Welcome to Elm Class Years 3 & 4
Teacher: Miss S Hicks
Teaching Assistants: Mrs A Ridout and Miss J Wareham
Welcome to the Autumn Term 2026
English
This term, children will enjoy a rich and varied journey through fiction, non‑fiction and poetry. We’ll spend time reading stories together, talking about characters and ideas, and helping children grow in confidence as thoughtful, curious readers. They’ll also have plenty of opportunities to create their own writing, including poems, where they can play with language and express themselves creatively.
We’ll be gently introducing key writing skills such as using speech marks, choosing effective adverbs, and experimenting with frontal adverbials to add detail and rhythm to their sentences. Reading comprehension will be woven throughout the term, giving children regular chances to explore texts deeply, share opinions and build understanding.
To support their progress, we ask that children read at home three times a week. These small, consistent moments make a big difference — helping them develop fluency, enjoyment and a lifelong love of reading.
Maths
This term, children will be building confidence with place value, working with numbers all the way up to 10,000. They’ll explore how numbers are structured, practise reading and writing them in different ways, and use this understanding to support their calculation skills.
We’ll be developing secure methods for addition and subtraction, as well as beginning to strengthen strategies for multiplication and division. Children will have lots of opportunities to practise these skills through practical activities, problem‑solving and guided tasks that help them make sense of the maths they’re using.
A regular part of our routine will be practising times tables, as these form the foundation for so many areas of maths. Little and often makes a big difference, so we’ll revisit them frequently to help children build speed, accuracy and confidence.
Science: Electrical Circuits and Conductors
In Science, children will get hands‑on with electrical circuits, learning how everyday appliances work and how to use them safely. They’ll build simple series circuits and learn the purpose of each component, from wires and switches to cells. Through practical investigations, they’ll explore conductors and insulators and spot the patterns that make a good conductor. Later in the term, they’ll bring all this learning together to design and create their own programmable nightlight, combining creativity with problem‑solving.
Ancient Civilisations
In the Ancient Civilisations project, your child will learn about three of the earliest civilisations in the world; ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley civilisation. They will study the ancient Sumerian and ancient Egyptian civilisation in detail, to discover how crucial factors like water sources and farming helped them to develop and thrive. They will find out about important inventions and the growth of cities. They will also study the lives of different people in society, including the roles of kings and pharaohs. The children will reflect on their learning by identifying the similarities and differences between the two civilisations, before studying the Indus Valley civilisation independently. They will explore sources of evidence about the location of the Indus Valley, cities and trade, and note the reasons why historians know less about the Indus Valley than other ancient civilisations. The children will then compare all three civilisations, before learning about the causes and consequences of each civilisation’s decline. They will also consider whether or not these civilisations left a lasting legacy.
Art: Statues, Statuettes and Figurines
This art project gives children the chance to explore 3‑D representations of the human form. They’ll look closely at statues and figurines from ancient civilisations, noticing how artists captured people and stories in sculptural form. Using clay, they’ll practise shaping, smoothing and refining their work before creating their own Sumer‑style figurine, inspired by the artwork they’ve studied.
Design & Technology: Tomb Raiders
In D&T, children will investigate simple machines such as wheels, axles, inclined planes, pulleys and levers. They’ll learn how ancient builders used these clever mechanisms to lift and move heavy loads long before modern machinery existed. Through practical activities, children will experiment with these machines themselves, discovering how they make work easier and why they’re still used today.
Art: Islamic Art
Children will explore the beauty and precision of Islamic art, learning how geometric patterns and motifs are created through symmetry and repetition. They’ll design their own patterns on paper, fabric and clay, experimenting with shape and balance. The project finishes with a high‑relief clay tile, decorated with a geometric design they’ve crafted themselves.
Geography: Interconnected Worlds
In Geography, children will build important map‑reading skills, including using compass points and reading four‑ and six‑figure grid references. They’ll learn about the tropics and explore the countries, climates and cultures of North and South America, developing a broader understanding of the world. They’ll also look at physical features of the United Kingdom and learn about the National Rail and canal networks. To deepen their enquiry skills, children will carry out a geographical investigation, gathering information from maps and surveys before drawing their own conclusions.
Homework:
This term, our homework routines are designed to gently support the learning children do in class while helping them build good habits and independence.
Children will continue using Maths Infinity, where they can practise key skills at their own pace in short, manageable sessions. Each week, they will also receive a set of spellings to learn, giving them time to explore patterns, sounds and meanings.
Reading remains an important part of our homework. We ask that children read three times a week to an adult. These shared moments make a huge difference to their confidence and fluency, and children who keep up with their reading will receive a special reading reward at the end of each half term.
Year 3 & 4 Curriculum Overview
Year 3 and 4 – Curriculum Map 2026 to 2027