Spring 1

Religious Education (R.E.)

Christmas: In this unit the children will hear about the story of Christmas from St. Matthew’s Gospel. They will explore the difficulties faced by Mary and Joseph and the tensions that arose in King Herod.

Parables and Sayings of Jesus: In this unit children gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the Parables of Jesus. They explore the concept of the Kingdom of God from the teachings of Jesus and ways in which Christians respond to this teaching today through their belonging to the Church.

Guided Reading

This half term we are studying the book "The Giant’s Necklace" by Michael Morpurgo. We are reading this beautifully illustrated and well written ghost story set on the Cornish coast. We read for meaning and answer comprehension questions based our VIPERS scheme.

Writing

Using the text “Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer, we will explore the characterisation of the main character as a criminal genius and use our previous knowledge of Diary writing to create a diary account of Artemis acquiring the magic book.

We will also explore the use of Limericks as a form of poetry.

Our grammar focus will be: Time conjunctions, addressing the reader, rhetorical questions, metaphor, show not tell, past tense, descriptive language, paragraphs, first person, metaphor, subordinate and relative clauses, description and parenthesis

Maths

Fractions: This chapter develops pupils' ability to handle more diverse problems involving fractions, including dividing and multiplying fractions by whole numbers. We will divide whole numbers by whole numbers, giving rise to fractions, show improper fractions and mixed numbers using pictures and progress to finding equivalent fractions, comparing and ordering fractions and using the number bond strategy. We will subtract fractions that are different, finding common denominators and subtracting mixed numbers and improper fractions and will begin to multiply fractions by whole numbers and multiply mixed numbers by whole numbers.

Decimals: In this chapter, pupils explore decimals. To begin this chapter, they learn to read and write decimal numbers. This is followed by comparing decimal numbers to find out which is greater, and which and smaller. Pupils then add and subtract decimals before turning decimals into fractions. The chapter ends with pupils rounding decimals to the nearest whole number and decimal position.

Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar

SPAG lessons this half term are on Wednesdays and we will test previously learned spelling and have new spellings for the following week.  We will also explore a variety of grammar features to support our work in writing.

Spellings for this half term include: nouns using the suffixes –ity, -ness, -ship; homophones and near homphones

Our grammar focus is: complex sentences; functions of fronted adverbials; using simple past, present and future progressive tense; relative clauses; pronouns and the function of apostrophes

Geography

In Geography this half term, we learn about Biomes. We discover the names of the 6 major Biomes and their specific climates and how these climates are impacted by their proximity to the equator and the amount of rainfall they receive. We learn where the Earth's six major biomes are located and how their position on the Earth impacts their climates.  We learn about climatic factors and human activities that impact biomes and we study Tundra, Taiga and Grasslands in more detail. We consider how Biomes are damaged and how we can protect them.

Science

Biology Reproductive Cycles:

We will describe the differences in the life cycles of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird and describe the life process of reproduction in some plants and animals.

We will learn how living things are classified into broad groups according to common observable characteristics and based on similarities and differences, including micro- organisms, plants and animals and give reasons for classifying plants and animals based on specific characteristics.

Physical Education (P.E.)

In PE this half term children will be swimming and also studying dance and multi skills. In dance we will be translating ideas from a stimulus into movement while demonstrating good fluency and control.

Also in multi skills we will be working on a variety of different activities to improve balance, speed, agility and co-ordination. 

Children will need their Swimming kit in school on Tuesdays and PE Kit on Mondays.

French

Shopping in France

The children will learn to construct high numbers in French, develop food-related vocabulary through games, stories and role-play and build on their understanding of sentence structures, questions and phrases, equipping themselves with language they could use when shopping in France. They also develop their language detective skills, facing an entirely unfamiliar authentic French text.

Personal,  Social & Health Education (PSHE)

In PSHE we will be exploring the Relationship and Health Education for Catholic primary schools from TenTen Resources. Module 1: Created and Loved by God explores the individual. Continuing through the Paradise Street series, Emotional Well-Being helps children learn about pressures that they may experience from themselves, others and the media. Children will develop ideas on how to build resilience through thankfulness, use techniques to manage their thoughts, feelings and actions and cope with new or difficult feelings.

Computing

Programming A – Selection in physical computing

In this unit, learners will use physical computing to explore the concept of selection in programming through the use of the Crumble programming environment. Learners will be introduced to a microcontroller and learn how to connect and program components (including output devices- LEDs and motors) through the application of their existing programming knowledge.

Music

In Music we will be learning about traditional music notation, note values, pitch names and time signatures.

Art

Our Art project will be an exploration of watercolours. In the build-up we will research and learn about artists and experiment using different techniques. Working with St Thomas More Art Department, we will create our own watercolours using the skills we have learned.