Welcome to Badger class! Our teacher is Mr Jones, who has joined our school this September, after 10 years working at other schools in Stevenage. He really enjoys sport and English, and is keen to make sure that our lessons are fun, inclusive and inspirational!    

• Our curriculum map - find out about our current topics
• Our latest school newsletter
• Meet our school councilors, Lacey and Daniel

Home learning ideas:

• As always, tables facts will be really important to us this term, so it would be brilliant if you could work on learning these at home. Focus on one table at a time and try:
  • Making-up rhymes to help remember number facts (“4 x 6 is 24, bears growl and lions roar!”) 
  • Looking for numbers in that table in the world around you - on doors, car number plates, in phone numbers or when you’re out shopping. 
  • Writing-out tables with finger paints, chalk or water-on-tarmac, or make them from playdoh. 
  • Chanting, singing, whispering... Say tables out loud together whenever you have the chance. 
• Each week we are set spellings to learn. Click here for guidance on strategies you can use to support your child in learning these at home.  
• Later in the term we will be exploring newspaper reports, so reading and sharing examples at home would be really helpful. Does the report tell you who, what, when and where and why? Why do you think the editor chose to run this story first? What differences can you spot between newspapers?
  
• In geography this term we are learning about the USA. There are loads of resources online to help you find out more about the climate, people, landmarks and landscapes found across this enormous country - a good place to start is the BBC Bitesize website, where there’s a unit focussing on Florida which you can find here.
  
• Go on a rock hunt in the garden or around town. What different types can you find? Can you spot any of the rocks we’ve met in class (like chalk, slate, granite and marble)? Can you tell if they are igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic?
• There’s some great advice on talking to children about online safety on the NSPCC website at www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/ We also use lots of resources from the UK Safer Internet Centre: saferinternet.org.uk/ 

Our latest news:

• In history, we have learnt about the Romans and how they shaped Britain. To accompany our history learning, we have looked at a vast range of Roman mosaics, studied how they have been created and then designed and created our own mosaics. We explored the story of Boudicca and what challenges she faced. We spent three lessons studying, designing and creating our own Roman shields, which you can see below. 
 

 
• At the beginning of December, we went to our school trip to Hazard Alley. Through hands-on scenarios - like crossing roads, spotting fire risks, and learning about stranger danger - we discovered how to stay safe in everyday situations. The immersive environment gave us the chance to practise real-life skills in a fun and memorable way, boosting awareness and confidence. It was a day filled with teamwork, laughter, and valuable lessons that will stay with us long after the visit. 
 

 
• Our Year 3/4 Boccia team took part in the Stevenage tournament which took place earlier this term. The event, organised by Stevenage Sporting Futures, saw 9 schools from across town competing in the sport, which is similar to bowls. Our team put in a great performance and won a special ‘Passion’ award for the spirt that they showed throughout the competition. 
 

  
• We were delighted to be joined by so many of our parents and carers for our Stay and Read event in October. We talked about the reasons why reading regularly at home is so important, explored some of the things we can do to make it an enjoyable experience and shared lots of our favourite books. A big thank you to everyone who made time to join us in class. 

We have been learning about... 

Science - In science, we have studied the topics Light and Shadow and Busy Bodies. In the first topic, we learnt how a shadow is formed, what the words opaque, translucent and transparent mean and how shadows act when you move the light source. In Busy Bodies, we learnt about healthy eating, what a human skeleton is and its function and how it compares to an animal skeleton.

English - This term, our class has been working hard to develop and refine our writing skills. Most recently, we have focused on explanation texts. As part of this unit, we designed imaginative inventions aimed at making everyday life easier. Some of us chose to write about a snack machine, while others came up with clever ideas like a homework-completing device! We are incredibly proud of the creativity and effort that everyone showed - take a look at some fantastic examples of our finished work below:

The Mark-a-tron 7000, by Aung-Thuta

Are you fed up with endless piles of marking? Do you want an automatic marking machine? Then meet the Mark-a-tron deluxe. This is the latest model. Enter any question then press the tick button and it will tick the work, just like yours! Isn’t that unbelievable? 

