St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

January 2018Dear parents of pupils in Class 4 (Year 3/4)

CURRICULUM LETTER- SPRING 2018

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back fol-lowing the Christmas break and hope that you are feeling re-freshed (if not a little full!) I would also like to thank you all for the positive way in which you have embraced and facilitated the introduction of the Seesaw platform. We feel that it has been an enormous success and are looking forward to introdu-cing it across the whole school in the coming weeks.

We are looking forward to the Spring Term, in which the cur-riculum in Class 4 will continue to develop children’s skills, knowledge and understanding across all subjects.

Our topic for this term is ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, and it seems that Class 4 are faced with an interesting chal-lenge. Can they tame a dragon? In addition to their dragonology studies in which they will be researching the habitats, anatomy and behaviour of dragons, they will also be studying the medieval period in history in-cluding castles, their structure and what kind of people lived in them. As part of their medieval training, they will be designing and constructing a working model of a castle drawbridge.

REFirstly, we will finish the Christmas story by looking at the Epi-phany before thinking about Lent and looking at Jesus in the wilderness.

EnglishHead Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.

St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

English continues to be taught daily, working towards a ‘Big Write’. We will cover a range of fiction and non-fiction genres during the term. In addition, the children will apply skills ac-quired in other areas of the curriculum.

Further to this, additional elements covered in this subject in-clude:

Daily handwriting practice Daily spelling activities Daily vocabulary, punctuation and grammar activities Daily reading activities

Reading ChallengeThe reading challenge will begin again and we have a new set of books to read by the end of the term. Please email the office if you would like a copy of the reading challenge list. Children who read the required number of books within the term are re-cognised with a certificate at the end of term celebration as-sembly.

MathsDaily Maths lessons will be taught through a wide range of tasks and activities in order to develop their skills and know-ledge in:

Measurement Perimeter and area Fractions and decimal numbers

Another of our success stories last term, Doodlemaths, will con-tinue as both a home and school activity. I’d like to thank you for continuing to encourage your child to complete their ’5/6/7 a day’ as this is having a positive impact on their mathematical recall and helps to consolidate their learning of mathematical

Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.

St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

methods. Pupils will also continue to complete the weekly “Beat It” and “CLIC” sheets at the end of the week which helps the children to improve in a wide range of maths skills, as will the weekly homework in which times table targets remain the focus for each child.

PEThe children will continue to have regular sessions of sport/PE during their break and lunch times. The weekly P.E. lessons will also continue to be scheduled for every Thursday afternoon. They will need a complete PE kit for these sessions including a T-shirt, shorts and appropriate trainers for outdoor activities. As always, replacement or new kit can be ordered and paid for via ParentPay.

Home Learning SupportWe will continue to provide information concerning home learn-ing projects and activities through Seesaw as this method has been successful thus far. These home-learning activities are de-signed to improve pupils’ understanding of and enrich the breadth of their learning across the curriculum.

It is important that the children continue to read aloud to an adult or older sibling daily, as this will help them in all areas of the curriculum. If you have any queries about the homework then please feel free to approach me for clarification. Further-more, the children are always free to ask for help with the task.

Concerns or problemsAs always, please do not hesitate to talk to us if you have any queries, concerns or problems whether directly or send a mes-sage through Seesaw.

Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.

St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolArden Road

Henley in ArdenWarwickshire

B95 5LT

Tel: 01564 792316

Thank you again for your continued enthusiasm, support and involvement in your child’s learning journey.

Mr. Walker and Mrs Prescott.

Head Teacher: J Le Maitre B.Ed MA.