Lower Key stage 2 (year 3 and 4)

Newsletter Autumn term                     Newsletter Spring term

Literacy

In LKS2 children have an hour literacy lesson. Within these lessons, children are taught a range of genres in accordance with the National Curriculum. Grammar is taught through out the week. Children read with an adult two to three times a week in LKS2, 1:1, in small groups or with the teacher in guided reading.

Our class novel for Autumn term was      

Our class novel in Spring 1 was ‘Survivors’ – short, true stories about real people who have survived amazing events (linked to our Tremors topic). 

Our class novel for Spring 2 is Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, linked to our Gods and Mortals (Ancient Greece) topic

Maths

The children in LKS2 have a daily 1 hour maths session, followed by a 10-15 minute maths meeting in the afternoon. Our maths meetings are focused on mathematical concepts that need to be revisited throughout the curriculum. We engage all learners with songs, chants, problems and questions.

Topic

At the beginning of each year, every class spends the first week focusing on Art. Each year group looks at a different artist and produces a variety of art work. 

Covid caused some gaps in topic learning, so at the beginning of this year, the whole school spent a week focusing on Geography so that these gaps could be addressed. 

During October, the school celebrated Black history month. Each year group learnt about a different significant individual and the impact they had on the world.  

Autumn 1

‘Scrumdiddlyumptious’ was our DT themed topic this term.  We have really enjoyed this topic so far and have lots of fun tasting different fruits and vegetable and also bread.  We have also learnt more about where out food comes from, including farming and how different food are preserved.

Our Science topic in Autumn 1 was ‘Animals including humans’ where we learned about different types of nutrition, naming bones in the body and their functions and about our mighty muscles!

Our science topic for Autumn 2 is ‘States of Matter.’

We have been studying ‘Functional and Fancy Fabrics’ this term in DT and looking at fabrics designed by William Morris.  We have had the opportunity to do block printing, sewing a hem and some embroidery.

Spring 1

Our topic was Tremors– we learned about Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes.  We looked at the structure of the Earth being like a peach.  We learnt about the tragedy of Pompeii being covered in volcanic dust from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  We did drama using Now Press Play about Pompeii.

We posed in the positions people might have been trapped in.  Then, we made sketches and, finally, used clay to make models of the bodies.

Our Science  was Rocks and soils. We tested rocks with vinegar to see if they fizzed; this means fossils are in them. We created fossils using Plaster of Paris then excavated them as if we were palaeontologists!  We matched photographs of fossils to pictures of the creatures.