Years 3 - 4
Year 3
Year 3 is the first year in Key Stage 2 and it builds upon and extends the learning from Key Stage 1.
Over the course of the year we study six topics, each based on a different fiction or non-fiction text. Each topic covers English as well as one of History, Geography or Science. This allows children to appreciate the strong bonds that exist between these subjects and also supports better quality writing in History, Geography and Science.
The History topics are ‘The Stone Age’ and ‘The Ancient Greeks’ and these focus on developing children’s understanding of chronology as well as providing opportunities to explore and investigate evidence from the past and communicate their findings in a variety of ways.
The Geography topic focuses on the Earth’s natural disasters and enables children to describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography, including volcanoes and earthquakes.
The Science topics focus on Light, Rocks and Soil, Plants and Animals (including humans) and also Forces and Magnets. These are all taught in a practical and investigative way which allows children to follow their own lines of enquiry.
These topics will all include elements of Art, DT and Music. These subjects enable children to explore and express their creativity and to learn to use a variety of techniques and media. In music, children will listen and appraise pieces of music and compose and perform using percussion instruments, as well as singing a variety of songs.
In English, we continue to teach spellings, improving accuracy through learning patterns, the use of prefixes and suffixes as well as revisiting common exception words from year 2. Grammar and punctuation is also taught regularly as an aid to improve children’s writing.
Reading continues to be a key area of learning in Year 3. We set online reading books through Bug Club which are selected to help children to develop their comprehension skills across a range of genres, focusing particularly on questions that require inference and on using the text to support answers. Children are also encouraged to choose books to take home, promoting reading for pleasure. In addition, the class is exposed to a variety of carefully chosen texts covering different styles, eras and genres.
In Year 3 we continue to write in different genres, including narratives, recounts, information writing and poetry. Children write at more length by using complex sentences and paragraphing, using their increasing knowledge of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to extend and improve their writing. We continue to teach the fully cursive handwriting style begun in Year 2.
Maths builds upon the Key Stage 1 strands of number, shape and measure. Children will continue to practice the 2s, 10s and 5 times tables and learn the 3s, 4s and 6 times tables including their associated division facts. These will be practised regularly so that children become increasingly fluent. Children are introduced to a variety of methods for solving problems involving the four operations, including the column method. Our learning in maths is supported by the use of a wide range of practical resources including place value charts, Base-10 etc.
In Religious Education, we learn about the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter, as well as The Bible’s Big Story. We learn more about Jesus with a particular focus on his ‘I am sayings’. We also focus on Hinduism, including the core beliefs, signs and symbols of Hinduism and what it means to be a Hindu.
Computing covers a range of issues related to online safety and staying safe whilst using the internet. We then explore different ways of using technology, including data and information handling, desktop publishing and block coding.
Personal, Social and Health Education is taught regularly, including Drug and Alcohol Education and Sex and Relationship Education. In Year 3, the SRE focus is on families, personal space and similarities and differences between males and females. The DAE focus is on healthy lifestyles with a particular emphasis on the dangers of smoking.
Physical Education is taught every week and covers a variety of athletics, gymnastics, dance and outdoor team sports.
Year 4
Over the course of the year we study six topics, each based on a different fiction or non-fiction text. Each topic covers English as well as one of History, Geography or Science. This allows children to appreciate the strong bonds that exist between these subjects and also supports better quality writing including key vocabulary which is precise and subject specific across the subjects.
The History topics of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Rome and focus on developing children’s understanding of chronology as well as providing opportunities to explore and investigate evidence from the past and communicate their findings in a variety of ways.
The Geography topic focuses on rivers and the water cycle and enables children to describe and understand key aspects of physical and human geography. The geography focus also includes mapwork to locate places and their geographical features.
The Science topics are electricity, sound, states of matter (solids,liquids and gases), living things and animals and digestion. These are all taught in a practical and investigative way which allows children to follow their own lines of enquiry.
These topics will all include elements of Art, DT and Music. These subjects enable children to explore and express their creativity and to learn to use a variety of techniques and media. In music, children will listen and appraise pieces of music and compose and perform using instruments, as well as singing a variety of songs.
In English, we continue to teach spellings, improving accuracy through learning patterns, the use of prefixes and suffixes as well as the statutory spellings of Year 4. Grammar and punctuation is also taught regularly as an aid to improve children’s writing.
Reading continues to be a key area of learning in Year 4. Texts are selected to help children to develop their comprehension skills across a range of genres, focusing particularly on questions that require inference and on using the text to support answers and quoting from it. Children are also encouraged to choose books to take home or read at school promoting reading for pleasure. In addition, the class is exposed to a variety of carefully chosen texts covering different styles, eras and genres.
In Year 4 we continue to write in different genres, including narratives, recounts, non-chronological reports, eyewitness accounts, explanations and forms of poetry. Children write at more length by using complex sentences and paragraphing, using their increasing knowledge of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to extend and improve their writing. A focus is on editing, the correct use of commas and planning writing .We continue to teach the fully cursive handwriting style begun in Year 2.
Maths builds upon the year 3 work with strands of number, shape and measures. Children will continue to practice the 3s, 6s and 8 times tables and learn the 7s, 9s and 12 times tables including their associated division facts. These will be practised regularly so that children become fluent. This is necessary for the fractions units that will be covered. Decimals are introduced and their relationship to fractions explored. Children are introduced to a variety of formal methods for solving problems involving the four operations.
In Religious Education, we learn about the Christian festivals of Christmas and Easter. We also learn the stories from the old testament and the miracles of Jesus. We consider what it means to be a pilgrim. There is a focus on Islam, including the core beliefs, signs and symbols and what it means to be a Muslim.
Computing covers a range of issues related to online safety and staying safe whilst using the internet. We then explore different ways of using technology, including data logging, desktop publishing, editing media and repetition in block coding.
Personal, Social and Health Education is taught regularly, including Drug and Alcohol Education and Sex and Relationship Education. In Year 4, the SRE focus is on puberty. The DAE focus is on healthy lifestyles with a particular emphasis on the dangers of alcohol for children.
Physical Education is taught every week and covers a variety of athletics, gymnastics, dance and outdoor team sports.
