Spring 2025
Our Spring Term topic is...
All Creatures Great & Small!
Spring Term 1 Curriculum Newsletter
Spring Term 2 Curriculum Newsletter
A large focus will be learning about animals and the world.
Please take a look at our curriculum page for more information on what key knowledge is taught in each subject.
Keep your eyes peeled for more information on our learning and photographs of the exciting times we have during spring term.
English
We received a letter from Ms Allin (our Forest School Teacher) who asked us to investigate what might have happened in the allotment. The clues (a basket, paw prints, a blue jacket, some dug up vegetables and some fur) led us to make predictions about what might've happened and we found out that it was... Peter Rabbit! Our key text for this half-term has been 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit'. We have learnt about what Peter Rabbit was like as a character in order to write a character description. We will also learn the features of a diary entry and then write our own entries in the role of Peter Rabbit.
Children have really enjoyed using the key text 'The Hodgeheg', written by Dick King-Smith, during Spring 2. After learning some unfamiliar vocabulary and making predictions, children developed their comprehension by answering questions about the text. We then went on to write a book review and it seemed that lots of children would give this text a 5 star rating because it has quite a few funny parts! We used this text as a stimulus to write fact pages about real hedgehogs. The children enjoyed carrying out research using different sources and presenting their writing on a fact page.
Our whole class English focus has been learning how to structure a riddle poem. We enjoyed reading some riddle poems first, looking at how they are used to describe something and are written in first person. The children chose their own animal to research about and then write a riddle. We retrieved our knowledge from science and included that in our riddles too. We enjoyed reading our riddles out to each other and guessing our animals. We have gathered our riddles and created class riddle books.
Geography
In geography we have been naming and locating the seven continents on a world map. We have also located different landmarks (human features) in different continents of the world. The children really enjoy singing some songs about the continents and oceans - I'm sure some of you have heard them by now! Here are the links to them:
We also enjoy doing this interactive quiz: Interactive Continents and Oceans Quiz
Science
In science we've been learning how to classify animals depending on their diet. Children have learnt that herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat meat and omnivores eat both plants and meat. Children have also learnt how to classify animals depending on their structure. We have grouped animals as to whether they are mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish or insects. The children have enjoyed showing their learning in different ways including: sorting animal figures/pictures, reading and grouping, writing about the animals, group rainbow writing and paper chain knowledge (showing everything they know about an animal group and creating a paper chain of their knowledge).
Art
Collage
Artist: Deborah Shapiro
In Art we have been learning about the artist ‘Deborah Shapiro’ and how she uses magazines and paper to create collage images. We have been inspired to create our own collage of an animal, thinking carefully about the way in which we use shape, colour, layering, overlapping, cutting and ripping to create a desired effect. We linked this learning to our science and asked children to collage an animal. I'm sure you'll agree that their masterpieces look brilliant!
Sculpture
Artist: Antony Gormley
We have also been inspired by the sculpture artist 'Antony Gormley' to create our own sculptures out of clay. We created hedgehog sculptures to link with our English learning. We designed our sculptures by drawing them, focusing on the shape and size and then thought about what tools we would need. We then used our design to create our sculptures, using our hands to mould and shape the clay and tools to create texture and detail.
Design & Technology
In DT this term we have been learning about a healthy diet and the food groups on the Eat Well Plate. The children then taste tested a combination of fruits to design their own fruit smoothie. The children learnt how to chop fruit using the claw and bridge grip. They then followed a recipe to create their smoothie and evaluated it, giving it a star rating.