Summer Term - Back to Our Future
The Year 3 and 4 children are thoroughly enjoying the "Back to Our Future" topic and loved exploring the prehistoric camps and artefacts that had appeared over the Easter holidays. We even met a time
travelling boy who had lost his family. Over the last week, we have been investigating our local area to see if there was any evidence of an ancient prehistoric settlement nearby and we wondered if this is what our visitor was trying to find?
Two weeks ago, we welcomed Dr Helen, a paleontologist, into school who ran engaging and hands-on workshops for the children. They loved using her tools to investigate the rocks and fossils and none of us could 
believe how old some of her samples were. This linked in perfectly to our Rocks and Soils Science unit where we have been investigating how soil and fossils are made and undertook a very exciting experiment about water flow through differen
t types of soil.
In English, we have been writing stories and it has been really loving seeing the children's imagination come out in their written work. In Geography, we have been learning about different settlements, and in PE, we are beginning to develop our athletics skills ready for Sports Day next half term.
Have a lovely holiday and remember to keep working on those times tables, Year four!
Click here to see more photos from Year 3 and 4
Spring term - The magic of the Mayans
Despite the miserable weather, years 3 and 4 had a wonderful start to 2025 and blew us away with their eagerness, engagement and interest in our new topic.
This half term, we learned all about the Ancient Maya including their culture, the geography of
the area and why they are such a significant group of people and what their legacy is. We had the opportunity to enjoy tasting some foods from the area and the children showed empathy and maturity when learning about the cocoa trade nowadays and in particular, Fair Trade. The children were amazed by how little the cocoa farmers are paid in comparison to the amount which shops receive.
During class reader time, we have all been reading th
e fantastic 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' which the children are thoroughly enjoying. We have been using the idea of Golden Ticket winners in English and so in our Writing sessions, have been creating our own sixth Golden Ticket winners; this week, have been telling the world all about them through news articles.
In Science, Year 3 have learned about 'Plants' and Year 4 they have learned about 'States of Matter'. We were lucky enough to have Kidz Fit in school running a wellbeing workshop for all classes and our PE lessons are now starting to focus on choreographing the class dances for our upcoming production. In Art, the children completed a piece of collaborative stitching, created our own 
jingles and adverts for our chocolate lollipops during DT and Music and learned some new gymnastics skills in PE. We were also very lucky to invite some sports leaders to Ashmead from our partnership school, Sir William Ramsay. The students created some fun sporty activities for the Year 4 children that lasted all afternoon! Well done to all the children for participating in every activity and also for achieving many of the school games values like 'teamwork', 'determination', 'passion' and 'honesty'. 
During the chocolate experience, the children took were able to see how chocolate is produced into bars and they have informed all of our learning across the term.
The children really impressed us all in their production of Jack and the Cocoa Beanstalk. Every member of staff across the school were blown away with the acting, dancing and confidence shown by the children and they should be proud of how well they all did!
We’ve loved sharing the children’s home learning in class and listening to their book recommendations in Book Club. We’re all ready for a rest but at the same time, are very excited about our topic for next term. Have a wonderful holiday and keep practising those times tables!
Click here to see more photos from Year 3 and 4
Autumn Term - Raiders of the Lost Empire
Wow years 3 and 4, you have started the new school year with a bang!
The children came back in September with a fantastic attitude towards learning and all of the staff are so proud of how well they have settled in to their new classrooms. 
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed our 'Raiders of the Lost Empire' topic and the children wrote some interesting information texts about Roman armies. We all loved exploring different artefacts and in particular, investigating and writing about a rusty, brown helmet which was sent to us by a pretend archaeologist, Jim Smith who had dug up "the old, rusty helmet".
The children were so keen to find out about life during the Roman Empire, especially the invasions including Boudicca! We also enjoyed our Roman Day. We dressed up as Roman citizens and became actors, mosaic designers and authors amongst other professions during our Roman Day. Thank you to those of you who helped to facilitate such a great day for the children.
In Science, Year 3 learned about forces, magnets and light and in Year 4, they learned about sound and electricity. All of the children showed huge excitement about the experiments we participated in, exploring how to be super scientists. 
In DT, the children embraced the Roman sandal project
and we now have some creative and wonderful designs to show you! In Geography, the children learned about volcanoes which helped them during their English writing on Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. PE lessons have seen us developing skills and teamwork in sports including basketball, hockey and dance, whilst 4CH have been swimming. In Spanish the children have shown wonder in learning new phrases and phonics in a different language. Our Art lessons over the term were a firm favourite and the volcanic landscapes produced have been gallery worthy!
We are all sad to bid farewell to the Romans for now but are excited to see what the Spring Term brings. In the meantime, we wish you all a restful and relaxing holiday and look forward to learning together again in 2025.
Click here to see more photos from Year 3 and 4
'A Very Special Delivery'
On Thursday, we received a very special delivery! The children studied the object, discussing their research. The children not only came up with some excellent questions before they started their research, but managed to answer all of them through their investigations.
Classroom Displays
Timetable
Here are the class timetables. Please be aware that there may be slight changes across the year and sometimes weekly changes are inevitable. We will do our best to inform the children if changes need to be made.
Spellings
Year 3 and 4 Spellings
We are changing the way children learn spellings this year in order to support children who struggle with the anxiety of a test but also to enable us to challenge confident spellers. Spellings will be 'taught' instead of 'tested' each week. Children will have a new 'spelling rule' to focus on each week and this will be taught in a variety of different ways and will consist of at least four sessions:
- Session one - Introduction of a new spelling rule and a new word list
- Session two - a quiz which is completed on the Laptops using the Purple Mash website
- Session three - LCSWC - a session of Look, Cover, Say, Write, Check. This may be part of a Handwriting session.
- Session four - Dictation - The teacher will dictate the word in a sentence for the children to practise spelling
It is always encouraged that children also spend time learning spelling words at home. Below you can find the word lists and rules that children will learn each week so you can also offer them extra spelling support at home.
Your child can also access the spelling activities on the Purple Mash website.
Year 3 and 4 Spelling resources
Maths
Home Learning
Reading
Your child will be given a reading book to bring home and a reading record to track their reading progress throughout the year. As last year, children are also bringing home a library book from the class library to read alongside their reading scheme book. If your child is a free reader then they will have one book which they will have selected from the fabulous range of books we have at school.
As in previous years, children will be awarded certificates for reading they do at home. Information about the different certificates can be found in their reading record.
Within reading sessions at school the children will learn comprehension skills and look at different genres of text. Ways in which you can support this at home can be found in their reading records.
Band 3 - Reading Assessment.pdf
