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

This half term... Summer 2 (June - July 2024)

In English, we will continue working hard this term to use as much of the writing rainbow as possible. We will be continuing to develop our comprehension skills and thinking carefully about our reading VIPERS (vocabulary, infer, predict, explain, retrieve, sequence or summarise) It is important that the children continue to 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'.

In Maths, we will be consolidating our knowledge of the four operations of numbers and our fraction and decimal work in our daily morning Maths activities. In our Maths lessons, we will be covering a range of topics. There is still lots of Maths left to learn! We will start by delving deeper into our fractions work, by linking decimals and percentages before moving on to statistics, measurement and geometry). We will be covering:

• recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths or hundredths
• recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths or hundredths
• recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths or hundredths
• pounds and pence
• ordering amounts of money
• rounding money and using rounding to estimate
• problem-solving
• money
• Identifying angles
• ordering and comparing angles
• Identifying regular and irregular shapes
• classifying triangles
• comparing quadrilaterals
• lines of symmetry (inside and outside of shapes)
• completing symmetrical shapes

All of these activities will give the children the opportunity to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills. We will also continue with our daily reasoning questions -  these help the children to develop their mathematical thinking. 

By the end of Year 4 the expectation is that children can recall all their times tables facts up to 12 X 12. In our first week back, we will be having our 'Multiplication Tables Check' which will give the children the opportunity to show off all of their hard work this year.

You can continue to 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 great at helping children to become quicker at facts recall. Please take the time to have a look - even compete with them! Also please continue to encourage your child to go on TTRockstars regularly. This is a great game that really will have an impact on your child's recall of their times tables facts.

At home, it would be 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, decimals to the nearest whole number and money to the nearest 10p and £1
• Number Bonds
• Written strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
• Recognising, adding and subtracting fractions.

RE - How and Why Do People Mark the Significant Events of Life?

In this unit, the children will learn about the beliefs of people from different worldviews surrounding commitment and promises. They will discuss the meaning and importance of ceremonies of commitment for religious and non-religious people. They will take time to consider the links between ideas of love, commitment and promises within the ceremonies that they study. We will also learn about several rites of passage and use their knowledge to reflect upon whether it is good for everyone to see life as a journey, and to mark the milestones.

Heart Smart- We will be looking at the Heart Smart principle 'No Way Through isn't True!' 

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

In our Wellbeing Wednesday lessons we are continuing to work on our Super Mental Health Hero's!

History- The Vikings

In this half time we will be learning all about the Vikings. Here are our key questions that will help us on our quest!

KQ1 – What image do we have of the Vikings? 

KQ2 – Why have the Vikings gained such a bad reputation? 

KQ3 – How did the Vikings try to take over the country and how close did they get? 

KQ4 – How have recent excavations changed our view of the Vikings? 

KQ5 – What can we learn about Viking settlement from a study of place-name endings? 

KQ6 – Raiders or settlers: how should we remember the Vikings. 

Science - Our topic for this half term is 'Changing States'. During this topic the children will learn to:

• Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases.
• Identify differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes.
• Observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled.
• Set up simple practical enquiries.
• Identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle. 

Computing - Data Handling: Investigating Weather.

Here are our learning objectives.

• Search the web efficiently to find temperatures of different cities and record this accurately.
• Design a weather station that gathers and records sensor data, explaining how it works and the units of measurement it would use.
• Design an automated machine that uses selection to respond to sensor data.
• Search for and record weather forecast information in a spreadsheet and explain how this data is collected.
• Create a video which includes weather forecast information.

DT - This half term the children are going to be focusing on textiles and developing our sewing skills. They will:

• Use a cross-stitch to join two pieces of fabric together.
• Design and cut the template for a cushion.
• Use cross-stitch and appliqué to decorate a cushion face.
• Make a cushion that includes appliqué and cross-stitch.

In French we will be using the concept of the Eurovision Song Contest to get the children to work in groups writing their own original songs in French, using vocabulary drawn from Years 3 and 4.

