Year 4
Welcome to Year 4
Term 1
Hello all and welcome to the Year 4 web page. Miss Walker, Miss Moody, Mr Fox and Mrs Waterhouse are all super excited to get a brand-new year under way. We have lots of exciting learning ahead of us! Read on to find out more.
We are looking forward to meeting you all on Friday 6th September in your child's classroom for 'Meet the Teacher'. Here we will outline our routines and expectations for the year ahead and answer any questions you may have.
Routines
PE is on Monday (basketball) and Thursday (dance). Children will need to wear their full PE kit to school. This consists of: House T-shirt, Dark shorts and/or jogging bottoms, trainers and school jumper.
Forest School days will be confirmed later this term. Children will need old trainers or wellies in a named carrier bag as well as appropriate wet weather gear (waterproof coat and trousers). We advise that Forest School kit remains in school for the duration of the term as we may take advantage of other opportunities for outdoor learning within our timetable.
Homework will be set on a Monday and completed by Friday. Homework tasks will be detailed at the top of this web page and children should complete their work neatly (using a pencil) in their orange Homework books. This will consist of a main task linked to English, Maths or Foundation subjects, as well as a spelling activity related to our weekly rule.
Reading is crucial to every child's progress across the entire curriculum and we expect that every child reads to an adult at home at least 3 times a week. Please record this in their blue reading record and ensure it is brought to school every day.
Communication
If you wish to contact your child's class teacher, please do so via the school office or written note handed by your child to the class teacher. Please note: all absences must be reported to the school office directly.
Clubs and Music lessons
You will be able to sign up to Term 1/2 clubs soon. We will inform you of this as soon as possible. They will run for 3 weeks in each term. Please let the teacher know if you cannot attend.
Please complete the form below:
https://forms.office.com/e/QB2qHPw3am
To sign up for music lessons, please see the links below:
Rocksteady – https://www.rocksteadymusicschool.com/
Other Music Lessons – https://uksouthglos.speedadmin.dk/registration#/
Email: music@wema.org.uk
What are we learning this term?
Maths
We begin our Mathematics with Place Value this term, then move onto addition and subtraction. Place value involves: the understanding of larger numbers – recognising the value of each digit within a 5-digit number; being able to round numbers to the nearest ten or hundred; comparing 3, 4 and 5-digit numbers and placing them on a number line; placing negative numbers on a number line and becoming confident to recognise and use Roman Numerals. As always, we will be focusing on arithmetic, problem-solving and reasoning skills. When we move onto Addition and Subtraction, we will be learning efficient methods – mental and written. This will involve the use of partitioning numbers and performing column calculations.
Time tables are an important part of our mathematical teaching and learning throughout the whole of Year 4. Pupils will complete the National Multiplication Tables Check during the Summer Term. Please support times table learning and speedy recall of multiplication and division facts at home. We recommend regular use of Times Table Rockstars (TTR) app, including use of the Soundcheck feature.
https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth/school/student
English
Within English this term, we will begin by revising some important spelling, punctuation and grammatical concepts. We will focus on our use of vocabulary and sentence structure to construct clear, varied and effective sentences. Later in the term, we will begin our fiction and non-fiction writing linked to the story 'The Barnabus Project'.
In Guided Reading we will be exploring the wonderful world of Roald Dahl! We will read excerpts from many of his books including: Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The BFG, The Witches and Esio Trot. We will also look at non-fiction writing and poetry that link to these books.
Foundation Subjects
Science explores living things and their habitats. It teaches children how to recognise and categorise living organisms using scientific terms such as ‘vertebrates’ and ‘invertebrates’. Branch keys are introduced to help name organisms. We study habitats – both local and world-wide – learning that environments are subject to human and man-made changes with significant impact.
In Geography, we are studying The Americas, focussing on physical features such as rain forests and deserts and using maps and compass directions. We will also explore the human elements and how populations and cultures differ across the continents.
Art, this term, develops our portrait drawing skills – proportions of the face, observational skills and the use of tone. We get inspired by some of the Great Masters such as Van Gogh and Picasso. This is followed by creating colour wheels and learning colour-related vocabulary.
Singing returns to our Year 4 classrooms with ABBA’s Mamma Mia, in our Music Lessons. We begin finding the pulse within this iconic song and enjoy performing the song in many forms.
Our focus in P.E. this term will be Basketball and Dance. We will develop our team work and game-related skills including passing, dribbling, defending and shooting/ scoring in basketball and in dance pupils think about how to use movement to explore and communicate ideas and issues, and their own feelings and thoughts.
In Computing we are exploring how the internet is made up of a network of networks; how messages are passed between these networks and how we can keep ourselves safe and secure.
R.E focusses on how people express their understanding of God. We will be focusing on the symbols, artwork, poetry and dance that expresses people’s beliefs.
In PSHE we look at what makes a good friend and how to be a good friend to others. This term also recognises ‘Anti-Bullying Week’.
In our fantastic Playscape, during Forest School lessons, we will be developing effective, collaborative work through a range of activities.
Finally, in French we will be reigniting our love of languages - speaking and listening, in particular. We will hold simple conversations with each other, through which we express details about ourselves and our families, for example.
What a fantastic term of learning ahead!