Holy Family Catholic Primary and Nursery School

Bush Babies Nursery

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Welcome to Year 3 and 4! 

In our phase there are three classes; Lemur, Crocodile and Gazelle and we all work hard and try our best in whatever we do.

                                               

           Gazelle Class                           Lemur Class                               Crocodile Class

             Mrs Hurley                                 Mrs Gee                             Mrs Pocock/Mrs Gleason

Here, you can find lots of important information including what we are learning about this term, important dates, display photographs and information about everything we have been getting up to!

                                       

 Please contact lowerkeystage2@holyfamily.swindon.sch.uk if you have any queries regarding your child in Year 3/4 and Mrs Gee will get back to you.         

Learning at home

Here you will find the homework for each term. You will also find the termly KIRFS.                                                 

Spellings will be given weekly. Math homework will be given fortnightly. These are handed out on Thursdays and will be due in the following Tuesdays.  Your child is tested on their spellings (ones they received for homework) on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

Please listen to your child read each day and record this in their reading record. Your child can gain extra dojos for reading and reaching target planets. They could also receive a Headteacher's certificate in Good News Assembly!

 Term 1 HomeworkYear 3 and 4 KIRFS for Term 1Term 2 Homework

Term 2 KIRFS

Term 3 HomeworkTerm 3 KIRFSTerm 4 HomeworkTerm 4 KIRFSTerm 5 HomeworkTerm 5 KIRFS

Curriculum Overview

Here you will find an overarching view of what the children will be taught over their time in Year 3 and Year 4. As we have mixed age year groups, we work on a two year rolling cycle to ensure that all of the National Curriculum Objectives are covered across the two years. 

Year 3 and Year 4 Cycle A (2023, 2025, 2027) 

Year 3 and Year 4 Cycle B (2022, 2024, 2026) 

 

  Dates for your diary

 Key dates for Term 5:

May

1st- Whole School Mass in Church

8th- VE day (children to wear blue/white/red)

9th- Crocodile Assembly

20th- Non- school uniform

22nd- Crocodile Mass

 

Key dates for Term 6:

June

Week commencing 2nd – Year 4 Multiplication Check

12th- Lemur Mass

25th- Sports Day

26th- Summer Festival

 

July

2nd- Transition morning

11th- Music Roadshow

17th- Whole School Mass at Church

18th- Air Tattoo Trip

18th- Reports sent home

 

Learning in school

RE

Children will be studying the ‘Ends of the Earth’ unit. This continues the theme of the Eucharist (as it is throughout the year) which is all about thanksgiving.

 

Children will learn about the Journey to Emmaus. They will know the meaning of the story and the connection of this with Mass. They will learn about the Ascension and the meaning of the story, thinking about the instructions that Jesus gives. They will explore how the Trinity is represented through imagery and music and will think about how the Trinity is used in Mass. Children will explore the Early Church (Acts of the Apostles) and its work including the role and importance of Mary.

 

Maths

 

In Year 3, children will be learning about fractions, time, measurement, geometry and statistics.

 

In Year 4, children will be learning about decimals, fractions, measurement, geometry and statistics.

 

Please make sure that your child is practising their times tables at least three times a week. They can practice these through a fun interactive game on the following website: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button . Alternatively they could practise their times tables on times tables rockstars (ttrockstars.com), where they each have their own log in details and they can even win certificates at school for this. and it is a great resources to practise times tables

English

Throughout the summer term, children will develop their English skills by studying fiction (based on ‘A Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura) and non-fiction (in the form of a letter, based on the book ‘The Gardener’ by Sarah Stewart and a play script called ‘The Plague’).

Science

Children are learning about Forces and Magnets this term. Some of this learning includes: to compare how things move on different surfaces; notice that some forces need contact between 2 objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance; and observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others. 

PE

For ten weeks, from the start of the term, all Year 4 children will attend swimming lessons at Dorcan. Year 3 will also have PE on this day and will be together in Crocodile Class, in the mornings, for Tennis.

Music

Children will learn to sing the song "Mama Mia" by Abba. They will listen and appraise this and other Abba songs, join in with musical activities with the use of a glockenspiel and perform and share the song. 

Guided Reading

Children's word level and comprehension skills will be developed through whole class guided reading sessions and one to one reading.

