Welcome to Year 4!

The Teachers and Teaching Assistants in Year 4 are:

Adders Class

Badgers Class

Team Leader: Mrs Croke

We would like to take this chance to welcome you and your child to Year 4 and to introduce the team. Year 4 is made up of two classes, Adders and Badgers. The teachers are Miss Thorpe and Mrs Wetjen in Badgers Class and Mrs Robinson and Miss Salmon in Adders. Supporting us in the classroom, we have wonderful Teaching Assistants, who will be working across the key stage: Mrs Bransbury, Mrs Griffiths and Mrs Young. 

Over the year, your child will continue to be encouraged to become more independent and to take ownership of their own education. Throughout Year 4, we will focus on helping your child reach the standard required for the end of Lower Key Stage 2 and help them complete the new Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check. We strongly believe that, by working together, we can help ensure that your child will reach their full potential.

Autumn Topic - Burps, Bottoms and Bile

Open wide – let’s take a look inside. We’re on a voyage of discovery to investigate the busy world inside your body. Do you have a toothy grin or a winning smile? Take dental impressions and test the effects of sugary substances on your pearly whites. Follow a tasty morsel as it makes its way through your digestive system, helped by some mouth-watering saliva. And don’t forget the importance of good hygiene at both ends. And whilst we’re talking business, could you recognise an animal just by its poo? Are you brave enough to take the challenge? We will make a working model of the digestive system and use it to persuade others to eat healthily. Let’s learn how to look after this marvellous belching, squelching, mixture making machine we call our body.

Literacy – During our literacy lessons, we will continue to deepen our knowledge of the Y4 vocabulary, grammar and spelling objectives, intertwining them with our written work. We will be covering a range of genres based on our topic and a rich variety of texts.  We will cover recounts, non-chronological reports, story-writing, autobiographies and poetry.

Reading – For Guided Reading we will be reading Charlie Changes into a Chicken, by Sam Copeland - it is a fantastic book and provides brilliant opportunities to think creatively, make predictions and discuss how images support reading. It also allows for sensitive exploration of childhood anxieties, which aligns well with our RSHE theme this term.

Maths – This term we will be focusing on number sense and the four written operations. We will recap rounding, place value and begin to look at both bigger numbers, as well as smaller numbers and those less than one.  

Science – Our focus this term is ‘Animals including humans’ where we will be describing the simple functions of the digestive system in humans - from entry to exit.  We will be identifying the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions. Later in term, we will be constructing and interpreting a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey.

Art – This half term, we will be focusing on creating a range of self-portraits in different artistic styles. We will begin by developing our drawing skills through exploring a range of drawing and shading techniques. We will then explore colour and learn how to mix colour, tints and shades to match to real life objects. Finally, we will explore the work of the great Pablo Picasso. We will learn about the significance and influence of his artistic styles and artwork on the world. Throughout the half term, the children will use their developing skills and knowledge to create their self-portraits.

D.T - This term we will be considering how we can bring a story to life. Children will explore and develop their skills through focused practical tasks. They will then plan and use these skills to design a mechanical picture with different moving parts.

Computing – This half-term's lessons are all centred around basic computing skills and understand how computing systems work.

RSHE – This term we will be focusing on the theme of ‘Mental and Physical Health and Well-being’.  We will begin by considering our emotions and how life experiences and situations can impact our feelings.  We will also explore how our actions and emotions have an impact on our relationships with other people.  In the second half-term, we will be thinking about our personal identities and how this can influence our feelings of self-belief and self-esteem.  Across the term we will be creating a bank of strategies that can help us to maintain positive mental and physical health and well-being.

RE – Our title for this term in R.E is Creation within Christianity and we will explore what we can learn from the creation story. In the second half term, we move onto the theme of ‘Incarnation’ and exploring The Trinity, in greater depth.

History - This term the children will be learning about the development of medicine through the ages, using a range of primary and secondary sources to aid their understanding and answer questions. They will then be learning about the history of the National Health Service and what makes it so special.