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 half term, we will be taking on the challenge of decimals and percentages! Children will start by exploring what a decimal is and working with decimals with up to 2 decimal places. They will also explore equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages. Children will have the opportunity to build upon their place value knowledge by comparing, ordering and rounding decimals. After this, children will begin exploring measure, focusing on area and perimeter.

Physical Education:  

This half term, we will be continuing to attend our fantastic tennis lessons with Mr Proud every Thursday afternoon at the tennis courts. We will also be developing our gymnastics skills. Children will learn how to perform jumps, leaps and rolls, as well as how to incorporate these as part of a routine.

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:

Our Art unit this half term will be exploring expressionism. Our artist spotlight will be on Henri Matisse, but we will also be looking at the work of Gustav Moreau and André Derain. We will explore the key features of expressionist art, fauvism, use of colour within expressionism and 'The Bridge' group. We will also create our own version of Kirchner's painting, 'Street, Dresden'. 

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.

Computing:

During our 'video editing' unit, children will learn how to create short videos by working in pairs or groups. As they progress through this unit, they will be exposed to topic-based language and develop the skills of capturing, editing, and manipulating video. Towards the end, children will have the opportunity to reflect on and assess their progress in creating a video.