This Term
Below you will find information about what the classes in Year 3 and 4 are learning about this term. You might also like to view our Homework page for ways that you can support learning at home.
Spring 2026
English
This half term Year 3/4 will begin the term with a story based on a myth. The children will be looking at the story of King Midas with the Golden Touch. The children will focus on developing their vocabulary when writing descriptions with expanded noun phrases and using fronted adverbials to being their sentences. The next unit will be a non-fiction text in which the children will produce an explanation text including headings, subheadings and pictures with captions. The children will use the original text called ‘How did the Stone Age People use Fire?’ to support their understanding of the structure using paragraphs. We will then return to a story-based unit focussing on a traditional tale. The children will learn the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The children will spend time learning how to include dialogue in their writing using inverted commas with increasing accuracy. Our final English unit will be a story with a moral. The children will learn about the story of the Hare and the Tortoise and understand what a moral is. They will have the opportunity to write the story from the tortoises’ perspectives as well as creating their own story, considering which moral they would like to include.
Maths
The children will continue to study a range of concepts and calculations focused on number. In the first half term, the children will focus on building their knowledge of number, place value, addition and subtraction looking at more formal written methods. They will then move on to shape including angles and lines of symmetry and geometry and then ending the half term focussing on data. During the second half term, the children will return to their learning of multiplication, division and fractions to again build on their understanding with new concepts. This will then be followed by a unit about measure focussing on different units of measure, perimeter, time and money.
Science
The first Science unit of the term is Energy: Sounds and Vibrations. The children will be able to describe how sounds are made, describe how sounds are heard through different mediums and explain the relationship between vibration strength and volume. We will then move on to Living things: Classification and changing habitats. The children will group animals in various ways including vertebrates and invertebrates, recognise different habitats and their inhabitants and recognise the impact of natural disasters on habitats. The children will also make careful observations and create classification keys.
History
Unit Question: What happened in Britain at the end of the Roman Empire? (Society)
In this unit, the children will learn about who invaded Roman Britain and why the Anglo-Saxons originally came to Britain. They will learn about the invading tribes and that Britain was changed by shaping England into 7 kingdoms. The children will also be able to learn about the differences in society during this time period including gender roles, differences between the tribes and religion.
Geography
Unit Question: What is it like to live in the UK?
In Geography, the children will be learning the name of different cities, counties and geographical regions which they will need to remember as well as comparing the human and physical features. We will be looking at the main types of settlement within the UK and why they change over time. The children will also learn about topographical features and how those have changed.
Computing
The first unit the children will complete is Journey inside a computer. They will learn how to recognise inputs and outputs and that the computer sends and receives information. The children will be able to explain what an algorithm is and make comparisons between different types of computers. They will also learn how to explain that each part of a laptop works together and the purpose of each part. The children will then move on to their next unit, collaborative learning. The children will understand the need to be thoughtful when working on a collaborative document, plan and create a survey for Microsoft Form with a range of different sentence types and then export the data to a spreadsheet. They will also work on highlighting data, using conditional formatting and calculating averages and sums of numbers.
P.E.
Our first Real PE unit for the term will focus on dynamic balance and coordination. The children will develop and apply their dynamic balance on a line and ball skills through focused skill development sessions, healthy competition and cooperative games. The children will then move on to reaction and response with a focus of counter balance and coordination when sending and receiving. The children will to develop their sending and receiving and counter balance with a partner through the development of the skill. They will use throwing and catching in isolation and in combination, applying control and balance in different ways.
Art
The children will be completing a unit focussing on Drawing. They will be learning about the works of Paul Cezanne focussing on exploring still life drawings. The children will experiment with different media including pastels, chalk and charcoal using techniques to show light, dark and shadows. They will use methods including blending and smudging to gain an understanding of the effects of different pressure as well as using thick and thin, hard and soft lines to create tones and textures.
DT
The children will be completing a unit of work focussing on cooking and nutrition. The key question for the unit is ‘What ingredients will we use to cook a tasty nutritious Italian meal?’ The children will research Italian food and create an Italian dish for a family that tastes delicious. The designer that we will be focussing on for this unit is Jamie Oliver.
Life Curriculum
Unit question: How can we manage our feelings?
The children will learn how everyday things can affect feelings and how feelings can change over time being experienced at different levels of intensity. The children will learn ways to respond proportionately to and manage feelings in different circumstances.
Unit question: How will we change and grow?
The children will learn about how hormone changes in their bodies can affect emotions and feelings. They will understand the importance of personal hygiene and the changes to routines as they grow.
Music
For the first unit of the term, we will be using the music program charanga to learn about different musical styles. The children will focus on the skills of singing and performing including harmonies and two parts. We will then move on to learning how to play the recorder. The children will learn how to hold the instrument correctly, how to play notes, read the music and follow a tune.
French
Au Cafe is the first unit the children will study. Children will learn the nouns and corresponding articles for a variety of food and drink items, building a practical vocabulary for discussing meals. They will be challenged to role-play ordering a selection of food and drink from a French menu and practice asking for the bill, developing conversational skills useful in real-world dining scenarios.
The children will then move on to the unit this is my family – ‘Voici ma famille!’. Children will learn to identify and introduce family members and pets, building confidence in describing personal relationships. They will further develop their understanding of possessive adjectives ("mon," "ma," and "mes") when referring to family members, enhancing their grammatical accuracy.
R.E.
Our first key question for RE this term is ‘How do ancient stories influence modern celebrations?’ This unit is based on Pathway 5 – Influence and Authority. It focusses ancient stories that underpin festivals of light from different religions. The children will explore how these ancient stories have influenced how people celebrate in modern times. The next unit of the term is ‘Why do people follow inspirational leaders?’ This unit is based on Pathway 3 – A good life and Pathway 5 – Influence and Authority. This unit will begin in Spring 2 and continue into Summer 1. The children will explore the concept of leadership and will be an introduction to Jesus, The Prophet Muhammad and Moses as important leaders for Christians, Muslims and Jews.