Our Curriculum

Spellings 

We begin each morning by learning our weekly spellings, using a range of methods from the Pyramid Technique, to a Timed Challenge and writing with our non-dominant hand. We are currently following the Babcock spelling scheme, which includes the Year 4 & 5 National Curriculum spelling list but also provides opportunities for looking at a range of spelling skills such as the use of the apostrophe, suffixes and prefixes.

Guided Reading

Following our daily spellings we have a 20 minute Guided Reading session. This year we will read the following texts: 

Kensuke's Kingdom

Cosmic Disco

The Boy in the Girl's Bathroom

Varjak Paw

Each week there is an opportunity for individual pupils to read to the class, but we also read sections aloud as a whole class. It is wonderful to listen to the pupils reading with increased confidence and improved expression. Our weekly lessons involve questioning of the text, word and meaning tasks and an activity based around the chapter of the week, for example writing as one of the characters or predicting what might happen next within the story.

Numeracy

Pupils are taught Numeracy every morning and each lesson begins with a 'Flashback' 5-a-day set of questions. This is an opportunity for the children to look back at previously taught aspects of their numeracy as the curriculum covers many areas. Our Year 4 and 5 pupils are currently taught separately for maths. During the Autumn and Spring Term the all our pupils learn the four operations, number facts and the concept of place value. Pupils use efficient written and mental methods to solve a range of problems including simple fractions and decimal place value. Our Year 4 pupils will also be learning about Area, Length & Perimeter, while our Year 5 pupils will be learning about Fractions, Decimals & Percentages.

One of the key elements for our Year 4 pupils is the knowledge of the times tables. By the end of the year pupils are expected to have memorised their times tables up to and including the 12 times table. The children are set a times table to learn for their weekly test. The test will take place on Friday and you will be informed of your child's progress via Marvellous Me. Our class have access to TT Rockstars to assist with their learning. Each child will be given their own personal login details and password.

https://ttrockstars.com/

Literacy

We read the following texts in our Literacy lessons:

Kensuke's Kingdom 

The Boy in the Girl's Bathroom

Stormbreaker

Literacy lessons begin with a Flashback which focuses on spelling, grammar and punctuation. We are also introducing dictation at the start of the lesson which will enable pupils to focus on spelling, punctuation and their handwriting. Pupils study the techniques used by these authors and the ideas from the stories are used to generate the pupils own writing of:  narratives,  explanation texts, play scripts, letters, biographies, diaries & newspaper reports. Pupils begin by studying examples of the text type they will be producing. They create word banks, study the features used such as chronological order, use of the first person and emotive language if they are writing a diary. Pupils plan their writing, produce a first draft and finally re-draft their piece of work. 

We also read, write and perform poetry as part of our literacy curriculum. We will study poems from Cosmic Disco & Sensational Poetry.

Science

Our Science lessons encourage the children to ask questions about scientific concepts, and answer those questions through scientific investigations. Our Year 4 & 5 pupils are taught separately for Science this year.

Year 4 Topics:

Autumn – Rocks & Soil

Spring 1 – Animals Including Humans

Spring 2 – Plants

Summer 1 – Light & Shadows

Summer 2 – Forces & Magnets

Year 5 Topics:

Autumn - Earth & Space

Spring 1 - Forces & Magnets

Spring 2 - Properties & Changes in Materials

Summer 1 -Living Things & Their Habitats

Summer 2 - Animals Including Humans

Our children are very fortunate to have their own on site Forest School. Year 4 have been using the muddy kitchen, rope swing, stage area, shelter building and scavenger hunting for 'finds' which they have used to create magnificent models to take home.

Wessex Wild

Learning outside the classroom helps us to consolidate what we have been learning inside the classroom. In September the Skylarks were treated to a ‘Green Fingered Farmers – plants’ session at the Wessex Wild Farm in Tincleton as part of our Impact of Humans on the World topic. Our host Chrissy started the session in the clever converted classroom, showing the children footage of the herd and explaining the vision of delivering sustainable farming in tandem with nature conservation. The children asked lots of questions about the cows, I think they could have spent the whole session doing this! 

After this the children began a tour of the farm starting with the Christmas trees, learning about the ducks and then moving onto the vegetable gardens. Chrissy showed the children a wide range of their home grown produce. They were particularly impressed with the size of the beetroot and learning about how the beans re-seed themselves. The children also went into poly tunnels to look at some of the other fruits and vegetables that are grown on the farm, allowing children to gain understanding of how fruits and vegetables which are not in season are available all year round. The children then made their own seed pots using newspaper, they planted chive seeds which they were able to take back to school with them. We are currently watering the seeds and monitoring the growth to see who has ‘green fingers.

The final activity of the visit was a tasting session which included melon, corn, beans & cucumber. The children had a fantastic time on the farm and had lots to chat about on the return coach journey. We are grateful to Wessex Wild for funding this visit.