Blue - Year 4
Spring 1 Newsletter
English and Maths
In English, we will be working on an exciting new unit based on the book The Rhythm of the Rain by Grahame Baker-Smith, which features stunning illustrations to depict the water cycle. This topic links well with our Geography unit from last term, Water World, allowing the children to deepen and further their learning. Following the journey of the water, the children will focus on producing descriptive narratives before creating their own explanation texts based around the water cycle.
In Maths, Year 4 will be applying their times tables knowledge to our multiplication and division topic. This term, the children will be learning how to multiply and divide numbers by 10 or 100, before multiplying and dividing 3-digit numbers by a 1-digit number. Towards the end of the term, we will move onto a unit about length and perimeter. Knowing, and being able to quickly recall, times tables facts supports your child’s learning at this stage, so please encourage times tables practice at home.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit |
|---|---|
| History | Changes in Britain: Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Scots |
| RE | Inspiring Religious Figures |
| Music | The Doot Doot Song |
| French | French Numbers, Calendars and Birthdays |
| Art | William Morris |
| Science | Looking at States |
| Computing | Online Safety and Writing for Different Audiences |
| PSHE | Dreams and Goals |
Additional Information
As the class have now finished their swimming lessons for the year, your child will now have PE on both a Tuesday and Thursday. On these days, please ensure that your child arrives at school wearing their PE kit.
Each week the children will be sent home with homework to complete, based around spellings and times tables. Please ensure that this homework is completed at least three times a week, and that the homework book is returned to school each day. We will have a spelling test each Monday. Times Tables practice should now consist of 30 minutes on TTRockstars each week. If you have any difficulties accessing TTRockstars, please let us know.
Last term, it was really positive to see the children reading regularly at home and we would love for this to continue as we enter the New Year. Whether your child is reading to an adult, or reading independently, please ensure that their reading record is signed by an adult and returned to school. For every signature we see, we add a ticket to the reading raffle.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Best wishes for the New Year,
Miss Maudsley, Ms Hadfield and Mrs Johnson
Dates for the Diary
Friday 10th January: Whole School Pantomime
Tuesday 20th January: Whole School Pantomime
Friday 30th January: Year 4 assembly
Tuesday 10th February: Parents evening
Thursday 5th February: NSPCC Number day- dress up for £1
Friday 13th February: Parent morning
Trip to Quarry Bank Mill
This term, we have been learning about the Industrial Revolution in History. The children have learnt all about travel before the revolution, new technological advances and the cotton industry. As part of our learning, we took a trip to Quarry Bank Mill.
We started with a tour of the mill. The class played with traditional children's toys, wore some outfits befitting different roles in the mill and practised some of the jobs they would have been expected to do (like scavenging, replacing the bobbins and carrying the cotton). Following this the children enjoyed seeing how the different machines worked and learnt about the dangers they posed.
We finished the day in the Apprentice House- where the children were greeted as if they were children from the workhouse. The children learnt about living conditions in the Apprentice House, including the meals they would have eaten and the medicinal remedies used to cure illnesses. They even had the opportunity to practice some chores, like polishing shoes, ironing, sweeping the floor and setting the table.
Throughout the day, the children asked some fantastic questions and really showed their engagement. We are very proud of them and we are glad that they had such a good time.
Alongside the pictures below, we’ve added a new album to the gallery so you can see the fun the children got up to.
Autumn 2 Newsletter
Maths and English
In English, we will be reading The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, subtitled ‘A Tale of the Amazon Rainforest’. Through vibrant illustrations and a patterned, poetic story, this book clearly expresses the importance of preserving the rainforests (and the ecosystems within it) for the sake of all who live on this planet. From this, we anticipate that the children will create fantastic pieces of persuasive writing, and it will spur us on to further explore ideas of how to look after our planet. Following this topic, we will be reading Into the Forest by Anthony Browne, which is an amazing picture book that incorporates fairy tales into the story. We will use this book to inspire our writing as we create fairy tale play scripts.
