Year 4

Welcome to the Year 4 page

Welcome to Year 4!

We are delighted to welcome our Year 4 children and families. We are looking forward to an exciting year filled with learning, creativity, discovery and new experiences.

Meet the Year 4 Team

Your Year 4team are: Starfish: Mrs Scoles (Mon-Wed) and Mrs Butcher(Thurs-Fri)

Penguins: Mrs Coupland (Mon-Thurs) and Miss Hamer(Fri)

Teaching assistants: Mrs Ladd(Mon-Wed) and Miss Gee (Thurs and Fri)

PPA: Starfish- Mrs Waldron    Penguins- Miss Hamer

We are always happy to speak to parents and carers. Please feel free to catch up with a member of the Year 4 team on the playground before or after school.

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General Information

📖 Reading

Reading regularly is an important part of Year 4, both at school and at home.

At school, children will take part in a whole-class guided reading session once a week. These sessions will provide opportunities to develop reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary and discussion skills using a range of engaging texts.

🏠 Reading at Home

We encourage children to:

• 📖 Read every day where  possible.
• 🗣️ Read aloud to an adult at least  three times each week.
• ⭐ Continue to use Accelerated   Reader as our main reading programme.
• 🌈 Enjoy a wide range of books and other texts alongside our school reading programme.

🎟️ Accelerated Reader Rewards

We want to make reading as rewarding and enjoyable as possible!

Children will earn raffle tickets for the points they achieve through Accelerated Reader. These tickets will be entered into a termly prize draw, giving children the opportunity to win exciting prizes.

🏆 Millionaires Club

Don't forget to keep an eye on your Accelerated Reader word count!

Our challenge is to see how many words you can read throughout the year. Can you read yourway into our Millionaires Club by reaching 1,000,000 words? 📚🎉

📖 Our Core Reading Texts

Our English curriculum includes a progression of carefully selected core texts.

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Spelling ✏️

We use a spelling programme adapted from Spelling Shed.

Children will receive weekly spellings to practise and can use the online games to support their learning and prepare for their spelling test.

Spelling Shed login details:
Please contact the Year 4 team if you do not have your child's login details.

Homework 🏠

Weekly home learning will include:

📖 Reading – read every day and to an adult at leastthree times each week.

🔤 Spelling – practise the weekly spellings usingSpelling Shed.

Spelling Shed - The Science of Spelling

✖️Times tables – weekly times tables practice and regularly useTTRockstars.

Home - Times Tables Rock Stars

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PE Kit and days

The school PE kit is as follows:

A plain white or blue t-shirt, black shorts, and trainers. For colder months, and outdoor games especially, children may wear a plain, dark tracksuit, but without logos or patterns please.

To start the year, we have the following PE sessions:

WEDNESDAY INDOOR PE - Children may also want to wear tracksuits to be able to wear outdoors at break time and lunchtime.

FRIDAY OUTDOOR PE - This will be on the playground during the winter and on the field during the summer.

‍Year 4 Term Curriculum overview

🍂 Autumn Term 1

🏛️ Topic – The Groovy Greeks

We will travelback in time to Ancient Greece to discover what life was like for peopleliving thousands of years ago. We will explore Ancient Greek society,mythology, daily life, achievements and the lasting influence Ancient Greecehas had on the modern world.

📚 English

We will beginby reading Leon and the Place Between and develop our descriptivewriting skills by creating settings based on imaginary worlds. We will explorevocabulary, character and atmosphere and use these ideas to create our ownexciting pieces of writing.

🔢 Maths

We will beginYear 4 by developing our understanding of place value and number facts.We will explore numbers up to 10,000, partition numbers and develop ourunderstanding of the value of each digit.

We will alsodevelop our fluency with calculation and multiplication facts, building thestrong foundations needed for our maths learning throughout Year 4.

🔬 Science – Sound

In Science, wewill investigate Sound. We will explore how sounds are made and how theytravel, investigate patterns in sound and learn about the relationship betweenvibrations and what we hear.

