Welcome to Year 4!
Class Teachers: Miss Downey & Miss Newman
LSAs: Miss Vick, Mrs Lynch and Mrs Melia
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to talk to one of the Year 4 team.
We cannot stress enough how important it is for your child to read at home! Reading is brilliant and we want to encourage children to do it as much as possible. We are going to be reading books together as a class but we would also like the children to read regularly at home. They will have a reading folder to take home and a reading log to record any reading they do. We would like them to read at least 5 times during the week – this can be anything that they are interested in reading, not just books, but useful information that they need, such as (appropriate) websites, television guides, menus, magazines… the list is endless! The reading logs will be checked regularly.
Homework is sent out each Friday to be handed in the following Friday. We ask parents to support us with completing the maths, spelling, grammar and reading tasks sent out. A spelling test will take place every Friday.
4D PE days - Tuesday and Thursday (Swimming)
4N PE days - Tuesday and Thursday
Please ensure that your child comes to school with their PE kit on these days.
PE kit consists of: a plain white t-shirt, black shorts and black PE pumps. Children may wear black jogging pants and a jumper in the colder months if they go outside. Due to the limited space we have in the cloakroom in our classroom, please can children refrain from bringing in large rucksacks/handbags. They are too big for the pegs and children cannot hang their coats up properly. Instead, we encourage them to bring the blue school reading book bags to put their belongings in. Thank you for your co-operation with this.
Don’t forget to bring water bottles in each day - it is important for the children to stay hydrated throughout the day. Please put a label on bottles and refill them every day.
Children can purchase milk cartons at the beginning of each half term (see the school office) and bring a healthy snack for break time. Please be reminded that we are a healthy eating school, if a snack is chocolate, crisps, cake or sweets it is NOT a healthy snack.
In Year 4 we have the exciting opportunity to learn and improve our swimming skills! These lessons will happen once a week and our currently on Thursdays. 4D are currently attending swimming lessons.
For swimming your child will need:
Swimming hat
Towel
Swimming costume/Swimming trunks. (No bikinis)
They can also bring a healthy snack to the pool.
It is recommended that you send your child in with their swimming costumes/trunks underneath their school uniform. This will make getting changed much quicker for them. If you are doing this, please remember to provide your child with a spare change of underwear. We also ask that you ensure your child has a warm waterproof coat, as we will be walking to the leisure centre in all weathers.
Pupils will be focusing on recapping and building on their prior knowledge of place value, and numbers to 10,000. Later in the term they will be focussing on addition and subtraction, measurement and will begin to look at multiplication and divison.
We would like to remind you the importance of pupils regularly using Times Tables Rockstars, and practicing their times tables. Fluency in this area can often help children with many other areas of Maths. The national Year 4 Multiplication Check is held in June, and consistent practice will help pupils complete this with ease.
In English this half term, we are reading The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo. The children will use the novel to write diary entries and informal letters.
Science is now taught as Biology, Chemistry and Physics throughout the year. This gives children the opportunity to revisit learning and prepares them for High-school Science.
Children will be able to find Greece, and understand why it's unique land made life very interesting during ancient times. They will learn how different Polis communicated, the myths and legends that were shared, and how democracy was formed.
In Geography this term, we will discover the different natural resources that our earth provides. Children will take on the role of the United Kingdom's government and work to find which resources they have and which they require. Children will work in teams to research a natural resource, how it is found and where, they will present their findings to the class.
In this topic, we will build on sewing skills that the children have already learned in prior years. These will be used to design and create their own book sleeves to use for their reading records.
We will explore the work of the sculptor Elizabeth Catlett. Exiled from America for her civil rights activism, Catlett found herself in Mexico where she created many powerful and interesting sculptures. Children will use clay and tools to create their own sculpture inspired by the human form and Elizabeth Catlett's work