Writing:

At sunrise, young Michael spots a whale on the shores of the Thames and thinks he must be dreaming. But the creature is real and it has a message for him - one that only an open-minded child can deliver to the rest of the world. The whale warns that the earth’s days are numbered and that humans must put right the damage they are doing, but how can Michael fulfill his promise to tell others when neither his teacher nor his classmates will believe his story? Within hours, the city and the wider world have learned of London’s remarkable visitor, and all eyes are on the whale’s struggle against the receding tide. Michael must now join his new friend in a race against time to reach the ocean, and hold fast to his promise in the race to save the world itself.

This fictional account of the day a whale swam up the Thames is both moving, thought-provoking and perfect for the current environmental issues impacting our world as we speak. From this unit, we will learn how to produce a high quality newspaper article, focusing on the dramatic story that shocked London back in 2006. 

Reading:

Our reading unit this half term will be using a range of non fiction texts linking to our Geography unit 'North America'. Whilst examining these texts, the children will be practising summarising main ideas, distinguishing between statements of fact and opinion, retrieving, recording and presenting information from non-fiction and explaining and discussing their understanding of what they have read through formal presentations of debates. 

Mathematics:

This term, will be building on our multiplication and division knowledge, learning how to use column multiplication and short division to multiply and divide increasingly large numbers. After this, the children will learnt more about fractions which will include multiplying fractions by fractions and whole numbers. Problem solving is embedded within every lesson, allowing children to build and develop this vital skill.

Physical Education:  

We are excited to  be attending tennis lessons with Mr Proud every Thursday afternoon at the tennis courts. In addition to this, children will be developing their cricket skills in our school PE lessons.

Science:

It's a 'Material World' that we're living in! This term, we are exploring properties and changes of materials. Children will be considering properties of materials and comparing and grouping together everyday materials based on their properties. Children will be carrying out fair tests to answer various scientific enquiries linked to changes of materials, such as dissolving and melting.

Art: Painting and mixed media: Portraits! During this unit, children will learn to combine materials for effect and will identify features of self-portraits. They will bring all of their knowledge together to create a self-portrait using mixed media.

Computing:

This term, children will be learning all about flat-file databases! This unit looks at how a flat-file database can be used to organise data in records. Children will use tools within a database to order and answer questions about data. They will create graphs and charts from their data to help solve problems. They will also use a real-life database to answer a question, and present their work to others.

History:

This Spring term, we are going back to the Tudors, exploring beliefs, such as Henry VIII's decision to break with the Catholic church and travel and exploration, looking further into Sir Walter Raleigh and his expeditions. We will also dive into conflict, investigating 'The War of the Roses' and the important part this played in starting the Tudor rule. Thinking about significant artefacts, we will investigate the Globe Theatre in London and what it teaches us about the Tudors. 

Geography:

We are flying across the Atlantic to North America during the Spring term where will be locating significant rivers and mountains and comparing and contrasting the physical and human diversity of areas of high and low latitude. We will be investigating the differences between metropolitan and cosmopolitan and comparing and contrasting the housing for a typical person in Mexico City and in New York City, whilst exploring the phrase 'primate city'. At the end of this unit, the children will be able to explain why pollution in a river affects more than one population, using the Rio Grande as an example.

RE:

In RE this term, children will be addressing the question 'Why is the Torah so important for Jewish people?' As part of this, they will be learning to identify and explain Jewish beliefs about God, give examples of some texts that say what God is like and explain how Jewish people interpret them and make clear connections between Jewish beliefs about the Torah and how they use and treat it.