In Maths, we will continue to apply our number skills to solve a range of problems and will start the term by focusing on area. For the remainder of the term, we will be developing mental and written methods for multiplication and division. We will be developing our understanding of anchor facts, to understand how we can use them to support multiplication questions, while also looking to build fluency. We will continue practising our 9 times tables, but will focus primarily on learning our 7 times tables.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit of Work |
|---|---|
| History | The Industrial Revolution |
| RE | How do people from Religious and Non-Religious communities celebrate key festivals? |
| French | Clothes |
| Science | Living Things |
| Music | Ride of the Valkyries (BBC Ten Pieces) |
| Design and Technology | Seasonal Stockings |
| Computing | Coding |
| PSHE | Celebrating Difference |
Additional Information
This term, we will be starting our School Linking Work with Cheetham Church of England Community Academy, Manchester. The children will be learning about our partner school and we will be creating pieces of work to help introduce ourselves. Throughout this work, we will be considering identity in the context of ‘Who am I ? and the children will be participating in a wonderful live lesson with children’s author Joseph Coelho as part of this.
Swimming will continue this half term, so your child will still need a swimming kit every Wednesday. Blue Class also need to arrive at school wearing their P.E kit each Thursday, ready for their weekly P.E lesson.
Each week, the children have homework to complete, which has changed since last half term. Children are still expected to complete their spellings at least three times a week, with a test every Monday. Yet, the maths element of the homework has changed: children are expected to complete at least 30 minutes of TTRockstars (in the garage game mode) each week (Monday to Sunday).
We also expect the children to be reading regularly at home, whether this is done independently or with an adult. Even if your child is reading independently, please ensure that you sign their reading record and return it to school each day. Children may choose to read a book from home, their reading book or a non-fiction text. Each time that we see a child has read at home, their name is written on a raffle ticket for the end-of-term reading raffle (which is now drawn in the final Friday assembly).
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
We hope you have a lovely half-term!
Miss Maudsley, Mrs Johnson and Ms Hadfield.
Dates for the diary
Monday 3rd November: School reopens
Tuesday 4th November: Year 4 participating in the Joseph Coelho live lesson with The Linking Network
Monday 3rd November – Thursday 6th November: Multi-Faith Week
Friday 6th November: Flu Vaccinations
Monday 10th November: Odd socks day for anti-bullying
Friday 14th November: Children in Need (£1)
Friday 28th November: PTA Non-Uniform Day (bring a bottle)
Wednesday 3rd December: Nativity evening performance
Thursday 4th December: Christians in Schools Year 4 workshop
Friday 5th December: Year 4 trip to Quarry Bank Mill
Saturday 6th December: Christmas fair
Tuesday 9th December: KS2 Carol Concert
Tuesday 16th December: Christmas Craft Parent Morning
Trip to Reddish Vale Country Park
This term, as part of our Geography Unit, Water World, we took the children on a trip to Reddish Vale Country Park. We spent some time walking around different areas of the park, sketching the features we could see and searching for different wildlife.
We were so proud of all the children and were happy to see that they enjoyed themselves.
Alongside the pictures below, we’ve added some pictures to the gallery.
Autumn 1 Newsletter
English and Maths
Hello and welcome to Year 4!
We hope you enjoyed a lovely summer, and we are looking forward to the year ahead.
In English this term, we will be looking at an interesting book with beautiful illustrations. The story revolves around an elderly man that lives in a world of scrap metal. At the start of the term, the title is a closely-guarded secret, to support the children with using character and setting to make predictions about the plot. The children will then have the opportunity to be more creative as they write their own sequels to the text. Following this, we will be exploring The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and using the events of the story to practice our biography writing.
In Maths, Year 4 will be developing their understanding of place value. They will be learning to compare and order numbers up to 10,000, find these numbers on number lines, and round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000. Your child will also be learning formal written methods for adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers.
