In English this half term, the children will be exploring The Iron Man by Ted Hughes.  Half-way between a modern fairy-tale and science-fiction myth, The Iron Man describes the mysterious arrival of a giant metal man who comes out of the sea and, after falling off a cliff, manages to reassemble himself. We will link some of this to our Science work on forces and magnetism. 

Children will take part in guided reading sessions each week in which we explore and respond to a variety of quality texts, including activities which will build our verbal and written comprehension skills.  Those children who are still learning the fundamental skills of decoding will continue to take part in Read Write Inc. phonics sessions and will take home books linked to their development and learning from these sessions. Children who are fluent and confident readers will have access to a wide range of books to choose from for their reading.  Every child will visit our wonderful library and take home a book of their choice to read independently or share with their family each week.

Reading is an integral part of our learning in Dolphin Class. We love our class story time as it is really cosy when we all sit together and share a story.  We like thinking about the characters and plots and discovering new vocabulary that we can use in our own writing.  We have a wonderful reading area full of a wide range of quality texts outside our classroom that children are encouraged to explore freely, voluntarily and with delight.  We use Wise about Words techniques to share and explore stories and to promote a deeper love of stories amongst our children. It helps us to develop a richer vocabulary, build confidence and increase emotional literacy. Immersing our children in stories and drama will help them to overcome barriers to their learning.  We want our children to love to read and explore books because reading is an adventure that never ends.

This half term we will be learning about addition and subtraction.  We will be using our knowledge of place value to help us to understand the written methods and complete mental arithmetic challenges.  We will be learning how to add and subtract using concrete apparatus such as Numicon and Dienes and then we will move onto pictorial representations before finally learning about the written methods.  We will learn to understand how the two operations are the inverse of one another. We will also be developing our mental multiplication and division skills through our daily practice on TT Rockstars.

This half term we will have a geography focus, learning about the United Kingdom.  We will explore the countries, counties and capital cities that make up the United Kingdom, and we will learn about some of the rivers that run through it and the seas that surround it.  We will also be exploring how the population of the United Kingdom has changed over time and why.

This half term our science unit will be Magnets and Forces. We will learn about forces and magnets by understanding that a force is a push or a pull. We will discover that magnets have a non-contact force that can attract or repel other magnets. We will explore key concepts including identifying magnetic materials (like iron and steel) and learning that opposite poles attract while like poles repel.  We will conduct experiments to  compare how objects move on different surfaces and explore the everyday uses of magnets. 

This term we will be focusing on the question, What difference does being a Muslim make to everyday life?. We will explore how a person’s beliefs and actions align them with the religion of Islam. We will identify a range of ways in which Muslim beliefs impact on a believer’s daily life, their family, community and society. We will also identify some similarities and differences in how Muslims around the world practise and express their beliefs about Allah.

Pupils in Dolphin Class will be learning about 'My Relationships'. They will learn to recognise a wide range of relationships, including attributes of positive, healthy relationships. They will also learn to judge what kind of physical behaviours and contact are acceptable and unacceptable and know ways to respond.

In Art, the children will be focusing on painting.  They will learn different brush techniques and how to mix and create different colours in the colour wheel. They will explore how to create different textures using paint.

In D.T., children will be focusing on technical knowledge. They will explore the functional and aesthetic properties of different materials and how strengthen, stiffen and reinforce more complexc structures.

This term, children will have the opportunity to build upon the knowledge and skills gained in KS1 and compose different rhythm patterns and transfer these to tuned instruments. They will learn to rap and play rhythmically and explore dynamic contrast. They will also be developing their listening skills by identifying the notes in a simple melody. They will listen to music by different composers, broadening their horizons outside the music they may usually listen to.

We will be learning all about Google Classroom this half term.  The children will learn to login independently and complete and hand in tasks in Google Classroom.  This is an important skill for them to learn in their journey towards high school.

We will continue our MFL journey into learning Spanish this half term.  We will be studying the unit 'My Body', learning how to say, read and write ten parts of the body in Spanish, talk and write about how they can move different parts of the body, give instructions related to moving parts of the body and ask and answer a question about a part of the body that hurts.

Outdoor learning will take place on Tuesday afternoons. It is important that your child comes dressed in long sleeves and trousers and has a change of footwear.  We are so lucky to have our own woodland on-site and so the children have the opportunity to access outdoor learning every week.  Having our own woodland gives children the opportunity to develop their respect for the natural world, which ties in with our core values.  They develop resilience and problem-solving skills through challenges and wild play in the woods, as well as broadening their horizons by learning and developing their outdoor survival skills such as shelter building and fire lighting.  

P.E. lessons take place twice a week, with Monday afternoon sessions being led by Miss Clarke (Mrs Morrell will be leading these this half term) and Wednesday morning sessions led by Mrs Morrell.  The units this half term are fitness and basketball.  Over the course of this term, children in Dolphin Class will have the opportunity to go for swimming lessons at Alderman Peel High School.

Class Dojo is our main form of communication with parents. If you have not yet signed up for Class Dojo and would like to, please do not hesitate to come and see us.  We are more than happy to help if you are having difficulty accessing this.  It's a great space where you can view photos, videos and information about all the amazing things that are happening in our classroom and around the school. It gives you the chance to see what your children have been learning in school each week, giving you the opportunity to talk to them at home about what they have been doing.

Home learning in Dolphin class is about reading every day either to an adult, a sibling or to themselves.

The year four children will be undertaking the National times table check in the summer term and it is essential they practice their times tables regularly (they can use TT Rockstars for this).

There is a pick and mix homework menu which enriches the discovery learning we are doing in class. Pick a task, complete it and post your work on Dojo by Wednesday.

Please make sure all of your child’s possessions are labelled. Children do not need to bring toys or pencil cases into school. Children should wear PE kit to school on Tuesday and Wednesday. Woodland is on Thursday and children need to wear sturdy, outdoor clothing.