Hawthorn Class 2024 - 2025

WELCOME TO HAWTHORN

Class teacher - Mr A Fowles

Learning Support Assistants - Mrs C Morris

Miss Graves teaches on a Friday afternoon for French and Mrs Rowland for music.

Year 4 swimming and year 5 Forest School on a Wednesday.

Mr Fowles teaches PE on a Friday morning.

This term, we will be exploring the fascinating topic of Entertainment Through Time, with a particular focus on the life, work and legacy of William Shakespeare. As part of our historical learning, we will investigate how entertainment has changed across the ages – from medieval jesters and Tudor theatres, to modern-day film and digital storytelling.

We will dive deep into the Elizabethan era, exploring how over 400 years ago, William Shakespeare became one of the most influential playwrights in history. We will learn about what made his plays so powerful, how they were performed in the famous Globe Theatre, and why his work continues to inspire audiences around the world today.

Later in the topic, we will focus on Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and how his early life influenced his writing. As part of our learning journey, we are excited to announce a residential visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, where the children will have the chance to walk in Shakespeare’s footsteps, visit key historical sites, take part in drama workshops, and see first-hand how his legacy is celebrated in the town today.

Throughout this engaging topic, we will also compare entertainment from different periods in history, exploring how drama, music, storytelling and performance have evolved through time. We will consider how entertainment was used not only for fun but also to share news, teach lessons, and bring communities together.

Our vehicle text, William Shakespeare: Scenes from the Life of the Greatest Writer by Mick Manning and Brita Granström, will provide us with exciting opportunities to explore SPaG, as well as a range of creative and historical writing styles. This engaging non-fiction book blends biography, illustration, and storytelling to take us on a journey through Shakespeare’s life - from his childhood in Stratford-upon-Avon to his fame as a playwright in London.

As we read, we will deepen our understanding of how real historical figures can be brought to life through compelling narrative and visual storytelling. The book will support our history learning by helping us explore the world of Tudor England, including the theatre, life as a writer, and the impact of Shakespeare's work on entertainment through time.

During the summer term, children in Year 4 and Year 5 following the First4Maths Academy curriculum will focus on consolidating and extending their learning through practical and reasoning-based activities.

In Year 4, pupils will deepen their understanding of decimals, including comparing, ordering and rounding them to the nearest whole number. They will also explore money and time, solving problems involving converting between units and reading timetables. Later in the term, children will focus on statistics, interpreting and presenting data using bar charts and line graphs. They will also revisit geometry, identifying angles, describing the properties of 2D shapes and exploring symmetry. The term finishes with work on position and direction, where children describe movements and plot points on a grid.

In Year 5, the summer term begins with further development in understanding decimals and percentages, including converting between the two and solving word problems in context. Children will then apply their knowledge to geometry, learning about properties of shapes, measuring angles accurately and identifying regular and irregular polygons. They will also revisit position and direction, focusing on translation and reflection using coordinates. Towards the end of the term, Year 5 will focus on measurement, particularly converting between different units of metric measurement and exploring volume and capacity. The term typically ends with statistics, where children interpret line graphs and tables, solving multi-step problems.

In Hawthorn, children are expected to develop their understanding of animals, including humans. They will learn about the different stages of the human life cycle, including how humans grow and change from birth to old age. Children will explore the changes that occur in animals as they develop, comparing similarities and differences between various species. They will also learn about the functions of the main organs in the human body, such as the heart, lungs, and digestive system, and understand how these systems work together to keep us healthy. Additionally, children will explore the importance of nutrition, exercise, and hygiene in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and investigate how to keep our bodies strong and functioning well throughout our lives.

Within RE, we will be looking at how faith impacts the way people behave, live and how their values are affected by this. As part of our topics we will be focusing on Jesus and then we will turn our attention to loss and death and how being a Christian provides hope.

Reading

Reading is at the heart of successful learning and we will immerse ourselves in a range of quality texts over the course of the year. As reading is a priority across all subjects, we regularly use a range of fiction and non-fiction texts in our lessons to help inform richer learning across the curriculum in the afternoon.

In addition to this cross-curricular learning, a single day might also see us exploring the motivations of characters in our gripping class novels or simply allowing children time to develop a love of reading through our provision of high-quality fiction books. Wherever and whenever possible, we will prioritise developing the skills and positive attitudes towards Reading that will enable Hawthorn class to become confident, informed and engaged learners.

Home Reading expectations are detailed below, but should your child express and interest in a particular author, series or genre, please let us know and we would be delighted to order books from our library partners free of charge. Visits to your local library are also encouraged!

PE will take place on Wednesday and Friday. Year 4 will be swimming on a Wednesday and Year 5 will be at Forest School on a Wednesday. Please ensure your child comes to school in their PE kit on these days.

Homework

Please ensure your child reads at home at least 4 times per week. In Year 4 and 5, they are expected to record their own reading in their home – School contact books; parents just need to sign each time.

TT Rockstars should be practised at least 15 minutes a week. This will be checked each Thursday with extra time in school for those who can not fit it in.

Don't forget about Education City as well!

Personalised spellings will be sent out at the start of each time, please allow time for analysis to be complete in school before they're sent home.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with me using the Home-School book or by email via this address: contact@whitegate.cheshire.sch.uk

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: YEAR 4 MULTIPLICATION TABLES CHECK

What is the Year 4 Muliplication Tables Check

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a Key Stage 2 assessment to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4 (in June). The purpose of the MTC is to make sure the times tables knowledge is at the expected level.

What to expect:

The MTC is an online test where pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question you have 6 seconds to answer and in between the questions there is a 3 second rest. Questions about th e 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC.

How to prepare:

The best way to prepare is to start early, this is why Timestables Rocksters is to completed at least 3 times a week as part of home learning, in addition to class practise. With regualar pracitse, children will learn all the questions and gain confidence. Do also use the web links below:

Times Table Resources:
Times Table Rockstars – (soundcheck, at least 4 times a day)
Multiplication Tables Check – 2022 – Timestables.co.uk
Times tables Speed Test X – Timestables.co.uk
Times tables games – Learn them all here!
Times Tables Games for 7 to 11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)
Test your Multiplication – Times Tables From 2 to 15 (mathsisfun.com)
Multiplication Tables Check – Mathsframe