Darwin Class - Year 3 and Year 4

Darwin Class Staff:

Miss Jayne – Class Teacher

Mrs Amatt – TA

Darwin Class is an exciting, dynamic and inclusive Year 3/4 learning environment where every child is at the heart of everything we do. Together, we embark on a journey across the UK, dive deep into fascinating moments in history, and explore the world around us with curiosity and enthusiasm. Our learning is broad and balanced, with a strong focus on developing skills in Reading, Writing, Music, French, Art and Swimming. Through collaboration, creativity, and a love of learning, we grow together every day.

We foster independence through a practical and engaging curriculum that strives to forge a love of learning for life.

Children in Darwin Class enjoy a variety of exciting and interactive lessons, which are presented through a range of media. Their ICT skllls are promoted by regular opportunities to use the school’s laptop computers.

With direct access to the outside area, children in Darwin Class are offered a chance to experience learning through our environment. Darwin Class is adjacent to our developing allotment area, so children in the class will be watching our garden grow

Darwin Class 2025-26

Term 1 2024-25

We got off to a great start in Darwin Class this term. We have worked hard to get into our routines in the classroom, getting to know each other with Mindfulness and PSHE sessions to come together and connect.

In Geography we have travelled the length of the UK, from the very top of Scotland, West across to Northern Ireland, down into Wales and finishing in the South of England. Science has attracted lots of attention as we have explored forces through investigations such as how fast cars travel down ramps, how parachutes can save a skydiver’s life with air resistance and how strong some magnets actually are!

We’ve all enjoyed our last term of swimming, improving our confidence and resilience in the water and developing skills we need to have to keep us safe. We have studied the Creation Story in RE and have explored the way Adam and Eve connected with God before The Fall. We listened, responded and improvised Indian music, using the glockenspiels and untuned instruments to create our own rag. We’ve danced our way through PE this term, interpreting the movement of the solar system into the way our bodies move. Harvest time means Harvest food; we have been cooking lots this term to explore seasonal vegetables and how they are used in different recipes. We’ve learnt how to safely use kitchen tools, prepare food and keep ourselves clean when cooking. Hopefully, you’ve tasted some of the amazing creations!

This term has included lots of reading. Our most exciting book has been The Day I Fell Down the Toilet, with some great jokes and puns as Timothy tries to find the best joke to make the Queen laugh. We have been surfing with seals in English – learning all about seals and their lives as a friendship was forged in the book. As a class we have been learning about the importance of the Windrush Generation, the Caribbean people who came over in 1948 to start a new life in England but instead of streets paved with gold and freedom, as they were promised, they were met with grey, dirty skies and building destroyed by bombs. English people were mean and rude to them due to the colour of their skin, and this was a big beginning for racism. We’ve learnt it’s ok that we’re all different, and we have welcomed our differences into the class.

We hope you have a fantastic half term break, get lots of rest and do lots of homework to keep your brains ready for Term 2 because there is still so much more to come!

Miss Jayne and Mrs Amatt

This term Darwin have been working hard on showing our school values, especially friendship, tolerance, forgiveness and acceptance. As a result of this they have just about filled our class pom-pom jar, giving them the reward of a movie afternoon. We will be watching the film Robots (PG), as it further consolidates their learning in Science.

Our Working Walls

Darwin class earned a trip to the park w/c 6.10.25 for their attendance.

Darwin Class 2024-25

Term 6 2024-25

Let’s begin with the explosive start to the year—VOLCANOES! We rocked and rumbled our way through lava and tectonic plates, without even setting the fire alarm off (success!). Then came the IRON AGE, where we may not have actually smelted any iron, but we definitely sharpened our minds and our pencil skills.

From fierce INVADERS and crusading CRUSADERS to the rainforest’s leafy secrets and the grandeur of the TUDORS, we’ve galloped through history like time-travelling detectives — asking questions, making discoveries, and wondering if Henry VIII really needed that many wives.

