Prep 4 Curriculum Brief

Spellings will again be predominantly based on the Year 4 spelling rules and the children’s individual targets. Tests will be held on a Thursday and new spellings (10 in total) will be given each week. We will continue to test comprehension asking questions based on their individual books and shared texts in class. Children will also be asked to summarise what they have read in a paragraph/page and develop an ability to skim read texts so that children can find key words or phrases quickly. We will be looking in detail at the book The Colours of History: How Colours Shaped The World by Clive Gifford. This will be used to inspire the children to write their own information text detailing interesting and surprising facts about a certain colour through history. We will also look at Poetry Pie by Roger McGough to inspire us to both write and perform our own poems. We will revise and consolidate our knowledge of compound words, possessive pronouns, commas, prepositions to express time and cause, expanded noun phrases and subordinate clauses.

During the Summer Term, Prep 4 will continue to have weekly times tables tests and a mental maths session to improve the children’s speed of calculation. Main areas of topic work include the following:
Decimals – understand tenths and hundreds as decimals and fractions, divide 1 and 2 digit numbers by 10, understand the place value of tenths and hundreds, partition, compare, order and round decimals.
Money – write money using decimals, convert between pounds and pence, estimate and calculate with money using all four operations.

Time – vocabulary associated with time, convert between analogue and digital times, convert to and from the 24-hour clock.

Shape – angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, lines of symmetry, completing symmetrical diagrams/shapes and all associated shape vocabulary.

Statistics – interpreting charts and line graphs, drawing line graphs.

Position and Direction – coordinates, drawing 2D shapes on a grid, translations.

NB We will be incorporating reasoning and problem-solving questions within all topics.

This term Prep 4 will be continuing their learning about teeth, digestion and food chains. This will include exploring how the digestive system works, learning different types of teeth, finding out what animals eat and exploring which animals are predators and prey.

They will then be learning about living things and their habitats. This will include recognising that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways, exploring and using classification keys and recognising that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.

We will begin the term considering water as a finite resource, looking at the conservation of water and the issues surrounding supplying clean drinking water to the poorest nations. We will be looking at the effects local flooding can have on a community and discuss the pollution of water, both in rivers and oceans. What can we do as individuals to protect them?

This term Prep 4 will be learning about the Aztecs. They will be researching who the Aztecs were, placing them on a timeline. They will explore the roles of emperors, nobles, warriors, priests, farmers and other people in Aztec society. They will also investigate how the huge city of Tenochtitlan was built on a swampy island in Lake Texacoco, find out what the Aztecs believed in and how their region and sacrifices impacted their lives and research what daily life was like for the Aztecs. Finally, they will investigate how and why the Aztec empire ended by finding out about the Conquistadors invading Mesoamerica.

This term we will be finishing Skoldo Book One. We will be describing our families, learning the vocabulary for different drinks, expressing thirst, and describing in detail what is in our pencil case. We will continue to consolidate our knowledge of French numbers to 100.

This term we begin by thinking about how the apostles felt after Jesus left them and how the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed their lives. We then look at the early Christian church with some stories of Paul and the work he did.

Summer is coming and this term prep 4 will be delving into the wondrous patterns of the natural world. We will be creating some beautifully patterned 3D insects and be exploring collage and block printmaking to create some repeat patterns inspired by the artist Eugene Seguy. Colour, symmetry and spectacular patterns will be at the centre of our creative endeavours!

World Music – this term, P4 will be focussing on Rhythm. We will listen to music from different countries and learn about how different rhythms are constructed. They will make up their own rhythmic pieces, and will use traditional rhythm notation to record and share their ideas.

Due to the exploratory and ‘spontaneous’ approach in this subject, we will often go off in different directions depending on the ideas and interest of the children. And so the formal lesson plans are often deviated from to preserve a flexibility and originality of approach. New projects often ‘evolve’ from the children’s ideas in the sessions and it is an important part of the approach and style in this subject to maintain this flexibility and spontaneity. This generates a feeling with the children that they are going on a ‘journey’ in this subject each term. The formal lesson plans are only intended to be used as a basis and guide to the type of work and projects that are covered and are not intended to be rigidly adhered to.

Week 1, 2 and 3

‘Peg in hole’ puzzle design

This project involves the design and construction of a board game involving wooden pegs (dowelling) in a plywood base drilled with 4mm holes.. The children will need to think of a theme for their games and also devise a scoring system for two players. They also need to think about decoration and stability and have an opportunity to test their designs.

Weeks 4, 5 and 6

‘Scene in a bottle’ project using plastic bottles, vegetable oil, water, Shiny objects to make interesting and imaginative effects. Choice of waterproof materials will be important, including considering colour, optical effects and a possible ‘theme’ for the design.

Weeks 7, 8 and 9

Scene or setting project – this project will involve the pupils designing and making a scene using a flat base (beach scene/space scene/garden scene/town scene etc)

Three dimensional models will attach and detach, so that the scene can be changed. The pupils may work with card, plastic, foamex and plywood..

Week 10

Totem Pole designs – this project will involve working with softwood to design and build a totem pole not higher then 30cm. Starting from design drawings, the children will need to think about shape, colour, symmetry in their designs.They need to be free standind and supported by a base.
The latter part of term will involve individual projects of the children’s own choice, provided that they can show necessary thought and planning has gone into their
ideas.

This term pupils will be learning how to use a microbit and develop a project in designing a game to be used. They will be developing a powerpoint presentation based on their residential trip. They will also look at creating a newspaper as a class including taking pictures and designing text.

We will start by working on team building and co-operation activities. After focusing on Poetry Assembly we will use the universal theme of environmental sustainability to explore the conflicting feelings and interests of a community and the need to consider natural habitats that support wildlife.

After completing our topic on Money and Work (how do people make decisions based on budget, values, and needs) we will move on to our Health and Wellbeing topic. We will ask, what is a balanced lifestyle? We will also consider keeping safe at home (looking at medicines and common household products) and discuss good dental care.

PE/ Games – Games: Simple cricket activities, including limited game situations. The skills involved in catching, throwing, bowling and hitting will be developed. Athletics – to include sprints, hurdles and relays. In field events simple javelin/ high jump/long jump (where possible).
P.E. A collection of activities linked to the cricket/rounders sessions. Racket skills linked to tennis and table tennis.
Swimming: Water time will be spent on the development of correct technique and other related activities. All work based on the ASA ‘National Plan for Teaching Swimming’.