Blue - Year 4
Spring 2 Newsletter
Maths and English
This term, our English topic focusses on The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman, which explores stories from different cultures. The Matchbox Diary is a wonderfully illustrated book that encourages the children to think about the stories that their belongings tell, thus helping them to write their own diary entries about important memories. Following on from this, we will have our first poetry focus of the year- exploring the work of Zaro Weil in Cherry Moon and using it to inspire our own poetry writing.
In Maths, we will be continuing our work on length and perimeter, before learning about fractions and introducing decimals. To use fractions efficiently, the children need to have a secure knowledge of their times tables and, most importantly, quickly recall these key facts. We will therefore be spending lots of time practising times tables fluency and improving the speed at which the children can recall their times tables. Please continue practising with your child at home- even if you think that your child knows their times tables, continuous practice supports this faster recall.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit |
|---|---|
| RE | Why do some people think that life is a journey and what significant experiences mark this? |
| Music | Fanfare for the Common Man and Spain |
| Art | William Morris, Wallpaper Printing |
| Geography | Biomes and Climate Belts |
| Science | Teeth and Eating |
| Computing | Animation and Making Music |
| PSHE | Healthy Me |
| French | French Weather and the Water Cycle |
Additional Information
Last term, we spent some time getting to know our Schools Linking Partner, Brookside Primary School. The children exchanged different pieces of work and took part in an exciting video call with our linked class. This term, our School Linking work seeks to build a connection between the schools through shared values and social action. As part of this work, we will be encouraging the children to think about the causes that matter to them. We will also be sending home activities and we would love it if you could join in with these projects.
As usual, the children will have PE on a Monday and Thursday, so please ensure that your child arrives at school wearing a PE kit on each of these days.
Each week, the children are sent home with homework to complete. This homework consists of spellings rules for the children to learn and times tables practice. This term, we have created more personalised times tables for each child to best support their progress in class. Please make sure that your child is completing their homework at least three times a week, and that the homework book is returned to school each day. We will have a spelling test each Friday.
All children are encouraged to read at home regularly, and we award a raffle ticket every time that we notice a child has read. The children may choose to read independently or with an adult, and can also choose what book it is they would like to read- whether it is a reading book, library book or personal choice. However your child is choosing to read at home, please ensure that it is recorded with an adult’s signature. We had a really positive uptake last term, with some children being awarded 30 or more raffle tickets, so we would love to continue this momentum.
As always, if you have any worries or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Enjoy the half-term!
Miss Maudsley and Mrs Johnson
Dates for the Diary
Friday 7th March- World Book Day - Dress up or wear pyjamas
Tuesday 11th March- Year 4 Times Table Check Parents Information Evening at 3:30pm
21st March- Red Nose Day
Tuesday 8th April- Parent's morning.
History in action
This term the children have been learning about Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Scots in History. A large part of our learning focussed on how we know and learn about historical events, so we spent a lot of time thinking about how the children could learn about the topic (without being told the information by a teacher!).
Throughout the topic we:
- Went on an information hunt using fact cards around the classroom.
- Researched Picts and Scots using ebooks.
- Used artefacts to learn about daily life in AngloSaxon times.
- Carved our names into clay using the Ogham alphabet
- Became archaeologists in our own mini excavation.
Head over to the gallery to see some pictures of our history unit in action.
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 the this stage, so please encourage times tables practice at home. To encourage the children to do so, we will once again be running our Times Tables Tournament- where the children compete for a chance to win something from the class prize box. At the end of the half term, the three children who have spent the most time on TTRockstars will each choose a prize.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Unit |
|---|---|
| RE | Inspiring Religious Figures |
| History | Changes in Britain: Anglo-Saxons, Picts and Scots |
| Design Technology | Mechanical Systems |
| PSHE | Dreams and Goals |
| French | French Numbers, Calendars and Birthdays |
| Science | Looking at States |
| Computing | Online Safety, Writing for different audiences |
| Music | The Doot Doot Song |
Additional Information
As the class have now finished their swimming lessons for the year, your child will now have PE on both a Monday 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 Friday.
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 and Mrs Johnson
Dates for the Diary
Friday 10th January: Cinderella Pantomime
Thursday 30th January: Parent consultations
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 Rain Forest’. 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 focussing on area. For the remainder of the term, we will be developing mental and written methods for multiplication and division. Please continue to help your child practise their times tables at home as it really does make a difference. If your child wishes to use online platforms to practise, the login details for Purple Mash and TT Rockstars can be found on the first page of their reading record. Last term’s TT Rockstars Tournament was certainly very popular so it will continue again, with the three children who have completed the most minutes by Christmas choosing out of the class prize box.
The Wider Curriculum
| Subject | Topic |
|---|---|
| Geography | Water World |
| R.E | How do people from Religious and Non-Religious Communities celebrate key festivals? |
| Design and Technology | Seasonal Stockings |
| Computing | Coding |
| French | Clothes |
| PE | Gymnastics, swimming |
| PSHE | Celebrating difference |
| Science | Living things |
Additional Information
This term we will be starting our School Linking work with Brookside Primary School. 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?’.
Swimming lessons will continue this half term, so your child will still need a swimming kit every Wednesday. Blue class will also need their P.E kit each Thursday, ready for their weekly P.E lesson.
Each week, the children have nightly times tables and spellings homework to complete. This will be handed out on a Monday, ready for a spelling test each Friday.
We really encourage the children to read at home regularly, and this can be 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, library book or a non-fiction text. Each time that we see that a child has read at home, they receive a ticket for the reading raffle.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Best wishes,
Miss Maudsley and Mrs Johnson
Dates for the Diary
Monday 11th November- Multi-faith week begins
Friday 15th November- Children in Need non-uniform day £1
Monday 25th November- Pupil Flu Vaccination
Friday 13th December- Christmas Jumper and Christmas Dinner day
Tuesday 17th December- Christmas craft morning
Jewellery Designers
This term our art topic was Jewellery Designers and the children have loved it.
We created artwork inspired by ancient jewellery designs, experimented with making our own paper beads and designed our own gemstones.
The children particularly enjoyed using a template and repetitive motions to weave their own bracelets.
Take a look in our gallery for some pictures of this topic.
Autumn 1 Newsletter
Maths and English
In English, 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. After looking closely at the character and setting, we will predict how the plot develops. We will then write our own sequels to the text. Following this, we will be using the events in The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane 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 Study |
|---|---|
| French | Portraits |
| RE | Why is Jesus inspiring to some people? |
| PSHE | Being me in my world |
| PE | Swimming |
| Art | Jewellery Making |
| Music | This little light of mine |
| History | Industrial Revolution |
| Computing | Effective Researching |
| Science | Sound |
Additional Information
On Wednesday 11th 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 has a swimming kit every Wednesday. If you are unsure about acceptable swimwear, the 'Uniform' section of the website contains further information.
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 on a Monday and will consist of spellings and times tables. It should be completed 4 times a week and the spelling test will take place on a Friday. Once completed, please sign the homework log and return the book to school each day.
All children are encouraged to read at home regularly, and will be provided with a reading book to do so. Similar to homework, children are expected to be reading at home at least 4 times a week. Children can read independently or with an adult and they may read their reading book, library book or a personal text from home. Please ensure that any reading at home is recorded in the reading record and signed by an adult. Whenever the reading record shows that a child has read at home (with an adult signature) they will receive a ticket for the end of term reading raffle.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Best wishes,
Miss Maudsley and Mrs Johnson
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 11th September - RE workshop for Year 4.
Wednesday 11th September- Swimming lessons start.