Murphy

Welcome back to the Summer term! We hope you enjoyed your half term break with your families and that you are keeping safe and well.

Over the next few weeks we will be following a unit of work on a theme which focuses on ‘Holidays’. This unit of work is part of the International Primary Curriculum. This curriculum sets out very clearly, the learning goals in three different areas:

1. The subjects of the curriculum. The learning goals for each of these subjects are at least as challenging as anything taught in the United Kingdom curriculum. In many cases, the learning goals are more challenging.

2. Personal development – the characteristics which will help children become more responsible, independent learners.

3. International understanding – which will help children develop both a sense of the independence of their own country and culture and the interdependence between countries and cultures.

Each unit of work is based around specific targets derived from the learning goals for one or more of the subjects.

During this unit we will be focusing on Geography, History, Art, ICT, Society and International.

In Geography, we’ll be finding out:

• About the places people go to on holiday
• How they get to their holiday destination
• Some of the things people do on holiday
• What people wear on holiday
• How tourism can spoil holiday places

In History, we’ll be finding out about:

• About the holidays that we have had in our own past
• About the holidays that our families and other people have had in the past
• What is the same and what is different between holidays in the past and today
• About some of the wonders of the world

In Art, we’ll be finding out:

• How to create a sand art sculpture
• About some of the pictures that are used to record holidays
• How we can record our holidays
• About the designs of some holiday souvenirs

In ICT, we’ll be finding out:

• How to use mapping software

In International, we’ll be finding out:

• What is the same and what is different between the lives and home countries of the different children in our class
• How to say ‘hello’ in another language
• About future holidays in space

In Society, we’ll be finding out:

• How to stay safe on holiday
• What a pilgrimage is

Teaching in a thematic way, the national curriculum requirements of English, Maths, Science and R.E will be  interwoven with our topic learning. In English we will be looking at a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry texts and developing our understanding of spellings, punctuation and grammar. In Maths, we will be developing and applying the number system, securing numerical fluency and calculating. We will also be exploring fractions, measure, statistics and understanding geometry (properties of shape). In Science we will continue to explore plants and build our understanding of plants, seeds and bulbs, investigating how and why plants need water and light to grow.

If you have any comments or questions about your child’s learning, please get in touch.

Mrs Bannister and Miss Garoghan

Murphy Class Teachers