This spring term, our project is called ‘Extreme Environments’ with our key question being: ‘Where is the most inhabitable place in the world?’

We will start the term off with our ‘superb starter’, which will be a science day. Our ‘mix it up middle’ will be an art day focusing on Fauvism and Cubism. Finally, for our ‘enthralling ending’, we will be using recycled materials to create a shelter that would withstand extreme environments. We will be looking at key aspects of constructing sturdy structures and materials that affect temperature. 

We will have class reading books, which will include ‘Sky Song’, ‘Race to the Frozen North’ and ‘The Brockenspectre.’ We will have many opportunities to improve our writing skills by exploring language that can be used to capture the imagination of the reader and create meaningful pieces of writing, focussing on using organisational features to structure non-narrative writing. We will also be perfecting our ability to infer and identify key pieces of information from a text by reading a variety of non-fiction texts.

In maths, we will continue to focus on our recall speed of times tables – this will play an important role when it comes to fractions this term. During our science lessons, we will be exploring classification of living things and how they can be grouped in different ways. We will also be developing our understanding of how changes in the environment impact living things and how they adapt and survive in specific environments. As well as this, we will be looking in depth at electricity; understanding what a conductor and insulator are and creating our own circuits.

Our music lessons will be focussing on creating music to sound like a volcanic eruption. Children will look at well-known composers such as Alan Hovhaness and Igor Stravinsky. The children will be given the chance to explore different ways of creating sound with instruments and exploring synthetic sounds too. Our art lessons focus on form and perspective: using lines and a vanishing point to create images that show this. We will be exploring the works of Esher and comparing the art movements of Cubism and Fauvism.

In French, the children will be recapping numbers and learning about months of the year. The children will also be able to give opinions on food and order food. In PE, we will be delving into multiple games, such as: netball, boccia, handball and goalball, as well as archery. Our geography focus will be looking at different environmental regions in Europe and understanding what causes this. We will also have a deeper look into Oymyakon to help us understand what makes it such an inhabitable place.

In our computing lessons, we will focus on creating a short film about an area of the world with extreme environments. Inspired by David Attenborough, the children will conduct research, create props to create an informative and creative video, looking at the skills of editing and sequencing. Design and technology this term will allow the children to explore mechanical elements of making objects move - such as gears, levers, and pulleys. In RE, we will be looking at Sikhism and understanding how joining the Khalsa makes Sikhs better people. We will also be asking why Sikhs believe that it is important to share. In addition to this, we will be studying Buddhism, asking if it is possible for everyone to be happy and what Buddhists do to make the world a better place as well as how they lead a good life.