Welcome to the lower key stage two class page!

Here, we will keep you posted on all the exciting things the year 3s and 4s are getting up to in class.

History: The Stone Age to the Iron Age

This ‘Stone Age to Bronze Age’ unit will teach your class about how the Stone Age to Bronze Age period impacted on life in Britain. They will learn about how early man survived in a harsh environment, why Skara Brae was important for understanding life in the Stone Age, how copper mining was crucial to the Bronze Age and why Stonehenge was built. Children will also learn about why Iron Age people developed hillforts and how important Druids were in Iron Age Britain.

Science: Movement and Feeding

In this unit children will learn that animals including humans need the right types and amounts of nutrition to thrive and grow, and that eating the wrong types and amounts can lead to health problems. They will identify that we cannot make our own food and that we need to eat a varied diet including meat and fish, beans and lentils, fats, starchy foods, fruit and vegetables. They will construct a balanced food plate and describe what happens if we don’t eat a balanced diet. Children will identify that animals have different dietary requirements and some foods that humans eat may be poisonous to animals. They will also explain the role of the muscles and skeleton and describe what would happen if we didn’t have a skeleton.

Working Scientifically, children will identify similarities and differences between themselves and other children, and look for patterns between physical attributes and ability to perform tasks. They will work in groups to raise a question to investigate e.g. can children with longer legs jump further? They will carry out pattern-seeking investigations and will use evidence to answer questions and draw simple conclusions.

Homework

Children will receive English and Maths homework every Friday in their homework books. This is to be completed for the following Monday. Homework is always based on work children have been doing in school and set to suit their abilities. If something is sent home that a pupil needs more help with, please inform us as soon as possible so we can help!

Spellings and Times Tables

Spellings and Times Tables are set on Friday and the children have their test on the following Friday. Children write their spellings in their book and have time to practise in school during the week. All spelling rules are taken from the National Curriculum statutory word list for Year 3 and 4. A selection of games to help pupils practise their spellings can be found below:

https://wordwall.net/en-gb/community/y3/4-statutory-spellings

Pupils are taught times tables in school and time is dedicated to this on a Friday as well during maths lesson during the week. Pupils were given times table sheets (with times tables up to 12×) at the beginning of the year. They are to use this to practise at home. While children are given time to practise in school, it is important they take the time to practise at home too. There are some excellent resources and links below that will help the children to practise recall of times tables below, including Times Tables Rock Stars which all children have a log in for:

https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth

https://www.timestables.co.uk/

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

https://talkingtimestables.uk/y4_ks2_mtc_practice_tests_multiplication_tables_check.php

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/times-tables

ActivLearn

Sometimes we use resources, both paper and digital, from Pearson's ActivLearn platform. Pupils can access their own ActivLearn page via the link below:

https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login?c=0

All pupils have a log in for this which is in the following format:

Example name: Joe Bloggs. Format: firstname all lowercase followed by first letter of surname

Example username: joeb

Example password: juniors

Sorting Shapes!

We've been looking at the properties of 3D shapes and sorting them into Venn diagrams!

PSHE- Tangram challenge!

We looked at the importance of successful collaboration and teamwork! We spoke about the importance of turn taking, sharing ideas and being considerate of others. We then worked in pairs to solve the challenge and develop our skills!

Asking questions in role!

The children had a go at role playing the different characters from 'Storm' by Kevin Crossley-Holland. They were asked questions and had to answer in role. They did very well!