Year 4
Spring 1
Welcome to Year 4:
Hyacinth and Carnation Class
Mrs. Hughes is teaching Hyacinth class, and Miss Rahman is teaching Carnation
Welcome
Happy New Year! We hope you had a great Christmas break, and are looking forward to this new year. Thank you for your thoughtful cards and gifts. We hope you find the information below useful as your child starts the year with us. This information will help you support your child at home with the organisation of their week and their learning at home.
Key Times
| Homework | Homework will be set every week. This homework includes spellings (new spellings given out every Monday, test on Friday), learning timetables (1-12) and every child should be reading for 10-15 minutes every day. |
| PE | In Carnation class, PE will be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays. In Hyacinth class, PE will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. |
| Key Times | In Year 4, children will be dismissed at the end of the day at 3:30. Please make sure your child arrives to school on time. |
What are we learning?
| Literacy | In Literacy we will be reading “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, which is a fantastic story about three siblings and their terrible guardian who has an evil plan to gain a fortune. Our writing focus will be retell and persuasive letter. Later on, we will be reading “Ruby’s Wish” to explore Chinese New Year celebrations and our writing focus will be a diary. |
| Maths | In Maths, we will be learning about multiplication and division, where students will learn about finding factor pairs, as well as multiply and divide 3-digit numbers. Then, we will move on to a new unit, which will focus on length and perimeter, where students will find missing lengths, and calculate the perimeter of regular polygons. |
| Science | In Science, we will be learning about sound. How does sound travel for us to hear it and what impacts the volume? We will explore physical properties of a material that can affect the volume. Also, we will discover how vibrations can affect pitch. |
| Geography | We will be developing our knowledge of Italy. Looking into where Italy is, what Italy holds within it, its main physical features and why it is at risk from natural hazards. |
| History | We will be developing our knowledge of Ancient Rome. We will be looking at the timeline of Ancient Rome, the different periods within Ancient Rome, what life was like in Ancient Rome and what they believed in. |
| RE | In RE we will be moving on from learning about Islam, to focusing on special journeys and looking into why Hajj is a special journey for Muslims. We will also be looking at what special journeys we ourselves have made and what made them special. |
| Computing | We will learn about spreadsheets. Children will learn about different formatting tools to explore variety of mathematical concepts, for example, numbers, temperatures and currency. |
| Art | In art we will be exploring Giorgio Morandi’s contribution to painting, in particular, still life and composition. |
| DT | In Spring term (including Spring 2), we will be developing designs, making, and evaluating our products. Children will think about the materials needed, and process involved to create a night light. |
| French | In French, shapes, faces and body parts are going to be what we are looking at inspired by the paintings by Henri Matisse. |
| PSHE | In PSHE we will be thinking about our place in the wider world. We will learn about Members of the UK Parliament and discuss diversity in the House of Commons. |
| Music | We will develop technical control of a recorder. We will start with learning basic BAG notes and later we will add CD notes to perform short pieces. |
How can I help at home?
One of the ways every parent can help is to ensure that your child is at school every day and on time. Other than this, the main way you can help is by ensuring that your child reads every day, for at least 20 minutes – this can be with you, or on their own, but it is the most effective way of ensuring that your child progresses and learns outside of school. Practicing times tables frequently is vital, and children should be confident in their times tables by the end of year 4. 
Children have logins Times Tables Rock Stars – please encourage them to use this frequently, as it will really help with their quick recall of mathematical facts. 
If you have any questions, please talk to either of us, or you can arrange a meeting at the school office. 
Thanks,  
Mrs Hughes and Miss Rahman. 
