Welcome to Year 4!

Our classes are named after famous humanitarians, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela.

Highlights in Year 4 include:

  • experiencing the life of an Anglo-Saxon when the children take a trip to Houlgate.
  • visiting Gainsborough Old Hall to study how the building has changed over time from the Tudor period.
  • practising their swimming skills.

A normal day in Year 4 begins with Comprehension before moving onto Maths and English. After lunch, we focus on wider areas of the curriculum such as Science, History, Geography and Art. Before leaving for home, the children practise their reading and handwriting skills and attend a whole-school assembly.

Our indoor PE and outdoor Games lessons are timetabled for a Wednesday  (indoor) and Friday  (outdoor), these are taught by a specialist teacher. However, we advise that PE kits are brought into school on a Monday and taken home again on a Friday, just incase.

In Year 4, the children are expected to practise their reading and maths skills at home. Children should read four times a week from any text they wish (whether a schoolbook or one from home). Every child’s Maths homework will be accessible on Showbie. Homework is handed out on a Wednesday and is expected to be handed back on the following Monday. In addition, TT Rockstars is an excellent resource for children to practise times tables.

As readers, we will use a variety of text types to practise key reading skills such as: fluency, understanding vocabulary and its usage, retrieval, inference, sequencing and justifying our opinions.

As writers, we will write a mystery narrative based around ‘The Great Chocoplot’, a factual tour about the water cycle, and a piece of poetry based on rivers.

As mathematicians, we will learn about place value to 10,000, including rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. We will learn about Roman numerals and focus on addition and subtraction with 4 digit numbers. In multiplication and division, we will focus on the 3, 6, 9, 7, 11 and 12 x tables. We will also learn about multiplying by 1 and 0 and multiplying by 3 numbers.

As scientists, we will learn to classify and group different living things. Also, we will work scientifically to explore solids, liquid and gases, and how they change states.

As geographers, we will build on our knowledge of the United Kingdom as a settlement and its land use to develop our locational knowledge and apply practical geographical skills during field work.

As historians, we will be learning about the Anglo Saxons and how life in Britain changed after the Romans. This will include beginning to familiarise ourselves with primary and secondary sources.

As theologians, we will begin to learn about Hindus and Hinduism and build on our knowledge of Muslims and Islam, especially around the ideas of worship, celebration and community.

As computer users, we will be continuing to develop our digital literacy skills, by understanding the idea of an ‘online identify’; recognising how others should be interacted with positively online; explore why someone may pretend to be someone else online and identify whether we should reuse online content. Also, we will use ‘Garageband’ to record a rap, generate a musical accompaniment and combine it with other multimedia software to create a music video.

As artists, we will begin to identify the features of Georgian architecture. Also, we will develop our sewing skills further by applying new techniques: back stitch and French knots within our work.

As responsible citizens, we will identify how we can make others feel welcomed and valued, recognise how our contributions can help our groups and communities achieve their outcomes, and understand how rewards (or consequences) can motivate behaviour. Also, we will celebrate differences by accepting people for who they are, questioning why I think what I do about others and represent unique features of my own physical appearance.

As musicians, we will explore Tudor music, both through songs and in listening activities. We will play some music that was composed in Tudor times on our recorders and will start to learn how to play together with hand bells. We will start to learn about staff notation and note values.

As sports people, we will be able to repeat controlled patterns to music with consistency. We will also be working on understanding the rules to IDA dodgeball.

As linguists, we will continue to learn larger numbers, along with asking about birthdays and ages. We also explore and discover more about the festivals and ‘fiestas’ celebrated in Spain and compare them to those we have in the UK.

As designers, we will design and create a prototype of a gift box. Afterwards, we will evaluate its successes and areas for development before creating our final product.

As readers, we will use a variety of texts from the school reading spine. We will focus on traditional Indian narratives, as well as different types of poetry. The children will use a range of non-fiction texts to research India.

 

As writers, we will use the theme of India to write a range of exciting and informative texts. For example, the children will write a set of instructions for making naan bread. They will write their own versions of traditional Indian narratives e.g. Rama and Sita. The children will write a non-chronological report about aspects of India, as well as a kenning poem inspired by India’s wildlife.

