Welcome to Waltz everyone, 

I cannot wait to start this new year with all of you. I am confident we are going to hit the ground running and have a fantastic time doing it! 

English

To start the year, we will be looking at a The Explorer, by Katherine Rundell. Throughout our guided reading sessions, we will work on our understanding of the text and we will be capturing the author's thoughts as he conveys characters in a particular way, collect some new and exciting vocabulary and work on our skills of retrieval, inference, sequencing, prediction, summarising and explaining. Through our writing, we will start the year looking at a Chinese playscript, which will help further our understanding of the Shang Dynasty. 

Maths

In Maths we will start by recapping our knowledge of number and place value, looking at Roman numerals, working with numbers to 1,000,000 and rounding numbers. We will also spend some time this term looking at addition and subtraction, before moving onto multiplication and division. 

Science

This half term, we will be learning all about forces and mechanisms. We will be exposed to some of the world's greatest scientists and conducting experiments to create our own STEM sentences. In the second half term, we will be looking at the wonders of space and how the universe is made up. 

Humanities

In Geography this term, we will be exploring our world. We will be learning about the world's different time zones, biomes and what causes extreme weather conditions. We will be looking at the causes and impact of the world's most well-known natural disasters. In History, we will be looking at Dynamic Dynasties. This project teaches children about the history of ancient China, focusing primarily on the Shang Dynasty, and explores the lasting legacy of the first five Chinese dynasties, some of which can still be seen in the world today.

Computing

 To start the term, we will be looking at databases and how they can be programmed to answer questions. After half term, we will move onto programming focusing on sequencing to create a loop program.

Art/DT

We will start, by looking at tints, tones and shades. This project teaches children about colour theory by studying the colour wheel and exploring mixing tints, shades and tones. They learn about significant landscape artworks and features of landscapes before using this knowledge to create landscape paintings. During out DT unit, the children will experiment with pneumatics before designing, making and evaluating a pneumatic machine that performs a useful function.

Music

This year, the children will enjoy the support of Slough Music Services as they learn how to play the recorder. 

General Reminders

• PE will be on Mondays and Wednesdays, please ensure your child comes to school wearing their PE kit on those days. Please also ensure that any earrings are removed for PE.
• Homework will be set on a Wednesday and due in the following Monday.
• The children are expected to read every night, please ensure this is recorded in their reading records. Reading records will be checked on a weekly basis and reads will be counted as part of our new reading challenge. The aim is to read daily for 15-20 minutes. 
• Spellings will also be given out on a Wednesday and tested on the following Monday. Children will receive all spellings weekly after the spelling session in school.
• Our library day is a Friday.

Parents/Carers – I look forward to working with your children again this year. As always, please feel free to catch me after school or send me an email at lhendry@pippins.slough.sch.uk and I will try to get back to any concerns you have a soon as possible.

 Miss Hendry