January 2018

English Nursery & Primary School

Year 3 & 4 PARENTS CURRICULUM LETTER

Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a great time during the end of term break. I have carefully prepared an exciting curriculum
programme to cover our next half term block of lessons. Below you will find all the necessary information which
outlines our next course of subjects for the next two months. If you have any questions about this or need any other
clarification of what your child is studying, please feel free to contact me.

Our units of work are split into 5 blocks throughout the academic year. Each unit lasts between 6 to 8 weeks. At the
beginning of each of these blocks you will receive a curriculum letter to explain what your child is studying so that you
will be able to help your child at home.

Over the next eight weeks those of us in the Year 3 and 4 class will be following a unit of work in four different areas
split into 2 weeks each covering; Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry. Although this will be our main focus during most
lessons, we will be including daily spelling and vocabulary work, reading and comprehension, grammar and
punctuation, creative writing, chronological writing and information writing, Children will be given opportunities for
handwriting practice. They will also practice their speaking, listening and understanding skills. Please visit your child's
class page to view more details of what will be planned in the forthcoming weeks.

Weeks 1 & 2 9th – 19th January 2018 Stories from other cultures
Weeks 3 & 4 22nd January – 2nd February 2018 Performance Poetry
Weeks 5 & 6 5th – 16th February 2018 Myths & Legends
Weeks 7 & 8 19th February – 2nd March 2018 Non-chronological reports

We will also be introducing group reading books into our English lessons. Our first group reading book will help us to
prepare and present Diary writing.

Our daily mathematics lessons will be in weekly blocks listed below. At the end of each week the children will be given a
short assessment to cover not only what has been taught but to consolidate all their Mathematical knowledge and
skills.
Week 1 9 – 12 January Number and Place Value
Week 2 15 – 19 January Addition and Subtraction
Week 3 22 - 26 January Addition and Subtraction
Week 4 29 Jan – 2 Feb Measures and data; Length, weight, bar charts
Week 5 5 – 9 February Fractions
 Week 6 12 – 16 February Number, place value and money
Week 7 19 – 22 February Measures and shape-Time, position and
direction
Week 8 26 Feb – 2 Mar Multiplication and division

Our next unit of Science work is all about ELECTRICITY. We will be conducting experiments using BULBS, BUZZERS,
SWITCHES and so much more. We will see and learn how electricity works and how to keep ourselves safe. Here is a list
of our weekly programme:
Week 1 9 – 12 January Electrical Fun
Challenge your knowledge and misconceptions
about electricity by exploring a number of
electrical games and devices.
Week 2 15 – 19 January Understanding Electrical Safety
Using an interactive resource, discover electrical
dangers around the home and create a poster
warning others of these dangers.
Week 3 22 - 26 January Building a Circuit
Learn about circuits and how to represent them in
proper scientific diagrams.
Week 4 29 Jan – 2 Feb Good Conductor, Bad Conductor?
Conduct your own experiment, testing different
materials to see whether or not they complete
your circuits.
Week 5 5 – 9 February Showing What You Know!
Put your knowledge of circuits on display by
building your own circuit
Week 6 12 – 16 February It’s Electric!
It’s time to use your game to try to defeat a
challenger. Who can remain ‘disconnected’ on the
game? You will need to impress with your
electrical knowhow
Week 7 19 – 22 February Identify common appliances that run on
electricity.
Construct a simple series electrical circuit,
identifying and naming its basic parts, including
cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers
Week 8 26 Feb – 2 Mar Recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit
and associate this with whether or not a lamp
lights in a simple series circuit
Recognise some common conductors and
insulators, and associate metals with being good
conductors
.May the Force be with you!
 History, Geography and Social Studies

Our Humanities subjects will be covered by a themed Topic approach with links to our Art lessons.
Our next Humanities Topic is Geography based where we will be learning all about the countries of UK, Canada and
Spain as a comparative study.

Take a look at the table below to find out all the things we will be exploring.