How to use 

The Mark-a-tron 7000 deluxe is easy to operate. To turn the device on, you press the green button then it will send a message. Within a few seconds, the machine will tell you that it is ready for a question. The piston and the transformer move causing a humming sounds. The AI technology will scan the learning. Then, it will take a few seconds to generate a response. After a few seconds, you will have to pick one and press the tick button to confirm your choice. If it is a maths question, enter the question using the calculator on top of the machine. 

Things to note 

Once a week, replace the batteries and put red ink into the red pen. This is very important. Don’t play, break or throw the device because the filters, fans and the machine itself will break. Pen, calculator, filters and fans! It’s so simple. The Mark-a-tron will never make your hand tired again! 

The Charge-a-tron, by Sai

Are you sick of waiting for your device to charge? Then get the Charge-a-tron 5000, it takes 30 minutes to charge your device. Make sure to charge the robot for 15 minutes to ensure you receive the full charge. Did you know that a table pops out and you can play while it charges? You can also eat sweets while it charges! 

How to use 

First, you have to charge the Charge-a-tron then turn the glowing, button on. After, a small table, will pop out from the middle of the robot so you can put your device on it. Next, turn your device on and start playing. Finally, a sweet dispenser will pop out and you can eat sweets while it rapidly charges in thirty minutes. To turn it off, press the glowing, purple button twice, to turn it on, press the glowing, purple button once. You could use your voice to turn the machine on and off, just talk to the screen. Lastly, you can program it with the instruction booklet. Points to note This is important, do not put your device in when the robot isn’t charged otherwise it will explode! Please don’t be rude or angry towards the device or else it will not charge anything for a week! 

Safety information 

You will need to replace the batteries, you can get them from www.robobatteries.com or it will malfunction! Also, you will need to give it a rest for thirty minutes. Please put on sleep mode if it is not in use.   

This term's topics

English - We will start the term by completing our study of the stories Starbird by Sharon King-Chai and Zeraffa Giraffa by Dianne Hofmeyr. We will be investigating the way that settings and characters are described, and will contrast the endings of the two stories. We will finish this unit of work by writing alternative endings for Zeraffa Giraffa After that, we will shift to focus on newspaper reports. We will think about the way that they answer the ’Five Ws’ (who, what, when, where, why) and use direct speech to give information and show how people who witnessed the events felt. We will then write our own newspaper reports based on a mystery that we have read about or experienced ourselves.

Maths - We will start the term by exploring shapes, starting by developing our understanding of perimeter (the distance around the outside of a shape) and the way we can calculate it. After that, we will be revising the properties of 2d shapes and learning to identify different types of quadrilateral, including trapeziums, parallelograms and kites. Building on that, we will look at symmetry, identifying lines of symmetry in shapes and plotting symmetrical patterns. Later in the term, we will be returning to decimals, ordering, regrouping and rounding numbers with up to two decimal places. We will also investigate the link between decimals and fractions, writing and representing numbers in a range of ways.

Science - Our next topic will see us exploring the rocks and soils beneath our feet. We will begin by comparing and grouping different types of rock, carrying out simple tests and looking in particular at the difference between igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. We will then look at different types of soils, investigate how they are formed and design our own tests to find out how quickly they absorb water.

Humanities - We will be taking a virtual ‘road trip’ across the USA this term. It’s a huge, diverse country, so we will explore the different landscapes and habitats, from the Rocky mountains of the west to the deserts, plains and forests of middle America, to the bustling cities of the coasts. We will use photos, videos, maps and first-hand accounts to investigate weather, food, schools and homes, and begin to compare life in the UK with life in USA. We will then use all this information to make reasoned choices about where we would like to visit and where we would prefer to live. Throughout the topic we will also be developing our map skills, locating the USA (as well as the UK, the 7 continents and 5 oceans) on a variety of maps and globes.

Take a look at our curriculum map for more information on our topics.