Our brain enables us to learn lots of new and different things every day, enabling us to gain the knowledge, skills and understanding that we will need to become successful now and in the future. By finding out more about how we learn, and how we can improve the way that we learn, we will be better equipped for meeting the many challenges ahead of us. We will need to be metacognitive learners, scientists and internationally minded. 

It’s... Brainwave: The Brain

Explaining the Theme

In Health and Wellbeing we’ll be learning about:

• The different types of learning (Knowledge, Skills and Understanding)
• The importance of practice when learning a skill
• The brain and its connection to learning
• How we can deepen our learning by making connections across different subjects
• How positive thinking can help us to succeed.

In International we’ll be learning about:

• Why it is important to learn from other children and cultures around the world.

In Science we’ll be learning about:

• How to look after our brain.

next...

The people who helped create the first great civilisations were not unlike you and me. Today we can learn a lot about these people and their way of life through the things they left behind – from everyday objects to magnificent and rare treasures.

It’s... Temples, Tombs and Treasures

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• What life was like in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Sumer 
• How ancient civilisations used rivers
• How to use evidence from primary and secondary sources to find out about ancient civilisations
• Families in ancient times
• Ancient writing systems and why they were created
• Gods and goddesses 
• The Pharaohs and Lugals that ruled Ancient Egypt and Sumer
• How the pyramids might have been built
• Ancient Egyptian and Sumer tombs and burial traditions
• Archaeologists and their famous discoveries.

In Art, we’ll be learning about:

• How to plan and create our own tomb wall painting
• How to make an Ancient Egyptian or Sumerian headdress.

In Music, we’ll be learning about:

• The instruments used in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Sumer
• Manipulating elements of music to change how it sounds
• Composing music to help tell a story. 

In International, we’ll be learning about:

• Comparing the lives of children in Ancient civilisations with life today.

after that...

Ever wondered what impact chocolate has had on many people’s lives for hundreds of years? We will need to be geographers as we find out where and how chocolate is grown and processed, historians as we find out how chocolate made its way across the world, and scientists and designers as we create our own chocolate bars! Does chocolate have a positive or negative impact on the lives of many people today? 

It's... Chocolate

In Geography, we’ll be learning about:

• Where chocolate is grown and why
• The Cacao Belt
• Where chocolate is manufactured
• The advantages and disadvantages of commercial farming.

In History, we’ll be learning about:

• The first people to enjoy chocolate many years ago
• How chocolate made its way from the Aztec Empire in Mexico to Europe
• How some people were not treated well in the trading of chocolate.

In International, we’ll be learning about: 

• The benefits of fair trade to commercial cocoa farms
• What major chocolate companies are doing to support fair trade practises
• Other fair trade products
• Chocolate consumption around the world. 

In Science, we’ll be learning about:

• How much chocolate we consume
• Nutritional values of chocolate
• How our bodies use (burn) calories
• Which materials best protect from unwanted smells
• Solids, liquids and gases.

In Health and Wellbeing, we’ll be learning about:

• How to look after our teeth whilst still eating chocolate
• How eating chocolate may change how we feel.

In Design Technology and Innovation, we’ll be learning about:

• How to make chocolate
• Designing flavour combinations for our own chocolate bar 
• Marketing designs for our product.

In Art, we’ll be learning about: 

• Creating a chocolate wrapper for our own bar
• Creating a billboard advert for our new chocolate bar.

and finally...

Looking at patterns found in nature and how they can be recreated. We will use a range of tools to develop their design skills to create their own printing plates. 

The children will be learning to experiment with different printing techniques and researching the artists who use them. What is printing and where is it used today?

...alongside...

Today, in a world where we take travel for granted and are able to cover vast distances with relative ease and speed, it is easy to forget how railways changed the way ordinary people experienced the world. Railways opened up horizons and connected the world in a way that had never been seen before. Can you imagine a life before roads, cars and flying made travelling long distances very easy? We will be historians and discover the impact the development of the railways had locally and globally.

It’s... Art: Printing and All Aboard

In History we’ll be learning about:

• The early innovations that led to the creation of the railways
• Different perspectives on the development of the railways
• How the railways were built
• Local rail stations and networks
• Reports of early safety issues on the rail network
• How the railways changed peoples lives
• Technological developments in train design.

In International we’ll be learning about:

• ‘Railway Children’ and the charities that support them.

In Geography we’ll be learning about:

• Famous long distance rail journeys

• Environmental challenges to developing or extending railways.

In Art we’ll be learning about:

• Creating shared artwork
• Watercolour landscapes.

In Design Technology and Innovation we’ll be learning about:

• Making different bridge designs
• 19th Century food packaging.

In ICT we’ll be learning about:

• How trains need to be controlled for safety
• Controlling our own (robot) trains.

In Music we’ll be learning about:

• Music and songs inspired by the railways
• Composing music inspired by the sounds of trains.

In PE we’ll be learning about:

• Rules and skills associated with football
• Different kinds of dance connected with train movements
• Creating our own dance.