Ingoldisthorpe Church of England primary school

A huge welcome to Maple class from Mr. Gachowicz, Miss. Claxton and Mrs. Wallis.

In the Spring term we are looking forward to learning about the Ancient Mayans and Mexico. We will learn where in the timeline they appear, what made them so successful, how do we know about the Maya and discover how the Maya were ruled, making comparisons with our last history topic the Anglo-Saxons. With maps, we will look at central and South America and see where the Mayan civilisation lived as well as locate the equator and tropics. In geography, we will look at biomes found in these regions. In English, through a creative topic-based way, we shall be writing non-chronological reports on the Ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza, linked with our science, an explanation text on the journey of food digestion and narrative poetry based on the Mexican festival of the day of the dead . This half term we will be going on our residential visit to How Hill. This supports lots of our learning and we will write a recount of our trip in the form of an informal letter.

In computing and IT we will research information to support our non-chronological report writing. We will input data and create graphs during Bird Watch week. We will be presenting information, changing font size and type, copying and pasting media and creating hyperlinks. In art we will be looking at the work of Mexican artist Garcia Vega and designer/architect Antoni Gaudi before sculpting our own busts. In DT, we will be recreating ceremonial animal face masks, using papier mache and learning how to attach and strengthen elements of our masks.

The children will continue to learn outdoors, and we will develop our knowledge of number and place value using natural materials, use the grid method for multiplication using natural materials and find fractions of amounts.

In science this term, we are learning about animals including humans. We will look at the skeleton and muscles and know their function. We will look at whether animals have similar skeletons. We will learn about food nutrition, where we get energy from and the importance of a balanced diet and healthy life style.

In music we will be thinking about the music of South America, traditional folk music and Latin pop. We will be making our own panpipes and composing our own small pieces. We appreciate and respond to different genres of music thinking about the dynamics, tempo, beat and rhythm. We will continue to have fortnightly recorder sessions, learning how to read musical notation.

In RE, we will think about our school ethos and how it is rooted in Biblical teaching in the Prodigal Son. We will ask the question ‘Why do Christians call Jesus' day of dying Good Friday?' and ‘How do people respond to poverty and injustice?’

We always try our best and will be learning lots of new skills in Maths and English. There will be a focus on practicing our tables daily so we can become fluent in our times tables and mastering the inverse. We will begin a daily speed tables test. We will be doing regular arithmetic and reasoning work to master the four operations, think about number and place value and the skills needed to answer a range of mathematical concepts.

Reading remains important to us and we will be developing our analytical and synthesis skills through whole class guided and individual reads as well as reading daily for the Readathon. We love and encourage reading for pleasure.

We will have PE twice a week so please ensure indoor and outdoor PE kits are at school. This term, Maple class will be going swimming on a Friday morning. Spellings will be set and tested weekly and can be accessed on SpellingShed too. Homework will be set weekly and can be chosen from the Homework Grid.

We are very excited about this term.

September 2023 Meet the Teacher PP Slides

How Hill Information Slides

How Hill Residential 2024 PP Slides