Lower Juniors (Years 3 and 4) – SPRING TERM 2020

Dear Parents / Guardians,

We hope you all have a lovely Christmas holiday.

The topic for the next half of the Spring Term is ‘The Romans’ and during Spring 2 we will focus on being eco warriors.

ROUTINES IN THE DEPARTMENTP.E. sessions PE will continue to take place every Monday and Wednesday. However, these days could change, so please ensure that your child has their P.E. kit, including plimsolls or trainers, in school every day and that all clothing is clearly named.

PresentationsEach week in your child’s class there is a time where a child gives a presentation on something which interests them. It is a chance for the children to share their enthusiasm and knowledge to their peers. It is also an exciting way of developing speaking and listening. The allotted child should come prepared with their information which could be presented through a PowerPoint, objects, pictures and/or a talk. The children should be prepared to talk for 5 minutes on their chosen subject. Your child’s presentation date will be sent home, so that you can help them to prepare for their presentation. If your child chooses to use ICT please could you email the document to the class teacher via info@highfieldschool.co.uk in good time so that it can be forwarded to the class teacher.

Home LearningEach week the children receive homework on a Wednesday which is due back on the following Monday with spellings being tested on the Tuesday. As part of their weekly homework they will receive:

One piece of written work (30 minutes Yr3, 45 minutes Yr4 in total) either English, Maths or topic (alternating where possible).

Weekly spellings: 10 spellings (comprised of 5 individual and 5 linked to weekly spelling pattern taught in class) sent home to be practised over the weekend and tested on designated day as set by class teacher.

An Aided School in the

HeadteacherA G King BA Hons PGCE NPQH

Hawthorn Road, Southampton SO17 1PXTel: 023 8055 5793Tel/Answerphone/Fax: 023 8039 9703info@highfieldschool.co.ukwww.highfieldceprimaryschool.co.uk

Reading – five times a week with at least two sessions reading with a home adult.

As a matter of routine it is advisable that children are also practising: Times tables: the children have a weekly tables session and timestables test. Children can use Espresso or Timestables

Rockstars to practise. Keyword spellings: Spellings issued at the start of each half term and tested at the end of the half term. It is the children’s

responsibility to organise their own learning of these lists.

Admin : School dinner should always be paid for in advance via the school’s online payment system wherever possible – this avoids cheques/cash coming into the school, and is also easily traceable for parents, as the system records payments. The online system is also the preferred payment method for trips and events. Any letters will clearly state deadlines and amount payable, and we would ask parents to adhere to the dates to avoid disappointment.If parents do need to bring cheques/cash payments, they must be enveloped and clearly marked with the child’s name, class and what the payment relates to.If parents require assistance to use the Tucasi online payment system, please speak to the office.

SPRING TERMMonday 6th January First day back to SchoolTuesday 7th January Year 5/6 Trip to Southampton Central Mosque

Tuesday 14th January Parents Evening – Early Infants and Lower KS2 - 3.30 – 6pm, Wednesday 15th

JanuaryParents Evening – Late Juniors and infants 5.00 – 8pm

Friday 17th January Snow White Panto – 1.20pm Details to followFriday 24th January SOUTH AMERICA class assembly at 2.45pm (Any KS1 siblings attending must be collected at 2.30pm

from the Infant Reception)Friday 7th February NORTH AMERICA class assembly at 2.45pm (Any KS1 siblings attending must be collected at 2.30pm

from the Infant Reception)*NEW*Tuesday 11th

FebruaryRoman Museum Y3/4 children will showcase some of their learning this half term. Time 3pm -3:25pm (TBC)

Friday 14th February INSET Day (School Closed)17th - 21st February HALF TERM

Tuesday 25th February Year 5/6 Winchester Science Centre TripFriday 28th February HSA Children’s Disco – at the Junior School (after school)

W/C 2nd March Book Week (Including World Book Day on Thursday 5th March)Thursday 5th March World Book Day

Friday 6th March ASIA class assembly at 2.45pm (Any KS1 siblings attending must be collected at 2.30pm from the Infant Reception).

