Link to Year 4 Home Learning Page

Curriculum

Full details of our topics each long term can be found on the Class Topic Plans web page.

This term our topic is going to be ‘Amazing Egyptians’ and all our writing will be planned around this. We will learn about the history of Ancient Egypt and its culture. We will focus on the Egyptian Gods, Pharaohs, Hieroglyphics, Pyramids and the River Nile. We will be exploring the traditions, beliefs, customs and architecture of the Ancient Egypt.

We are going to be sharing a lot of Egyptian themed texts, fiction as well as non-fiction. Our class shared books are going to be ‘The Cat Mummy’ by Jacqueline Wilson and ‘There’s a Pharaoh in our Bath!’ by Jeremy Strong.

Writing: The children will complete a variety of writing through the topic including recounts, diaries, newspaper reports, adventure stories, poetry, information pages, character descriptions, persuasive letters, retelling traditional stories and legends and many more. As well as writing, the children will have regular opportunities to perform and present their work in drama, roleplay and performing poetry activities, which is very useful to help them grow in confidence to be able to perform in front of an audience.

I will try to inspire the children to enjoy the topic so that their motivation and confidence in writing will continue to improve, which will then have positive impact on their progress and achievements.

Grammar and Punctuation: Will be taught in weekly sessions to ensure the children use standard English in all their work.

Handwriting: The children will continue to improve their continuous cursive handwriting and will be rewarded with pen licences as soon as their handwriting is neat enough for a pen.

Spelling: This term the children will practice their spellings following Year 4 statutory requirements and Year 4 common exception words will be taught. We will also have regular short dictations of sentences including the spelling patterns and high frequency words. Weekly spelling tests will take place on Mondays and the new words will be given on Tuesdays.

Reading: We will continue to read with the children individually, in weekly guided reading sessions and as a whole class. As well as improving their ability to read fluently, we will focus on the comprehension of texts to make sure the children understand what they read and can discuss it effectively.

In Year 4 we expect the children to read widely and regularly. One of the best ways you can support your child is to encourage their love of reading. We expect our Year 4s to keep a record on their Star Reader sheets of all the books they are reading, and these will be checked on Wednesdays alongside their homework. Please, help your child by making sure you still read with them daily.

Maths: This term the children will be focusing on place value, addition and subtraction, time, multiplication and division, decimal fractions, perimeter and area. We will also use and apply the Maths taught to answer word problems and do lots of investigations to deepen the children’s understanding.

Your child should have a login to TimesTables RockStars in their homework book. We will continue to use it regularly to help children progress in their times tables. We recommend them practising their tables for 10mins a day, as this will make all the difference to their learning in Maths.

Times tables tests will take place every Monday morning.

Science: We will cover two topics – ‘Animals, including humans’ and ‘States of Matter’. Science will be taught by Miss Kucz.

R.E.: This term we will be learning about Creation, Prayer, Saints and Feasts and Advent.

Russian: The children will learn the alphabet, greetings, colours, numbers and making short dialogues.

Homework: Homework will be given on Friday and expected to be completed by Wednesday. It is a very important part of your child’s education, so please make sure your child completes the set homework every week.

This year we are going to use https://www.mymaths.co.uk/ for Maths homework and https://purplemash.co.uk/ for other homework. Please, let me know if your child does not have access to a computer, so they can get a paper copy. Some homework may still be set in the Homework book.

Please speak to me if you are having problems with homework or need any guidance with what is expected.

Spelling at home: The children will all have a spelling book which will be taken home on Tuesday and will need to be returned on Monday for the weekly spelling test. Each child will have a list of spellings which they are to learn during the week at home ready for their test on Monday. Please do help your child with learning the spellings by practising with them and encouraging them to look for spelling patterns.

Physical Education: The P.E. kit required for school is as follows: 1 red polo shirt, 1 navy pair of shorts, 1 pair of trainers. Please make sure all kit is clearly named.

P.E. will be taught on Fridays by Miss Kucz. The children need to come to school wearing their P.E. clothes for the day.

Swimming: Year 4 will swim everday for two weeks from Monay 20th September until Friday 1st October. Please make sure your child has their swimming kit with them every morning during the two weeks. Your child will need a named bag containing a named costume or trunks, towel and hat every day. (Swimming goggles are only for children with medical eye conditions).

If you have anything you wish to discuss or questions to ask, please feel free to arrange a meeting with me through the school’s office or contact me directly via the class email address: class4@st-edmunds-rc.oxon.sch.uk

Mrs Wadrzyk and Miss Kucz, Year 4 teachers

Mrs Brown, Year 4 teaching assistant