Summer 1

Religious Education (R.E.) –

Easter: In this unit the children learn about the Church’s Celebration of Easter through the Easter Vigil. They will learn about the Church’s belief in eternal life through the Easter Story and the Story of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven.

Pentecost: This unit is designed to give children greater insight into the Church’s belief in the Holy Spirit. It will also explore the Christian belief in the Holy Trinity and prayer and devotion to the Holy Spirit.

Guided Reading –

This half term we are studying the book "Holes" by Louis Sachar. This story is set in America and details the unfortunate events of a wrongly convicted boy who has to dig holes in the desert as a punishment for his “crimes.” We read for meaning and answer comprehension questions based our VIPERS scheme and enrich our history learning.

Maths –

Geometry – We will explore angles: measuring angles, the investigation of angles on a line/point and drawing angles, before moving onto using angles as a descriptor for common shapes. We will solve problems involving angles and investigate angles inside regular polygons.

Position and Movement –We will explore position and movement. We will name and plot points on a grid before moving onto the translation of a shape in the second lesson. We will describe the movement of a shape on a grid as the first step in describing reflections and look at and describe reflections across a mirror line.

Measurements – We will explore the measurement of mass, temperature, time and length. We will convert units of length from millimetres to centimetres and from centimetres to metres; metres to kilometres before looking at converting imperial measures to metric measures. We will explore converting units of mass in the same manner, finishing with imperial and metric conversions. We will look at units of time in days, weeks, months and years, then in seconds, minutes and hours before looking at temperature and how to use a vertical number line (thermometer). We complete our work on measures with a very challenging problem about changing lengths.

Writing –

Our Guided Reading book will be the basis for our Writing this half term. In our narrative writing, we explore the use of flashback and attempt to build suspense in our writing. In non-narrative writing, we will be writing a non-chronological report and in poetry we will be exploring and creating our own Riddles and Kennings.

Our grammar focus will be: Time conjunctions, openers, past tense, vocabulary of colour, adverbs, expanded noun phrases, adverbs of possibility, rhyming words and question marks

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: Words containing the letter string ‘ough’; Adverbials of time; Adverbials of place Words with an /ear/ sound spelt ‘ere’

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

Science –

Forces:

We will learn about different forces, how they can be measured and how they can be used. The children will be able to:

• Explain that unsupported objects fall towards the Earth because of the force of gravity acting between the Earth and the falling object
• Identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces
• Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect.

Geography -

Energy & Sustainability

In this unit pupils will learn what sustainability is and how we produce energy. We will learn about Curitiba and Freiburg and how they are sustainable cities. We will discover how we will produce and use energy differently in the future and explore how sustainable our community is, considering our local issues and how we may help.

Physical Education (P.E.)

In PE this half term children will be swimming on Tuesdays and studying cricket and multi-skills. We will be focusing on how to hit a ball with good control using recognised batting techniques. We will also look at throwing, catching and bowling as well as the scoring systems in cricket. 

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

French –

Verbs in a French week 

The children will learn to identify the infinitive form of verbs, and subject pronouns, then group French verbs into -er, -ir and -re categories before learning the -er regular verb endings, practising with a set of regular action verbs; they will discover that not all verbs are regular and learn the foundation verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’, and finally produce a short piece of creative writing to demonstrate their learning, which they present to the class.

Computing – Creating media – Introduction to vector graphics

In this unit, learners start to create vector drawings. They learn how to use different drawing tools to help them create images. Learners recognise that images in vector drawings are created using shapes and lines, and each individual element in the drawing is called an object. Learners layer their objects and begin grouping and duplicating them to support the creation of more complex pieces of work. This unit is planned using the Google Drawings app, other alternative pieces of software are available.

Music –

In Music we will be learning about Improvisation: solo sections and 12 bar chord sequences.

Blues and Rock and Roll music will be studied and the history of blues to be discussed and appraised.

Personal,  Social & Health Education (PSHE) –

In this unit the children will learn: some financial risks and discuss how to avoid them; that their increasing independence brings increased responsibility to keep themselves and others safe; how to use technology safely; that just as what we eat can make us healthy or make us ill, so what we watch, hear, say or do can be good or bad for us and others; how to report and get help if they encounter inappropriate materials or messages; what the term cyberbullying means and examples of it; what cyberbullying feels like for the victim; how to get help if they experience cyberbullying; what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable and how to respond; that there are different people we can trust for help, especially those closest to us who care for us, including parents, teachers and priests; the effect that a range of substances including drugs, tobacco and alcohol can have on the body; how to make good choices about substances that will have a positive impact on their health; that our bodies are created by God, so we should take care of them and be careful about what we consume; how they may come under pressure when it comes to drugs, alcohol and tobacco; that they are entitled to say “no” for all sorts of reasons, but not least in order to protect their God-given bodies.