Tuesday 10th March Open morning EYFS 9.00 – 10.30am (parents only, no more than 2 adults, no siblings)Wednesday 11thMarch Open morning KS1 9.00 – 10.30am (parents only, no more than 2 adults, no siblings)

Thursday 12th March Open morning JUNIOR Dept 9.00 – 10.45am (parents only, no more than 2 adults, no siblings)Friday 20th March AFRICA class assembly at 2.45pm (Any KS1 siblings attending must be collected at 2.30pm from the

Infant Reception)Friday 27th March AUSTRALASIA class assembly at 2.45pm (Any KS1 siblings attending must be collected at 2.30pm from

the Infant Reception)Thursday 2nd April Year 3 and 4 Easter Assembly in church – performance at 2.30pm,

Friday 3rd April Last day of term - Finish one hour early – 2.25pm (juniors) and 2.15pm (infants)

The school team recognises how valuable parental support is to our children’s learning and the school community. We are always extremely grateful for any additional time that parents are willing to give to the school. If you are interested in sharing books with children, teaching them some basic cookery skills, or working within the class on a regular basis to support groups of children in their activities, please talk to your child’s teacher.

Finally, we hope your child has an exciting time in Year 3 and Year 4 for 2020 and we look forward to seeing you all at the Parent/Teacher meetings on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th January. Please do speak with your class teacher if you have any immediate concerns or queries as we are happy to make an appointment to meet with you at a convenient time.

Here is a reminder of the dates relevant to this half term. Dates are also on the school calendar via the website.

Meanwhile we trust your child will have a successful and enjoyable term.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Lewis, Mrs Whitlock, Mrs Ford, Miss Collins and the Teaching Assistant team

The Curriculum That Is Taught in Years 3 and 4

We believe that home learning plays an important role in supporting children’s progress and this is a summary of the curriculum this term with other ideas on how you could support your child further. As is usual practice, children will be challenged and supported in relation to their ability across all subject areas. Children are grouped according to their ability to ensure effective progress, and groupings are always flexible in relation to what children need to learn. Target Steps for Writing and Maths, which you will receive prior to Parents Evening will be discussed with you during the Parents’ Evening meetings.

Spring Term - What your child is learning How you could support this further…..LiteracyIn Spring 1, we will be looking at fiction and non-fiction texts related to our Roman topic. We will be working on several key skills of writing including paragraphing and hope to show you some of our learning outcomes on Tuesday 11th February.

In spring 2 we will be looking at environmentally themed fiction texts and writing our own persuasive letters and information/persuasive leaflets with an environmentally friendly theme.

- Read newspapers and non-fiction texts.- Research Roman life- Practise skills linked to writing Target Steps

(sent home in Autumn parents evening).- Focus upon your child’s ‘Fruit of Reading

Target’ (gained at Parents’ Evening) when reading any text type.

- Keep reading core texts with your children! - Research ways that people can practically

help the environment and reduce our individual carbon footprint.

- Help your child understand the following key vocabulary: sustainable, consumer, green house gasses, green house effect, global warming, climate, emissions, ozone layer, carbon footprint etc

- Can your child create something educating people about environmentally friendly initiatives? This could be a poster, leaflet, presentation or even a story with an environmental moral.

- Read daily discuss what you have read and record ‘treasure’ in your reading journal.

- Read a range of fiction and non fiction. Try to read different media and think about how it is laid out and why texts are organised the way they are to catch our attention.

- Use the internet to research for an eco warrior piece of writing. Practise taking notes about key facts and writing them up in your OWN words.

Maths During the spring term there is a big emphasis on fractions and understanding what a fraction is, interpreting physical fractions, fractions of number, adding and subtracting fractions and also the link between decimals and fraction.

The children will continue to strengthen their understanding of place value and application of this to mental methods for +-x÷ (4 operations). They will develop their confidence with and application of the written methods for the 4 operations, including with money and problem solving.

They will explore measures in relation to Hadrian’s Wall in Spring 1 and Roman Numerals. They will also measure the area/perimeter of

- Practise the written method that you are on for each of the four operations (Written Methods for calculation can be found on the website, under Parents\Resources).

- Learn times tables – this foundation is extremely important for Maths, and all times tables to 12x12 have to be mastered by the end of Yr4 and this year there is the added Government Y4 timetables test. Children should also know the associated division facts on mental recall.

- -Play timetables rock stars can your child achieve a daily or weekly target e.g. 5000 coins a week? Or achieve the next ‘rock star

2D shapes and continue to cement the features of 2D/3D shapes. Children will develop their statistics learning by representing data in tables/graphs.

Children will continue to learn about time, and understanding time intervals, e.g. 43 minutes later than 12.41pm.Children will develop their understanding of fractions, both of numbers and objects.

status’?- How quickly can can you complete a blank

timetables grid (12x12)? Can you practise and get quicker at completing it?

