Christ Church C.E. Primary School

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 Our Year 4 Class

A very warm welcome to our Year 4 class page.  In Year 4 we are looking forward to the challenges ahead as the children are now fully settled into KS2. During this year the children will be encouraged to be proactive in their independent learning as well as building good relationships in order to work effectively as teams. The children will be nurtured and encouraged to work alongside others in a variety of contexts with a focus on problem solving, research and sharing ideas. 

Our Year 4 Class 2023-2024

Class Information

 

Who's Who

Mr Wilkinson - Year 4 teacher

Miss German - Teaching Assistant

Mrs Ghosh- 1:1 Teaching Assistant

         

Things to remember

  • Please remember that homework is due in by Thursday each week
  • PE lessons for Autumn 2 will be on a Tuesday and Wednesday. Please remember to write your child's name on all of their uniform and sports kids to avoid confusion. 
  • Reading is encouraged both in school but also at home. Reading for enjoyment is as important as reading to learn. It is important that the children read a range of books/comics/newspapers at home and develop their comprehension skills and vocabulary. This will help consolidate the reading work we will be doing in class. In Year 4, we feel it is important for the children to develop a love of reading as this gives their 'imagination wings'.
  • We will be continuing with Spelling Shed this year and the children will be encouraged to use this at home as well as in school. The children will also be bringing home a list of the Year 3/4 words they are still not sure how to spell. Please practise these at home (little and often).
  • In Year 4, the children have the fantastic opportunity to learn to play the guitar. This lesson takes place on a Thursday afternoon. They will bring a guitar home to practise and will need to bring this back to school each Thursday for their lesson.
  • The expectation at the end of Year 4 is that the children will be able to recall their times tables up to 12x12. It is important that the children regularly practise these at home. TTRockstars is a fantastic tool for this as well as 'Hit the Button'.

 

This half term.... Spring Term 2 (February - March 2024)

In English, we will start the half term with persuasive writing (writing to persuade). The children will write their own persuasive letter thinking carefully about the structure and their use of language. After this we will move onto poetry. The unit is called 'Still I Rise'. It gives the children the opportunity to research Maya Angelou and discuss the important issue of bullying.

You may write me down in history. With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt, But still, like dust, I rise. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes and springing highs, Still I rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like tear drops, Weakened by my soulful cries. Out of the huts of history’s shame, I rise. Up from a past that’s rooted in pain, I rise. I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise. Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise. 

by Maya Angelou (Adapted version)

Our reading skills sessions in English will focus on a range of different texts and the children will continue to develop their VIPERS skills (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence, or summarise). It is important that the children continue to read regularly a range of books/comics/newspapers at home and develop their comprehension skills and vocabulary. This will help consolidate the reading work we will be doing in class. In Year 4, we feel it is important for the children to develop a love of reading as this gives their 'imagination wings'. 

We will also continue with our SPAG work. We will also be extending our grammar knowledge and learning some more about determiners, fronted adverbials, and past, present, and perfect verbs! 

 

 Non-Negotiables for Y4:

  • Capital letters for the start of sentences, 'I' and all proper nouns. 

Example: Can I go to London this weekend? 

  • Spell of and off correctly.

 Example: The BFG ran off into the night. 

                Beware of the dog!

  • No misplaced capital letters.
  • Full stop (or ?/!) is used correctly at the end of every sentence.

 

In Maths we will begin the half term by completing our unit on area and doing some sticky learning around the four operations of number to see what the children have remembered. After this, we will move onto the tricky units of fractions and decimals. We will begin by looking back at the children's previous work on fractions to celebrate what they already know and identify any gaps that need to be addressed. We will then move onto our Power Maths units. These units include:

  • tenths and hundredths 
  • equivalent fractions
  • simplifying fractions
  • fractions greater than 1
  • adding and subtracting fractions
  • calculating fractions of a quantity
  • problem-solving
  • dividing by 10 and 100 

 

At home, it would fantastic if you could keep some of the children's previously learning 'bubbling':

  • Reading times on analogue and digital clocks
  • Place value
  • Roman Numerals
  • Rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000
  • Number Bonds
  • Counting in a range of different multiples
  • Written strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

By the end of Year 4, the expectation is that children can recall all their times tables facts up to 12 X 12. You can support your child by regularly asking them times tables questions at home. Making this fun will have more impact! Topmarks is a great website for maths; the game Hit the Button is a particular favourite in class and is great at helping children to become quicker at facts recall. Please take the time to have a look - even compete with them! TT Rockstars continues to be a fantastic game that all the children enjoy, especially when they are competing with each other. It is important that the children use this as much as possible.

 

RE -We will start by continuing to learn about 'Jesus, the son of God, and 'Shabbat'. We will be digging deeper and exploring the Sabbath.

As we approach Easter we will explore the themes of ''Betrayal and Trust'

 

Science - Our topic for this half term is 'Sound'. During this topic, the children will have the opportunity to:

  • Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating. 
  • Recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear. 
  • Find patterns between the pitch of a sound and the features of the object that produced it 
  • Find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it. 
  • Recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases. 

