Summer 1 - Fit for Life

This term, we will be learning about what it means to be healthy. The children will be beginning to understand where our food comes from (field to fork) and to how to identify between healthy and unhealthy foods. Children will gain some basic knowledge on the different food groups in our diets and understand about eating the right amounts of different types of food - to gain a balanced diet. This term in DT, the children will use their scientific knowledge to help them plan and make a healthy snack suitable for an athlete's diet. We will also learn about the importance of regular exercise and personal hygiene.

Spring 2 - Playtime

In this topic we expanded our historical knowledge through looking at how toys have changed over time. The children learnt about toys from beyond living memory that children would have played with during the Victorian era. Then they interviewed someone they knew to find out more about toys from within living memory, as well as considering the toys that they currently play with at this time. The children predicted what they thought the toys of the future might be like based on the changes to toys that they learnt about in their historical research. Children created fantastic information booklets on toys through time using the knowledge they had gained. Here are some examples:

Spring 1 - The Secret Life of Animals

In this topic we explored animal life cycles. We looked at and compared the life cycles of a snail (a minibeast) and a cat (a common pet). The children learnt about the basic needs of survival for both minibeasts and animals and used this knowledge to develop their understanding on how to care for animals to ensure they stay healthy. The children enjoyed telling us about their pets from home and how they must care for them with different food, shelters and care required. 

In Art, the children explored colour, pattern and collage to create their own butterflies using the influence of Eric Carle's illustrations.

Autumn 2 - Hot & Cold

In this topic we explored why some parts of the world are hot and some are cold. We studied the names and locations of the seven continents, the oceans and the North and South Poles - including looking more closely at where the UK is in the world and what continent we are located in. We used atlases and globes to support our understanding and knowledge. We learnt about the Equator and how this affects the temperatures of countries near it. We also learnt about the different features of living in Antarctica and the Kalahari Desert to help us understand how the animals that live there have adapted to their extreme hot or cold environments.

Autumn 1 - Castles and Dragons

In this topic we looked at the structures of castles and why they were built. We focused on a local Hampshire castle - Porchester Castle - to understand how they were used to defend from attack. We looked at the different job roles of people that lived in castles and children began to understand that castles were once homes for people. We compared castles with our own homes and considered the reasons why not many people live in castles now.

In DT we designed and made our own castles from junk modelling by learning how to make joins and use different equipment to stick materials together.