Year 4
Aims and Expectations
Structure
- P.E. days are Monday & Wednesday (Resilience) and Monday & Thursday (Discover). All children must wear a full PE kit to school on these days
- Fridays: Spellings are handed out and tested on the following Friday.
- Daily: Children are expected to read for 15/20 minutes a day and then write a quick recap of what they have read in their school diaries. They should be writing this independently. Children are also expected to play TT Rockstars most evenings for 10/15 minutes.
- Half-Termly: Homework is handed out at the beginning of the school term and is due on the last week of school term. The children take part in a Homework presentation/display and are encouraged to discuss their own and others’ work.
Reading & Writing
- Children should be reading every day and evaluating what they have read
- Writing tasks range from diary entries to newspaper articles, recipes and narratives. We complete a number of short tasks throughout the year which culminates in an extended piece. On average, Year 4 will complete an extended piece of writing once every two weeks.
- Children are encouraged to ‘edit and improve’ their writing with the guidance of the teacher. This may focus on things such as sentence/paragraph structure, punctuation, checking spellings using dictionaries and improving vocabulary.
- Develop legible Handwriting
- English work is based on the Power of Reading scheme whereby core texts are selected and studied to allow an in depth study of the themes and language as well as plot and character. Reading skills are covered in whole class reading sessions using the core text as well as other text extracts linked to the theme including poetry, non-fiction and newspaper reports. Where possible, texts are chosen to link to the topics being studied, for example How to Train your Dragon by Cressida Cowell links with our topic on the Vikings and Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah Mcintyre links with our topic on North America.
- Writing composition, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, as well as coverage of spelling are taught using the core text as a stimulus where possible. Each unit of teaching leads to the application of key literacy skills within a wide range of different types of written outcomes such as formal and informal letters, diary entries and narratives. We use the editing process to help us proofread, edit and improve our drafts, both independently and with peers, before publishing them as a final piece.
- Over the course of the year children will be expected to plan their writing by discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write, in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar. In year 4 children will be progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures, organising paragraphs around a theme, evaluating and editing by assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences.
Maths
- Our Maths curriculum is taught following White Rose Maths. We start the year by recapping and extending knowledge of place value and continue to cover topic areas including arithmetic, angles, fractions and shape. In Year 4, children will be learning time tables up to 12x12. We use the CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach in all of our lessons where we have a strong emphasis on using concrete manipulatives to show our understanding of the structure behind the maths, then moving onto drawing pictorial representations before completing calculations abstractly with limited visuals. Our lessons are designed to include fluency, reasoning and problem solving across all topic areas to deepen our understanding.
Important Reminders
- All children must come to school wearing the correct uniform. This consists of grey trousers, grey or navy skirt or pinafore, white shirt or polo shirt and navy sweatshirt, jumper or cardigan. These can be plain or with the school logo. Black school shoes should be worn.
- Please put your child's name on everything that they wear or bring in to school.
- Painting shirts should also be in school at all times.
- All children must have a water bottle in school. No juice please.
- All Year 4 children will take part in a Multiplication Tables Check during the year, which will be completed on the computers in the ICT suite. There will be no ‘pass mark’ and no child will ‘fail’ the test
- Although children should read independently, it is also important that parents/carers follow along with their reading to make sure they are reading correctly. Parents/carers should enhance their reading by asking questions as they read.
- Children must hand their homework into school on the week it is due. All homework should be neatly presented and handed in on time.
- Children must learn their multiplication tables on a regular basis.
- Parents/carers must read the term’s pamphlet to find out which topics we are focusing on. We encourage children to find relevant books in the library, or even visit places connected with the topic.
Term Plans & Yearly Overview
Home Resources
If you would like to continue the development of your child’s learning. Please use the suggested resources below:
Contact Information
Your child’s School Diary is regularly updated with information regarding your child’s education, home work as well as information regarding the school. Remember to regularly check your School Diary to ensure that you receive all relevant communications from Hook Lane.
At Hook Lane we also use the My Child At School to regularly update our parents and carers on information regarding the school. To find out more about this platform please contact the school office.
Year 4 teachers are also contactable during school drop-off and pick-up times, but if you do have a pressing concern, please do contact us via the school office and we will endeavour to contact you as soon as possible.