Welcome back. We hope you all enjoyed your week off school, relaxing with family and friends. 

This half term sees the beginning of the Christmas period. We will be extremely busy rehearsing for the Christmas play 'Pirates versus Mermaids'. The children with speaking parts all have their words, as well as all the song words, so please practise with your child at home as much as possible over the next few weeks. Occasionally, we will be setting 'practise song words' as homework instead of spellings so expect lots of singing at home!

Instead of History, we will be focussing on Geography this half term. Year 3's will be learning about the UK. They will learn about the countries, cities and rivers in the UK as well as the seas which surround the UK. Year 4's will be learning about mountains. We will learn about different mountain ranges in the world, locating these on a map and considering what life is like for those who live on a mountain as we learn about the human and physical features. Year 5's topic is named 'All Around the World'. The children will be introduced to geographical language including Equator, Northern and Southern hemisphere, continents, countries, oceans and lines of latitude and longitude. 

Instead of Art, this half term we focus on DT. We have timetabled two mornings for DT in Ash and Maple Classes. From experience, we have found that by blocking out two mornings, the children are able to fully immerse themselves in the designing and making process without the added pressure of packing away after just one lesson. More information about these mornings will be shared with parents nearer the time. 

This term, Yr 4 and 5 will experience a special art afternoon with some artists visiting the school. More details to follow. 

Year 5 will be visiting Winchester useum this half term as part of their History learning on the Anglo-Saxons. This hands-on experience will be incredibly enriching, helping to bring the children's learning to life.