Year 3

It has been a wonderful start to the summer term, with the sunshine finally beginning to make an appearance this week. We launched straight into a busy and exciting STEM week, packed with hands-on activities. One highlight was exploring why boats float, where we learned about buoyancy and designed and tested our own boats. We were also visited by ZooLab, where we had the opportunity to meet and handle a variety of extraordinary animals. Alongside this, we completed maths challenges and explored careers that may inspire us in the future.

In English, we have been thoroughly enjoying our new class book, George’s Marvellous Medicine. Inspired by the story, we have begun writing our own instructions for creating truly unique and magical medicines. We have been learning about the features of recipes and instructional writing and are looking forward to sharing our work with Year 4 next week.

In maths, we have been focusing on fractions. The children have shown great enthusiasm in using their knowledge of numerators and denominators to find fractions of larger amounts, as well as tackling reasoning and problem-solving challenges.

In science, we have started our new topic on light. We began by writing secret messages under black cloth to explore darkness and understand the absence of light, before learning about how light travels.

In art, we have been inspired by artist Njideka Crosby. We have begun our new topic by  experimenting with collage and different textures, bringing fruit to life through our creative work. We are excited to continue exploring her style in the coming weeks.

  

  

                            

For more information on your child’s learning, please click here to find the latest half-termly learning bulletin on our website.
This week: 20.04.26	Next week: 27.04.26
Spelling rule: Words ending ‘ary’   library   February   dictionary   boundary   primary   secondary   ordinary   necessary   Key words:  Maths: numerator, denominator, unit fraction, non - unit fraction, whole, part, equal groups, partition.  English: imperative verbs, bullet point, conjunction, instructions, adjectives, contractions. Science: light, dark, transparent, translucent, opaque, shadow, light source, mirror, reflect, reflective surface, beam, sunlight, sunlight safety, UV light, eye protection.   Maths facts: Times tables (4, 6 and 8) Please keep practising on TTRS!	Spelling rule: Words with a short  /u/u/ sound spelt with ‘o’    woman   wonder   month   brother   another   above   Monday   discover   Key words:  Maths: pound, pence, coin, note, convert, change. English: character description, expanded noun phrase, comma, verb, adjectives, contractions.  Science: light, dark, transparent, translucent, opaque, shadow, light source, mirror, reflect, reflective surface, beam, sunlight, sunlight safety, UV light, eye protection.   Maths facts: Times tables (4, 6 and 8) Please keep practising on TTRS!

 

Messages from the Year 3 Team:

• Please bring in any unwanted/used magazines over the next few weeks for us to use during our art topic. Thank you!

 

Key dates: 

• Thursday 7th May: Open classrooms - 8:45 - 9:15am

• Friday 8th May: David Attenborough Family picnic - 3:30pm

 

Year 4

We’ve had a fantastic start to the summer term in year 4 - the sunshine has been amazing and the children have been brimming with positivity.  It was such a treat to visit Marble Hill Park on our first Friday back and to experience all the activities on offer there.  Thank you to Miss Foster for organising this event.

We were also busy with STEM week last week; holding millipedes and snakes, learning how our brain reacts when something doesn’t work and using logic to solve maths puzzles.  Well done to the children who worked on projects at home to present to the class - we definitely learned a lot from you.

In English, the children have been introduced to a classic book - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They’ve taken on the character of the youngest child, Lucy, and are writing a formal letter about her thoughts as an evacuee child fleeing the Second World War with her siblings. The children are intrigued by the story and will shortly be transported to another world in reading lessons. 

In maths, our focus has been decimals. The children have grown in confidence recognising tenths and hundredths as fractions and decimals and using their understanding of place value to compare and order numbers with tenths and hundredths.

We made a lot of noise in science last week, experimenting with different ways to change the volume of a sound.  Using a sound metre app to measure the volume of a rather annoying buzzer, we investigated how its volume changed depending on how close or far away we were from the sound.

To introduce our geography topic, we looked at the states of the USA and used compass directions to describe where certain states are in relation to each other.

Our new art topic will explore printing using the theme of nature based on the work of Angie Lewin.  In computing, we will be investigating weather and data.

We hope that the children’s pea plants are growing well in their mini-greenhouses!

  

   

For more information on your child’s learning, please click here to find the latest half-termly learning bulletin on our website.
This week: 20.04.26	Next week: 27.04.26
Spelling rule - Prefix anti-   antiseptic anticlockwise antisocial antidote antibiotic antivenom anti-ageing antifreeze antiperspirant antigravit   Key words:  Maths: decimals, tenth 0.1, hundredth 0.01 English: formal, informal, pronoun Science: pitch, low, high Geography: friction, pressure, plate boundary, tectonic plate   Maths facts: Times tables (1-12)	Spelling rule - Prefix auto-    autograph autobiography automatic autofocus autocorrect autopilot autopsy automobile autonomy autocue   Key words:  Maths: decimals, compare, order  English: expanded noun phrases Science: investigate, instruments, pitch, volume Geography: volcano, lava, magma, eruption, fertile   Maths facts: Times tables (1-12)

 

Key dates: 

April

• Tuesday 28th April 9am - Onyx class assembly
• Wednesday 29th April 9am - Carnelian class assembly
• Thursday 30th April - 9am Zircon class assembly 

May

• Thursday 7th May 8.45 am - Open classroom 
• Friday 8th May 3.30pm - 6pm Family picnic - David Attenborough’s 100th