Physical and Social Geography

Week 1 9 – 12 January Time Zones I can identify what GMT means

I can explain why we have time zones
I can locate countries with more than one
time zone
Week 2 15 – 19 January Rivers to Seas – UK I can identify rivers
Work on map skills being able to identify a
certain number of rivers and to then be able
to identify which Sea the river runs to.

Week 3 22 - 26 January Land Use - UK I can identify different land uses

Work on map skills being able to identify
the different use of land in the U.K,
particularly the difference between the
west and east coast
Week 4 29 Jan – 2 Feb River to Seas - Spain I can identify rivers
I can identify different terrains
I can identify different seas
Work on map skills being able to identify a
certain number of rivers and to then be able
to identify which sea the river runs to. In
addition, children will also have tasks that
will relate to the terrain in the Spain, finding
the highest point
Week 5 5 – 9 February Land Use, Terrain & I can identify different land uses
Resources - Spain I can identify data trends in population
I can identify natural resources
Work on map skills being able to identify
the different use of land in Spain,
particularly the difference between the
west and east
Week 6 12 – 16 February Physical Features I can compare and contrast physical
features I can compare and contrast
human geographical features
I can analyse similarities and differences
Week 7 19 – 22 February Rivers to Seas - Canada I can identify rivers
I can identify different terrains
I can identify different Seas
Work on map skills being able to identify a
 certain number of rivers and to then be able
to identify which sea the river runs to
Week 8 26 Feb – 2 Mar Land Use – Canada work on map skills being able to identify the
different use of land in the Canada,
particularly the difference between the
west and east coast, different data trends in
population

Physical Education
The children will receive three lessons per week in P.E. These lessons are provided by our specialist Instructors. I would
kindly advise that P.E. clothing and sportswear is sent in to school every Monday and taken home every Friday for
cleaning. Please also ensure that your child has the appropriate footwear for these lessons. If your child needs to be
excused from any of these lessons at any time please kindly send me a note to inform me.

Computing

Week 1 9 – 12 January Handling Data The task requires the use of a database file.
Children will create a series of lists
Car Sales gathering and storing information about
Cars. They will then learn how to use to sort
and filter functions.
Week 2 15 – 19 January Handling Data Continue as above

Car Sales
Week 3 22 – 26 January Handling Data You work for a company that predicts the
weather. You have collected data about the
Weather Survey weather for two weeks in November. You
want to find out if there is any pattern to
the weather.
Week 4 29 Jan – 2 Feb Handling Data Continue as above

Weather Survey
Week 5 5 – 9 February Handling Data You have collected data for a solar system
survey. You want to find out various
Solar System Survey patterns in the data about the solar system.

Week 6 12 – 16 February Handling Data Continue as above

Solar System Survey

Week 7 19 – 22 February Communication Task You work for a company that designs Film
posters for new films. Use a suitable
Design a poster for a new software programme to produce your
Film release design.
Week 8 26 Feb – 2 March Communication Task Continue as above
Design a poster for a new
Film release
Please note that the class are split into two groups for this session. One group does the above
and the other group is practising Keyboard Skills. After these 8 weeks the groups will swap.
The Keyboard Skills group are using the wonderful BBC Dancemat programme which you may
wish to use at home if you have an English keyboard.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3c6tfr
)Please make sure that your child continues from their current Level. (Please ask them).

This is by no means a complete list of all the exciting lessons that your child will be participating in. Rather, this is just a
brief overview of some of their main studies. Don't forget that specialist instruction in Russian and many other classes
are provided after the main school day.
Further information
Your child should complete their spelling and reading homework every evening. There will also be the weekly English
and Maths homework. Please help and encourage your child at home but please do not do the work for them.

Children are expected to arrive in school every day at 8.30 for Registration and Reading. There is a weekly assembly
every Friday.

Please provide your child with a refillable water bottle so that they can drink regularly in class. There is plenty of
drinking water available for them at school to fill their bottles.

Please inform me if your child is on any medication or if you know of any conditions that will be useful for me to be
aware of.

Finally, may I encourage you to contact me through the school if you have any questions or concerns?
I am always happy to meet you to discuss any issues.

Kind regards

Mr Sam Finlayson

Current Y3 & 4 Class Teacher

& Headteacher