We swam like fish, danced like no one was watching (except for the people who were), and turned the classroom into a hive of creative brilliance. In Art and DT, we’ve sculpted, painted, constructed, deconstructed, possibly glued ourselves to the table once or twice—and loved every minute of it!

More importantly, we’ve been brave. We’ve tried new things. We’ve made mistakes — glorious, splodgy, spelling-wrong-but-learning-from-it kind of mistakes. And we’ve grown. Taller in some cases, wiser in many.

Now, as we prepare to leap (or tiptoe cautiously) into the next academic year, here are a few wise words to carry in your pencil case:

Be kind—especially to yourself.
Mistakes are just learning in disguise.
You are braver, smarter, and funnier than you think.
Never underestimate the power of a well-timed snack.

To all our wonderful Year 3s moving up to Year 4, and our magnificent Year 4s off to conquer the upper school—go with confidence and curiosity. Your next adventure is waiting.

Have a truly brilliant, sun-soaked, ice-cream-filled, barefoot-on-the-grass kind of summer. Whether you’re building sandcastles, climbing trees, reading in a hammock, or just enjoying a long lie-in — you’ve earned it!

With smiles, sunshine, and approximately 42 glue sticks used.

Wishing you all a fabulous summer holiday.

Mrs Davison and Miss Illingworth 😊

Term 5 2024-25

We dived into Term 5 with a splash as swimming began. The Summer term sees the return to Athletics, focusing on 5 disciplines: running, throwing (javelin and shot put), the standing jump and triple jump. They have jumped on board and thrown themselves into it!

We celebrated the ‘Month of the Military Child’ with everyone supporting Purple-Up Day, dressing in purple. Sid spoke eloquently on what it meant, explaining that if you mix the uniform colours of all the Armed Forces you get purple. Hence the name.

The beautiful May weather, welcomed the annual Flower Festival at St Bartholomew’s Church, which we all appreciated and enjoyed.

Where in the world? Geography is the focus at present, as we delve through the dense under-storeys of the rainforests, across the globe from the Daintree Rainforest in Australia to the largest rainforest on the planet, the Amazon, in South America. We have learnt that the rainforests are all close to the equator and therefore hot, humid and teeming with life forms. This links beautifully with our science topic – habitats – where we are learning the characteristics of different groups of animals. What type of animal is a sloth? Mammal or amphibian?

Paint, paint and more paint ….. Darwin’s art journey has seen them explore, experiment and analyse this medium; mixing, matching, stippling, applying paint thickly (impasto) and creating paintings inspired by the rainforest, like Henri Rousseau.

It may have been a short term, but it’s been packed with rich, meaningful learning – a true testament to the energy and curiosity of our pupils.

Term 5 working walls

Term 4 2024-25

Term 4 working walls

Term 3 2024-25

Darwin erupted into January, with fire and brimstone as they discovered the many fiery fa about volcanoes. They have been immersed in this fascinating topic, from fantastic fiction ‘Escape from Pompeii’, to volcanic non-fiction texts learning to use the contents page, the inde and the glossary to expand their technical vocabulary. They discovered that beneath the earth’s mantle, huge teutonic plates cause great upheavals on the surface. Their geography skills have been tested too, as they plotted the locations of volcanoes around the globe. In DT they have been exploring how to join different materials, through papier-mâché, creatin their very own interactive 3D volcano models, painted to an exceptional standard, complete with lava flows! The ‘magma-tude’ of their creations has blown us awa What’s the Matter? Solids, liquids and gases took centre stage in science, when Darwin undertook an experiment to explore the viscosity of different liquids. How long do you thin ketchup would take to travel down a ruler? They also had a great fun making a solution to recreate an erupting volcano. They learnt that a gas is made, forcing the liquid up and out of the volcanoes. Beyond volcanoes, Darwin have experienced stop motion animation, creating their own mini movies, learnt the french names for different animals and developed their own dances in PE t represent ‘Cold Places’. Darwin Class have embraced Term 3, with a new found maturity, relishing their learning, applying their knowledge across the curriculum and making links. Keep it up Darwin.