SUMMER TERM 2026

Welcome back to the Summer term! What a busy and exciting term we have got ahead of us! This term, our topic is 'The Great Explorers'. We will be using our Science, Geography and History as the main drivers here to help us think about two different enquiry questions.

In Science, we will be learning about animals and their habitats which will help us think about "Can all animals survive in every habitat? Then, we will use out History and Geography to learning about Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands. This learning will help us to answer the question "Why was Charles Darwin such a significant figure?"

 

Science

In Science, we will be researching animals and their habitats. To begin, we will be looking at the local environment and the mini-beasts that live within it and why, thinking about where they live. This will then be moved onto a bigger scale of world habitats, exploring which animals live in different habitats and how they have adapted over time to live there. All of this knowledge will help us to understand how animals depend on each other and the environment for survival.

LOOK OUT: WE'RE HOPING TO HAVE SOME ANIMALS VISIT US IN SCHOOL TOO!

   

History and Geography

History and Geography will be interlinked over both of the summer terms. The children will begin by becoming explorers and using clues to find out about a significant Victorian figure in Charles Darwin. History learning will then take a pause whilst the children learn about the different continents and oceans on Earth, whilst identifying the pole and equator. They will learn about how these things affect the climate. Our learning will then hone in on the Galápagos Islands to help us to plot Charles Darwin's journey, thinking about the oceans crossed and continents visited along the way.

  

Art

Sticking with the animal theme, children will use Art lessons to create a sculpture in the style of Polo Ramirez. They will have the opportunity to explore clay and how to roll, cut and mould it, whilst also having a go at using clay tools to help them make marks and patterns.

  

DT

In DT, the children will be doing food technology. They will be using their learning on balanced and healthy lifestyles from the spring term to help our friend, DeeTee to create a healthy wrap for lunch. The children will need to use the skills of chopping, grating and snipping to create their wrap whilst also considering the five food groups.

  

English

In English this term, we will be using the book 'Wanted: The Perfect Pet' by Fiona Roberton. We will be writing descriptive posters for our own perfect pets and instructions on how to look after a dog that is actually a duck... 

After this, we will use 'The Bear and the Piano' by David Litchfield to help us to write persuasively. We are hoping to persuade the bear to stay in the forest with his family, or maybe he should go to the city and follow his dreams?

  

 

Maths

In maths this term, we will be focusing mostly on measure. The children will begin by looking at money and will count it, add it together and find change. Moving on, the children will be measuring length, mass, volume and temperature in different scales linked to their times tables. After this, the children will be telling the time using an analogue clock. They will be learning how to tell the time as: o'clock, half past, quarter past, quarter to, and will even attempt to tell the time in 5 minute intervals.

  

SPRING TERM 2026

Our topic this term was 'All Aboard!'. We built on our Victorian learning from the Autumn term to find out what transport was like during the Victorian era and how it changed over time.

History

We researched and found out about a significant person, George Stephenson, to understand the impact that transport played in the everyday lives of Victorian Britain. The children also had the opportunity to compare transport used at the beginning and end of the era, specifically looking at how the railways grew. We were so lucky to visit the Black Country Living Museum to look at some of the transport during that time period.

      

       

Design Technology

As part of our Design Technology lessons, we used our History lessons to help us create a Victorian pull along toy in the shape of transport. This term, the children explored axles and wheels to design, make and evaluate their own moving toy.

Science

In Spring 1, the children learnt all about animals, including humans. They were able to explore different animal groups and how they survive (through their wants and needs). We then moved onto learning about humans and more specifically, exercise and healthy eating which linked to our PSHE learning.

During Spring 2, the children learnt about plants and specifically, what plants need to grow. The children had the chance to grow their own broad beans to witness germination first hand!

English

In English this term, we used the book 'The Wolf's Story' by Toby Forward to investigate different character viewpoints. To begin, we made predictions about what we think the wolf will be like and write a 'WANTED' poster to warn people about the awful beast lurking in the forest!

We then wrote letters of advice to the wolf to tell him what he did wrong in the story and how he can become a good wolf after all. Unfortunately, we're not sure the wolf will listen to us. He got himself arrested and sent to jail! We had to prove his innocence to get him out of jail by explaining his side of the story.

After, we used an alternate story, 'Little Red Reading Hood' by Lucy Rowland to write a setting description of her journey through the forest on her way to the library. She got a bit distracted by someone on the way...

     

Maths

In maths, we focused mostly on multiplication, division and fractions. We revisited counting in steps of 2, 3, 5 and 10 to support our multiplication knowledge and build up our fluency. This skill was then transferred to division. Eventually, all of this was used to help us find fractions of quantity, amounts and shape.

    

Art

In Art, we looked at a new artist - Esther Mahlangu - to help us explore the use of paint in artwork. The children used the skills of colour mixing and creating shades to create a house from Staithes in the style of our artist. Come back to see some final pieces!

  

 

AUTUMN TERM 2025

Our topic this term was 'Vaynor or Victorian?' and we were developing our learning to understand what the Victorian Era was like and to find out what life for a Victorian child was really like! 

History

The children spent the autumn term learning all about Victorian childhoods and how they were very different from today. The focus looked at school, home life, work life and how these changed over time due to the introduction of new laws.

We were able to 'magically' go back in time and turn Vaynor into a Victorian classroom! The children were able to experience what it was like for a child to attend a Victorian school. They took part in Arithmetic, writing on slates, drill and even played with Victorian toys!  Would they rather be a Vaynor child or a Victorian child?

        

 

English  

We focused on Narrative in English in this first half term and built some of the learning around the text 'The Three Little Wolves' by Eugene Trivizas. The children (and teachers!) love how this story takes a twist on the traditional and is full of brilliant surprises! The children then looked at 'The Storm Whale in Winter' by Benji Davies to help them develop their writing skills for different writing purposes.

     

Steering the children's learning towards more Non-Fiction elements, we will look at the largest animal on the planet... the mighty Blue Whale! We researched facts to amaze the reader about this almighty mammal. Did you know a Blue Whale's tongue weighs the same as an elephant?

Art

In art, we looked at Illustrator Axel Scheffler. We focused on our drawing skills and used different types of skills (such as dots, dashes and lines) to create our own artwork inspired by his book 'The Three Little Pigs'. We also experimented with tones and smudges. Our new skills helped us to use lines to create facial expressions on our characters, before using oil pastels to finish them.

     

Maths

Our Maths focus this term was 'Number'. This included: place value of 2-digit numbers, ordering and sequencing and counting in different steps. We had lots of fun this term, using practical resources to support our learning. In Autumn 2, we moved on to addition and subtraction and used our place value knowledge to support our calculations.

Science

In Science, the children looked at materials and their properties. They had the opportunity to plan and conduct different experiments to test the suitability of materials. Working in groups, they were able to do the experiment and explain their findings. I wonder if there are any silly inventions that the children might be able to use their findings to explain why they might not be the best. Chocolate teapot anyone?

Geography

In Geography, the children recapped the four countries of the United Kingdom and their capital cities. Moving on from this, we looked at coastal towns before focusing more directly on the coastal town of Staithes. We then looked at the Urban city of Birmingham, comparing the two places in terms of physical and human features, but also the way of life for people living there too.