Dear Parents/Carers
A short note to familiarise yourselves and your child to the curriculum in Year 3/4. This letter will give you some
general information about our topic for the Spring Term.
Autumn
Mother Nature’s Plate
Spring
Into The Blue
Summer
The Ancient World
Curriculum
At Carlton Central Junior School we teach a ‘topic based curriculum’ and most subjects are taught in a cross curricular
fashion. Teaching in this way creates a more meaningful learning experience for the children as they can apply the
knowledge and skills learnt in one subject to others. This reinforces their learning and increases their understanding
and confidence. As part of our ‘Into The Blue’ topic, the following subjects are taught.
Geography
In this topic the children will start off using geographical skills and fieldwork techniques to effectively use maps,
atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to learn the locations and names of all of the world’s oceans. They will
then focus on the seascape surrounding the UK and discover how the coastlines are formed by erosion. We will then
move on to learn of the many different ways that humans rely on the sea and its precious resources. As part of the
school’s ongoing Eco School work, the children will learn about the environmental impact of pollution at sea and what
must be done to prevent this. Following on from this the children will be taught the geographical similarities and
differences between the UK coast line and the tropical coast lines found in North America.
Science
The children will learn about different habitats and will explore those found in the local area. They will then move on
to identifying coastal habitats of the UK and learn about the variety of animals and plants that live there. We will
compare the coastal habitats of the UK to other ocean habitats such as the Atlantic and the Tropical Coral Reef. The
children will then learn how the animals and plants are suited to their specific habitat. Following on from this we will
study the structure of marine food chains and learn about the importance of microscopic Zooplankton and
Phytoplankton. Finally, the children will learn how sea mammal life cycles are very similar to human ones in the sense
that the stages are: baby, youngster, adolescent and adult.
Art/Design and Technology
We are starting off developing brush techniques when painting an abstract picture of the sea. The children will then
learn how to manipulate paint colour by creating light and dark tones and by using washes. We will then move on to
study the techniques of great historical artists such as Katsushika Hokusai and Leonid Afremov. The children will learn
how these great artists created effects and which medium is best to use to create such effects. The children will apply
their knowledge in creating their own seascape pictures. Finally the children will learn how to use the correct
modelling techniques when working with clay to produce a model of a sea creature.
English
Each class is focusing on two class books. The first one is ‘The Mousehole Cat’ by Antonia Barber followed by ‘Dougal’s
Deep Sea Diary’ by Simon Bartram. Children will produce several types of writing including: poetry, persuasion, stories
set in imaginary worlds, explanations and recounts.
Reading
Each child is allocated with a school reading book. This will be at an appropriate level for them. Any reading at home or
school will be recorded in their personal organisers. We ask that you share a book with your child each evening for ten
minutes.
Spellings
Spellings will continue to be given out on Mondays and the spelling test will be on Fridays. This year, spellings will be
taught daily and will focus on a specific sound/pattern/rule. Once every half term a whole school spelling event will
take place involving learning the spellings from the National Curriculum’s statutory lists.
Computing
Children will be learning how to use the computer program Scratch. With Scratch, children can program their own
interactive stories, games, animations and share their creations with others in the online community. It helps children
learn to think creatively, reason systematically and work collaboratively - essential life skills in the 21st century.
Maths
Our Maths lessons this term include the following topics: place value, addition and subtraction, multiplication and
division, fractions and decimals and measures. The whole school is continuing to focus on times tables and children will
be challenged to recall each times table (up to x12) in less than 20 seconds. Your help and support in working at home
with the children to develop their tables’ knowledge would be much appreciated.
Modern Foreign Languages (MFL).
In the Spring Term conversational Spanish will be taught by Mrs Mora who is a Spanish teacher from Carlton Academy.
Following on from Rowan Class in the Autumn, Oak will be taught in the Spring and Hawthorn in the Summer.
PSHE (Personal and Social Health Education)
Going For Goals. The children will start off learning about their own barriers to achieving goals and how to overcome
them. They will learn how to create small steps to success and explore ways to help themselves and others succeed.
The children will then move on to take part in activities aimed at building persistence and resilience. During SRE (Sex
and Relationships Education) the children will reflect on the qualities that people might want for, and from, future
relationships.
RE
The children will learn about religious commitment and how Christian people’s beliefs about God, Jesus, the world and
others have impact on their lives. They will use the Bible story, Noah’s Ark, to learn how Noah’s actions were guided by
his faith. The children will then express their own ideas about religious and spiritual music, identifying pieces of music
that make them feel calm, excited, or perhaps worshipful or close to God.
PE
During the Spring Term the children will learn skills in Gymnastics and Sports Hall Athletics. Mr Cannon will be teaching
PE in Oak and Hawthorn classes.
Music
The children will start off listening to different pieces of music and giving their opinions. They will then move on to
composing their own pieces and performing them to the class. Their compositions will tell the story of Noah’s Ark.
British Values
Throughout our topic the children will learn the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual
liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. The importance of laws and mutual
respect will be promoted continuously through the school’s behavior policy. Children will learn the importance of
individual liberty when reading our class book Dougal’s Deep Sea Diary. We will discuss choices about how we spend
our free time and where we choose to go on holiday. Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs will be taught
during RE lessons when discussing the Bible story Noah’s Ark.
Educational Visits and other Curricular events
Towards the end of this term we’re heading over to The Deep in Hull. We are also having an ‘Ocean Art Attack Week’
at the start of term. As a celebration of our topic ‘Into The Blue’, Oak Class are holding a themed assembly on Thursday
17th March at 2.45pm. We hope to see you there! Hawthorn will be holding their assembly later on in the year. On the
morning of Wednesday 30th March Year 4 children will have the opportunity to take part in ‘Bikeability’ where they will
learn new skills in how to ride and maintain a bicycle.
Whole School Homework.
Homework continues to be given out on a Tuesday. Maths is given out every Tuesday and the children have one week
to complete it. Maths homework is always linked to the topic studied that week. Whole school homework this term is
going to be linked to the current topic. Children will be able to pick their homework task from a range of exciting
options! Spellings are given out every Monday.
Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher if you require any further information. Thank you for your
continued support!
Kind regards,
D Patchett
D Ash
T Schofield