Music - The children will be continuing their guitar lessons with Barry and Sam. The children now have a good understanding of the different notes and will be applying this to a variety of different songs. The children will be excited to perform in their guitar concert

PE - Our sporting value for this half-term is 'Determination’

• 'Treating everyone equally, supporting each other and working together to have fun and achieve. Celebrate each other's success and be positive team player.'
• On Tuesday afternoon's we will have our indoor PE lesson. This half term our focus will be ‘Disco Dance’. The children will be learning a variety of moves from the style of disco and incorporating these moves into their own routines.
• On Friday, we have our outdoor P.E session. This half term’s focus is strike and field – cricket. The children will be learning the rules of cricket, as well as the skills that are important to be successful. These include; fielding, catching, throwing and striking to name a few!

Summer Term 1 NEWS!

Summer 1 has been another busy term! I can't quite believe that we only have one half-term left! 

The children have done some great work in English, where we used the picture book 'The Whale' as the inspiration for our narrative writing. The children did an amazing job at following our steps to success, then completely blew me away with their independent writing. They impressed me with how much of the writing rainbow they have managed to incorporate into their stories, which has really elevated their writing and made it an absolute pleasure to read all of their stories.

The children have worked hard with other times tables in preparation for our Multiplication Table Check that we have coming up in our first week of summer 2. The children have also done an amazing job in our maths lessons, working incredibly hard on our fractions work. It's certainly not an easy topic, however, they all rose to the challenge and are showing a strong understanding of how fractions work.

The children have shone during their guitar lessons on Thursdays with Barry and Sam. I can't wait for you all to see the children's performance at the end of the year. I am sure you'll be just as impressed as I am. They have once again shown maturity and sensitivity during our RE topic on prayer and in our Heartsmart and Wellbeing Wednesday lessons. I am immensely proud of all the work the children have produced in the wider curriculum and the perseverance and resilience they continue to show on a daily basis.

We have also been continuing to work on our DT project of building a locomotive. It's been a long and hard journey so far, with the children showing great patience to work precisely and effectively. It has also provided us with a great opportunity to show team-work. I have been so impressed by the in which everyone has worked to support each other, which has made a huge impact on our progress.

During this half term, we have had many special experiences that we have shared together as a Church Church family to make happy memories. We all loved learning about and celebrating the Kings' Coronation together, something which I am sure will stay with us all for the rest of our lives.

Well done everyone, we have had a lovely start to the Summer Term. Let's continue to do ourselves proud in the final weeks of Year 4!

Spring Term 2 NEWS!

Another busy half-term in Year 4! A shorter half-term than usual, but a jam-packed one nevertheless! I can’t quite believe we are at the Summer Term already. The children continue to grow in confidence, mature and work hard. I am immensely proud of the effort that they are putting into all their work. 

They have produced some fantastic pieces of writing in English and are really working hard on their content and sentence types. We just need to keep consistently keep checking the basics! They produced some amazing, inspirational and thought-provoking writing based on the poem 'I Rise' by Maya Angelou.

Our focus at the end of this half term in Maths has been fractions. We started right back at the basics of part and whole and built from there. Throughout this topic, the children's fluency skills have improved and I have seen steady progress when solving problems involving adding and subtracting fractions. We continue to do our sticky learning around the written methods for the four operations of number. It is very important that they continue to practise these at home. We have also been working hard on our times tables in preparation for our end-of-year assessment. It is really important that the children continue to practice at home, in particualrly the sound check mode, as this 

In Computing, we looked at HTML code and the children enjoyed exploring and finding out more about this code. They have learnt more about sound in Science and really enjoyed Science Week, were they were able to learn more about fingerprints and carried out lots of different experiments to test how sound travels. In PE, we developed our gymnastics skills. (Rolls, handstands and cartwheels). In History, we moved further back in time on our timeline and learnt about the Roman invasion of Britain. 

Through our PATHS sessions and Heartsmart, the children have been able to talk about their feelings and emotions, leaning how to manage a variety of different situations and emotions in the best way for them. The children have also loved pupil of the day and have really enjoyed giving each other compliments. It's such a lovely way to finish the day! The children again showed sensitivity when thinking about trust and betrayal in the Easter story during our R.E lessons. The children are really thinking about how their actions can impact others. I couldn't be prouder of Team Year 4!

Well done everyone, we have had a lovely Spring Term. Let’s continue to do ourselves proud in the Summer Term!

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!