SPRING TERM 2025

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

History

We will be looking at a significant person, George Stephenson, to understand the impact that transport played in the everyday lives of Victorian Britain. The children will have the opportunity to compare transport used at the beginning and end of the era, specifically how the railways grew. We will also be going on an education visit to 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 will be using our History lessons to help us create a Victorian pull along toy in the shape of transport. This term, the children will explore axles and wheels to design, make and evaluate their own moving toy.

   

Science

In Spring 1, the children will be learning all about animals, including humans. They will explore different animal groups and how they survive (this will explore their wants and needs). We will then move this learning onto a more human focus, by looking specifically at exercise and healthy eating which links to our PSHE learning.

     

During Spring 2, the children will be learning about plants. We will be learning about what plants need to grow and have the chance to grow our own broad beans!

English

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

We will then write 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, the wolf doesn't listen to us, so we have to get him arrested and sent to jail! We will be given the job of proving his innocence to get him out of jail by explaining his side of the story. 

After, we will use another alternate story, 'Little Red Reading Hood' by Lucy Rowland to write the story from another point of view, and explain the wolf's journey through the forest in the form of a poem.

     

Maths

In maths this term we will be learning about multiplication, division and fractions. We will be learning to count in steps of 2, 3, 5 and 10 to support our multiplication knowledge and build up our fluency.

 

 AUTUMN TERM 2024

Our topic this term was 'Vaynor or Victorian?' and we were developing our learning to understand what the Victorian Era was 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 be 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' and 'Sharing a Shell' to help them develop their writing skills for different writing purposes.

    

Steering the children's learning towards more Non-Fiction elements, we looked 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?

Maths

Our Maths focus this term was 'Number'. This includes: place value of 2-digit numbers, ordering and sequencing and counting in different steps. We had lots of fun this term and used 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.

     Art  

In Art, the children explored the artwork of Amiria Gale.

   

They were able to complete evaluations on their final design and discuss the pieces using technical vocabulary, commenting on colour, line and tone and also how the pieces made them feel. They also made their own observational sketches of real shells!

 

In DT, we used the Victorian skill of sewing to design, make and evaluate our own Victorian Christmas decoration. Look at how amazing previous designs have been!