 

As mathematicians, we will learn how to multiply and divide by 10 and 100 and factor pairs. We will also multiply 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers. In measurement, we will focus on length and perimeter and then move on to fractions and decimals.

 

As scientists, we will describe the digestive system of humans and identify the different types of teeth we have. We will also compare and group materials and observe how they can change between a solid, a liquid and a gas. Finally we will also learn about the water cycle.

 

As theologians, we will revisit the key beliefs in Christiantiy. We will look at baptism and how the idea of trinity and community is part of it. We will learn more about the Holy Communion service and what makes this a special meal. We will investigate different denominations in the Christian faith-Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Quaker and Evangelical.

 

As computer users, we will use ‘copy and paste’ to add online information into our own documents. Also, we will continue to learn how to touch-type using both hands and learn how to edit the layout of documents.

 

As artists, we will be inspired by India in our artwork. We will apply our patterning to paint, clay and pen and ink to produce India inspired work, including Mendhi patterns. We will study the artwork of Henri Rousseau, in particular his Tiger painting and use this as inspiration to produce our own work.

 

As responsible citizens, we learn about a range of different feelings and emotions and discuss how we feel about growing and changing. We learn about the reasons why people choose to eat or avoid certain foods. Also, we discover why sleep is important and how too much screen time can have a negative impact on our mental health.

 

As musicians, we will explore Indian music. We will think about how it uses modes and rhythm patterns (raga and tala) and start to create our own music inspired by Indian composers using tuned classroom percussion. We will explore texture and timbre. We will sing songs that link to India.

 

As sports people, we will start to explore balances with partners and understand the difference between counter tension and counter balance.

 

As linguists, we learn about the different members of a family and how to describe the physical and personal characteristics of our family members.

 

As designers, In food technology, we will follow a naan bread recipe. We will measure the necessary ingredients, create our own recipe and make our final bread with accompaniments. Throughout the project, we will learn about hygienic practices when handling food.

As readers, we will use a variety of texts from the school reading spine. We will focus on Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Children will explore the style of Ted Hughes in great depth and be able to retell the story in their own words. Alongside this, children will read a variety of non-fiction texts about the Anglo Saxons, as well as fictional literature related to the Anglo-Saxons such as King Arthur and Beowulf.

 

As writers, we will use the theme of Anglo-Saxons to write our own King Arthur inspired text. We will write a persuasive piece of writing and use the story of Iron Man by Ted Hughes as the basis for a Science-Fiction narrative. We will continue to extend our understanding of poetic genres through writing a free-verse poem.

 

As mathematicians, we will learn about decimals, money, time, shape, statistics and position and direction.

 

As scientists, we investigate how sound is made and how we can hear things. We will also identify what needs electricity to work and construct our own simple electrical circuits.

 

As geographers, we will learn about Spain with a particular focus on the Andalusia region. The children will learn about Spanish customs and culture, will study the human and physical geography and compare and contrast a region of Spain with a region in England.

 

As historians, we will be investigating aspects of life in our locality in the Tudor period of history.

 

As theologians, we will explore the role of pilgrimage in different faiths and Jerusalem – the place of pilgrimage for different religions. Christian pilgrimage, Walsingham, Canterbury tales and Hindu pilgrimage, Kumbh Mela. We will consider pilgrimage and the environment, including the positive and negative impact on environment of the Kumbh Mela and the hajj, for example.

 

As computer users, we will use Scratch to create an interactive display to present information. Also, we will learn how to debug algorithms with sequencing errors.

 

As artists, we will be inspired by a visit to Gainsborough Old Hall. Linked to the Tudors, we will study Holbein and his portrait of Henry VIII, where we will look at the proportions of the face for portraits. We will also use our patterning skills and techniques in pencil and ink to produce work linked to this. We will continue to develop our painting skills by looking at shades and tones of colours.

 

As responsible citizens, we learn about gender stereotyping in careers. We explore the effects of smoking and alcohol on the body.

 

As musicians, we will explore how to create moods in music and how to use art and images as a starting point for composing work. We will explore how to record and blend sounds. We will prepare songs for a large-scale performance.

 

As sports people, we will start to understand the techniques involved in throwing a javelin effectively for distance.

 

As linguists, we will learn about different types of homes, the rooms and furniture in them and in the garden.

 

As designers, we will design, make and evaluate our own Iron Man head with a working electrical circuit inside.