Year 4

Mr Brittin (Class Teachers)

Mrs MacFarlane, Mrs Read, Mrs Hose, Mrs Sweeney, Mrs Angus, Mrs Clark and Mrs Fairhead (Support Staff)

• Year 4 Reading Spine (639KB)
• Year 4 Reading Intent (157KB)
• Year 4 Intent (187KB)
• MTC Check (537KB)

Summer 2023

Year 4 returned after the Easter break, as always, excited and ready to learn all about their new topics.

In English, the children have been exploring explanation texts.  They have designed their own helpful inventions and used chronological steps to explain how they work.  Year 4 will continue their English lessons, exploring traditional African tales, poems and writing their own play scripts.

In Maths, Year 4 have been learning about decimals.  We have used our prior knowledge of place value to partition, order and round decimals.  This links with our work on money, before we learn all about time.  We finish the year learning about shape and position and direction.

In Science, we have been exploring electricity.  The children have been able to identify the different parts of a circuit and used these to find out how to light up a bulb.  They have enjoyed the challenge of working out how to make the bulb more or less bright.

Our topic for the first half term has been Italy.  The children have loved learning all about the country, its regions and cities.  They have particularly enjoyed researching significant landmarks in the country and have made some fantastic leaflets using their knowledge.  In the second half term, Year 4 will be learning all about the Vikings settling in England.  The children are really looking forward to finding out about their journeys, invasion and how they changed the country.

In DT, we have been learning about seasonal food.  We have learnt about the different foods that are in season at different times and even got to try some of them.  The children particularly enjoyed tasting the rhubarb!  In Art, we will be continuing our work on sculpture.  Year 4 will explore how artists are inspired by the natural world around them and use this to make their own sculptures inspired by birds’ nests.

In PE, the children have been continuing their work on ball games, with a focus on rounders and cricket.  They have really enjoyed having the chance to have a go at all of the different positions, practising their bowling, batting and fielding skills.

In RE, Year 4 have been learning all about things that are important to different religions.  They have explored sacred items and texts and considered why these things are so important to members of different religions.

In PSHE, we have been discussing the relationships we have with our friends and family and how these can change over time.  We’ve explored the emotions we might experience when these relationships change and how we can deal with them.  It has been fantastic to see Year 4’s respectful and mature attitude to these discussions in our lessons.

Year 4 should be so proud of all their work this term and we are all really excited to see what the final term of our time in Year 4 brings.

Spring 2023

Year 4 started the new year excited about the new and interesting things we would be exploring this term.

Our first topic this term is rivers and the children have investigated the different features of rivers in Geography, as well as completing a focused study all about the Amazon River in English.  From our Geography topic, we have started looking at Central and South America, which the children will continue as we move onto our History topic of the Ancient Mayans.

As well as non-chronological reports about the Amazon River, Year 4 are also exploring how character and setting descriptions are used in fantasy stories.  We have read the book, Leon and the Place Between and the children are rewriting a section in which they are creating their own magical, mysterious ‘Place Between’.

In Maths this term, Year 4 have been focusing on shape and space.  They have been finding the area and perimeter of lots of different shapes including rectilinear shapes and other regular irregular polygons.  Alongside our Maths lessons, Year 4 are working hard to learn their times tables.  The children are loving singing and dancing along to the songs in the morning and enjoy the challenge of quick-fire questions throughout the day.

In PE, Year 4 have been focusing on Gymnastics and invasion games.  In Gymnastics, the children have been practising a range of balances, rolls and jumps to create a routine.  To practise invasion games, the children have been practising their netball skills and have been looking at how they pass the ball as well as using all of the space around them to keep the game moving.

In RE, we have been exploring how community is important to many different religions.  The children have learnt all about the Sikh rule of Seva and how it is important for Sikhs to help others both inside and outside of their community.  We also looked at how community is an important part of the Chinese New Year celebration and the children learnt how to write ‘Happy New Year’ in Cantonese.

For our Art lessons, the children have been learning all about Still Life.  They have studied the work of famous still life artists as well as using lots of different materials to create their own still life pieces.  The children are very excited to star their new DT project in which they will explore how different structures are made, eventually building their own mini green houses.

In Computing, the children have been exploring how they can create music using software.  They have used Chrome Music Lab to compose their music, investigating the different techniques options and techniques they can use to change their sounds.

In Science, Year 4 have been learning all about living things and their habitats.  They have explored how animals adapt to their surroundings in order to survive.  They have also learned all about food webs and how all of the different organisms in a habitat work together to keep life going.

In PSHE, the children have been exploring their dreams and ambitions.  The children have shared what they hope for the future, but we have also explored disappointment and frustration and how we can approach these feelings.

Autumn 2022

Year 4 have had a fantastic start to the year and are really looking forward to what lies ahead. Our topics this term are the Anglo-Saxons and Early Settlements. In Geography, the children have been identifying what features and resources are necessary to make a location a suitable place to settle. They have also enjoyed using atlases to find some locations that were settled in by Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.

In English, the class have been reading and writing Roman Myths. The children have loved reading lots of different myths and using the characters and creatures to inspire their own myths. The three-headed dog Cerberus has been a great inspiration to lots of the class with many finding different ways to include the canine beast in their stories.

In Maths, we have been exploring the four operations. The children have revisited the use of the column methods for addition and subtraction and have used their times tables knowledge to solve multiplication and division problems. Year 4 are really enjoying the challenge of TTRockstars and are testing their times tables knowledge every day.

In Science, Year 4 are exploring states of matter and have been very excited to conduct lots of experiments with Mrs Kemp. They have been able to perform and record inquiries in a scientific manner, ensuring that tests are fair and results are reliable. Our PSHE lessons have focused on ‘Being Me in My World’ and the children are exploring their belonging in the world around them. They have found out about the responsibilities of the people who are important to them, as well as how their own responsibilities affect the people and places around them.

In PE this term, Year 4 have been practising their football, hockey and rugby skills. They have explored how to pass and score as well as how best to work as a team to score a goal. This has included understanding the rules of the game and the role that each player plays within that.

In Computing, the children have been using Scratch to design and create their own educational games. They have worked in groups to programme characters to ask and respond to times tables questions, building on the skills the children have been developing in their Maths lessons.

In Art, Year 4 have been studying the work of the architect Antoni Gaudi. The children have explored some of work and researched his life and influences, which they have presented in their sketch books. The class are really looking forward to learning more about this artist and being able to create their own pieces, from clay, inspired by Goudi’s work.