SPRING TERM 2024

Rocks, Relics and Rumbles 

In the Rocks, Relics and Rumbles project, your child will learn about the different layers of the Earth, including plate tectonics and their potential effects on the Earth's surface. They will investigate different types of rock to learn about their uses and properties. They will also investigate soil and fossils, including learning about the work of Mary Anning. They will have the opportunity to use maps to learn about the lines of latitude and longitude and a compass to learn about the cardinal and intercardinal points. They will also learn about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis and the long and short-term consequences that these can have.

Misty Mountain, Winding River

In the Misty Mountain, Winding River project, your child will learn about the characteristics and physical processes of rivers, including how they shape the landscape over time, their significance around the world and the impact of flooding. They will learn how to use the eight points of a compass, four and six-figure grid references, symbols and a key to locate and plot geographical places and features on a map, as well as how contour lines are used to show the topography of an area. They will have the opportunity to learn about the stages of the water cycle and about mountains and their different formations, studying mountain ranges in the United Kingdom and around the world. They will also learn about habitats and how human and natural influences can have an impact on the environment.

Sow, Grow and Farm

In the Sow, Grow and Farm project, your child will learn about allotments in the United Kingdom and how the government encouraged people to have them to support food rationing during the Second World War. They will learn about food webs and animal life cycles, including how living things are dependent on one another within a habitat. They will investigate the different ways that plants reproduce and will dissect flowering plants to identify the different structures. They will have the opportunity to learn about farming in the United Kingdom and the techniques used in modern farming, including the challenges that farmers face. They will learn about the benefits of eating seasonally and about the pros and cons of importing food. They will also learn about world farming and how the different climate zones affect where different foods can be grown.

Frozen Kingdoms

In the Frozen Kingdoms project, your child will learn about the regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. They will learn about the similarities and differences between these two regions, including the climate, landscape and natural resources. They will learn how to use grid references, lines of latitude and longitude, contour lines and symbols to identify the geographical locations of the Arctic and Antarctic, and how these, along with the tilt of the Earth, affect day length and warmth. They will investigate polar oceans to learn how they differ from other oceans on Earth and how climate change increases Earth's temperature and leads to rising sea levels. They will learn about the indigenous people of the Arctic, including how their lives have changed over time, and about the positives and negatives of tourism in Antarctica. They will also learn about classifying animals, animal adaptations and evolution, and polar exploration and discovery.

Summer Term

Year 3  - Emperors and Empires

In the Emperors and Empires project, your child will learn about the growth and decline of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. They will discover the absolute power of the Roman emperors and study the hierarchies of Roman society and the Roman army. They will study the first invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 BC and the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43. They will learn about Boudicca’s rebellion, Hadrian’s Wall and the Romanisation of Britain, including how Christianity came to Britain and investigate the legacy of Roman Britain in their local area.

Year 4  - Ancient Civilisations 

In the Ancient Civilisations project, your child will learn about three of the earliest civilisations in the world; ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley civilisation. They will study the ancient Sumerian and ancient Egyptian civilisation in detail, to discover how crucial factors like water sources and farming helped them to develop and thrive. They will find out about important inventions and the growth of cities. They will also study the lives of different people in society, including the roles of kings and pharaohs. The children will reflect on their learning by identifying the similarities and differences between the two civilisations, before studying the Indus Valley civilisation independently. They will explore sources of evidence about the location of the Indus Valley, cities and trade, and note the reasons why historians know less about the Indus Valley than other ancient civilisations. The children will then compare all three civilisations, before learning about the causes and consequences of each civilisation’s decline. They will also consider whether or not these civilisations left a lasting legacy.

Year 5  - Groundbreaking Greeks

In the Groundbreaking Greeks project, your child will learn about different periods of Greek history, exploring the earliest civilisations, the devastation of the Dark Age and the breakthroughs and developments of the Archaic and Classical periods. They will understand how the geography of Greece affected the development of city states and explore Athens, learning about the structure of the government and society. They will get to know some of the most significant Athenians and understand why Greek art, culture, architecture, philosophy, medicine and mathematics were so significant. Your child will learn about the leadership of Alexander the Great and discover how ancient Greece became part of the Roman Empire after the Hellenistic period. They will explore how the Romans respected and developed Greek ideas, making them their own and spreading them throughout the Roman Empire. To end the project, your child will decide which was the ancient Greeks' greatest idea, and explore how the legacy of ancient Greece affects their lives today.

Year 6  - Britain at War

In the Britain at War project, your child will learn about the main causes of the First World War and which countries were the major players. They will investigate why so many men volunteered to fight and then sequence the events at the start of the war. Using various sources of evidence, the children will learn about life in the trenches and the consequences of new weaponry. They will listen to first-hand accounts of life on the home front and evaluate the impact of war on everyday life. They will also discover the events that led to the Allied Powers’ victory and the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles. The children will also learn about the causes and main events of the Second World War. They will find out how Britain prepared itself for war and the war’s impact on civilian life. They will learn about the Battle of Britain and how it proved to be a key turning point for the Allied Powers. They will also hear about Anne Frank and discover what her story tells us about the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazi Party. The children will research the causes and consequences of the end of the Second World War and investigate the legacy of the wars in Britain. Closer to home, the children will research the life of a local First World War hero who sacrificed their life fighting for Britain. They will also investigate the legacy of these global conflicts in the post-war period.

If you are a parent or carer, we hope you will find the web links below useful.

Purple Mash (2simple)

Other Useful Links