We are delighted to be teaching your children and we love working in Years 3 and 4 as the children are so full of enthusiasm, awe and wonder and have a real love of learning.
We follow a two-year curriculum programme so that the children encounter all of the National Curriculum strands for Years 3 and 4 during their time with us. The curriculum plans are detailed below.
The children are taught in their class for all English lessons. Our English lessons consist of Active Read sessions, English writing sessions and discrete grammar and spelling sessions.
We use books as stimuli for our reading and writing sessions and they cover a range of genres from historical fiction to modern fiction and many genres in-between!
Throughout the two years, the children develop their skills in order to write in a variety of styles (e.g. writing to inform, writing to entertain and writing to persuade) and are taught different reading skills (explain, retrieve, infer and choice). For more information about our reading and writing coverage, please see our progression maps for English.
The children are taught in ability sets for all Maths lessons. We follow the White Rose Small Steps scheme. All lessons begin with a number starter and this is to enable the children to continually rehearse their number knowledge and methods.
The children are exposed to fluency, reasoning and problem-solving tasks throughout the lessons to allow them to embed and practise their learning.
The children cover a variety of topics throughout their time in LKS2. The topic lessons consist of the subjects; History, Geography, Science, Design and Technology and Art.
Many of the topics have a combination of two of these subjects as their main focus.
Our aim is to allow the children to learn in a fun, engaging and ‘joined up’ way so that they gain a deeper understanding of the topics that are taught.
The topics covered are:
Ancient Civilisations
Are we different to animals?
What is out there?
All around the world
Inventions and Discoveries
For more information about the National Curriculum strands that are covered in each of the topics, please see the long-term curriculum maps.
The children in LKS2 take part in weekly Religious Education lessons. The themes for these lessons are:
Judaism and Christianity – what do Christians and Jews learn about God from the accounts of Moses and Joseph?
Incarnation – why is Advent an important time?
Christian community and belonging – how are Christian communities different?
Forgiveness, salvation and resurrection – how is Jesus a saviour?
Forgiveness and salvation – what should you stand up for?
Judaism – which festivals are important in Judaism and how are they observed?
The roles of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit – what is God like for Christians?
Incarnation – what is good news for Christians in the Christmas story?
Christian community – how does the Bible help Christians to live and be examples of Good News?
The events of Holy Week – why is Good Friday called “good”?
Islam – why is Muhammad (pbuh) important for Muslims?
Islam – what do Muslims say Allah is like?
Creation – what can be learnt from the creation story?
Our RE lessons allow the children to deepen their understanding of Christianity and encounter other world religions.
The children have a weekly Computing lesson in the dedicated Computing suite. There is a strong emphasis on E-safety with every year starting with a unit of work on this important topic. Children are encouraged to use technology safely, respectfully and responsibly. The children are able to recognise acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and identify a range of ways to report concerns about content and contact.
The children develop a wide range of fundamental skills, knowledge and understanding. The topics covered include:
Word Processing – The children are taught the fundamental basics of using computer technology.
They are taught to type, edit and amend using different software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
Coding and Programming – The children are taught to design, write and debug (finding and correcting programs). They learn that a computer needs an input to achieve a goal (output).
Multi Media – The children are taught the skills of formatting using keyboard commands and how to organise their work to demonstrate effect. The children have the opportunity to express themselves more through digital technology, art, PowerPoint and posters.
Handling Data – The children create and use a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals, including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information.
Technology in their lives – Children refer to online safety rules when discussing technology in their lives. They learn to navigate between websites and use trusted search engines. They become more confident in using email for communication, including attaching and saving files from emails.
Where possible the children are encouraged to utilise the knowledge learnt in other subjects, particularly Topic to forge links with their overall learning.
We follow the PSHE Association Programme of Study. The children in LKS2 take part in a weekly PSHE lesson which is also supplemented by class circle time. The PSHE themes around internet safety and accessing information online safely are covered in our computing curriculum.
The themes for our PSHE lessons are:
Families and friendship – what is a family, features of family life, positive friendships.
Safe relationships – safely responding to others, the impact of hurtful behaviour and how to respond to it.
Respecting ourselves and others – the importance of self-respect, courtesy and being polite, differences and similarities.
Belonging to a community – rules, laws, rights, freedoms and responsibilities, what makes a community, shared responsibilities.
Money and work – different jobs and skills, personal goals, making decisions about money.
Physical health and mental well-being – healthy choices, expressing feelings, dental hygiene.
Growing and changing – personal strengths and achievements, coping with setbacks, emotional well-being.
In Lower Key Stage Two the children follow units of work which build on the skills introduced in EYFS and KS1. Emphasis is made on hand eye co-ordination and teaching different interchangeable skills which can be transferred through many sports.
We teach; athletics, orienteering, basketball, netball, hockey, cricket, rounders, rugby, football, dance and gymnastics.
Basic rules are introduced to further enhance their learning. As well as learning skills, the children, linked to their PSHE lessons, learn the importance of keeping fit for both a healthy body and mind. We look at how a healthy diet can improve physical fitness and well-being.
The children also learn about the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship when playing sport and the importance of safety particularly when different apparatus and equipment is used.
Each unit is completed with a competition which enables the children to partake in sport of a competitive nature.
The children also undertake a series of swimming lessons at Bollington Leisure where they are taught the fun and skill of swimming as well as water safety.
The LKS2 French lessons are taught on a two-year cycle. We cover many units from greetings and stating our personal details to food vocabulary and giving opinions. We also cover a number of French culture lessons where we examine Parisian culture, French Easter traditions and compare and contrast French and English schools.
Deputy Safeguarding Lead, LKS2 Lead, English Subject Co-Lead, Staff Governor
We can provide paper copies of any information free of charge upon request.
Prestbury CE Primary School
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