English
In Spring our Literacy work is based around Farmer Duck and Diary of a Wombat
Farmer Duck is about a hardworking duck and a very lazy farmer! The other animals are very upset and want to help the duck so they come up with a plan. The children will use their prediction and inference skills to write the ending of the story before finding out what really happens. They will then write questions to interview the duck and the farmer.
Diary of a Wombat is about a very cheeky wombat who will do anything to get her carrots, including breaking down the door and digging up flower beds! The children will immerse themselves in the story by sequencing and retelling it before using it as a basis to write their own diary from the perspective of the humans who own the wombat.
Maths
This term we will be focusing on place value within 20 and apply this to calculate additions and subtractions within twenty. We will then move onto place value to 50, length and height and finally mass and volume.
Science
In science we will learn about animals including humans. The children will learn about their own bodies, naming and identifying body parts and also investigating their different senses. They will then learn about the five animal groups as well as carnivores, herbivores and omnivores and the structure of a variety of common animals.
We also continue our work on seasonal change, finding out more about extreme weather when we study Dr Steve Lyons.
History
In history we are looking at how communication has changed through the years. We will look at the different ways we can communicate and how this has changed throughout history. We will start by looking at how we communicate now, then look at the changes in telephones. Next we will investigate how the Royal Mail works and test it by sending our own letters home. Then we will look at carrier pigeons and their vital role in communication throughout the wars. We will use our oracy skills at the end of the topic to say which we think is the best form of communication and why.
Geography
We will be looking at the UK, identifying the countries, capital cities and seas surrounding our homes. We will use atlas to locate these as well as many famous landmarks and locations around the UK. We will then compare Barnard Castle to our capital city, London and complete field work to make comparisons between the River Tees and the River Thames.
RE
In RE children will be studying the Buddhist water festival, Songkran. They will recap their knowledge of religions and religious festivals before diving into the Songkran festival. They will find out what the festival is, what it celebrates, how it is celebrated and why it is celebrated.
Children will then look at how Christians celebrate Easter. They will look at how different days are celebrated such as Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday.
PSHE
In PSHE we will be looking at ‘What helps us stay healthy?’ as part of our Health and Well being curriculum. Within this we discuss what being healthy means, how might the things that people put into and onto their bodies affect how they feel and we look at the role of medicines in staying healthy. We then move onto, ‘What can we do with money?’ as part of Living in the wider world. In this unit, we investigate different types of money, where money comes from and how to keep it safe and the choices people might make about money. We also consider the differences between needs and wants and if people can always have the things they want – this will be a lively debate!
P.E
In P.E we begin the Spring term with a Gymnastics unit of work – thinking about how we can travel in different ways. This is then followed by a unit of work focusing on fundamental movement skills.
Art
Our Art this term focusses on printing and painting techniques. We will have a go at printing our own wallpaper inspired by William Morris and will create flowers using paint after considering the work of Kandinsky.
D.T
In DT we will be preparing lots of different fruits to create our own fruit salad.
Computing
In our computing unit of work, the children will be introduced to early programming concepts. They will explore using individual commands, with their peers and as part of a computer program. They will identify what each command for the BeeBot does, and use that knowledge to start predicting the outcome of programs.
