2023-2024

History

This half term, we will be learning about World War 1 and more specifically, who is to blame. We will begin looking at a map of the world to find out which countries took part on which side of the war. This will enable us to establish when the first world war started and who fought in the first world war, including its time in history. We will begin to look at the main causes of the first world war: militarism, alliances, imperialism and nationalism. As well as this, we will explore various treaties and power struggles – the creation of the ‘Black Hand’ and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

Science

We will be looking at how electrical circuits can be controlled by looking at electrical current and electrical resistance. We will explore this through investigating how the number of lamps in a circuit affect how long a battery lasts, how the length of a wire affects how bright a bulb is and whether the type of wire used in a circuit affects the resistance.

RE

Our topic this half term is 'Sacrifice'. Linked to our World War learning, we will explore how Christians believe that Jesus sacrificed his life for the human race and explore how we all make sacrifices in our own lives for others.

English
During our first writing journey, we will be using the text stimulus 'The Errand' to write the next set of instructions for the errand boy for his journey to the warlock at the mansion on the hill.

We will then move onto the text driver 'Alte Zachen' where we will be writing our own character descriptions and diary entries in role. Our main outcome of this writing journey will be writing an analytical essay on what we can learn from other generations. 

The third and final writing journey will use the text driver 'The Lion and the Unicorn' and will see us writing our own setting descriptions and crafting narratives for the next part of the book.

Music 

Our music topic 'Theme and Variation' will see us exploring the musical concept of theme and variations and discover how rhythms can translate onto different instruments.

French

This half term, we will be revising where French is spoken including some revision of countries. We will then be introduced to the alphabet and school furniture vocabulary. As well as this, we will be revising pencil case items and write about our own school day. Finally, we will learn about French history including the Notre Dame as we introduce some significant figures to discuss dates.

PSHE

Across our 'Keeping Safe' unit, we will accept that responsible and respectful behaviour is necessary when interacting with others online and face-to-face and explore the risks of sharing photos and films of themselves with other people directly or online. We will also demonstrate an understanding that drugs can have both medical and non-medical uses and understand some of the basic laws in relation to drugs.

Art/DT

We will be looking at the artwork by Ephrem Kouakou and imitate her style of work by practicing painting fine lines using black paints. We will also use view finders to recreate a section of her work and develop a textile with the outline of an animal, examining background patterns and leaf and plant forms with patterns.

Computing

Our computing topic 'Bletchley Park' will see us exploring how codes can be used for several different reasons and we will have a go at decoding messages. We will also look at the importance of a secure password is and look at historical figures and their contribution towards computer science.

Guided Reading

Throughout the half term, we will be reading our class book 'The Valley of Lost Secrets' as we explore other texts to develop our reading skills.