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: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons:

The children will learn about the raids and invasions by Vikings in Anglo-Saxon Britain. The children will learn who the Vikings were as well as when and where they raided and settled. They will learn about significant events from the period and order these chronologically on a timeline. The children will find out about the Anglo-Saxon kings who ruled during the 'Viking Age' and examine their influence and significance in British history. In addition to this, they will learn about the Anglo-Saxon justice system and compare and contrast crimes, punishments and laws with their modern day equivalents. The children will also have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of everyday Viking life.

Science: Changes of state:

Children will identify, group and describe different materials as solids, liquids or gases. They will describe and actively modelled simple scientific ideas of solids, liquids and gases in terms of arrangement of particles. They will recognised that the same material can exist in different states. Children will have developed their ideas about states of matter and changes of state which can be reversed. 

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

The Guide Dogs

This week the guide dogs paid us a visit. We learnt about how they are a huge help and what it's like to be blind/visually impaired through playing various fun games. It was a super time!

Pet week crafts!

We made origami koala bear book marks and animal face masks.

Biscuit decorating!

To raise money for the guide dogs the children donated a pound and got to wear non-uniform and decorate a biscuit each. 

Iron age hill forts

We first learnt about these early settlements and how they were used for defence. The children then designed their own, made them from dough, before covering them in paper mache and painting them. They look fab!

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!