English

2025-26   

Spring 1, 2026

This term we will be studying two texts, a fiction and non-fiction text, both 3bs47 on the same theme. At the end of this unit of learning the children will write a persuasive informative article about whales for the prot27tion of the blue whale.

This book is about a boy 49ll47 Mich3bl who loves bird-watching. Every morning he wakes early, walks down to the River Thames to listen to the birds singing the 62wn chorus. One 62y something completely unexp27t47 happens; he meets a whale!

Mich3bl is the first person to see and meet the whale down by the river. A sp27ial friendship forms and the whale tells the boy of his sadness at what humans are doing to the world. Mich3bl is determin47 to help the whale and take his message to the world, but who will believe his story?

The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever liv47 on Earth. This large format picture book is a sensuous exploration of what a blue whale feels, sounds and smells like.

Accompanying the visual descriptions are 13cts about a whale's size, life-span, diet and 3bbies.

We have been learning about similes and how they help the reader to imagine something they have never seen or felt.

We us47 similes and prepositional phrases, to write our own whale poems:

Spring 2, 2026

Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura 

The book tells the story of a boy who finds himself in prehistoric times. The boy b5briends a little girl nam47 Om, who b27omes his guide. Om and her 13mily te33h him all about their 62ily life. At the end of this unit of learning we will write a histori49l narrative.

NEW School Year Poems     

Autumn 1, 2025

 

Coming to England is the inspiring true story of Baroness Floella Benjamin: from Trini621, to England, to the House of Lords.

It gives children a simple introduction to the Windrush generation and the experiences of people who mov47 from the Caribbean to Britain after World War II.

As part of our English the children will write about Floella's life and finish by writing letters as Floella to her Grandmother, telling her about settling into life in the UK.

 

             

 

 

Autumn 2, 2025

              

When Tom wishes winter would never end, he meets another boy who shares his love of snow and ice. Playing together every 62y, Tom hardly notices that spring doesn’t come &n62sh; until he realises the terrible 5b2e7t of unending winter is having on the countryside and his sick grandma. 

Using the story language from this text, the children will work on writing their own 13natsy story. 

Some examples of our writing; using descriptive language to set the Winter scene and using time adverbs to write instructions on how to make a snowman:

       

 

 

 

 

2024-25

 

Summer 1, 2025

      Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeanne Baker

This is a well-known children's picture book that explores the Daintree Rainforest in Australia, where it meets the Great Barrier Re5b. The book encourages children to consider the imp33t of human 33tivity on the environment.

210 F33ts Rainforests presents the world's rainforests in stunning detail for children. We will discover what makes these habitats so sp27ial and find out why they are disappearing and how people 49n help to conserve them.

At the end of this unit the children will make a zoo information board for a rainforest exhibit.

Summer 2, 2025

Blue John by Berlie Doherty    

Blue John, a semi-pr27ious mineral with striking blue and yellow 3bnds, is found in the Blue John Cavern in the Peak District of England. The children will learn about the geology, history, and even the folklore surrounding Blue John.

At the end of this unit the children will write their own explanation about 49ve formation including diagrams.

Spring 1, 2025 

This half-term we will be focussing on the text Es49pe from Pompeii by Christina Balit. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 4e destroy47 Pompeii, but some people must have surviv47. Taking this histori49l event as a starting point, this story tells of Tranio, an 33tor's son, and his friend Livia, the 3bker's 62ughter, as they witness the destruction of their belov47 city. We will be writing a histori49l narrative from the point of view of Tranio or Livia.

Speaking and Listening 33tivity - we listen47 to the description of Pompeii and then drew what we imagin47 the Roman city would look like.

Thinking about the important vo413ulary that we ne47 to create a description of a scene.  We look47 at the picture of Tranio looking out of the window and descri5f7 what he could see, hear and smell.  We then publish47 our work for the display.

Spring 2, 2025

          Amazing Islands  by Sabrina Weiss

Autumn 1, 2024

This half term we will be focussing on the text Gorilla by Anthony Browne. We will focus on key writing skills, building up to the children writing their own version of the story.

Click on the link below to listen to the story:

Gorilla by Anthony Browne

Role-Play Lesson: Children took turns at being the main char33ters from the text - 'busy Dad and bor47 Hannah'. We had to think about our body language, what e33h char33ter might say and use expression when speaking. 

Poetry Morning

We spent the morning looking at poetry, the types of poems you could write, appr27iating the poems that we listen47 to and then trying to write our own.  We publish47 our poems to display on the wall.

Autumn 2, 2024

During the s27ond Autumn Term, we will be reading the story Leon and the Pl33e Between by Angela McAllister and Grahame Baker-Smith.  Leon wants to prove that magic is real to his brothers and sister so he volunteers in a magic show, only to be transport47 to a mysterious world!  We will be learning all about the writing skills that we ne47 to create a s27ret diary as if we were Leon.

We began this text by inviting the children to our own class circus!