Welcome to Our Foxes Class Page!

This Term:

English

In the second half of the spring term, the children will be looking at types of writing to inform. In particular, diary writing and writing reports. Additionally, we will continue to focus on all aspects of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Children will read daily as part of whole class and independent reading. The focus for our reading will continue to be the book Nowhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie before moving on to War Horse by Michael Morpurgo – a powerful story of the truest of friendships in the worst of wars.

Maths 

For the second half of the spring term, year 6 will continue to focus on decimals, including converting units of measure, before moving on to fractions, decimals and percentages. Year 5 will continue their work on decimals and percentages before moving on to area, perimeter and statistics. I would be grateful if you could also encourage your children to continue to practice their times tables and related division facts up to the 12 times tables. 

Science

Our unit this half term is ‘Forces’. As part of this topic, the children will be learning that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity. They will identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction that act between moving surfaces. Finally, they will investigate how some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

History

Our topic for the second half of spring will be on the early British Empire. We shall focus on the period from the 16th to the 18th centuries, when the British travelled to new lands and set up colonies, trading all over the world. Our focus will be on colonies in the East Indies, North America and the West Indies. 

Geography

Our focus for this half term is on Australia. As part of this topic, the children will look at the physical geography of Australia, including climate zones, biomes, vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes. In addition, they will learn about the human geography of Australia, which will include types of settlement and land use, trade links and the distribution of natural resources such as energy, food, minerals and water. 

Art and D.T.

Our focus for this half term is on Chinese painting and ceramics. We shall be looking at techniques used in traditional Chinese calligraphy paintings, in particular, the brushwork. In addition, we shall look in greater depth at the importance of Ming ware in Chinese porcelain production and the influence this had within Europe. 

R.E.

This half term we are going to investigate how the Muslim belief of tawhid creates a sense of belonging to the Muslim community. Tawhid is the central Muslim belief that there is only one God and that God is unique. The children will be able to explain some key teachings about tawhid, explain how the ‘kaaba’ reminds Muslims that there is only one God, recall the 5 pillars of Islam and describe the impact of Hajj on a Muslim. 

P.S.H.E

In this unit, the children will be able to categorise drugs as medical, non-medical, legal and illegal. They will understand the roles of medicines and immunisations recognising the possible physical and psychological effects of some drugs. They will be able to show an understanding of some of the laws relating to drugs and finally, be able to recognise risk and risk management strategies. 

P.E.

One of our PE focuses this half term is on different dance styles from the 1960s. We shall be looking at ‘the jerk’, ‘the mashed potato’, the skate’ and ‘the pony’ along with a few others. In games, we will be doing all of our activities outdoors so please make sure your child has the appropriate clothing for the weather.

Music

In music, we shall be focusing on the composer Beethoven and his symphony No 3 ‘Eroica’. The children will have a go at composing and performing their own melody using the rhythm of Beethoven’s opening motif. 

Latin

We shall continue our learning on adverbs and verb endings in Latin.

In our class you will find:

Class Teacher: Miss Williams



Teaching Assistants: Mr Batty

Our PE days will be: Monday and Fridays

Knowledge Organisers for this half term:

Home Learning

Homework will be given out on Fridays and checked the following Wednesday. Homework this term will be either online through either Complete Maths, Maths.co.uk, SPAG.com or it will written into your child’s home learning book.

Each week there will also be an expectation for your child to be reading a minimum of four times per week. As ever, we thoroughly appreciate and encourage any discussion you can have with your children surrounding their reading. What are they reading? Can they describe the characters? How do they think certain characters are feeling about a certain situation?

Please can we ask that you encourage your children to read a wide range of materials including both fiction and non-fiction and a range of genres, especially within fiction such as historical novels, science fiction and adventure narratives.

Parents can help with homework tasks, but please leave feedback in books to let us know of any particular difficulties or activities you enjoyed. Included in your child’s home learning book are the national curriculum year 3/4 spellings should you wish to support your child’s learning at home.

Please make sure homework is well presented and reflects your child’s full understanding. Home school communication books must be in school each day so records of reading can be written in.

Thank you.