This topic will link well with the children's knowledge understanding from their WOPS Music lessons.

 

History - We will continue from where we left our timeline with the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. We will:

  • Focus on a key historical figure – Vortogern, Hengest, Horsa.
  • The introduction and role of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon life.
  • Who were the Vikings and when and why did they invade Britain?
  • Anglo-Saxon kings and their significance across the period, including King Ethelred II and Danegeld, and the last Anglo-Saxon Kings.
  • Law, order and justice as an Anglo-Saxon.

After this, we will continue to move back through History to focus on the arrival of the Romans and the impact of the Roman Empire on Britain. We will focus on:

  • The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain.
  • The Roman Empire by AD42 and the power of its army.
  • The successful invasion by Claudius.
  • British resistance. (Boudicca) 
  • 'Romanisation.' of Britain. (Technology, culture, and beliefs)

Key Questions will be:

Why did the Roman Emperor Claudius leave Italy to invade Britain?

The Roman Invasion: have the books got it right?

Should the Celts take on the Romans?

What image do we have of Boudicca today?

How were the Romans able to keep control over such a vast empire?

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Key Skills

  • Chronology, knowledge & understanding – When I talk or write about the past, I include details which show some understanding of what things were like before and after this at local, national and world level.
  • Chronology – I can place historical periods I have studied on a timeline, as well as information about my topic.
  • Significance – I can suggest which people and causes& consequences of change are more historically important.
  • Understanding historical interpretation – I can compare evidence to help me identify reliable information.      
      

Art - We will be focusing on sculpture this half term. This will link with our History work on the Anglo Saxons. The children will learn:

  •  that Anglo-Saxon art includes intricate jewellery made using precious stones, sculpture and carving in rock and bone, as well as delicate embroidery (such as used in the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry.) 
  • The children will create and decorate their own clay sculpture based on typical Anglo-Saxon stone carvings and may have the opportunity to investigate intricate Anglo-Saxon jewellery before designing and making their own brooch.
  • Children will understand the properties of clay and how to impress patterns. Children will develop their modelling and sculpting skills, learning to control the use of tools and their suitability for different tasks, such as refining.

 

Computing - Our unit this half term is HTML. During this unit the children will:

  • Add text between the heading and paragraph tags.
  • Easily activate the goggles to investigate a web page.
  • Explain how they altered the HTML to create their own posters.
  • Change the colours and sizes of their object elements. Explain how they created their story.
  • Adapt the basic elements of a story within a web page using the ‘Inspect Elements’ tool.
  • Change an image within a web page and create their own news story, replacing the text and images of a webpage.

     
Heartsmart-
 'Don't rub it in, rub it out!'

This unit focuses on Forgiveness and learning how to process negative emotions, disappointment and hurt.

Don't rub it in, rub it out is about choosing to forgive, leaving the pointing finger in our pocket and accepting that we too need grace just as much as we give it away. Everyone makes mistakes. Don't demand perfection, instead celebrate progress, that's what loves does.

Visit the website www.heartsmartprimary.com for more information on what Heartsmart is all about.

 

French - Our topic is French Food - Miam, miam!

This unit will introduces food vocabulary and revises numbers to 100, this time in the context of money and prices. The unit encourages the children to develop their language detective skills and confidence with practical conversational French.

Music - The children will be continuing with their WOPPS guitar lessons on a Thursday afternoon with Barry and Sam. So far, the children have learnt the open string notes: E, A, D, G, B, E.  This half-term the children will be continuing to develop their guitar playing whilst learning new songs.

     

P.E - Our sporting value for this half-term is 'Respect' 

'Treating everyone equally, supporting each other and working together to have fun and achieve. Celebrate each other's success and be a positive team player.'

  Our indoor PE unit (Friday) this half term is gymnastics. During this unit the children will learn to:

  • (Jumps and Leaps) Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance by learning and performing a range of different jumps and leaps. 
  • Perform a range of jumps and leaps.
  • (Rolls) Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance by learning and performing a range of rolls. 
  • Perform a straddle forward roll and a backward roll to straddle correctly.
  • (Vaulting) Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance by learning and performing different vaulting movements. 
  • Perform a straddle on the vault correctly.
  • (Round-Offs) Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance by learning and performing a lunge into a cartwheel. 
  • Perform a lunge into the cartwheel correctly
  • (Linking Movements) Develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance by choosing effective linking moves to create sequences of movement.
  • To link movements together by performing a straight jump full turn, a cat leap half turn and a pivot.

Our outdoor P.E unit (Monday Afternoons) is Tag Rugby. Our objectives are:

  • To throw and catch a rugby ball/
  • To execute a successful pass of a rugby ball while on
    the move.
  • To move with the ball into space
  • To know, understand and apply the rules of tagging in
    tag rugby.
  • To gain possession by intercepting a pass.
  • To use my attacking and defending skills and knowledge to
    make tactical decisions
  • To apply attacking and defending skills in a game of
    tag rugby.

To watch and evaluate the performance of others

Spring Term 1 NEWS!

What a busy and action-packed half-term it has been!