Phonics

This term, some children will be having phonic sessions twice a week as well as small intervention groups based on the ability of the child. These are regularly assessed and we follow Little Wandle for these. If your child receives phonics they will also have three practise reading sessions during the week; sessions, with just a few children, that focus on word reading and some comprehension. We have also started Fluency sessions this term, where children will receive two extra reading sessions focusing on improving their fluency (accuracy, automaticity and prosody). 

Computing The unit is programming. This unit explores the concept of repetition in programming using the Scratch environment. It begins with a Scratch activity similar to that carried out in Logo in Programming unit A, where learners can discover similarities between two environments. Learners look at the difference between count-controlled and infinite loops, and use their knowledge to modify existing animations and games using repetition. Their final project is to design and create a game which uses repetition, applying stages of programming design throughout.
French

 In this unit, En Classe (In the Classroom),  children will learn how to:

 Remember and recall 12 classroom objects with their indefinite article/determiner.

 Replace an indefinite article/determiner with a possessive adjective.

 Say and write what they have and do not have in their pencil case.

Geography

This term we are doing Geography and we are aiming to answer the question "Who lives in Antarctica?"

Pupils who are secure will be able to:

  • Describe what lines of latitude and longitude are, giving an example.
  • Understand that the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience seasons at different times.
  • Define what climate zones are.
  • Understand Antarctica has a polar climate made up of ice sheets, snow and mountains.
  • Describe Antarctica’s location in the far south of the globe.
  • State that tourism and research are the two main reasons people visit Antarctica.
  • Describe equipment researchers might use and clothes they wear.
  • List some of the research carried out in Antarctica.
  • State the outcome of Shackleton’s expedition.
  • Successfully plot four-figure grid references at the point where the vertical and horizontal line meet.
  • Describe a similarity and difference between life in the UK and life in Antarctica.
  • Confidently use the zoom function on a digital map.
  • Begin to recall the eight points of a compass, following at least four of them.
  • Recognise and describe features on their school grounds from an aerial map.
  • Draw a map of the route they take on an expedition.
  • State one thing that went well on the expedition and one aspect that did not go as hoped.
History

Last term we studied History. The unit is called 'How hard was it to invade and settle in Britain?'

  • Explain how the Britons felt when the Romans left Britain.
  • Suggest reasons for the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.
  • Name the key features of Anglo-Saxon settlements.
  • Identify changes and continuities in settlements from prehistoric Britain.
  • Make inferences about artefacts.
  • Describe how Anglo-Saxon beliefs changed.
  • Explain how missionaries spread Christianity.
  • Explain the threat the Vikings posed to the Anglo-Saxons.
  • Identify the qualities needed to be a monarch in 1066.
Art/DT

We are making torches in Design Technology this term. 

Pupils who are secure will be able to:

  • Identify electrical products and explain why they are useful.
  • Help to make a working switch.
  • Identify the features of a torch and how it works.
  • Describe what makes a torch successful.
  • Create suitable designs that fit the success criteria and their own design criteria.
  • Create a functioning torch with a switch according to their design criteria.

 

 Photos 2024-2025

The children thoroughly enjoyed their trip on Monday 11th November to The Living Rainforest. This trip enabled the children to bring their Science and Geography learning to life, recapping the knowledge they learned about Rainforests and Plants and being able to see what it would really be like in the Rainforest. The tour we had was fantastic and the children really were able to show off what they already knew. The children represented our school very well, showing they were ready, respectful and safe throughout the day and we are very proud of them!

 

    

 

Year 2023 - 2024 Archive

 Photos

Our First Lesson of DT in Term 1 was to explore different fruits from around the world and to understand why certain foods are not grown in different countries due to the climate of the countries. We then made a fruit kebab based around different foods from different countries. 

DT-Fruit Kebabs

 During our science lessons, we have been looking at electricity and discussing what makes electricity flow. We've explored the how a circuit work and how to make a complete and incomplete circuit. We were able to create our own circuits. 

Science- Creating Circuits

Our country for European Day of Languages was The Netherlands. We learnt how to count to 5 in Dutch, we tried a Stroopwaffle, made an origami Tulip which is the national Flower and finished by re-creating Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night in different ways including painting, watercolours, drawing and oil pastels. 

EDOL-Netherlands

 Letters