As the children move through Key Stage 2, times tables fluency is increasingly important and supports the children as they tackle more challenging problems. We will therefore be placing particular emphasis on learning and practising times tables in class, so that the children can quickly recall key facts. Any opportunities for the children to practice at home will support quicker recall, so please make sure that your child is practising regularly.
To further encourage the children with practicing at home, we run a Times Tables Rockstars Tournament each term. The tournament logs the amount of time the children spend practising their times tables on TT Rockstars, and at the end of term, the top three children will have a choice from our class prize box.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit of learning |
|---|---|
| Science | Sound |
| Geography | Water World |
| Music | This Little Light of Mine |
| PSHE | Being me in my world |
| Computing | Effective researching |
| PE | Swimming |
| French | Portraits |
| Art | Jewellery Making |
| RE | Why is Jesus inspiring to some people? |
Additional Information
On Wednesday 10th September, the children will resume their swimming lessons at Grand Central. These lessons will continue on a weekly basis, so please ensure that your child comes into school with their swimming kit every Wednesday.
Your child will also need to arrive at school wearing their P.E kit each Thursday, so that they are prepared for their weekly P.E lesson.
Homework will be handed out each Monday and will consist of spellings and times tables. Homework should be completed at least 3 times a week and the spelling test will take place the following Monday. Once completed, please sign the homework log in the front of the homework book and return back to school each day.
We encourage all children to read at home regularly and will provide children with a reading book to do so. Each Wednesday, we will be holding a bookclub so that the children can share a book with the class and make recommendations for their friends.
Similarly to homework, children are expected to be reading regularly at home. Children can read independently or with an adult and they may read a reading book, library book or a personal book from home. Some children will prefer to read a book of their choice to a younger sibling ( or perhaps even a pet!). However your child chooses to read, please record it in their school reading record and make sure it is signed by an adult. Whenever we see that a child has read at home, their name will be written onto a ticket for the end of term reading raffle.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to approach us.
Best wishes for the new term,
Miss Maudsley, Ms Hadfield and Mrs Johnson.
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 10th September: Swimming starts for Year 4
Wednesday 8th October: RE workshop for Year 4
English and Maths
Hello and welcome to Year 4!
We hope you enjoyed a lovely summer, and we are looking forward to the year ahead.
In English this term, we will be looking at an interesting book with beautiful illustrations. The story revolves around an elderly man that lives in a world of scrap metal. At the start of the term, the title is a closely-guarded secret, to support the children with using character and setting to make predictions about the plot. The children will then have the opportunity to be more creative as they write their own sequels to the text. Following this, we will be exploring The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and using the events of the story to practice our biography writing.
In Maths, Year 4 will be developing their understanding of place value. They will be learning to compare and order numbers up to 10,000, find these numbers on number lines, and round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000. Your child will also be learning formal written methods for adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers.
As the children move through Key Stage 2, times tables fluency is increasingly important and supports the children as they tackle more challenging problems. We will therefore be placing particular emphasis on learning and practising times tables in class, so that the children can quickly recall key facts. Any opportunities for the children to practice at home will support quicker recall, so please make sure that your child is practising regularly.
To further encourage the children with practicing at home, we run a Times Tables Rockstars Tournament each term. The tournament logs the amount of time the children spend practising their times tables on TT Rockstars, and at the end of term, the top three children will have a choice from our class prize box.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit of learning |
|---|---|
| Science | Sound |
| Geography | Water World |
| Music | This Little Light of Mine |
| PSHE | Being me in my world |
| Computing | Effective researching |
| PE | Swimming |
| French | Portraits |
| Art | Jewellery Making |
| RE | Why is Jesus inspiring to some people? |
Additional Information
On Wednesday 10th September, the children will resume their swimming lessons at Grand Central. These lessons will continue on a weekly basis, so please ensure that your child comes into school with their swimming kit every Wednesday.
