Curriculum > Guilden Morden Primary School

Guilden Morden Church of England (C) Primary School

Bike Shed

Spring Term 2012 - Scroll down to read all the classes' curriculum newsletters.

Class 1 – Mrs Snowling

The children have returned to school refreshed and looking forward to another busy and productive term. We have lots of new topics and exciting areas of learning to embark on.

In literacy we will be finding out about traditional tales as a genre as well as looking at explanations and poems from different cultures.

In maths we will explore multiplication and division in more detail and Year 2 children will working hard to learn their two’s, five’s and ten times tables.

In Science we look at materials and how we sort them.

Our history topic is ‘Homes’ this part of the term and works alongside building models of homes in Design and Technology.

In R.E. we will look at worship in the Christian church as well as festivals in other religions.

For our PSHE topic are we will look at economic wellbeing and how we use money.

We continue to work in school on our ICT learning platform ( STARZ) and further develop word processing skills.

In PE we will be engaging in gymnastic activities for this part of the term. Please ensure the children have a named PE kit at all times in school.

In French we are working on our vocabulary through shopping activities and games.

In Music we will be using musical instruments to compose melodies and create sound stories to use alongside our traditional stories.

Homework is given out on Fridays and should be returned to school the following Thursday.

Class 2 – Mr Robichaud

LITERACY:We will continue to study both fiction and non-fiction genres. These will include: Information texts, Stories from other cultures, Myths and Legends and poetry. Through each unit the children will develop their Literacy skills in writing, reading, analysis and sentence level work. Some areas of word level work that we will be looking closely at are: Verbs, Adverbs, Connectives and Dictionary skills.

The children will continue to bring home their purple spelling books to work on at home.

The children will also continue to take part in ‘Guided Reading’ to develop skills in interpreting texts. Each child is supplied with a Reading Record which parents are asked to fill in when they read together. This is an important part of their ongoing development and regular reading at home encourages good study practice later in life.

NUMERACY: Each lesson begins with a mental and oral starter to develop thinking skills in maths and mental aptitude. This time during the lesson helps the children to develop a wide range of strategies to help solve equations quickly and efficiently.

During the main teaching exercise this term we will be covering a number of different areas to include: Place value, ordering, estimating and rounding, Reading numbers from scales, Understanding + and –, Money and ‘real life’ problems, Making decisions and checking results, Shape and space, Reasoning about shapes, measures, time including problems, Counting and properties of numbers, Reasoning about numbers, Understanding multiplication and division, Mental calculation strategies (multiplication and division), Fractions and Handling Data.

SCIENCE: In Science this term we will be covering two units: ‘Rocks and soils’ and ‘Springs and Magnets’. These units will include a combination of written, observational and experimental work. Children will develop skills in observation, hypothesising, prediction and conclusion.

HISTORY: The History unit for this term is based around Henry VIII and the Tudor period. Miss Parker will continue to teach History and Geography in Class 3.

RE: The children will look at the life of Jesus. We will also look into the events and miracles leading up to Easter, with a specific focus on the Easter story.

ICT: During this term children will be completing their work on SAFE internet use.

PSHCE: We will continue to use the SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) materials for PSHCE. To begin with we will be look at the topic “Financial capability”.

PE: PE this term will continue to take place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We will be looking at different areas of gymnastics. We will then be forming routines with these skills. After half term, when the weather has picked up a little, we will be concentrating on invasion games. Please ensure that the children have a PE kit in school at all times.

ART: In Art we will be focusing on a unit of DT work. This will include working with wool and sewing. We will also be looking at investigating pattern.

MUSIC: The children will continue doing Music with Mrs Dunstan every Thursday. They will be working on a unit called Dragon Scales and will be writing music using pentatonic scales (scales which use 5 notes).

GEOGRAPHY: We will be working on a unit called “A village in India” and focusing on a place called Chembakolli.

HOMEWORK: Homework will continue to be set on Wednesdays and is expected to be returned to school by Monday of the following week.

Class 3 – Mrs Cook and Mrs Dunstan

Maths – We have almost completed a unit of work on decimals! This term we will focus on all four mathematical operations. We will also work on measures, ratio, fractions (more to learn), primes numbers and square numbers, to mention a few.. .A small group of year 6 pupils are working particularly hard as they are attempting work at level 6! Additionally we are awaiting results for the two pupils who achieved high enough scores in the first round of the Maths Association Challenge 2011/2012 to be considered for the Finals Round.

Literacy – We will progress from our work on persuasive writing in adverts to looking at other types of persuasive writing, for example, leaflets and letters. We will focus on the types of vocabulary used eg. appealing adjectives which describe benefits and the literacy devices used eg. alliteration. Thanks to our many volunteers several of class 3’s children are enjoying daily ‘Bookworm’ sessions and the benefits are already beginning to show.

Topic – We will be studying World War II with a particular focus on how it affected children.

RE – We are learning about Judaism including how Jewish people celebrate events such as births and marriages.

PHSE – We are looking forward to beginning to use the new Cambridgeshire resource for teaching and learning. Our first whole school topic will be ‘Economic Wellbeing’.

Science – We will be learning about the forces in action around us and also about the Earth, Sun and Moon.

French – In French we will be learning the names of different members of the family and also how to talk about our hobbies and out of school activities.

ICT – We are consolidating all the important e-safety messages and giving a renewed focus to ICT use across the curriculum.

Music – We will be writing and performing music in groups, based on a space theme.

Reception Class – Miss Dolan

Communication, Language and Literacy - This half term the children will continue to take part in daily phonic sessions where they will be encouraged to blend and segment the letter sounds they have learnt for reading and spelling. They will have opportunities to use these skills practically when writing theatre tickets, invitations, programmes and refreshment menus. The development of speaking and listening skills and correct letter formation will continue to be areas of particular focus.

Problem solving, Reasoning and Numeracy - Number recognition, ordering and counting to 10, then 20, will as always remain a focus. Children will also begin to complete simple addition and subtraction problems. They will be taught a range of strategies to help with this such as using a number line and counting on and backwards. The children will also be introduced to money and will be encouraged to ‘pay’ for their fruit at snack time.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development - As always we will reinforce the importance of turn taking, sharing, listening, considering others feelings and following our school ‘Code of Conduct’. This half term there will also be a particular focus on taking care of our things, both at home and at school. In addition to this we will also begin to think about the uses of money.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World - Over the next few weeks the children will look closely at all aspects of the theatre and performance. We will particularly focus on the use of light and dark, making our own shadow puppets and using torches.

Physical Development - This half term the focus will continue to be on building the children’s confidence in their ability. The children will take part in a class ‘mini Olympics’. We will also be listening and moving to a range of music from nursery rhymes to classical. As always we will encourage the children to access a range of small and large equipment and tools in order to develop fine motor skills and coordination.

Creative Development - Our role play area will become a puppet theatre which the children themselves will design and create. There will also be many other opportunities to draw, paint and make puppets using wooden spoons, paper bags and rubber gloves! The children will be encouraged to use a range of musical instruments to create sound effects to accompany their performances.

Guilden Morden C of E (C) School Pound Green, Guilden Morden, Nr Royston, Herts SG8 0JZ
Tel & Fax: 01763 852318 E-mail: office@guildenmorden.cambs.sch.uk