Class Teacher: Mr Foyle

Teaching Assistant: Miss Hillman

Spring Term 2026

English

This term, we’ll dive into some fantastic texts and enjoy a variety of grammar exercises and tasks that will help us improve our writing skills.

First up is The Stone Age Boy. The children will create their own Stone Age adventure from the perspective of one or more characters in the story.

Next, we’ll read Fossil Girl by Catherine Brighton. Inspired by this book, the children will write a journal entry about Mary Anning’s discovery of the first Ichthyosaur. After half term, we’ll explore Big Blue Whale by Nicola Davies, focusing on informative and persuasive writing. Then, we’ll look at The Silence Seeker by Ben Morley, where the children will rewrite the story in the third person. For poetry, we’ll read The River’s Tale by Rudyard Kipling. This will inspire us to write an illustrated, descriptive poem about a river in the Stone Age, linking it to our earlier work and our Geography topic on rivers.

Maths

We’ll kick off the term by focusing on multiplication and division. The children will work on securing their times tables up to 12 x 12, as well as multiplying and dividing three-digit numbers by a single digit, including column exchanges and remainders.

In measurement, we’ll study length and calculate the perimeter of simple shapes (mm, cm, m). We’ll also look at mass (g/kg) and capacity (ml/l). Building on our multiplication and division skills, we’ll introduce fractions (proper and improper) and mixed numbers, comparing, ordering, and recognising equivalence before adding, subtracting, and calculating fractions of simple amounts.

Geography

Our project this term is called Misty Mountain, Winding River, which focuses on geography with links to art, DT, and science. We’ll start by exploring the journey of a river from source to mouth, looking at the physical features at each stage, the water cycle, and flooding. Then, we’ll move on to the mountain environment, examining their structure and climate. We’ll study the River Wye and, closer to home, the River Avon (which doesn’t start in a mountainous area).

Science

Our science topic will connect with our mountain and river work by exploring states of matter and changing states.

Art

In our Animal project, the children will learn about the historical and cultural portrayal of animals in art. They’ll study the visual qualities of animals through sketching and either printmaking or clay modelling.

Design and Technology

Our topic is called Functional and Fancy Fabrics. This project will teach the children about home furnishings and the significant designer William Morris. They’ll learn techniques for decorating fabric, like block printing, hemming, and embroidery, and use these skills to design and create a fabric sample.

PSHE

In PSHE, we’ll first explore Dreams and Goals, where the children will learn how to handle obstacles and challenges on the path to achieving their goals.

Our second unit, Healthy Me, will focus on our amazing bodies and how what we eat can nourish or harm us. We’ll also introduce the concept of drugs, discussing medicinal use and other legal substances like alcohol, tobacco, and vaping. The children will learn how to make safe, informed decisions.

Modern Foreign Languages - French

We’ll start with a unit on the weather, learning how to describe today’s weather and the different seasons. We’ll also study the climate in French-speaking countries.

Next, we’ll move on to Clothes, where the children will learn vocabulary for various clothing items and discuss outfits. We’ll connect this to what children wear to school in French-speaking countries.

PE

For outdoor PE in the first half of the term, we’ll focus on progressive netball skills, and in the second half, we’ll switch to tag rugby. We’ll work on throwing, catching, attacking, defending, movement, and gameplay.

Indoor PE will be all about Dance, with a unit called Water that links to our geography and science topics. In the second half of the term, we’ll have a gymnastics unit based on rivers and mountains.

Music

We’ll kick off the term with a singing unit focused on songs about recycling. After half term, we’ll explore musical contrasts, developing instrumental and ensemble skills by performing vocal and instrumental parts with control over pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and emotional expression.

Computing

We’ll begin by learning about effective searching, including how search engines work and how searches are ranked. We’ll focus on reliable searching and learn about search algorithms.

Next, we’ll dive into coding, looking at flowcharts, timers, IF statements, and coordinates. The children will design, write, and test their code while using debugging skills to fix any issues.

RE

Our first unit will explore The Trinity – understanding one God in three forms (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and the concept of Baptism. The second unit will look at how the divine is understood in different worldviews. Year 3/4 will also lead the Easter Service in church, spending time understanding the Easter story in depth, viewing Jesus’ crucifixion as humanity’s salvation from a Christian perspective.

Information to Remember

• Reading: Please bring completed reading records in on Fridays. House points and prizes will be awarded for those who read at least three times a week and record it.
• PE: PE is on Thursdays. Children should come to school in their PE kit, including a black sweatshirt or hoodie and suitable warm clothing for outdoor PE. (In Spring 2, expect training shoes to get muddy from the field, so please don’t wear expensive trainers.)
• Spellings: Spellings will be set on Fridays using Spelling Frame. Children can take practice tests and assess their understanding throughout the week online. They’ll work on the taught spelling pattern in their lessons. Spelling Frame should be used to support spelling at home.
• Homework: In addition to regular reading and spelling practice, children are expected to log into TT Rockstars regularly for short bursts of practice. This helps with classwork and ensures they secure all their times tables by the summer term of Year 4 to meet national standards. Parents can support their child’s maths by overseeing assigned Mathletics games and tasks, which are set weekly to reinforce classwork. (Logins for both TT Rockstars and Mathletics can be found in the front of your child’s Reading Journal.)