Sycamore

Welcome to Sycamore's Class Page- Year 3/4

Welcome to an exciting and busy new term in Sycamore Class! We have a fantastic line-up of learning, creativity, and special events to look forward to over the coming weeks. Here is a snapshot of what your children will be exploring.

📜 History: The Anglo-Saxons

This term, we are stepping back in time to explore the fascinating world of the Anglo-Saxons. The children will discover where these invaders and settlers came from, how they lived, and the incredible treasures they left behind (like those found at Sutton Hoo!). We will look at their daily lives, their beliefs, and how they helped shape the Britain we know today.

📚 English: Reading & Writing

Reading: Matilda by Roald Dahl

In our reading sessions, we are diving into the magical and witty world of Roald Dahl’s classic, Matilda. Through this rich text, the children will develop their comprehension skills, make predictions, and analyse the brilliant dynamics between characters like the wonderful Matilda, Miss Honey, and the formidable Miss Trunchbull.

Writing: Story Writing & Language Skills

Using our reading as inspiration, the children will be crafting their own narrative stories. Our writing focus this term centres on:

• Mastering Dialogue: Learning the precise and correct use of speech punctuation (inverted commas) to bring our story characters to life.

• Vocabulary Building: Actively growing a varied and rich vocabulary to make our descriptions vivid and engaging.

• Sentence Structure: Developing an increasing range of sentence structures to improve the flow of our writing. A particular focus will be placed on crafting expanded noun phrases (e.g., the towering, ancient oak tree with twisted branches) to add sophisticated detail.

🔢 Maths: Practical & Spatial Concepts

Our mathematical journey this term focuses on key life skills and geometry:

• Money: Calculating totals, finding change, and solving practical, real-world word problems involving pounds and pence.

• Shape: Identifying, comparing, and classifying 2D and 3D shapes based on their properties, including lines of symmetry and types of angles.

• Time: Building confidence in reading both analogue and digital clocks, converting between different units of time, and solving duration problems.

🎉 Special Events & Key Dates

Beyond the classroom, we have a packed calendar of memory-making events to look forward to:

• Pyjamarama Day - 12th June
• Moving up day - 18th June
• Sports Day -26th June (10am)
• Whole school Mass - 29th June
• Seeds for life - 30th June
• Sycamore class assembly - 7th July
• Class visit - 15th July
• Break the rules day - 16th July
• End of term Mass - 17th July

• ...and much more! It promises to be a term full of growth, discovery, and fun. Thank you for your continued support!

Sycamore had a brilliant time transforming into litter-picking warriors this morning! Together, the team collected over 585 pieces of litter—including one piece of packaging dating all the way back to 2015.

Inspired to make a difference? You can keep the momentum going by adopting a street of your own to look after and keep clean!

Imagine you are the artist, Andy Goldsworthy. He doesn't use paint or glue from a shop. Instead, he goes outside and makes art using only things he finds on the ground—like colourful leaves, smooth stones, cold ice, or wiggly twigs. 

The coolest part? His art is ephemeral. That’s a fancy word which means it doesn’t last forever! Eventually, the wind blows it away, the sun melts it, or the tide washes it out. 

The story of Pentecost is a lot like this. It’s a story about a sudden, powerful energy—like a giant "breath" of spirit—that changed everything in a moment. 

The child have use nature to tell that story,  creating unique and beautiful pieces of art in the forest and on the meadow.  

Armed with magnifying glass and sketchbook, the children went on a bug hunt to find the spindly legs and quirky shapes needed for their Quentin Blake-style illustrations.

RE
Our lovely posters with a modern day Christmas message…

Christmas Jumper Day for ‘Save The Children’ charity.
We raised over £100 as a school!

We have loved having Mr Richter join us from Switzerland this week! He has been teaching us about his ways of life and schooling in a different country. He has been very intrigued about how we learn at school in England!

Stonehenge models!

Maths- Place value with partitioning

Author Visit
We loved B.Ware’s visit to school on Friday 26th September. In the workshop, we made up our own stories, raps and poems! We’re so pleased lots of children bought a copy of her new book ‘Warning: May Contain Dragons.