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 Term 1 (April - May 2024)

English

In English we will be starting our new class reader 'The Whale’ by Vita Murrow. This is a wonderful book and I can't wait to share it with the children.

There is a legend that a Great Spotted Whale lives in the ocean; local fishermen still talk of it, although the first sighting fifty years ago was never corroborated. Now, two young whale watchers each set out to find the whale, one armed with sound recording equipment, the other a camera. Mid-ocean their boats collide, so they pool their resources and set off together to capture incontrovertible proof that the mythical Great Spotted Whale exists…

We will also be developing 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'.

Later this half term, we will be focusing on newspaper report writing. The children will be producing a newspaper report based around the important issue of plastic pollution.  

 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.

Maths

In Maths this half term we will be continuing to focus on Fractions. The key objectives we will cover are:

• Look at fractions that are greater than 1
• Convert between mixed numbers and improper fractions
• Identify equivalent fractions
• Simplify fractions.

This unit introduces the concept of mixed numbers and improper fractions. We will explore what happens when a fraction is more than 1 (that is, the numerator is greater than the denominator). The children will use this to write, compare and order mixed numbers and will then look at how mixed numbers can be written as improper fractions and vice versa. Children will then move on to equivalent fractions using fraction strips and a fraction wall to aid understanding of fraction families. Following this, children will further develop their understanding of how to simplify fractions

By the end of Year 4, children are expected to have memorised all their times tables up to 12 x 12. You can help your child by regularly testing them at home. TTRockstars is the best resource to support your child with their times tables. Its algorithm ensures that the right questions are asked at the right time, providing an appropriate level of challenge. There are different modes available, such as studio mode that focuses on speed, and 'sound check' that simulates the real MTC check that the children will take at the end of Year 4. 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
• Written strategies for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

RE - This half term we will think about prayer and explore prayer in other faiths. Our key questions will be:

• What is prayer?
• How do people pray?
• Why do people pray?
• When do people pray?
• Where do people pray?

Heart Smart- 'Fake in a mistake'

'Fake is a Mistake' is very simply about embracing truth, it can be our greatest friend. We lie because we don’t want to get in trouble, we think that a carefully crafted lie or a strong denial will rid us of a looming consequence. But every time we tell a lie one of two things happens. The other person believes us or they don’t. If they don’t then chances are we’re in more trouble than before, we’ve just added telling a barefaced lie to the problem! But it’s worse if they do believe us. We’ll get away with it which means we’re more likely to do the same thing next time and the next time and the next time. The more expert we get at telling lies, the harder it is for us to tell the truth. Without thinking about it, we’ll tell the odd lie here and there and each time we do we build a brick wall between us and the other person. If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to lose sight of the truth all together, we’ll begin to lose sight of ourselves.

Love ourselves, love others and do all we can to live in truth. Truth and love go hand in hand. They travel together. As Mal Panacoast says,'telling someone the truth is a loving act,' both for for others but also for ourselves.

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

Geography - Rivers

During this topic the children will consider how the location of these geographical features has shaped life. They will have the opportunity to ask geographical questions and make links. For example, Are there any big cities near rivers? They will also have the opportunity to:

• use the language of rivers (erosion, depositation, transportation)
• explain and present the process of rivers
• compare how a river has changed over time
• research and discuss how water effects the environment, settlement, environmental change and sustainability

We will be using maps, atlases and digital computer mapping to locate rivers in England. We will also use 4 figure grid references to read maps.

The children will also complete a homework project during this topic. This will involve researching and producing a presentation a river of their choice.

Science - We will spend the first couple of weeks completing our unit on Sound. After this we will start our unit on 'Changes of State'. During this unit the children will:

• (K) Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases
• (WS) Identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes
• (K) Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases
• (K) Observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure or research the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C)
• (WS) Setting up simple practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests
• (WS) Making systematic and careful observations and, where appropriate, taking accurate measurements using standard units, using a range of equipment, including thermometers and data loggers
• (K) Identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature.
• (WS) Reporting on findings from enquiries, including oral and written explanations, displays or presentations of results and conclusions

This unit links with our Geography unit on rivers and the Water Cycle.

Art - We are going to do art projects this half term. The first will be based around Roman Mosaics and using clay. the second will be around textiles. During this unit the children will

*To create a mood board

*To learn what paper weaving is and create a piece of art using this method

*To design a contemporary paper patchwork quilt

*To create a research page on Faith Ringgold

*To create a story quilt collage

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

'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 Monday’s, we will have our indoor P.E lesson. This half term our focus will be circuit training. During this unit, the children will be learning:

• Exercise Effects - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance in the context of aerobic circuit training activities.
• Upper Body Exercises - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance in the context of upper body circuit training exercises.
• Lower Body Exercises - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance in the context of lower body
• Core Exercises - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance in the context of circuit training exercises focused on the core muscles
• Setting Targets - To compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best in the context of setting personal targets for different circuit training exercises.
• Personal Best - To compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best in the context of aiming for personal targets for different circuit training exercises

On Wednesday’s afternoons we will have our outdoor PE lesson. This half term our focus will be Athletics. Here is the lessons that we will be doing.

• FUNdamentals - To use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination. (I can practise existing running, jumping and throwing skills.)
• Finish Fast - To use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination. To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance. To compare performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve personal best. (I can improve my running for sprinting, including the sprint finish)
• Relay Running - To use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination. To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance.(I can practise relay running)
• Standing Triple Jump - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance. To use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination. To compare performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve personal best.(I can jump for distance)
• Pull It - To develop flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance. To use running, jumping, throwing and catching in isolation and in combination. (I can learn the pull throw technique.)

French - The children will be creating and describing a monster in French. After this, they will write sentences about their monster alongside answering questions about their monster. Linked with our computing work they will also recall how to talk about describing the weather in French and be able to say what the weather is like on different days of the week.

Computing - 'Computational Thinking'.

During this topic, the children will be:

• Using decomposition to solve a problem by finding out what code was used.
• Using decomposition to understand the purpose of a script of code.
• Identifying patterns through unplugged activities.
• Using past experiences to help solve new problems.
• Using abstraction to identify the important parts when completing both plugged and unplugged activities.
• Creating algorithms for a specific purpose.
• Using abstraction and pattern recognition to modify code.

Music- The children will continue with their WOPPS guitar lessons on a Thursday afternoon with Barry and Sam. They will keep working on their key skills, practising existing songs they have learnt and learning new songs.

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!