Welcome to Swallows, Year 4 Class Welcome to Swifts, Year 4 Class
Our teachers are Mrs Forster (Swifts Mon – Thurs), Mrs Tuburu (Swifts Friday). Mrs Richardson (Swallows Mon-Weds), and Mrs Foster (Swallows Thurs and Fri).
Class Newsletters
Class newsletters will be available every half term.
Our Curriculum
In our foundation subjects, we give our children a broad range of experiences to strengthen their understanding of themselves, their community and the wider world. We will begin each topic with a ‘hook’ lesson to trigger our imaginations and leave us ready to learn more! We aim to enrich the children’s experiences through organising trips and visitors to come into school and inspire young minds.
English
Our English lessons are taught through a whole class novel. Every half term we focus on a new novel and we link our writing and reading activities to the novels where possible. Our novels are often inspired by our topic work to allow links to be made during lessons to the different subject areas. We also try to focus on current affairs to broaden their understanding of the world. For example, in Summer term, we focus on the novel ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ which explores the reality of life as a refugee. We read both a fiction and non-fiction book each half term to develop our understanding of our key topic and English skills. We also supplement our key texts with additional poetry and text extracts during our lessons. At the end of every day, we share our novel during story time which gives us the opportunity to simply enjoy listening to a story which we then discuss the next day.
Our reading lessons develop skills linked to film clips, novel extracts, images and we use Reading VIPERS to help us with this. Our writing lessons allow the children to learn about a range of genre and write in the styles of these genre.
Autumn Term Novels
There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar, Bonfire poetry (Marshmallows) and The Jolly Christmas Postman
Spring Term Novels
Gangsta Granny by David Walliams and Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo
Summer Term Novels
The Boy at the Back of The Class by Onjali Q. Rauf
Maths
Our Maths lessons focus the skills developed through White Rose Maths. We follow the block planning schedule and differentiate the lessons to meet the needs of the children. We use a variety of White Rose teaching methods throughout our lessons as well as a variety of resources and activities to support learning and provide stretch and challenge opportunities to all our learners within each topic.
Over the course of the year, we will be developing our knowledge and understanding of fluency, reasoning and problem solving. Our learning focuses on vocabulary as well as concrete, pictorial and abstract skills to develop the understanding required for each block of work.
Click below to see our Medium-Term Planning for Maths:
Place value: https://whiteroseeducation.com/resources?year=year-4-new&subject=maths
Other Curriculum Areas
Autumn 1
We begin the year exploring our topic ‘States of Matter’. The children will learn about solids, liquids and gases in Science and make links to other subjects. Our Humanities work will focus on Geography for the first half term and the children will develop their map work skills linked to the coast and exploring the many varying coastlines in Europe, with a study of and trip to Seaham. In RE, we focus on The Bible and its importance to Christians. In Art, we explore colour, line, tone and shade. In PSHE we are looking at how to lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Autumn 2
This half term, we will be looking at sound in Science and the children will make their own instruments in music, investigating pitch and sound waves. The children will learn The Ancient Greeks, looking at themes of religious beliefs, homes, the complexity of people’s lives and the challenges of their time. In PE, we will take the children swimming and also develop their basket ball skills.
about solids, liquids and gases in Science and make links to other subjects. To further develop our religious studies, we will explore the question ‘Why do Christians call Jesus the light of the world?’. In PSHE, the children will learn how to keep themselves online and in their every day life.
Spring 1
In Science we are looking at Electricity with the help of the expert visitor Captain Chemistry. In Geography, we will be exploring the question ‘Why does Italy shake and roar?’. In this unit the children will grasp the complex nature of tectonic plates and topography of the land and how this contributes to earth quakes and volcanic activity. In French we will be learning about different types of food and culture. In PE, we focus on gymnastics and dodgeball with the support of a coach. In computing we focus on website design and in RE we will be looking at what Christians believe about Jesus. In PSHE, we will be learning how to manage and recognise our feelings and emotions and touching on mental health.
Spring 2
In Science we are looking at Animals Including Humans, which covers digestion, teeth and food chains. In History, we are taking a trip back in time to The Roman era. We will be exploring how The Romans and Greeks overlapped and influenced each other. In French we will be learning about school life. In DT we will be designing and making torches and evaluating materials. In PE we will be learning how to play tag rugby. In RE we will be exploring Lent and its importance in the Christian calendar. In PSHE, we will be learning how to create and maintain healthy relationships.
Summer 1
In Science we are looking at living things and their habitats. In this unit, we will explore life cycles and environmental factors and how they depend on each other. In Geography, we will be broadening our understanding of Europe with the focus on biomes, climate zones and developing map skills. In French we will be learning about play time. In DT we will be designing and making a sling shot car. In PE we will be learning about athletics and cricket with the support of a coach. We will have the opportunity to attend a cricket festival during this term. In RE, we will be looking at ‘How and why do people show care for others?’.
Summer 2
In History, we will be exploring life in Anglo-Saxon times and comparing it to other periods of time. In French, we will be learning new vocabulary linked to ‘my home’. In PE will be learning how play rounders and the importance of teamwork and resilience. In PSHE, we will learn about the value of money and the importance of work.
Homework
In Year 4, homework (spellings, Reading and Maths) is given out on a Thursday and it is expected to be handed in the following Thursday. We encourage children to read to an adult every night and record this in their organisers.