We will developour scientific enquiry skills through practical investigations, makingpredictions, recording results and explaining our findings.

🎨 Art & Design – Yayoi Kusama

Our Art &Design learning will be inspired by the work of Yayoi Kusama. We willexplore her distinctive use of patterns, repetition, colour and dots,experimenting with these ideas in our own artwork.

We will developour creative skills by exploring different techniques and materials andcreating artwork inspired by Kusama's unique style.

🏺 History – Ancient Greece

History is atthe heart of our Groovy Greeks topic. We will investigate AncientGreece, exploring what life was like, how Ancient Greek society wasorganised and the achievements and ideas that continue to influence the modernworld.

We will alsoconsider how we know about the past by using historical sources and evidence.

🎵 Music – Mamma Mia!

Get ready tosing! 🎤

Our music unitwill be based around Mamma Mia! by ABBA. We will develop our singing andperforming skills while exploring rhythm, pulse, melody and musical structure.

Children willhave opportunities to listen, perform and create music together whiledeveloping their confidence as musicians.

💻 Computing – Computing Systems &Networks

In Computing,we will learn about computing systems and networks. We will explore howdevices connect and communicate with each other and develop our understandingof how networks work.

We will alsocontinue to develop our skills in using technology safely, responsibly andeffectively.

✝️ RE

This term, our RE learning will explore two importantquestions about Christianity:

What is the Trinity and why is it important for Christians?
We will explore the Christian belief in one God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit,and consider why the Trinity is an important part of Christian belief andworship.

What kind of world did Jesus want?
We will explore Jesus' teachings and consider the kind of world he encouragedpeople to create. We will look at ideas such as love, kindness, forgiveness,justice and caring for others, and reflect on how these teachings mightinfluence the way Christians live today.

🏃 PE

This term, wewill develop our physical skills through Gymnastics and Hockey.

🤸 Indoor PE – Gymnastics
We will develop our balance, coordination, flexibility and control through arange of gymnastics activities. Children will learn to perform and linkmovements together and develop confidence in creating and performing sequences.

🏑 Outdoor PE – Hockey
We will develop our hockey skills, including dribbling, passing, receiving andshooting. We will also learn how to work effectively as part of a team, followrules and use tactics during games.

PE Days:
🟢Wednesday – Indoor Gymnastics
🔵Friday – Outdoor Hockey

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Autumn Term 1 & 2:  

• ‍History - The Ancient Greeks – How did they become modern day heroes?‍
• Science - Sound - Learning how sounds are generated and travel through different materials.
• Science - Electricity - How circuits work and the difference between an insulator     and conductor.

 Spring Terms 1 & 2:

• History - Ancient Rome - Why were the Romans so powerful and what did we     learn from them?
• Science – Teeth and the digestive system - The digestive system of humans and other animals. Learning about the teeth of different animals and how and why     they are different.‍
• Geography -   The geography of Europe with a focus on Italy.

 Summer Terms 1 & 2:

• ‍Geography - Water Worlds – Rivers and coasts. ‍
• Science - Changes in state - Solids, liquids and gases (linked to the water cycle).

• Science - Habitats and classification of animals - Looking at how to identify     animals and plants using keys.

Termly overview

RE

‍At Manadon Vale, RE is taught to give every child the opportunity to explore the big questions about life, to find out what people believe and what difference this makes to their lives. Pupils gain the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to handle questions raised by religion and belief and to reflect on their own ideas and ways of living.

In Key Stage 1 and 2, we follow the Plymouth Agreed Syllabus for RE. The principal religions and non-religious worldviews represented in the UK are covered taught through 'Key Questions'. These key questions are explored through the study of sacred texts, through creative arts, with visiting speakers and visits to places of worship and with lively discussion and debate.

In Year 4 the key questions are:

• What is the ‘Trinity’ and why is it important for Christians?
• What kind of world did Jesus want?
• Why do Christians call the day Jesus died ‘Good Friday’? (Salvation)
• What do Hindus believe God is like?
• What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain today?
• How do festivals and worship show what matters to a Muslim.