Welcome to Year 4

Mrs Summers, Mrs Ellis and Mrs Harbour

Our theme for Autumn 1 is:

Who were the Romans and what did we learn from them?

Our Theme

Our driver theme this term is all about The Romans, we will be investigating many aspects from this period using our enquiry question as a focus ‘Who were the Romans and what did we learn from them?’  This is a

history-based theme and will explore when and why the Romans invaded, whether the Britons welcomed or resisted the Romans and also how the Romans influenced the culture of the people already living in Britain. We are planning a trip soon to Bosworth Battlefield for a ‘Life in Roman Britain’ day where the children will meet a Roman soldier, Boudicca and will get the chance to handle some Roman artefacts. More details about this trip will follow in a separate letter soon.

English 

In English this half term, we will be reading a variety of exciting books, both fiction and non-fiction to gain a deeper understanding of what life was like during the period of the Romans and as a stimulus for our writing. The children will be writing diary entries from the point of view of a Roman slave, writing character descriptions as well as setting descriptions using the class books ‘Roman diary: The journal of Iliona, a young slave.

Reading, as always, will be a crucial part of the children’s learning. The children will continue to use Accelerated Reader for their daily reading books, which they will also bring home. The children will also have whole class reading comprehension lessons using a variety of books and focusing on different domains such as retrieval, prediction, vocabulary and author’s choice.

Maths

In Maths, we will begin the term by focussing on place value. The first unit of work looks at place value in 4 digit numbers, finding 10, 100 or 1000 more or less than a number and rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000. The children will then be using appropriate strategies for addition and subtraction calculations. We will then be looking at multiplication and division.

Science

This half term, in Science, there will be two topics. The first topic is ‘Our changing world’ is all about classifying trees by looking at their leaves and identifying deciduous trees. We also look at classifying plants by their flowers. Our second topic called ‘Who am I?’ looks at classifying vertebrates and invertebrates.

RE

In RE, we will be exploring a focussed enquiry question: ‘Is it possible for everyone to be happy? We will start by looking at this in a broader sense and then linking it to Buddhism and Buddha’s teachings.

Art

In Art this half term, the children will be studying pottery. They will be thinking about how pottery can help us understand the past and in particular the Romans. They will create their own clay pots in the same style and design as the Roman pottery they have studied.

PE

This term the children will be learning skills to support them to play football. They will work in pairs and in small groups to develop skills, which will enable them to play the game.  In their other PE lesson , they will be learning the skills of Tag Rugby building up to them playing the game.

Computing

We will kick start the first Computing unit off with a unit on coding where the children will be designing, coding, testing and debugging simple computer programmes. They will be also be using if statements and coordinates. They will finish by creating their own playable game.

As well as this, we will have a number of sessions on Online safety tailored to the children’s needs.

PSHE

In PSHE this half term, the children will consider many aspects linked to the unit ‘Being Me In My World.’ During this unit, the children be looking at how we behave affects them and others and about feeling included, understanding about their school community, talking about democracy and understanding how groups come together to make decisions.

Important information

• PE this half term is timetabled for a Wednesday and a Friday. Children should come to school wearing a white T shirt, shorts/joggers and trainers/plimsolls in school on these days.
• The children will need to bring in their AR books daily to read in school and should bring them back home, You should continue to read with your child at least 3 times a week. The children should already have come home with their AR book this week. Encourage them to read the book at least once and be able to answer any questions on it. They will then have the opportunity to quiz on that book answering comprehension questions based on the book.
• Children will be given homework starting next week and more details will follow. For now, if they can get into a routine of reading aloud to an adult 3 times per week and record this in their reading records, that would be fantastic (reading records have already come home and should be brought in to school daily). Next week, the children will be sent home with a copy of the year 3/4 spellings, which are the statutory spellings that they are expected to spell by the end of Year 4. They will have the spellings highlighted which they are able to spell and will need to practise those that they find tricky. Practise these at home with your child. Here is good website where your child can practise them: https://ictgames.com/mobilePage/spookySpellings/index.html

How you can help at home

Talk about what the children already know about the Romans.

Support your child in learning multiplication and division facts for the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10 times tables. We have been using ‘Hit the button’ in class to recall our facts at speed: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button.

Encourage your child to play Times Tables Rockstars to practise their multiplication and division facts.

Listen to your child read at least 3 times per week and have discussions about the text (record the reading sessions in their reading records)

We work with a company called SEND Supported at school and they are releasing newsletters each week offering support and guidance to parents of children who many have additional needs in school. Please find below a link to these newsletters:

There are also lots of other resources and information available on their website. The 'Things to do Issue 2 - Resources' file has some lovely activities for all children regardless of whether they have additional needs or not. There are lots of great visual puzzles and games for children to play so please have a look if you can. There are also resources available now to support with developing children's memory skills in 'Thing to do Issue 3 - Resources.'

Literacy Links

Free e books - just register  

Maths Links

P.E Links  

Look out for information being sent to you with login details to use this at home!

Daily half an hour workouts Monday - Friday 9 a.m (Don't worry if you missed it, they are all saved)

Curriculum Links                                      Myleene's Music Klass