We're really looking forward to building upon on our learning in History by Year 3 visiting Hardwick Park to take part in a Stone Age to Iron Age workshop where they will be completing tasks that people from those time periods would have completed. Year 4 will be visiting The Great North Museum to participate in a Time Odyssey experience, using IPAD's to gather information and follow clues about a range of time periods in History they have studied such as The Ancient Egyptians, The Ancient Greeks and The Stone Age to Iron Age. A great opportunity for us to revisit learning from last year and this year and begin to make links. 

In Geography, we will be learning about why we have cities and how cities differ from towns and villages. We will be comparing Durham in the present and past and looking how land use has changed over time. We will use what we know about cities to design our own 'Mega-city'. 

In Science we will explore 'Changing States', through lots of practical activities and investigations looking at identifying and describing differences in properties of solids, liquids and gases. 

In RE, we will discuss which parts of the Nativity story are important to Christians by looking at  symbols in the story we recognise,  building on previous learning of identifying Christmas symbols. 

We will also participate in a whole school 'Careers Fair' where we will meet different professionals, creating questions to ask them about their jobs. 

This half term we are going to be continuing our journey in History by learning about the changes through time from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We will explore the key differences between those time periods, exploring structures such as Skarabrae and Stone Henge as well as learning about how historians use sources such as the grave of the Amesbury Archer to understand the past. We will also examine how and why hill forts were constucted in the Iron Age. 

In Science, we will be exploring the names and functions of human teeth and working scientifically through making observations and recording predictions and data when we test how different liquids affect our teeth. We will also be describing the simple functions of the digestive system and we will observe how food moves through our digestive system.

In Art, we will be studying Stone Age cave drawings to create our own by creating tone and texture using charcoal. We will also take inspiration from Charles Rennie Mackintosh to create our own Mackintosh Rose.

We will also be holding our family autumn crafts enrichment day to explore seasonal change. 

Year 4 will also go on their first overnight residential camping trip - camping on the grounds of our NCDAT trust school Castleside Primary in Consett. They will participate in activities led by a scout leader and enjoy hot chocolate and marshmallows by the camp fire!

In Science, we will be exploring plants and how water is transported. We will also explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal. We will set up fair tests to observe how seeds can germinate without soil. We will also investigate whether the number of seeds in one pot can affect plant growth. 

In Geography, we will be building upon our work about the UK and our map work on physical and human features to explore Europe and its weather and climate. We will discuss some features of European countries. Year 4 will continue with swimming and Year 3 with drumming. 

In DT, we are designing, making and evaluating a desk tidy by exploring some ready made desk tidies and applying our Maths skills by creating 3D shapes from nets. In Art, we are exploring mood through the artist Joseph Turner. We will mix colours, tones and tints to convey mood.

In Computing we will continue building our coding skills in Scratch by exploring repetition, count controlled and infinite loops. 

We will also have an enrichment afternoon with our parents visiting school to help us make musical instruments!

This half term, in Lower Key Stage 2, we will be exploring the enquiry question: 'Who were the Maya?' We will be using different sources of evidence to research the past such as: pictures, artefacts, archaeological sites, texts and online sources. We will learn that the Maya settled in central America about 5000BC but Mayan civilisation was at its height between 250AD and 900AD. We will also be exploring how the Maya worshipped different gods and how they developed their own writing and number system. We will also learn about how the climate affected what they ate. 

In Art, we will be exploring printing. Learning to use layers of two or more colours and make printing blocks (e.g. coiled string glued to a block) and precise repeating patterns. We will also explore digital media linked to Andy Warhol and take inspiration from him to create our own art. 

In Science, we will explore magnets and observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others. We will carry out simple practical enquiries to answer our questions. We will also begin to plan our investigation for plants for the summer term.

In Computing, we will continue to develop of E-Safety skills - learning about sharing information online safely and gaining permission for sharing. We will also learn how to deal with hurtful situations online and how to manage our online reputations as E-Citizens.

In RE we will continue to learn about beliefs and what some deities tell Hindus
about God.

Year 3 will be going swimming in PE this half term and Year 4 will be learning OAA with a focus on creating and apply simple tactics and develop leadership skills. Year 3 & 4 will be learning the rules of tennis, how to win a game and how to use the forehand.