Welcome to Spring 1 in Robins.

The weather may be cold but we will be too busy to notice!

Behaviours for Learning

Robins will be learning to Say No to Bullying. We will develop and revisit four of the key social and emotional aspects of learning covered in previous themes, through a focus on bullying – what it is; how it feels; why people bully; how we can prevent and respond to it; and how children can use their social, emotional and behavioural skills to tackle this crucial problem.

English

Our texts will be: The Minpins by Roald Dahl and The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper​ 

                        

In The Minpins children begin by engaging in the themes of the story by talking about danger and what they are allowed and not allowed to do, imagining gruesome consequences if they don’t follow instructions! They then go on to read and explore the book,  The Minpins and create character descriptions (for their own monsters and The Minpins themselves), retellings of key events, reports about The Minpins and eventually writing a new chapter.

We will use the book The Bear Under the Stairs as a model to discuss children’s fears and how they dealt with them. Children will write letters of advice to the main character and back before writing their own story of a child who is scared of something that might be in the house. The sequence of learning finishes with children making comparisons between real bears and toy bears and using this as the basis for an information report about bears to give to William to help him feel less scared.

Maths

We begin the half-term looking at money; recognising it, using it and calculating change.

We will then move on to Multiplication and division, making the connection between repeated addition and multiplication, and repeated subtraction and division.

Science - Electricity

This unit introduces electricity, what we use it for, how it behaves and how we must use it safely. Children will have two lessons dedicated to exploring circuits, asking and answering questions about how electricity behaves and what is needed to create a complete circuit. Pupils will learn about the differences between batteries and mains electricity and will understand how our electricity system is connected across the country and beyond. Pupils will understand that scientists use symbols to represent components of a circuit.

Geography

During this unit children will have an opportunity to consolidate their understanding of the geography of the UK and should be able to use maps to identify the locations of the countries within the British Isles. As children journey through the curriculum they will learn more and remember more about the British Isles as they study both local and UK geography units of work.

Throughout this unit children will look at the link between the geography of a place and its human features. They will learn about the countries of the British Isles, focusing on key terminology such as port, harbour, coastline, and island. They will become familiar with key geographical features of the British Isles including mountains and valleys in Wales and The Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Religious Education

Robins will explore the question ‘How important is it for Jewish people to do what God asks them to do?’ exploring what it is that Jews have been asked to do by God, how they honour this and how they show that it is important to them.

PE

Target games are games where players send and object towards a target. In this unit, pupils develop their understanding of the principles of defending or attacking for target games. The develop the skills of throwing, rolling and striking towards a target and are given opportunities to select and apply the appropriate action for the target considering the size and distance of the challenge. They will apply their skills individually, in pairs and in small groups and begin to organise and self-manage their own activities. They will understand the importance of abiding by rules to keep themselves and others safe, learn how to score points and use simple tactics.

In Dance, children explore space and how their body can move to express an idea, mood, character or feeling. They expand their knowledge of traveling actions and use them in relation to a stimulus. They build on their understanding of dynamics and expression and will use counts of 8 consistently to keep in time with the music and a partner. Children will also explore pathways. Levels, shapes, directions, speed and timing. They will have the opportunity to work independently and will others to perform and provide feedback, beginning to use key terminology.

Life Skills

We will be finding out How we can look after ourselves and the environment. Is being healthy just about our physically health? What do we mean by our environment and how can we protect it?

Computing

In e-safety, Robins will explore online reputation. Then Robins will be learning about programming algorithms to create short computer sequences and games.

Music

Inventing a musical story: Music is used for many reasons and can help us to tell a story and express our feelings. Music can be loud or soft, fast or slow, smooth and connected, or short and detached. We can also use instruments with different sounds to help communicate a story and different emotions. Explore the music in this unit and try to connect your feelings with what you hear. Do any of the songs tell a story? Use the music in this unit to explore loud and soft sounds. Singing and listening are at the heart of each lesson and children will also be learning to play, improvise and compose using a selection of these notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B♭, B.

Art

Children will introduced to murals;  what they are and how they have been painted throughout history, by looking at cave paintings, murals in churches of the Italian renaissance, and at more modern works by Rivera and Banksy. They then study famous examples of frescoes (exploring what this term means), including Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel and Leonardo’s The Last Supper, previously looked at in relation to symmetry in the unit on Landscapes and Symmetry. .

 

Linked below are the knowledge organisers that will help you support your children with all this learning during the half-term. Thank you for all that you do to support your children with their learning at Glade.