In English this term, the children will be exploring the book The Story of Tutankhamun by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. 

"Discover the troubles Tutankhamun faced as a young king, his untimely death, and his legacy, which lay hidden for centuries. Pore over his treasures, learn the steps of mummification, and see Tutankhamun's fascinating story bought to life. Travel through history with Howard Carter, on his quest to uncover Tutankhamun's hidden tomb, his incredible discovery, and our continued hunt to understand and unearth the riches of Ancient Egyptian life. Prepare to be amazed as you uncover the story of the most famous boy king, and a world-changing discovery.

This will broaden our horizons by linking with our history topic of the Ancient Egyptians this half term. We will be developing our writing skills and learning to write a biography of Howard Carter and a newspaper article about the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb.

Reading

Children will take part in guided reading sessions each week in which we explore and respond to a variety of quality texts, including activities which will build our verbal and written comprehension skills.  Those children who are still learning the fundamental skills of decoding will continue to take part in Read Write Inc. phonics sessions and will take home books linked to their development and learning from these sessions. Children who are fluent and confident readers will have access to a wide range of books to choose from for their reading.  Every child will visit our wonderful library and take home a book of their choice to read independently or share with their family each week.

Reading is an integral part of our learning in Dolphin Class. We love our class story time as it is really cosy when we all sit together and share a story.  We like thinking about the characters and plots and discovering new vocabulary that we can use in our own writing.  We have a wonderful reading area full of a wide range of quality texts outside our classroom that children are encouraged to explore freely, voluntarily and with delight.  We use Wise about Words techniques to share and explore stories and to promote a deeper love of stories amongst our children. It helps us to develop a richer vocabulary, build confidence and increase emotional literacy. Immersing our children in stories and drama will help them to overcome barriers to their learning.  We want our children to love to read and explore books because reading is an adventure that never ends.

Our focus in maths this half term will be on place value.  In Year 3, your child will start to work with bigger numbers, all the way up to 1000. They will count in multiples of 4, 8, 50, and 100, and will use their understanding of place value to solve increasingly tricky number problems. In Year 4, your child will start using negative numbers and will learn how to round numbers. They will also use numbers well into the 1000s, and will start reading and writing Roman numerals.

We will also be learning about addition and subtraction. In Year 3, your child will use a range of strategies for calculating addition and subtraction problems. They will need to be able to explain how they have solved problems, especially when using mental maths. In Year 4, your child will learn to solve addition and subtraction problems involving numbers up to four digits. They will use lots of different methods, including using objects, diagrams, and formal written methods. They will be learning to use vocabulary such as commutative, inverse and difference.

This half term we will have a history focus, learning all about the Ancient Egyptians.  We will use our minds to broaden our horizons by travelling thousands of years back in time to the banks of the Nile and learn about all of the amazing people and places of Ancient Egypt. We will explore ancient artefacts and think about what they may have been used for.  We will learn about how different types of evidence can give us information about the past and the present.  We will look at hieroglyphics and how writing has changed over time.

This half-term we will be investigating sound. We will learn how sound sources vibrate to make sounds and how vibrations change when the loudness of a sound changes. We will find out about how sounds travel to reach our ears and describe the pitch of a sound and the patterns between the pitch of a sound and the features of the object that made the sound. We will have lots of fun making our own string telephones and finding out what makes them work.

This half-term we will be focusing on the question, 'How do religious groups contribute to society and culture in the local area and beyond?' As part of the 'Big question', we'll be exploring the different ways in which religious beliefs are practised both locally and nationally.

Pupils in Dolphin Class will be learning about 'Our Feelings'. We will learn to identify our own strengths and set aspirational goals for ourselves.  We will also learn how to recognise and respond to a range of emotions, both in ourselves and in others.

This will also be a focus in our Wise About Words sessions where we learn to portray their different relationships.  These are important skills because when children are more socially and emotionally aware and skilled, they find it easier to manage and maintain relationships with others, stay regulated and calm down and develop their resilience and problem-solving skills for when challenges arise.

In Art, the children will be focusing on drawing. They will learn to use different materials to draw, e.g. pastels, chalk, felt tips and to show an awareness of space when drawing. They will learn key vocabulary to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in this strand: portrait, light, dark, tone, shadow, line, pattern, texture, form, shape, tone, outline. We will link this to our history topic of the Ancient Egyptians and draw and sketch Ancient Egyptian artefacts and buildings.

In D.T., children will be focusing on design. They will learn to identify the design features of their products that will appeal to intended customers. They will use their knowledge of a broad range of existing products to help generate ideas. They will use this knowledge to help them to design innovative and appealing products that have a clear purpose and are aimed at a specific user.  We will link this to our history topic of the Ancient Egyptians by designing a sarcophagus.

This term, children will have the opportunity to build upon the knowledge and skills gained in KS1 and compose different rhythm patterns and transfer these to tuned instruments. They will learn to rap and play rhythmically and explore dynamic contrast. They will also be developing their listening skills by identifying the notes in a simple melody. They will listen to music by different composers, broadening their horizons outside the music they may usually listen to.

We will be focusing on online safety this half term.  In our every-changing world, technology is forever evolving and advancing. We all have a responsibility to keep our children safe online so that they can explore and broaden their horizons safely, knowing what to do if something makes them feel unsafe.  Our main focus will be on cyberbullying and how to prevent it.

We will begin our MFL journey into learning Spanish this half term.  We will be learning how to meet and greet each other at different times of the day, say how we are feeling, tell someone how old we are and coutn to ten.

Outdoor learning will take place on Thursday afternoon. It is important that your child comes dressed in long sleeves and trousers and has a change of footwear.  We are so lucky to have our own woodland on-site and so the children have the opportunity to access outdoor learning every week.  Having our own woodland gives children the opportunity to develop their respect for the natural world, which ties in with our core values.  They develop resilience and problem-solving skills through challenges and wild play in the woods, as well as broadening their horizons by learning and developing their outdoor survival skills such as shelter building and fire lighting.  

P.E. lessons take place twice a week, with Tuesday afternoon sessions being led by Miss Clarke and Wednesday morning sessions led by Mrs Morrell.

In P.E., children will be developing their fundamental skills such as balancing, skipping, running, jumping and landing. They will also be developing their teamwork and listening skills in Outdoor Adventurous Activity sessions. They will learn orienteering skills as part of this, which is a great life skill to have.

Class Dojo is our main form of communication with parents. If you have not yet signed up for Class Dojo and would like to, please do not hesitate to come and see us.  We are more than happy to help if you are having difficulty accessing this.  It's a great space where you can view photos, videos and information about all the amazing things that are happening in our classroom and around the school. It gives you the chance to see what your children have been learning in school each week, giving you the opportunity to talk to them at home about what they have been doing.

Home learning in Dolphin class is about reading every day either to an adult, a sibling or to themselves.

The year four children will be undertaking the National times table check in the summer term and it is essential they practice their times tables regularly.

There is a pick and mix homework menu which enriches the discovery learning we are doing in class. Pick a task, complete it and post your work on Dojo by Wednesday.

Please make sure all of your child’s possessions are labelled. Children do not need to bring toys or pencil cases into school. Children should wear PE kit to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Woodland is on Thursday and children need to wear sturdy, outdoor clothing.