Summer 2

Guided Reading –

This half term we are studying the book "The Chocolate Tree" by Linda Lowery and Richard Keep. Ever wonder where chocolate came from? We have the Mayan king Kukulkán to thank. Kukulkán is more than a king--he is also a god. One day he brings his people an amazing gift: a chocolate tree! But there is just one problem. Kukulkán's brother, Night Jaguar, doesn't want regular people to have chocolate. He thinks only gods should eat the tempting treat. Will Night Jaguar prevail? Or will the Mayans get to keep their chocolate tree?

We read this story for meaning and answer comprehension questions based our VIPERS scheme and enrich our history learning.

Religious Education (R.E.) –

The Work of the Apostles: This unit has been designed to help the pupils understand the significant role the Apostles played in proclaiming the Good News. Pupils will reflect on the work of the Apostles as building the foundations of the Church which continues to proclaim the Good News of Christ today

Marriage and Holy Orders: This unit is designed to help children understand that Marriage and Holy Orders are important Sacraments of Commitment in the Church. It will also help them appreciate that everybody has some responsibility and part to play in the life of the Church.

Writing –

Inspiration for our writing this half term comes from the book Middleword by J&P Voelkel. In our narrative writing, we explore the use of suspense in our adventure/portal stories. In non-narrative writing, we will be writing instructions including recipes. We complete the year with a Media Unit narrative text written from a video called Oktapodi.

Maths –

Area and Perimeter: In this chapter, pupils will be extending their knowledge of perimeter and area. They will find the perimeter of a polygon constructed from other polygons and then look at constructing shapes with the same perimeter but a different area. Pupils will explore scale diagrams to determine the perimeter of shapes before moving onto exploring area using concrete materials. They will calculate and measure area in a variety of ways, determining the area of shapes from familiar shapes and using estimation to support their understanding.

Volume: Pupils will explore volume by learning about the volume of solids and how to use cubes to determine volume. Then they look at the volume of specific shapes such as rectangular boxes. They will explore the difference between 'volume' and 'capacity' and will learn to convert between different metric units and also between metric and imperial units. Pupils will solve increasingly challenging word problems related to volume.

Roman Numerals: To round off the year, pupils will identifying and use Roman numerals and will write Roman numerals to 1000, determining rules to apply to the written number. They will learn how to write years above 1000 apply their knowledge of Roman numerals to real-life scenarios.

Science –

Space: The children will learn to describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system. They will be able to describe the movement of the Moon relative to the Earth and describe the Sun, Earth and Moon as approximately spherical bodies. They will use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent movement of the sun across the sky.

History -

The Maya: In History we are learning about the Maya Civilisation. We will find about who they were and where and when they lived. We will discover what daily life was like for the Mayan people and their beliefs. We will find out about what their key achievements were and their legacy in History. We will explore the many theories as to how and why their civilisation ended and decide which theories we consider to be the most credible.

French –

We will be using our French language skills to design and create French fairy tale books to read to younger children in school (in French!!). We advance our knowledge of French culture by looking closely at Bastille Day celebrations in France and why they are significant.

Physical Education (P.E.)

In PE this half term children will be participating in Athletics and Rounders. They will practise their athletic skills in readiness for Sports Day and build on their throwing, catching and batting skills learned in Cricket to play rounders.

Children will need their PE Kit on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Computing –

Programming: Selection in Quizzing

In this unit, pupils develop their knowledge of selection by revisiting how conditions can be used in programs and then learning how the If… Then… Else structure can be used to select different outcomes depending on whether a condition is true or false. They represent this understanding in algorithms and then by constructing programs using the Scratch programming environment. They use their knowledge of writing programs and using selection to control outcomes to design a quiz in response to a given task and implement it as a program.

Personal,  Social & Health Education (PSHE) –

In this unit the children will learn: 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; the recovery position and other First Aid techniques; the three persons of the Holy Trinity; how the Holy Spirit works through us to share God’s love and goodness with others; the principles of Catholic Social Teaching That God formed them out of love, to know and share His love with others; to apply the principles of Catholic Social Teaching to current issues.