Term 1

Firstly, welcome back to school for what will be an exciting and wonderful term of learning and new experiences!

Our topic this term is: 'Intrepid Explorers'. In English, we will be kicking off by taking a biographical look into the life of Matthew Henson who accompanied Robert Peary on, what is considered by many to be, the very first expedition to the North Pole. We will then be delving into the life of some other famous explorers of the 'Polar Regions' and we will be reading the following texts: Shackleton's Journey and Ice Trap!  These books tell the true story of Ernest Shackleton and his crew, who set out to cross the vast south polar continent, Antarctica.  

For our mathematics learning, we will be starting our year by recapping and extending our understanding of place value and the four operations. Practice most definitely aids with improvement in this area of mathematics, so the weekly homework is a must. 

In our art lessons, we will be learning all about the British-born artist, Sarah Winkler.  We will take inspiration from her artwork, methods and style to then use a range of materials to create our very own landscape art.

In history, we will be learning all about Dover Castle. We will start our learning with the origins of the site in the Iron Age and then work our way through the castle's strategic importance through time, until we find ourselves in 1939, where we will then learn about the role of the castle within World War 2; which leads us nicely into our history topic for next term.

For science, we will be learning all about 'Evolution and Inheritance'. Of course, this will mean learning all about Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution. We will be looking into physical traits that are passed on through generations, how a species can adapt over many, many years due to the process of natural selection and finally how species that we see today may have evolved from animals and plants that existed in the past.

Homework books are to be brought to school every Tuesday so that homework can be checked and the new tasks can be given out. The homework grid for the term can be found in the first page of the book. Reading Records are also to be brought in on a Tuesday so that '5 Star Reader' awards can be recorded and awarded when earned. 

Finally, PE days this term are as follows:

Tuesday - Leadership (outside)

Wednesday - Netball (outside)

Can children please come to school in their PE kits, on these days. It may be good for children to bring their uniform in a bag on days when the weather is set to rain (just in case) so that they can get themselves dry and comfortable for the rest of the day. 

Thank you for your continued support. Please never hesitate to contact either of us via our emails should any questions ever arise. 

Mrs Kemp & Mr Godden