The Carey Federation

Class 3 (Y3 and Y4)

Class 3 – Welcome to the spring term 2025!

 

I hope you all had a magical Christmas and I wish you all a healthy and happy New Year. We have another busy and exciting term ahead, including a visit from Storyteller Clive Pig, Class trip and a whole Federation trip to see Mary Poppins in Plymouth!

Mrs Matthews will teach the class on Wednesday mornings. We are also very lucky to have Madam Clark teaching French and Mr Hayler to teach PE on Tuesday afternoons. After half term we will have WildTribe on Tuesday afternoon instead.

Across the Carey Federation, we pride ourselves in the way we: ‘Aim High, Be Resilient and Take Care Of Each Other’ and strive to consider the Carey qualities ‘Be Respectful, Be Resilient, Be Resourceful, Be Reflect and Build Relationships’ in all that we do.

 

 

Curriculum

We plan the curriculum carefully to capture the interest of the children and build upon prior knowledge. Forging cross curricular links, where possible, helps to provide context and meaning to children’s learning.

We will make links to our History topics from previous terms to learn about crime and punishment through the ages. From Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Tudors, Victorian and modern day. Our learning will have a focus on change and continuity with our big historical enquiry question –Over time, what have been some of the main changes in the types of crime committed? Clive Pig will be starting our topic off with inspiring storytelling and drama and I hope to organise a class trip to Dartmoor Prison to support our learning later in the term.

In Geography we will learn about the Water Cycle including the treatment of water, pollution and flooding.

Animals, Including Humans will be our Science topic for the whole term, with opportunities to work scientifically within the content taught. The lessons cover a variety of exciting questions to explore and investigate, including: muscles, skeletons, food chains, teeth and nutrition.

We will develop our painting techniques in Art, focusing on portraits. Picasso will be the main artist we will explore and research.

For Computing we will learn about creating media and build on our programming skills from last term.

In Music, each unit adapts an integrated approach where games, elements of music (pulse, rhythm, pitch etc.), singing and playing instruments are all linked. In our Religion World Views, we continue to follow units within the Devon Agreed Syllabus. The units: ‘What do Hindu’s believe God is like?’ And ‘Why do Christians call the day Jesus died Good Friday?’ will be taught.

Within RSE (relationships and sex education) we will be discussing ‘Keeping Myself Safe’, followed by ‘Rights and Responsibilities.

PE is planned for a Tuesday and Friday afternoons and will consist of Indoor Athletics and Dance for the first half term, followed by football.

 

Across the term, in Maths, children will look at Multiplication and Division and Fractions, length and perimeter and Area. There is some variation in coverage

depending on the Year group. Fluency in number facts including times tables are a priority. Quick recall of number facts is a crucial skill that supports learning in all areas. Therefore, the Carey Federation subscribes to Numbots and Times Tables Rock Stars to support the children. Pupils are familiar with using both in school and have individual log in details in their reading records. Year 4 will have their Multiplication Check in the summer term. Please support your child’s progress by using both these sites regularly throughout the week.

 

In English, we will begin with the text The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. They will write their own poems and stories about different emotions. As the term progresses, Jack and the Dreamstack by Laurence Anholt will be used in class to inspire the children to develop their writing and encourage them to apply the various grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting content taught. Pupils will also explore the non-fiction text Until I Met Dudley – How Everyday Things Really Work by Roger McGough to write their own explanation texts.

 

Reading is a high priority. Pupils will have daily opportunities to read and develop the skills within the reading curriculum through Whole Class Reading. We use VIPERS (Vocabulary, Inference, Predict, Explain, Retrieve, Summarise) including written comprehension activities. Our novel this term is Diver’s Daughter – A Tudor Story by Patrice Lawrence and The Queen’s Token by Pamela Oldfield which is about a stable boy working for Henry V111. Please support your children’s learning by hearing them read, reading to them or discussing what they have read five times a week and initialling in their reading record. It is so exciting that we will have access to Reading Buddies to support independent reading at home. Please can records and books be bought into school every day.

 

Class Routines

Homework will be posted on Dojo on Tuesday. This will be:

o Maths challenges through Mathletics usually linked to work covered that week in class. We encourage children to also use Numbots and Times Tables RockStars which are very valuable online learning platforms.

o Learning spellings. These will be written into spelling journals each week on Wednesday based on the common exception words, (spelling rules will be taught and practised in school) The words will be specific to your child according to assessment. The spelling journals are for use at home to practise spellings but it is vital they are bought into school on Wednesday for new spellings to be written in. There will be no formal ‘test’ of spellings each week, we look for evidence within class written work. However, I will carry out spelling checks to see how children are progressing with their year group list. A copy of this assessment will be stuck into their spelling journals. The highlighted words are the words the children spelled correctly in the check.

o Reading five times a week with an initial from a parent in reading records. Reading regularly to develop fluency, comprehension and stamina is essential to enable pupils to make progress across the curriculum, not just within reading. The five reads will be counted each week. So that we can support those pupils not reading regularly, they

will have additional opportunities to read to an adult. This is not seen as a ‘punishment’ – it allows us to ensure all pupils make progress.

 

Children receive reward points. Rewards may link to our Carey Qualities, it may be for listening well, being independent, great work or home learning, it may be for a lovely smile….the possibilities are endless! Pupils receive a sticker but it is not just an individual reward. They also receive a point for their team (Bells or Owls) which get counted up as a whole school each week, and a counter in our ‘working together’ jar. When the jar is full the whole class receives a treat.

 

Please can children have their reading record and drinks bottle in school everyday and PE kit on Tuesday and Friday (you may wish to leave it in school each week).

 

In Key Stage 2 we no longer have ‘show and tell’ or a special bear….but we do have ‘Fluffy Friday’!! Where children can bring in one soft toy to join them in class for the day.

 

The children’s well-being is of the utmost importance and we aim to create a happy, kind and healthy environment for all. If you have any worries or questions, please do not hesitate in coming to see me. You can message via Dojo but this is not checked regularly, so if it is something urgent or you wish me to see it that day, please email the school office to ensure I receive it straight away.

 

Many thanks,

Mrs A Rothery (Class Teacher), Mrs S Matthews (Teaching Assistant/Apprentice Teacher

Class 3 Long Term Planning

2024 – 2025 YEAR A Long Term Planning

Class 3 – Timetable

Class 3 Timetable Autumn 24