ST THOMAS OF CANTERBURY CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL
Headteacher: Mrs Michelle Keating BEd (Hons)
Assistant Head: Mr Andrew Booth BSc (Hons)
High Street
Puckeridge
Ware
Herts SG11 1RZ
Tel: 01920 821450
E-Mail: head@stcanterbury.herts.sch.uk
Website: www.stcanterbury.herts.sch.uk
‘We learn, love, respect and accept our responsibilities through our faith in Jesus Christ’
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3.09.14
Dear Parents,
Welcome back and I hope you all had a fantastic summer break! This year our class
will consist of 19 Year 3 children and 11 Year 4 children. Teaching and learning will be
supported by Mrs Russell, Mr Bell and Ms Mcrudden.
Curriculum
Our R.E topic in the first half of the term will be ‘The Christian Family’, with a focus on
the family of the Church and the Sacrament of Baptism. In the second half of the
autumn term we will be covering ‘Trust in God’ through which we will think about those
who showed trust in God and how we can develop our own faith. Our class assembly
will be held on Friday 19th September and we will be celebrating Harvest. We hope you
can join us!
This term our key theme will be ‘From Stone to Iron’ exploring the changes in Britain
from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We will be exploring how people living in the
Stone Age developed their housing, farming and hunting skills and move on to look at
how this period developed into the Bronze and Iron Age. There will be a focus on
historical enquiry and as a part of this topic the children will be asked to produce a
project based on an aspect of Stone Age life which interests them. More information on
this will follow. Many areas of our learning will be linked to the topic such as cave
paintings and sculptures of farming and hunting tools in Art as well as exploring Stone
Age recipes in design technology. In science we will be learning about magnetic forces
followed by looking at states, investigating changes in state and exploring the water
cycle. We will continue to have daily Maths and English lessons.
P.E. will cover gymnastics and Football. Year 4 will begin swimming later in the term.
Children should have their kit in school every day; this should consist of a white t-shirt
and white shorts, the outdoor rugby sweatshirts, black shorts, black or gold socks and
trainers. Please ensure that all kit is clearly labelled. Earrings must not be worn for P.E.
Homework
Year 3 are expected to spend 25 minutes per evening on homework and Year 4, 30
minutes. Maths and Literacy homework will generally be set on a Thursday and is due
in for the following Tuesday. Occasionally there may also be small tasks related to our
other areas of learning. Spellings will be given on a Monday. The children should use
the activity sheet to practice and apply the spellings and return this on the following
Tuesday when they will be tested. Reading at home is essential and comments in the
homework diary relating to this are very useful. With new curriculum expectations, it is
vital that the children in Year 3 and 4 learn and secure their times tables up to 10 x 10.
Regular practice at home is extremely important and the children will be tested weekly
using a times tables challenge activity to assess their progress.
I look forward to a successful and joyful year and thank you for your support in
advance. Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact
me, either via the Homework diary or in person.
Regards,
Miss E Barley (Year 3/4 Class Teacher)