The children have continued to work hard in Maths this term and show a good understanding of multiplication and division. Their times tables are improving and they have developed a good understanding of the written methods for all four operations of numbers. It is very important that they continue to practise these at home. As a class, we have continued to develop our problem-solving and reasoning skills and will continue to do this next term.

In English, we have been working hard on narrative writing with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Once we finished, the children then went on to create their own characters, and even their own chapters to finish off our work on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The children's confidence continues to grow along with their vocabulary choices. I have been impressed with how much of the writing rainbow children are incorporating into their independent writing, as well as the improvement in the overall presentation of their work. A key target is to continue to keep checking the basics!

In Science, the children loved learning about electricity and creating their own circuits. The children loved this topic and showed a great understanding of how a circuit works and even used this in their locomotive designs. We are almost finished and we can't wait to share these with you.

In PE, the children did an amazing job with cheer dance. We had amazing help from Jess from WigLe Dance. Make sure you check out our video on Seesaw! I was also blown away by our skills in football. I was particularly impressed with the increasing confidence the children showed, improved skills and most importantly their teamwork and resilience. Through our Heartsmart, RE lessons and Picture News, the children have shown maturity created lots of discussions and grown in confidence when giving their opinions. It is a joy to see the children discussing global and important issues with each other and reflecting deeply. Great job everyone! 

It has been a very busy half-term and I'm sure the next will be just as busy. Well done everyone!

Autumn Term 2 NEWS!

Wow, it has been an extremely busy half term in Year 4 and the children have continued to amaze me with their attitude and confidence. It has been lovely to see the children continue to work well with others and develop their social skills inside and outside the classroom. Respect and compassion are important  Christian values in Year 4, the children demonstrated a real understanding of these values during our RE and Heartsmart work. 

In our R.E lessons, we looked at Jesus as the light of the world. As a class, we discussed how each one of us can shine our light on the world and created Christingles to symbolise this. We also learned how important light is to other religions, and learned about other festivals, such as Hanukkah, understanding the reasons for its importance and how it is used in celebration.

The children have continued to work hard in maths this term. A highlight for me is how they are developing their reasoning skills and using a range of mathematical equipment to support their learning. They have worked hard on all their number work and now have an effective strategy they can use for addition and subtraction. We are making progress with our times tables but please continue to practise at home as this is starting to have an impact. 

During our English lessons, the children continued to develop their non-fiction writing skills, producing some excellent information pages on an animal of their choice. The children took on the challenge with enthusiasm and a positive work ethic.  We have started to work on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which the children have loved, which they can't wait to continue to work on in the coming weeks of the new year. 

The children enjoyed learning about the Romans, learning about their rich history and how their impact on the world is still felt today. 

The most exciting topic this half term has been DT, where we have started our train project! We have learned about the history of locomotives and started using our tools to build our very own train!

Well done Year 4 on a super half term! I can't wait to get started again in the Spring term! 

Autumn Term 1 NEWS!

During the first half of Autumn Term we have found our feet! We had a great half-term, developing routines and relationships and the children have amazed me with their work ethic and team work. We have shared learning in our Geography, Science and RE lessons as well as in English and Maths. We have shared our ideas and understand how working as a team or with a partner can help our own learning journey. I am proud of all the hard work the children have put into their learning this half term!

The children have absolutely loved their new book, ‘The Nothing to See Here Hotel’ and I have seen the children’s love for reading develop. The children have advanced both their reading and writing skills through our class novel and it has been wonderful to see them engaged and reading for pleasure. The children are really developing into confident writers who are not afraid to challenge themselves. I am also pleased that they are beginning to proof read their work more and working hard to make sure all their sentences make sense. We will be introducing more editing this half-term, another important skill for a developing writer. The children's inference skills are slowing starting to develop and they are now starting to use evidence from the text which is pleasing to see. We will continue to develop our comprehension skills through our VIPERS questions.

In Maths we have spent the half-term focusing on place value. The children have shown through their explanations that they are developing their reasoning skills and are able to show examples of their thinking. This is a key area we will continue to develop throughout the year. They have enjoyed using all the concrete equipment and have become more confident with 4-digit numbers. It is crucial that the children continue to practise all the skills we have learnt to keep it bubbling!

Our Science lessons have been a hive of activity. The children have loved our topic on teeth and eating, especially our lessons on the Digestive System. It is been wonderful to see them so engaged and enthused about their learning and thinking scientifically. They also worked well and participated fully in class discussions which was a pleasure to see!

In Geography we learnt more about the UK, understanding the difference between the UK and Great Britain, the different types of geography of the UK as well as looking at energy uses and the many renewable energy sources that we have in the United Kingdom. Through our RE, Heartsmart lessons and Picture News, the children have shown great sensitivity and really developed their reflective thinking. They have really thought about the choices they make and what God looks for in our hearts. We have also explored friendship and the qualities of a good friend.

Our first unit of French, ‘Moi et ma famille’ (Me and my family) got off to a promising start! We spent a lot of time on phonetical work, grasping the French alphabet and revisiting previous learning.  We also made some progress with early vocabulary learning (focusing on who is in our family).

I can't wait to get back and start Autumn 2!