Southfield Junior School

 

Year 3/4 Classes

Our three Year 3/4 classes are called Willow, Sycamore and Cherry. The Children are taught by Mrs Vallis, Mrs Jordan, Mrs Courtney and Mrs White and supported by Mrs Barber, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Thorman.

During PPA each week, the children are taught by Mrs. Law for specialist computing lessons in which they learn about, practice and apply different I.T. skills to complement in-class learning. The children also learn about e-safety. During this time, they are also taught Maths by Mrs Bushnell.

PE is on Thursday and Friday afternoons.

 

Term 5: Rainforest 

Click here to see our knowledge organiser for Rainforest.

Coming Soon - Class Book for Term 5

In the fifth book in the series, rainforest expert Ollie and biology expert Leah are on the mission to rescue a lost baby orangutan in the steamy Bornean rainforest. Follow along with the Secret Explorers as they visit an amazing wildlife reserve and make lots of new friends, both human and animal! However, not everyone in the rainforest is as friendly, and the kids soon stumble across a terrible plot to burn an area of the rainforest to expand the palm oil plantation, which will destroy the orangutan habitat and leave these lovable animals without a home. Using their quick wits, with the help of smelly durian fruit and snapping crocodiles - can Ollie and Leah outsmart the adults and save the orangutan's home?

Term 4: Ancient Greece

Click here to see our knowledge organiser for Ancient Greece.

 Year 3/4 were launched into their new topic, Ancient Greece, through an activity-packed hook day. The children enjoyed tasting different Greek foods, they practised writing their name using the Greek alphabet and they created some stunning artwork displaying temples against a sunset. However, it was the exceptional effort with their costumes that really brought our new topic to life. 

 

Following on from the launch of the topic, the children then jumped straight into hearing famous Greek myths. From daring heroes to dangerous mythological beasts, the children's enthusiasm for this part of our Ancient Greece topic has been amazing. They have looked at the different heroes and created fact files about them alongside creating mini non-chronological reports about the different beasts and how to capture them. The children then went on to write their own Greek myths using the hero from our book Leo and the Gorgon's Curse. The stories were exciting, humorous and humbling; the lessons from each reflected the importance of appreciating differences, being kind and accepting a helping hand when needed. 

 

 

 

Finally, the children have been topping up their historical knowledge by learning about daily life in Ancient Greece. They have each become an expert in a specific area, whether that be in Ancient Greek food, toys, housing or fashion. The children completed some research and then had the chance to present their findings as the experts on the topic. 

 

It has been a wonderful topic enjoyed by all! We can't wait to celebrate the conclusion of this topic by performing our year group assembly: The Heroes and Beasts of Ancient Greece. 

 

History Poster - Ancient Greek Education	History Poster - Ancient Greek Toys

Currently Reading - Term 4

Izzy LOVES all the stories the Ancient Greeks told! She can’t wait to tell her friends about Icarus, who was a TOTAL NUMPTY, and the Trojan Horse, which ended a war and wasn’t even REAL! So pull up a plinth and enjoy all the DRAMA of the original Greek myths, as told by Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham, in collaboration with the British Museum. Now with even more SANDALS!

Laugh-out-loud fun from Blue Peter Award winners Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham.

 

Term 3: Stone Age

Click here to see our knowledge organiser for The Stone Age.

This term, Cherry, Sycamore and Willow class have been travelling thousands of years back in time to the Stone Age! We started our topic by learning about when exactly the Stone Age happened and the different time periods in which it was divided. The children are discovering how each age within the Stone Age was different with many changes happening in terms of how food was collected and the types of tools that were used. The children created some excellent timelines to highlight the key changes throughout this period in time. 

In English, the children jumped into narrative writing and took inspiration from the book Stone Age Boy. They had their character falling down, down, down into the Stone Age and meeting new friends along the way. To make their narratives even more exciting, the children finished them on a cliff hanger. We read about the sudden appearance of woolly mammoths, the prowling of sabre-tooth tigers and cave paintings coming to life. All of the children wrote excellent narratives and we enjoyed reading them together. Well done Year 3/4!

Science

Cherry, Sycamore and Willow have been learning about different types of rocks. They carefully  observed six varieties and learnt about which were igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. The classes have also observed and compared two different soils and their composition. They will also be learning about how fossils are made, linking their learning to Mary Anning and her amazing discovery that changed history!

Observing and comparing two different soils.	Soil shaker investigation to compare the composition of the two soils.

Term 1 and 2: Our World

Click here to see our knowledge organiser for Our World.

Diary Entry

To kickstart the second half of Autumn term, the children in Year 3/4 met a lovely polar bear who had travelled far away from his family and had landed in a woodland. The polar found himself at the centre of the other animal's attention and was feared by them all. The children got to know Leaf (the cruel name that the animals had given him) and we followed his journey through the woodland. We did a range of short-burst writing including setting and character descriptions alongside learning key skills that would help them with their final outcome: diary entry. The children became Leaf and wrote excellent diary entries from his point of view about his journey to the woodland and his experiences being there. We then enjoyed reading the remainder of the picture book together in our classes and found out whether Leaf stayed or managed to get back to his family in the end.

VR Day

Wow - what an amazing day that the children had! They visited the whole world- literally! The children donned VR headsets and made their way, via drone footage, to a range of continents. When arriving, they spent some time in specific countries and looked at famous landmarks and the wildlife that calls these places home. The children then went on to learn about a specific country in more detail and created informative leaflets and some stunning artwork that they can't wait to show off in our termly showcase in December.

     

To kickstart Our World topic in English, the children were challenged to redesign their classroom into a new world. We had our tables turned into theme parks, our reading areas became forests and the space in between was a medley of rivers and waterfalls. The children had great fun creating their new worlds and were eager to share them with one another.  Following our world creation, we went on a tour to each of our worlds. The children imagined that they had visited their world and wrote a postcard to family at home. Their postcards highlighted the best parts of their adventure as well as areas of their world that they enjoyed visiting most. Over the next few weeks, the children will be given the opportunity of creating an entirely new world (without having to use our classroom as its foundation) and will be writing a non-chronological report about it. Watch this space to see their reports.

In our Geography lessons, the children have been learning about counties, countries and continents! We began our topic by finding the different counties in England followed by identifying the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. The following week, we travelled even further afield to look at the seven continents and the different countries that can be found within. The children had great fun matching the countries in atlases to their own maps with many explaining that it was like completing a puzzle!

 

Term 1 - They Made a Difference 

In Year 3/4 we have been learning all about people who have 'made a difference' around the world. We have been finding out about a girl called Malala and how her incredible life experiences gave her the determination to speak out and change the lives of children around the world.

We started of by reading 'Malala's Magic Pencil' which got us thinking about whether we can make changes with just a pen and paper. 

We also looked at the cultural patterns from Malala's home land and recreated a quilt based on these patterns, using coloured paper for the background and oil pastels.