Dear Year 4 and parents, 

Welcome back! I hope you all had a lovely Easter.  

English 

In our first writing unit this term, we will be learning all about newspapers. The children will explore the features of newspapers during our unit using The Write Stuff, where we will be writing about the impact of plastic pollution on an unknown sea creature. Later in the term, we will be writing playscripts and diary entries. We are continuing to read ‘The Lost Whale’ by Hannah Gold and this will be used in some guided reading lessons. Some children in the class will revisit previous phonics learning and all children will receive direct teaching of spelling and have the opportunity to practise their handwriting.  

The children will continue to have the opportunity to take a book from the school library each week and will take part in a variety of different lessons to teach them specific comprehension skills and to promote a love of reading for pleasure, thereby supporting their learning.  

Maths/Times Tables 

Please support your child with the rapid recall of times table facts, both multiplication and division. We will be practising times tables regularly in school this year, leading up to the Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check later in the summer term. All the children have access to Times Tables Rockstars and their login details can be found in their Reading Record. We are continuing with our learning on decimals at the start of the term, and our following units will be money, time, shape, statistics and position and direction. Please encourage your child to practice applying their learning, particularly on money and time, at home. 

Spelling 

There will be a weekly spelling homework on the Spelling Shed website. Again, the children have their login details in their Reading Record. Please encourage them to log in and practise. There will be a half-termly test of twenty words taken at random from the previous weeks’ lists. The children will be encouraged to revise the previous term’s spellings and to focus on high frequency words that are being misspelled. 

Other subjects 

We are going to be starting an exciting new topic about Ancient Egyptians. We will explore their civilisation and religion through art, writing, objects and buildings. We will immerse ourselves in their life, culture, society and beliefs. Linking to our geography learning about the features and course of a river, we will study the River Nile and its enormous significance for Ancient Egyptians. We will look at the religion of Ancient Egypt, investigating how they worshipped their gods and comparing this to the beliefs and rituals of the Christian Church, with particular emphasis on beliefs about the after-life and pyramids.  In our Art lessons, we will make canopic jars from clay and in DT, the children will design, make and evaluate a shaduf.   

In Science, we will be studying animals including humans, with an emphasis on teeth and digestion. Children will be learning about the different types of teeth humans have and will complete investigations to determine the impact of different liquids. We will also study what happens to the food we eat and the role of the main organs in the digestive system. In RE, we will be learning about Christianity, specifically how Christians celebrate important moments in their lives, such as baptisms and weddings. After half term, we will be learning about the features of Anglican churches and will be visiting Dinton Church. We will consider the roles of religious buildings and how churches are used for both private and collective worship. 

Reading at Home 

The children will continue to be able to change their reading book as necessary. We will check to ensure that the books they are choosing are sufficiently challenging and cover a variety of genres. Please continue to read to your child and to listen to them read as often as possible and complete the Reading Record. We will check reading records every Thursday in school and will be awarding house points to children who are reading at least three times per week. Re-reading passages, discussing the text, highlighting interesting or unknown vocabulary, and talking around the subject are all very worthwhile activities.  

Homework 

Homework will continue to be set on a weekly basis, usually on a Friday. Please ask your child to explain the homework to you – it will be a maths sheet which is set each Friday and marked in class on the following Friday. They will also have a spelling challenge on Ed Shed and a Learning Log activity. It is important that all children complete the homework. Please email me if your child is experiencing any difficulties with the completion of the homework. 

PE  

Our PE days this term are Monday and Friday (this may change due to weather etc.). Please ensure that PE kit is brought into school on a Monday and it will go home on a Friday. We have PE lessons inside and outside, please make sure children have the correct kit for each session (t-shirt, shorts, joggers, jumper, socks and trainers) including spare socks for the girls if they are wearing tights.   

Trips and Visits 

Year 4 are very lucky to be taking part in a Garsington Opera workshop in school after half term. We will then visit Garsington Opera where we will enjoy one of their fantastic performances. We also have an exciting residential trip to Woodrow High House in June with Year 3 which many of the children are looking forward to! 

Please make sure your child has a sunhat and a water bottle in school every day, particularly as we approach the warmer months. 

Thank you for your support.    

Miss Borchart