Input from the children
Science
What is fire made of?
How does a light bulb work?
French - We welcome back
Mrs Burns (a specialist French
teacher from Teign School)
this term to help us with our
French learning. We will focus
on verbal games and
activities, building the
children’s’ French
vocabulary and increasing
their confidence in speaking
French aloud. We will also
explore French culture
through music, stories,
photographs and art work.
History / Geography – We
will start the term learning
more about world
geography: the Americas in
particular. We will study the
main physical and human
features of these continents.
We will think move on to learn
all we can about the Aztecs.
We will learn about their
society, way of life, religion,
customs and relationships with
others. Our Aztec Day will
start the topic off with a bang!
PSHE / Citizenship - We will
start the term with the unit
‘Going for goals’, we will be
setting class and individual
goals that we can achieve this
term. Maybe as the new year
starts you could also set some
goals as a family at home? We
will talk to the children about
breaking goals down into
small achievable steps. We will
also remind ourselves of the
British Values and why it is
‘Good to be me.’
Science – During the first half of
term our topic is Light. The children
will complete a variety of
investigations to help them to learn
about light sources, how shadows
are made and how light is reflected
/ refracted. After half term we will
learn about electricity, making
series and parallel electrical circuits.
The children will also use electrical
drawings to identify and name
related components.
PE – This term we have Miss
Cowell, a specialist dance
teacher from the SSP, working
with us to create Aztecinspired dances. We will also
be playing football this term!
We will be learning ball
control and passing skills as
well as attacking strategies.
Children will need outdoor PE
kit including football boots
and shin pads.
Art - We will begin the term
looking at Aztec art - in
particular Aztec patterns. We
will re-create patterns using a
variety of media. We will then
create our own and use these
as designs to sew Aztec cross
stitches. In addition to this,
using pattern, we will create
our own Aztec god pictures.
We will also work on the
whole school mosaic project.
DT - The main focus of our work
this term will be to create puppets.
We are going to link this with our
Aztec topic, creating Aztec puppets
which we can use to tell traditional
stories with. We will be making
papier-mâché heads for them and
sewing clothes. Class 3 will be
sewing on Tuesday afternoons. We
would love some help from parent
volunteers! Do get in touch if you
can help.
History
Where did the Aztecs come
from?
What did the Aztecs believe?
Can we please focus on
‘battles / soldiers / fighting /
wars’ (as opposed to ‘gods
and religion’ or ‘family life’)?
Amazing Aztecs
Hawthorn / C3 - Spring 2016
English - The term will start
with fiction based on myths.
We will study the book ‘The
King of The Birds’ in depth.
We will write our own modern
myth based on the story
pattern identified in this book.
After this we will move on to
some non-fiction writing and
study ‘balanced reports’.
Through both of these writing
sequences, we will continue to
embed age-appropriate
grammar and spellings.
RE – We will be focusing on
Christianity and Buddhism
this term in RE. The particular
focus will be on key values in
these religions and will help to
develop children’s own ideas
of what really matters to them
in terms of values,
relationships and emotions.
We are lucky enough to have
two visiting speakers coming
in at the beginning of term to
start this topic off for us.
Maths - We will begin the
term exploring negative
numbers and number lines.
We will relate our learning to
temperature and Geography
by looking at the difference in
temperatures between different
countries and cities. We will
revise mental subtraction
and addition methods. Later
in the term we will be looking
at line graphs and time,
relating this to problem
solving.
Music – We have an exciting
opportunity this term to
participate in a ‘Fairytale
and Fantasy Experience’
with the Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra.
In addition, we will listen to
and appraise traditional
South American music. We
will also listen to and perform
Jazz and Hip Hop (based on
‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’).
Computing – We will learn
about computer networks
and how they can provide
multiple services, such as the
world wide web. We will use
search technologies
effectively, appreciate how
results are selected and ranked
and be evaluate digital
content discerningly. We will
also focus on e-safety issues
and strategies.
Getting involved at home
~ You could practise sewing at
home, and send in the
children’s work to show us.
~ To help us with our Science
learning, you could send your
child to school with a named
torch which we will use in our
investigations.
~ You could talk about goals
and resolutions!