Welcome to Madrid Class!
Here is what we are going to be learning about during the Spring Term
Our Full Curriculum can be found under: school information / curriculum overview.
cinnamonbrow-warrington.secure-dbprimary.com/ourcurriculum/curriculum/#LongTerm
RE
As a Church of England School, Religious Education is a core subject and alongside collective worship is a very important part of school life. RE & worship takes place throughout the school day with daily prayers, whole school and class worship and the sharing of our Christian values. 
This term the focus taken from the Diocese scheme of work is:
Jesus- The man who changed lives.
This unit will deepen children's insight into the impact Jesus has/had on people's lives. Here are some of the key questions we will be exploring together:
- What does change mean?
- How can our lives be changed? Is it easy to change?
- How did Jesus change lives?
- When did/does Jesus change lives?
- What happens when Jesus changes a person's life?
Easter- Sadness and Joy
- Is it possible to describe the events of Holy Week and Easter simply as events of joy or sadness? Why? Why not?
- Is the cross a symbol of sadness or joy?
- How do the services held in churches during Holy Week and Easter reflect the sadness and joy?
- Is Good Friday the beginning or the end?
- Is Easter Sunday the end or the beginning?
English
Here is an introduction to the books we will be studying together during the spring term.
Spring 1: Escape from Pompeii
The mastery focus for this unit will be to:
Year 3
→ Group related ideas into paragraphs
→Build a varied and rich vocabulary
→ Use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech(using dialogue to show relationship between characters)
→ Use present and past tenses correctly and consistently
Year 4
→Use a variety of verb forms correctly and consistently including the
→progressive and the present perfect forms
→ Use standard English for verb inflections
→Use commas after fronted adverbials
→ Organise paragraphs around a theme (Using fronted adverbials to introduce or connect paragraphs
→ Use and punctuate direct speech (Using dialogue to show the relationship between characters)
Spring 2: Big Blue Whale
Year 3
→ Use adverbs to express time, place and cause
→ Build an increasing range of sentence structures
→ Use headings and subheadings to aid presentation
→ Assess the effectiveness of own and others’ writing
Year 4
→ Expand noun phrases by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns and prepositional phrases
→ Build an increasing range of sentence structures
→ Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
→ Indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
→ The grammatical difference between plural and possessive ‘s’
We will also be working on the following:
- Spelling lessons four times a week
- Weekly spellings, grammar, comprehension and whole class reading tasks using the reciprocal reading approach
- Reading Plus in class and at home
Mathematics
In Year 3 and 4 we are teaching for mastery in our maths lessons. Through carefully planned teaching and the support of a 'Power Maths' scheme we enable all children to access the maths curriculum at their level and open up opportunities for all children to work within a mastery approach.
Mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering maths. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable pupils to move on to more advanced material.
As a teaching team across phase and with teaching assistants, we work closely to plan, assess and evaluate each lesson to ensure the needs of every child are met. Additional time can be given in the afternoons or mornings if a child has struggled with a concept or we feel they need some pre learning to aid them in their understanding.
Science
Electricity
The children will learn to:
- Identify common appliances that run on electricity
- Construct a simple series electrical circuit
- Identify and name it's basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers
- Identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery
- Recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit.
- Recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.
Forces and Magnets
- Compare how things move on different surfaces.
- Notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance
- Observe how magnets attract or repel eachother and attract some materials and not others
- Compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials.
- Describe magnets as having two poles.
- Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel eachother, depending on which poles are facing.
PSHE
Get Heartsmart!
Heartsmart means being smart with our hearts. The life of our heart affects the whole of our life. Loving yourself and others is the most powerful way to live and it’s the best way to create true friendship. We become powerful when we love ourselves and when we love others. HeartSmart is about putting good things into our heart so that good things come out. It’s about watching what we allow in and thinking about how we let what’s in come out.
Too much selfie isn't healthy!
The children will be exploring the importance of others and how to love them well.
The Heartsmart principle ‘Too Much Selfie isn’t Healthy’ is about working well with others, about being a good listener and understanding that life is more about we than me. Love without action isn’t love, it’s a thought. Love requires an out; love does. By contributing to the lives of others we find fulfilment for ourselves and learn that Too Much Selfie isn’t Healthy!
Geography
Marvellous Mountains
·Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)
·Describe and understand key aspects of physical geography, including mountains
History
Who were they Maya and what can we learn from them?
Here are the questions we will find answers to as we learn together:
·When did the Maya live?
·Where did the Maya live?
·How do we know what life was like a 100 years ago?
·How were Maya cities built?
·What are the achievements of the Maya?
·Were the Maya different to us?
Computing
Managing online information and Data logging
·Explain that data can be gathered over time
·Use a digital device to collect data
·Explain how data loggers collect data
·Use data collected over time to find information
·Identify data needed to answer a question
·Use collected data to answer questions
Art
Drawing Techniques
·Explore various grades of pencil – 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and shading techniques.
·Begin to explore with charcoal, creating lines.
·Practise sketching and shading a single mountain using pencil and charcoal.
·Sketch a mountain landscape and use shading pencils and charcoal to add shade and texture.
DT
Battery Operated Lights
Design a lamp to help a nursery child sleep. Use simple knowledge of electrical systems and create a silhouetter light that a light system can go behind.
MFL - French
- Family tree and faces
- Celebrating Carnivals
- Body Parts
Music
Ukulele and Taiko sessions
PE
- Real PE Cognitive / Creative
- Real Dance
- Net games / Athletics
PE will take place each Wednesday for Madrid.
We are requesting that on their PE day children come to school dressed for PE with appropriate outdoor PE kit.
Please refer to the school prospectus for PE kit details: School prospectus
Forest School
Children will be completing outdoor learning activities planned and lead by our Forest School leader Mrs Minshull.
Please refer to the school prospectus for more details : School prospectus
How can you support?
Reading with your child is the most important thing you can do to support their learning at home.
Please try and read at least 5 times a week and record in their reading record book each time (3 reads of the teacher directed books and 2 reads online - ReadingPlus.) This is very important.
Your child's Reading plus password is on login information card provided. If you have any trouble signing in online, please ask one of us.
Spelling - Spelling will be brought home each Friday for the children to practise their spelling at home as they are being taught during the week. The children will bring home a list of key spelling strategies that they can use to support them to learn and remember their spellings.
Maths
Research shows that completing maths activities little and often is the best way to retain recall skills.
Here are some of the maths activities you can access online.
TT Rockstars: This is an online multiplication recall program accessible for all learners.
Key Information
Please ensure that you bring your child's school reading book bag back into school daily as this will be used to bring home important letters and it will keep our reading books safe.
Our PE day is Wednesday. On this day we come into school in our PE kit ready for our PE sessions outside.
Your child should bring in a water bottle that is sent home to be thoroughly cleaned each evening.
Projects
Homework projects will be shared each term by the class teachers. These opportunities are for you to share in your child’s learning about the world around them through history, geography, science and the arts. Please support your children in completing these projects.
Staff
Class teacher: Mrs Johnson
Teaching assistants: Mrs Piazza and Mrs Murphy