Rye Class Curriculum Letter Spring Term 2023

Dear Parents,

First of all, I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year and I hope that you have all had a great Christmas. The children came back into school this week with many stories of things they had done and interesting places they had visited over the festive period, which has been great to hear. Outlined below is a summary of the areas of learning that Rye Class will be covering this term.

Topic/English

Our topic for this term is ‘Revolution!’ During this topic we will be travelling back in time to meet the Victorians. We will be finding out about their incredibly strict schools and as well as learning about ingenious inventions from the period that we take for granted today. Examples here include the light bulb, the telephone and the flushing toilet! We will also learn about art and artists from this period

Next half term our topic is ‘Hola Mexico! Where we will be learning about the ancient Mayan civilisation and how their environment, beliefs, architecture and mathematical knowledge made the Maya one of the most sophisticated ancient civilisations. We will also Maya art, sculpture, carving and music. We will also be progressing with our class novel ‘Skellig by David Almond which the children have recently started. There will be a continued focus on grammar-based activities in class and we will be continuing to send home spelling, reading and homework as normal.

Maths

In Maths, the children will be increasing their knowledge of fractions, decimals and percentages. This is an area many children find tricky so we will be working hard to improve their skills and confidence. The children have been working hard to learn their times tables so this should really start to pay dividends in this topic. All children in class are set Mathletics activities to do at home whenever possible which covers the whole maths curriculum and really improves their mathematical knowledge. If you could encourage them to do these at home it would be very much appreciated and really beneficial.

Science

In science our topic will be Earth and space where they will learn to describe the movement of the Earth, and other planets, relative to the Sun in the solar system. They will also learn about the movement of the moon relative to Earth and use the idea of the Earth’s rotation to explain day and night and the apparent

movement of the sun across the sky. After half-term they will move onto our light topic where they will be conducting investigations to help them recognise that light travels in straight lines and use this to explain that objects are seen because they give out or reflect light into the eye. They will also learn to explain why shadows have the same shape as the objects that cast them.

Computing

In Computing we will continue our Purple Mash unit on spreadsheets before moving onto databases. Throughout computing lessons, there will be a continued emphasis on internet safety. This is a particularly important issue and we intend to continue to remind the children how they can help keep themselves safe online.

PSHE

In PSHE the children will be learning about the important choices that need to be made to maintain a healthy lifestyle and positive mental wellbeing. As part of this they will look at the benefits of good nutrition, exercise and creating a healthy mindset and also about substances that can be harmful to our bodies and minds.

P.E.

Both Mr Cairns and I will be teaching P.E. lessons this term. We will be helping the children improve their skills at football and outdoor adventure. As well as the P.E. lessons we also have some school competitions coming up in the not too distant future which this term include a swimming gala and football tournament. P.E. will be on Wednesday and Friday afternoons; your child will need suitable clothing and trainers for outdoor activities.

Religious Education

This term our topic is about the Islamic faith where we will be learning about the importance of the five pillars of Islam and their importance to Muslims. We will also have a practising Muslim visiting our school to tell us about what his faith means to him.

French/Music

Our French topic this term is ‘Bouche d’Or Et Le Trois Ours’ where the children will be learning about the French vocabulary from the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Our music lessons this term will be based on the songs ‘A New Year Carol’ by Benjamin Britten and ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ by Carole King.

I am happy to help at any time so if you do have any questions or would like to discuss anything please let me know.

Many thanks

Mr Walker