The Rissington School Lancaster Class
Lancaster Class
Useful information:
PE days are Thursday and Friday
Homework is checked on Mondays
Spellings and times tables are tested on Friday
★★ Happy New Year!! ★★
The Curriculum:
Our main focus this term will be “The journey of a river from source to sea”. We begin our topic by looking at the water cycle, identify the five main parts of the cycle and describing the process between them.
During the Spring term we will have a Geography focus where we will be investigating how rivers shape the land around them and in particular the journey (and history!) of the River Severn.
In English, we will look at water and river based stories including ‘The Secret of Black Rock’ by Joe Todd-Stanton, to enjoy through Guided Reading sessions and to inspire our writing of detailed character descriptions. For non-fiction we will be completing explanation texts relating to our rivers topic. There will be a continued strong focus on improving their accuracy of spelling through our daily lessons ‘Spelling with the Jungle Club’. Grammar, punctuation and the quality of handwriting will be taught daily too. Pen licences will be awarded to those children who write using cursive and fluent script.
In Maths, we will continue learning to know multiplication and division facts by heart. We will be looking at estimating and measuring the length and perimeter of 2D shapes and we will also be investigating fractions. By the end of Year 4 it is essential that the children know and have instant recall of all times tables up to 12x and their inverse. As such, there will be lots of games and ways of remembering these facts.
Science: The children will be identifying the characteristics of solids, liquids and gases and will use this to group together different materials. They will be looking to be able to explain what a melting point is and then carry out an investigation into the melting points of different materials.
Throughout the Spring term, both RE and PSHCE will focus on identifying and building positive relationships. PSHE will ask the question ‘What is a healthy relationship’. In RE we will be exploring The Holy Trinity, what it is, how it is expressed in the Christian faith and what this means for Christians. As usual at this time of year, we will think about new starts, new life and participate in the usual Easter celebrations.
PE: There will continue to be two PE lessons each week, class teachers will Inform you which days these are. PE kit may be worn to school on the days when PE takes place. PE kit should comprise: blue t-shirt, shorts/skort, long socks and suitable outdoor training shoes.
In Lower Key Stage 2 it is our aim to support the children in becoming independent, self-motivated and organised with their homework. The children are expected to read for at least half an hour each evening and note the date, title and pages read each day in their reading journal. Reading record books will be checked by adults in school every Monday to see what has been read in the last week.
Spelling lists will be sent home at the start of each term and it is then up to the children to learn their spellings for that week, ready for a spelling test each week – the date of each class test will be told to the children and is on the school website, on the class page. A copy of the Year 3/4 curriculum spellings and times tables has been sent home already – further copies can be found on the school website or your class DB Primary page.
Homework is set for Reading and Maths each week. Children will have a reading activity grid in their reading records to choose from each week, and Maths is set on Mathletics. Your class teacher will inform you of the days it is handed out, and when it should be completed by – these are also available on the school website, on class pages.
Bags: The cloakroom area for the children is VERY small. Please ensure that all bags brought into school are of a reasonable size and that all personal property is clearly named and taken home on a Friday. The children are encouraged to be responsible for their own belongings however, it is still worth checking for letters or emails at the end of the day.
Further detailed information regarding all trips, events and visits will be sent separately. Make sure you check your email or the school website which will have more important school dates for your diary.
Additional Information:
Children must bring their own drinks bottle to school and which will be sent home for cleaning each day. If your child has an inhaler, please could you make sure that it is clearly named and in date. Their inhaler should be in school to be accessed at all times. If your child requires any other medication, please could you make us AND the office staff aware.
We will also keep our class page on DB primary up to date. Children have their own logins for this page.
Formal parent evenings will be held in February to discuss your child’s progress. However, if you would like to discuss any aspect of your child’s education or have any concerns at any time throughout the term, please do not hesitate to make an appointment.
Multiplication Tables Check (Year 4)
In June our Year 4 children will be taking part in their multiplication check - further information for parents on this can be found here:
/docs/2024_Information_for_parents_Multiplication_tables_check_PDFA_v1_1.pdf