to consolidate on the learning they have done during the week.  It will usually consist of English, spelling and Maths activities.  We expect your child to read for a minimum of 10 minutes a day.  We would like them to complete the reading log by making some comments on what they have read each day.  This will be checked on a Wednesday.  In Year 4, we ask that children take responsibility for changing their books themselves if they are reading from the classroom selection.

 

If you have any concerns relating to your child and their learning, please do get in touch via the class email address chestnut@st-barnabas.kent.sch.uk .  Alternatively, you can speak to me at release time now that restrictions are more relaxed.  If your query is urgent, please contact the school office in the first instance.

 

I am really looking forward to another exciting term with the class!

 

With best wishes,

 

Mrs Barter and the Chestnut Class Team