Your child will also need to arrive at school wearing their P.E kit each Thursday, so that they are prepared for their weekly P.E lesson.
Homework will be handed out each Monday and will consist of spellings and times tables. Homework should be completed at least 3 times a week and the spelling test will take place the following Monday. Once completed, please sign the homework log in the front of the homework book and return back to school each day.
We encourage all children to read at home regularly and will provide children with a reading book to do so. Each Wednesday, we will be holding a bookclub so that the children can share a book with the class and make recommendations for their friends.
Similarly to homework, children are expected to be reading regularly at home. Children can read independently or with an adult and they may read a reading book, library book or a personal book from home. Some children will prefer to read a book of their choice to a younger sibling ( or perhaps even a pet!). However your child chooses to read, please record it in their school reading record and make sure it is signed by an adult. Whenever we see that a child has read at home, their name will be written onto a ticket for the end of term reading raffle.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to approach us.
Best wishes for the new term,
Miss Maudsley, Ms Hadfield and Mrs Johnson.
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 10th September: Swimming starts for Year 4
Wednesday 8th October: RE workshop for Year 4
English and Maths
Hello and welcome to Year 4!
We hope you enjoyed a lovely summer, and we are looking forward to the year ahead.
In English this term, we will be looking at an interesting book with beautiful illustrations. The story revolves around an elderly man that lives in a world of scrap metal. At the start of the term, the title is a closely-guarded secret, to support the children with using character and setting to make predictions about the plot. The children will then have the opportunity to be more creative as they write their own sequels to the text. Following this, we will be exploring The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and using the events of the story to practice our biography writing.
In Maths, Year 4 will be developing their understanding of place value. They will be learning to compare and order numbers up to 10,000, find these numbers on number lines, and round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000. Your child will also be learning formal written methods for adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers.
As the children move through Key Stage 2, times tables fluency is increasingly important and supports the children as they tackle more challenging problems. We will therefore be placing particular emphasis on learning and practising times tables in class, so that the children can quickly recall key facts. Any opportunities for the children to practice at home will support quicker recall, so please make sure that your child is practising regularly.
To further encourage the children with practicing at home, we run a Times Tables Rockstars Tournament each term. The tournament logs the amount of time the children spend practising their times tables on TT Rockstars, and at the end of term, the top three children will have a choice from our class prize box.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit of learning |
|---|---|
| Science | Sound |
| Geography | Water World |
| Music | This Little Light of Mine |
| PSHE | Being me in my world |
| Computing | Effective researching |
| PE | Swimming |
| French | Portraits |
| Art | Jewellery Making |
| RE | Why is Jesus inspiring to some people? |
Additional Information
On Wednesday 10th September, the children will resume their swimming lessons at Grand Central. These lessons will continue on a weekly basis, so please ensure that your child comes into school with their swimming kit every Wednesday.
Your child will also need to arrive at school wearing their P.E kit each Thursday, so that they are prepared for their weekly P.E lesson.
Homework will be handed out each Monday and will consist of spellings and times tables. Homework should be completed at least 3 times a week and the spelling test will take place the following Monday. Once completed, please sign the homework log in the front of the homework book and return back to school each day.
We encourage all children to read at home regularly and will provide children with a reading book to do so. Each Wednesday, we will be holding a bookclub so that the children can share a book with the class and make recommendations for their friends.
Similarly to homework, children are expected to be reading regularly at home. Children can read independently or with an adult and they may read a reading book, library book or a personal book from home. Some children will prefer to read a book of their choice to a younger sibling ( or perhaps even a pet!). However your child chooses to read, please record it in their school reading record and make sure it is signed by an adult. Whenever we see that a child has read at home, their name will be written onto a ticket for the end of term reading raffle.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to approach us.
Best wishes for the new term,
Miss Maudsley, Ms Hadfield and Mrs Johnson.
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 10th September: Swimming starts for Year 4
Wednesday 8th October: RE workshop for Year 4