Mr C Hayne
Class Teacher
Miss S Dowrick
Teaching Assistant
Miss H Pink
Teaching Assistant
Welcome back to Summer 1
VIPERS
In VIPERS this half term, we are reading 'The Time-Travelling Cat and the Great Victorian Stink' by Julia Jarman.
The synopsis reads: Topher's amazing cat, Ka, has time-travelled again and left him yet another mysterious clue. Following his nose, Topher finds himself in Victorian London where disease is rife and the Thames is clogged with stinking sewage! There he discovers a plot to kill Joseph Bazalgette, the man who is trying to save the city. Determined to foil this foul plan, Topher must first escape from an arch-criminal and his den of thieves.
We will be continuing to use all of our reading skills to make inferences, predictions and retrieve information from the text.
English
We will start the term by looking at limericks. A limerick is a short, humorous poem consisting of five lines with a specific rhyme scheme (AABBA) and a playful or witty tone. Children will write their own based on the Victorian novel 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by C.S. Lewis.
Following this, we will be focusing on flashback narratives, linking to our VIPERS text, 'The Time travelling Cat and the Great Victorian Stink'.
In our final focus, we will be studying report writing with the children producing an historical report on the Victorians, which relates to our overall topic for this half term.
Maths
This half term, we will continue looking at fractions, decimals and percentages before moving on to perimeter and area, statistics (read and interpret line graphs, tables and timetables, shape (angles), co-ordinates and + and - of decimals.
As well as teaching these units, we will also be focusing on developing children's mastery in maths and their arithmetic skills through daily practice.
Science
Our Science umbrella question this half term is, 'Does every living thing reproduce?'
Over the course of 5 sessions, the children will look at how life cycles in mammals, insects, birds and amphibians differ, how the life cycle of plants differ from other life cycles, the different types of reproduction and what metamorphosis is.
History
This half term, we move forward in time from the Middle Ages to focus on the Victorians. This period of British history was a time of great change and progress. Many famous and important people were born or lived during this period. These individuals made significant contributions to literature, the arts, science and politics and left a lasting legacy.
Our umbrella question is, ‘The Victorians: A Dark Age or a Golden Era? Over the course of 5 key questions, the children will learn about Queen Victoria, some of the innovations and inventions that occurred during this time, and what life was like for children in a Victorian school.
This then links into a study on St Blazey in the Victorian period, with the children using primary sources such as photographs and census entries to learn more about our locality. We will also look at the Victorian schools of Lodge Hill and St Blazey, which both closed in 1992 to make way for Biscovey Junior School (Biscovey Academy).
To further enhance the children's learning, we will be welcoming a visit from 'The Lady Time Traveller'.
DT
In the Victorian era, children had far fewer toys than today’s children. Toys such as rocking horses, dolls’ houses and Noah’s Arks were only for the wealthy, and many toys such as expensively dressed dolls were so expensive and precious that their young owners were never allowed to play with them. As the century progressed, toys became cheaper as they were mass produced. Mechanical toys, clockwork railways and lead soldiers became increasingly popular.
However, many children still had handmade toys. Our DT topic takes inspiration from this and the children will be designing and making their own felt toy. The main skill the children will be learning is sewing (blanket stitch), so patience to thread a needle will be important!
PE
Our focus this half term is on net and wall games - tennis. As well as this, we will be practicing our country dance (the Oxo Reel) in preparation for the May Fayre which takes place later in the half term.
RE
Sikhism Our sessions will answer the question: What is the best way for a Sikh to show commitment to God?
Computing
We will be looking at Coding - Micro:bits.
P.E Timetable and Kit:
For Maple Class P.E will be taking place on Tuesday afternoons and Friday afternoon. We ask that children bring their P.E kit in for the week so they are ready to get changed in school.
P.E Kit requirements:
-Sky Blue Biscovey Academy t-shirt
-Navy Blue Biscovey Academy hoody
-Black shorts (black tracksuit bottoms can be worn for outside P.E. when the weather is cold)
-Trainers.
