Welcome to Acorns' Class Page

Welcome to the Acorn's class page.  Here you will find lots of information about what we are doing in school and the different topics that we are learning.

We hope that you had a fantastic half term and enjoyed the lovely sunshine we have had.

This term we will be looking at the Mayans. We will investigate how they lived and how they managed to last a a society for 3000 years!

Our swimming sessions restart the first Monday of term.

Children will still be having PE on Fridays, however, they will now be bringing in their PE kits and getting changed in school. Please make sure that they have a white t-shirt, black shorts, leggings or joggers and a plain black or red hoodie.

English

In English this term we will be writing an adventure story based on the Maya civilisation.  We will be reading the book Oh, Maya Gods together and might even try to write using the ancient Maya alphabet.

In our reading sessions, we will be focusing on a wide variety of texts about The Maya. To do this we will be using our VIPERS skills (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, sequencing and summarising) to look at challenging texts with more depth of understanding.

Not only that, we will also be building up our reading, writing and SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) skills which will build to help us become the best writers!

Maths

In Maths Acorns will spend the term investigating statistics and geometry. We will be developing different methods to find answers and look at how we can use our prior knowledge of shape to help us.

As a school, we are also partaking in a Maths Mastery programme which will give all the children the opportunity to investigate patterns and recognise the important links in maths. This means that we will have one day a week where we solve puzzles and answer open ended questions which will make maths even more fun!

Year 4s have their Multiplication Tables Check this year, so there will be a strong focus on learning their times tables up to 12 x 12 and we will be sending home cards to help them build fluency.  There will also be TTRockstars club, which is open to Year 3s and 4s on Tuesdays after school.

Forest Schools

We are really excited to be starting Forest Schools. Mrs O'Hara and Mrs Hinde are both qualified Forest School Leaders and are very excited to take the children to Metapic Woods.

Forest School is an educational approach that focuses on outdoor, nature-based learning. It originated in Scandinavia and has become popular in many countries, including the UK, the US, and parts of Europe. Forest Schools typically take place in natural environments such as woodlands, parks, or forests, where children have the opportunity to learn through direct experience in the outdoors.

Key Features of Forest School:

1. Outdoor Learning: The main concept is that children spend a significant amount of time outdoors in natural settings, learning through hands-on experiences.

2. Child-Led Exploration: Activities are often child-led, with the children encouraged to explore their environment, ask questions, and make decisions. They might engage in things like building shelters, creating art with natural materials, or exploring the local flora and fauna.

3. Connection with Nature: Forest Schools emphasise developing a deep connection with nature. Children learn about ecosystems, animals, plants, and the seasons through direct observation and interaction.

Topic

In Topic this term The Mayans will be our focus.  Acorns will discover where and when the ancient Maya civilisation developed. They will learn how historians and archaeologists have used the temples, pyramids stone
monuments and other artefacts left by the Maya to find out about their society and way of life.

We will also investigate and create some Mayan Art!