Happy New Year to you all!

Many thanks for the lovely presents and cards you gave us for Christmas, your generosity is very much appreciated.  We hope you all had a restful Christmas and managed to spend some time with family and loved ones.  We hope you are ready for a busy Spring term!

Have a read through our welcome letter and curriculum overview to see all the exciting things we have planned for the Spring term.  Attached below are also our curriclum knowledge organisers for the Spring term.  

On this page, you will find some useful information about the term ahead and any key messages that you need to be aware of.  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see our class Twitter feed and link to Google Classroom. We love to use Twitter to share some of the excellent things going on in class and will use Google Classroom to support learning at home - spellings, homework and useful documents will be uploaded and made available on there.  If you are on Twitter, please follow @beechtreeGSP to see regular updates.

We are set to have a great term and have some really exciting things planned and lots of new things to learn about.  If there are ever any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch, either by popping in or telephoning.  The support you give is essential for your child's progress and the closer we can work together the better it will be for them.

Kind regards

Mrs Rowlands and Miss Heywood

Our Curriculum:

In English, the children will use a variety of different stimulus throughout the term to engage and inspire the children’s writing.  The children will begin the term looking at story Escape From Pompeii, linked to our History topic The Romans, and will cover a range of writing such as setting descriptions, diaries and an alternative story ending.  Children will also focus on spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

In Maths, the children will be studying the topics: place value, addition and subtraction, perimeter, area and multiplication.  In Year 4, children are expected to know their times tables up to 12x12 ready for their mutiplication check which will take place in June.  To help the children practise their times tables, they need to be using TTRS at least 3 times a week at home.  Useful MTC links can also be found below.

Children will begin the term learning about light, reflections and shadows. They will learn about different sources of light, and that we need light to see.  They will also investigate reflective materials, identify ways to stay safe in the sun and carry out an experiment to see how to make and change shadows.

Children will then learn the names of different parts of plants, and the jobs they do. The children will investigate what plants need to grow well and will explore the life cycle of flowering plants.

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How does the UK compare to countries in the Mediterranean? In this topic, the children will learn about the countries of the Mediterranean.  They will look in more detail at some of the contrasting areas of the Mediterranean, finding out about the landscape, climate and locations in each area.  Children will then compare these features to the UK.

What did the Romans ever do for us?  In this unit, the children will learn how Britain changed after the invasion and conquest by the Roman army in 43AD and about the impact on daily life.  Children will also learn about Boudicca and how she is perceived, the Roman legacy and will explore key historical terms such as 'empire', 'invasion' and 'conquest'.

Reading:

Please make sure that you read at least 3 times a week for 10 minutes.  This can be your school book, own book, newspapers, comics, shopping list etc and record in your planner.

Spellings:

Spellings will focus on a particular spelling rule/pattern or will be taken from the statutory word list and will be taught and practised throughout the week. Tests will take place each Friday and new lists posted on Google Classroom and Spelling Frame.

PE:

Children will have Outdoor PE on a Tuesday and Inoor PE on a Wednesday and should come to school in their PE kits on these days. PE kits should be their house colour t-shirt, black shorts/leggings/joggers and a black jacket/hoodie.  Please remember to tie back long hair and wear no jewellery for safety reasons. 

Homework:

Homework will be set on a Friday and this should be returned by the following Wednesday. Homework will consist of a Maths activity and an English activity linked to the unit of work they are covering in class, so they should be able to complete the activity independently. 

Some useful websites, resources and links: