Willows Class

Summer Term 2026

 

Maths

Year 3

In the Summer term, Year 3 pupils will build on their understanding of fractions by adding and subtracting fractions. Children will also explore money and time, using practical activities to support reasoning and problem-solving. During the shapes unit, children will develop an understanding of angles, horizontal and vertical lines and how to measure and draw these accurately. In their statistics unit, the children will develop the skill of drawing pictograms and bar charts, and interpreting these. Throughout the term, pupils will be encouraged to explain their thinking and apply their maths skills to real-life situations.

 

Year 4

In the summer term, Year 4 pupils will deepen their understanding of decimals, including how to order and compare decimals and round to the nearest whole number. In their money unit, the children will learn to convert between pound and pence, compare amounts of money and solve problems with money. During time, Year 4 will convert between analogue and digital times and convert to and from the 24 hour clock. Children will also work with area and measurement, using practical activities to strengthen reasoning skills and apply their learning to everyday contexts.

 

English

The first the children will be looking at is Leon and the Space In-between. The children will be writing to describe and entertain in a narrative the place between intertwined effectively with illustrations. The children will be progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures through writing in a narrative.

The next book for Summer 1 uses Interview with a Tiger by Andy Seed as inspiration for their own interviews with an animal of their choice. Children will develop their writing skills by extending the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions. The next text the children will be reading is Race to the Frozen North by Catherine Johnson. Children will write their own letters from Matthew Henson to someone describing his life and the events that have happened. They will compose and rehearse sentences orally, progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and increasing range of sentence structures.

In Summer 2, the children will read It Starts with a Seed by Laura Knowles where they will write a poem that contains quatrains to entertain the reader on the life cycle of an aspect of nature. The children will read aloud their own writing to a group of the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear. The children will also be discussing the poem to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar choices.

 

Science

In Summer 1, the children will be investigating the big question How do plants reproduce? Across the unit, Willow class will conduct various investigations to support their substantive knowledge:

• Flowering plants reproduce by the process of pollination
• Pollination leads to the formation of a seed which can grow into a new plant
• Flowering plants have evolved specific parts to carry out pollination and seed growth
• Those parts are stamen where pollen is produced, stigma where pollen is collected, and the ovaries which contains the eggs that become a seed when the pollen travels down the stigma and meets the egg
• Flowers have petals also are a range of colours, patterns, and smells to attract insects

 

In Summer 2, the children will be investigating the question What are electrical circuits and how do they work? Across the unit, Willow class will conduct various investigations to support their substantive knowledge:

•             Lots of devices are powered by electricity

•             Electricity comes from a source

•             There are two main sources- batteries and mains

 

 

RE

In Summer 1, the children will explore the concept of Protection through the theme of Raksha Bandhan, a Hindu Festival. Children will explore what makes them feel safe and protected to identify their own responses to the concept of protection. They will also create their own rakhi and they will explore why it is used and its importance to the Hindu Festival.

In Summer 2, the children will explore the concept of Ritual through the Rites of Passage in the Hindu faith. They will explore what ritual means and describe the value of rituals to Hindus and Christians, as well as describing rituals in their own experience.

 

History

In History, the children will learn about Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots. Pupils will explore where different Saxons came from and why they came, including their origins of Scotland, Wales and France. They will gain knowledge about major aspects of the Saxon legacy, including laws, language and place names. The children will also develop an understanding of why the Saxon kingdoms merged from eight to four kingdoms.

 

Music

In music, the children will explore two music genres. The first is Samba with Sérgio, where the children will learn to move in time with the beat of the music and talk about what they have learnt about Brazil and carnival. They will perform call-and-response rhythms vocally, by ear, using word rhythms, then transfer rhythms to body percussion and instruments. In the second unit, the children will explore the song Fly with the stars where they will develop listening skills in recognising a song’s structure and changing chords. They will practise identifying crotchet and quaver durations, and develop composing skills to create an accompaniment for the song.

 

Computing

In computing, the children will be identifying how variables and ‘if’ statements are used in Scratch games. They will create variables to keep and display scores for a multiplication game, as well as evaluate their game by explaining what worked well and what could be improved. In the next unit, children will recognise and understand that problems can be solved more easily using computational thinking. They will design a clear algorithm and create a logical sequence of steps to complete a task or project.

 

PSHE

In PSHE, the children will be looking at health choices; what affects feelings; and expressing feelings. We will also be looking at growing and changing; personal strengths and achievements; and managing and reframing setbacks. Finally, we will be exploring how we can keep safe through risk and hazards; and safety in the local environment and unfamiliar places.

DT

In DT, the children will be designing, making and evaluating their own torches to help young children in overcoming a fear of the dark. The children will be exploring a wide variety of torches to support them in their planning process, as well as developing their own simple circuits to allow them to create a working torch.

 

French

In these French units, Willow class will explore two key topics. In Bon appétit!, children will learn to recognise which nouns are cognates or near cognates; express opinions using plural nouns; read and say amounts of money in French; and learn the days of the week in French . In Shopping for French Food, pupils will learn to recognise and say numbers to 60; to form sentences to describe a trip to the shops in French; and to edit and write an original version of a story adapted from a model.

PE

Willow class will take part in a variety of athletics games where they will use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and combination. They will develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance, as well as perform dances and evaluate their performances. Willow class will also be developing the skills required for a competitive game of cricket.

 

Geography

In Geography, the children will be answering the question: what are rivers and how are they used? The children will be describing how the water cycle works, recognising the features and courses of a river. The children will be naming and locating some of the world’s longest rivers, and identifying and locating human and physical features on a map.

 

Art

In art, the children will be creating their own minibeasts from clay. They will first make observational drawing of minibeasts. They will then use these drawings to focus on adding details for effect to their clay design.