- Tell the time – Yr3 need to be able to tell the time to the minute on analogue and digital clocks, using am/pm, and Yr4 should be able to do this with recall of the 24hr clock. Practise this skill frequently and practically!

-History/GeographySpring 1: We will be learning about when the Roman Empire started and its impact on Britain. Children will learn the key dates of Invasion into Britain, identify how the Roman Empire developed. They will learn about how British resistance began (Boudica) and explore the impact of technology, culture and beliefs, including early Christianity. Understand the modern-day legacy of the Roman empire.

Spring 2: We will integrate our geography learning about our local environment with our literacy topic and will explore the idea of our own ‘wilderness’ though visits around our local area and various research activities e.g. looking at the local animals/insects and using classification keys to identify creatures and plants. We will be carrying out a local study linked to our eco warrior topic.

- Finding out about when the Roman period in Chronology was, in relation to other key events in History that your child has learnt about.

- Looking at the length of the Roman period, and what the Romans achieved during that period. Thinking about their achievements and those that have shaped the world that we live in today.

- Look at the attached Knowledge Organiser which outlines key facts and vocabulary for our Roman topic.

- -create a map of your local area- Can you create a map showing your route to

and from school identifying the physical and human features you pass on your journey?

- Can you discuss the human impact that we have had on Southampton or your local area e.g. the port.

Science Children will learn to:

- compare how things move on different surfaces- notice that some forces need contact between two objects,

but magnetic forces can act at a distance- observe how magnets attract or repel each other and

attract some materials and not others- compare and group together a variety of everyday

materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials

- When you go to a park or fun fair chat about the forces that you can see!

- Look at stationary car tyres and how they try and grip the road!

- Explore the use of magnets – when do they work?

- Can you create a magnet game including a set of instructions? Can you play this game with your family?

DTChildren will use research and develop design criteria to inform their making of a Roman catapult. They will learn to select from and use a wide range of tools and equipment. Children will learn to understand how key events in the Roman invasions helped shape the mechanisms constructed. They will apply their understanding to their strengthening, stiffening and reinforcing of more complex structures

- Encourage your children to look at the structures of constructions and mechanisms, and how they have been strengthened, e.g. toys, the London Eye, bridges.

- Have a look at Roman Catapults – how do they work?

Computing The children will develop their learning of basic programing through scratch and logo.

- Learn and practice using software packages such as MS Word and MS PowerPoint.

- Practise switching a computer on and off.- Practising finding programmes and how to

open, save and close work.- Practise locating keys on a keyboard at speed.- Have a look at https://turtleacademy.com/

and the ‘start to learn coding’ section. There are 24 individual lessons that teach you about the different ways you can code in Logo.

Music Music is externally taught by Southampton Music Services ensuring that the children have high quality lessons taught by professionals!

- Practise reading music and noticing the differences in musical notation, e.g. where the note sits on the line

Year 3: Prepare to Play – incorporates a range of instruments as well as singing.Year 4: Children will be learning to develop their mastery of an instrument.

- Listen to different types of music and see if you can name the instruments.

Personal, Social and Health Education Our aim is to help children understand the importance of money. And become more aware of how money plays an important part in people’s lives, where it comes from, keeping it safe and the importance of managing it effectively.

- Help your child understand how money is used on a daily basis.

- Give your child practise at the routine of buying things. Can they pay for an item of the weekly shop with coins? Are they able to give the right coins/ wait for their receipt and change?

- Perhaps give your child a small budget, can they spend it wisely (or save it) and work out the change they will get.

-Physical Education We will be learning a variety of skills through Invasion games.

- Practise throwing/catching while playing games at home.

- Get your child active. Go for a walk or to the park.

- Play in the garden (play catch, kick a ball around, bounce on the trampoline, play ‘hot potato’ with a ball, practise skipping with a skipping rope, set up an obstacle course and have races etc)

Religious Education Our concepts are devotion and salvation: The children will explore what that means in relation to their lives, and in lives of those following the Christian and other faiths.

- Talk about what devotion/salvation; means in the context of family and community.

- How do different people show devotion whether it is in a religious or non-religious context.

- Read and discuss the Easter story- Can you locate the Easter Story passages in a

bible?FrenchChildren will learn to listen and respond to simple rhymes, stories and songs. They will develop their recognition of some familiar words in written form, and experiment with the writing of well-known words. They will develop their confidence to talk about school life.

- Ask your child to share their new French vocabulary with you – learn alongside the children!

- Use the learning platform espresso- their language section is very good.