Year 4

Updated: 12/11/19

Welcome to Year 4!

DT - The Great British Bread Bake Off

Next week (week of 18.11.19) Year 4 are continuing our learning about bread design. We will be evaluating different breads based upon the flavours and textures and our own preferences.

We have included the allergen list below. Please let us know if your child is allergic to any of the ingredients.

Thank you.

The Year 4 team

SLAPTON

Slapton was a truly amazing experience for all of our children who were involved. The behaviour on show from our children was impecable and we couldn't be prouder of them.

Many children faced their first night away from their parents and this alone was a massive challenge that they overcame. We had terrible weather but this didn't stop us from having the best time.

The Year 4 team.

General Information

Welcome to the Year 4 page. You will find all of the things you should need to know for the year.

In Year 4 the teachers are Mr Easterbrook and Mrs Coulton. We are supported by Miss Friend and Miss Gee, who are our teaching assistants.

Year 4 is a key year and involves the children taking greater responsibility for their own learning. Despite this we are very keen to work together as a partnership, with the children, parents, teachers and school of all working together to help us 'to be the best that we can be'.

Please feel free to contact the Year 4 team if you have something you wish to ask or would like to discuss. We have an open door policy and will see you as soon as possible. Please ask at the office if you would like to see us in person or would like to pass on a message, or catch us in the playground at the end of the day.

Thank you,

The Year 4 Team

The Slapton Residetial meeting will be on FRIDAY 11th OCTOBER at 2:30.

We will explain the structure of the residential and the equipmenrt needed. This will give you half term to be able to organise anything that is needed.

Home learning

• Each Friday, children will be given spellings based around the expectations of their year group. They will have a suitable number based upon their ability level. The test will be on the following Thursday.
• The children are expected to read regularly throughout the week, with parental completion of the reading record on three occasions. This should indicate when and how much the children have read. It would also be helpful to include a very brief comment on any problems or successes from the activity. This is due to be handed in EVERY Friday and counts towards our class rewards.
• Maths and English homework is set once a week, on a Monday. It is due in on the Thursday of the same week.
• Our expectation is that the children should be able to complete their homework on their own and that it should take approximately 30 minutes to complete. If it is problem, please speak with the class teacher and we will try to help out.

PE Kit and days

• Monday Games kit - (Preferably) long sleeved plain BLUE football top, white shorts, BLUE football socks, trainers and football boots (boots are optional). Shin-pads are not necessary.
• Friday Gymnastics kit - white shorts and a plain t-shirt. Trainers may also be needed.

Planning Days

• Mrs Cowin and Mrs Mitchell cover Year 4 every other Thursday.
• Mrs Cowin also takes 4C on alternate Fridays to the planning day, covering Mrs Coulton.

English

Current learning

We are currently using the amazing book 'Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World' by Kate Pankhurst. This collection of child-friendly biographies is beautifully illustrated and written, sharing the feats and achievements of a various women whose impact over the past 200 years has been so influencial in our current lives.

We will be learning about the lives of Jane Austin, Sacagawea, Frida Khalo, Amelia Earheart, Coco Chanel and Gertrude Ederle. Please ask your children what these amazing ladies did in their lives.

In guided reading, we are looking at reading skills and the fluency of the children when reading aloud. This skill is key to be embedded as it will allow better access to the kinds of texts that we will be working on this year and beyond.

Reading

Regular reading at home is essential. The children should be heard reading aloud at least 3 times per week, even for those children who are free-readers. Discussions between the child and the adult are key to helping to improve and develop their understanding but also allows the children to work on their expression when reading aloud. 

Free readers may read anything they like but we would like you to always have a challenging fiction book on the go at all times.

Children on the reading scheme must read their scheme books but can also add any additional reading you have done (non-fiction, magazines, other books etc).

Each child has their own reading record and these need to be completed with three adult signed entries per week, indicating when the child read, what they read and anything that arose from the discussion. If the record has been misplaced or left at school, the entries should be completed on a piece of paper, which can be stuck into the book.

We have given Year 4 access to Oxford Owl and the reading materials within their website. This wonderful resource has a small range of texts and extracts that the children can read on a digital screen, choosing to read the text themselves, or allowing the text to be read to them and for them to follow along. This is a useful resource if your child has forgotten their reading book, or if you would like a different text to one that you have already.

Spellings

Spellings will be handed out on a Friday and tested on the following Thursday. We will teach the spellings patterns and rules throughout the week. These are to be found on the spelling section below.

Handwriting

Throughout the week we will ask the children to practise their spellings through handwriting. Part of the curriculum expects all children to be joining their handwriting.

We keep the children's best handwriting on their tables so that they are always trying to improve their work to be the best that it can be.

Maths

Current Learning

We are now having a huge focus on the key skills of all four number operations, concentrating on the formal methods for addition, subtraction and multiplication. While we learn about division, we do not introduce the short 'bus stop method' until Year 5.

Times tables facts

This year will be the first year group that must be assessed on their times table fact knowledge. As a school, we piloted the process in the last academic year. Our pupils performed incredibly well and this was in main due to regular learning at home of the tables, either through playing the TTRockstars app or by repeated questioning by others. Both can be a fun way to learn and enhance the knowledge of the tables, making all of their maths skills much quicker and accurate.

All children have been provided with their own TTRockstars username and password. It would be helpful if they could learn these so that they can use them at home, but also in school, where we will be using the app to keep our skills topped up.

In Year 4, the expectations in maths have changed significantly. ALL children are expected to know their times tables, up to 12x12, by heart and with instant recall, by the end of Year 4. The new curriculum focuses heavily on calculation strategies, particularly for multiplication and division, so it is essential that the children work at learning these at home. They are a key skill which they will use throughout their lives.

We are having a huge push on our times tables at the moment as it forms a key part of what we must know to move forwards in our learning. We would really appreciate any help with the learning of this key skill please. If you need some help with suggestions, please see the resources below or come and ask one of the team for some support.

RE

For our RE lessons in Year 4 we study Christianity and Hinduism.

Below is a copy of the units of work we follow and use.