Welcome to Year 4
Welcome to Year Four where we love learning and are always excited to learn new things. This year, we will take on new challenges with our learning and continue to build our knowledge and develop working independently with table partners and in groups.
The Year Four team is made up of Ms Ferguson, Mrs Jones, Mrs Akhter and Mr Teal.
Ms Ferguson loves reading so much that it is hard to pick just one book but if pushed would choose ‘Revolting Rhymes’ By Roald Dahl.
“These rhymes are so funny as they take the fairy tales we all know and love and make them gruesome and funny – what more could you want!”
Mrs Jones favourite book is The Elves and the Shoemaker.
“I remember listening to this as a child and I love when children pick it as their story to read to me.“
Mrs Akhter’s favourite book is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
“I remember reading this to my children when they were small. It is such a good book and always makes me want a snack!“
A typical day:
A typical day in Year Four is full of learning using lots of resources and strategies to help us. We start with Spelling and SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) where we understand the specific writing skills that will help us in all our other subjects. Within spelling, we look at patterns which can help us when reading and writing and we follow Read Write Inc spelling which builds up from the phonics program we followed in KS1.
Next is Reading Together where we develop our fluency in reading as well as comprehension skills which are essential life skills. We read a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. We choose books which are interesting, funny and will inspire us. We will also explore books linked to our topics which will develop our understanding further.
In writing, we use a range of high-quality texts, linked to our reading and topics, to help structure our own writing. We build up to our final piece of writing by building a range of skills linked to the purpose of writing. After building a good understanding of the text type we have a go at writing our own independently.
In Maths, we explore concepts through concrete resources and pictorial representations. This is to build a good understanding before moving on to using formal methods to answer a range of questions. In Year Four, times tables facts are the key to unlocking our learning in maths, so we practise these every day in a range of different ways. It is also important that we are practising our times tables at home.
During lunch time, through OPAL play, we have a range of zones where we can showcase our creative skills. The teams game zone is where football, cricket and a range of other sports are played. In the physical zone, you can go on the trim trail, or play with a range of toys which help build balance and flexibility. The construction zone is where you can build – houses, towers, you name it you can build it. We also have the creative zone where you can paint, draw and use a range of materials to create a piece of art.
At lunch, we engage in OPAL play where play is at the heart. We believe that through play children explore and make sense of the world around them as well as their place in it. There are many zones which encourage many different play behaviours including the creative zones, exploratory play, object play, social play and fantasy play to name a few. We have invested in many resources to use such as dressing up, tyres, planks, things to build with, music, bubbles, water play and art supplies.
Every afternoon is different as we explore a range of subjects including Art, Computing, D.T, French, Geography, History, Music, P.E, PSHE, R.E and Science.
In the afternoon, we also participate in our daily mile where we can jog or run for fifteen minutes a day. This promotes fitness, stamina and resilience.
We end each day with D.E.A.R time (drop everything and read). The class novel we have chosen for the Autumn term is: The BFG by Roald Dahl.
The year ahead:
The curriculum has a thematic structure with an overall theme for a portion of the term where each theme has specific subjects attached to it to help deepen our learning.
Our themes are:
This Is Me – we focus on ourselves and what makes a positive member of our community. Our main topics covered are cooking in D.T where we will design and make an omelette, family and relationships in PSHRE, drawing in Art looking at the artist Emily Gravett and exploring the digestive system and teeth in Science. In computing we will be looking at online safety.
My Place, My Time – a unit which looks at where we are in the world and what events are important to us. Our main topics covered are local geography looking at the physical features of mountains and hills, in History exploring the Ancient Greeks and what life was like and swimming and football in P.E. In French we will learn about the weather and clothes.
Around The World – Here we move our focus from ourselves to the wider world and how we can contribute to our ever-changing planet. Some of our learning covered in this topic is: The Ring of Fire in Geography building on from previous learning. Electricity within Science and exploring circuits. Within DT we will be looking at structures and mechanisms and designing and creating our own. Within RE, we will be looking at Christianity.
Those Who Came Before – This theme looks at how events in history have shaped how we live today. Our history topic will be the Ancient Mayans and a lot of our reading and writing will also revolve around this topic. We will also explore sound in science and citizenship with PSHRE. In P.E will develop our athletic skills ready for sports day as well as volleyball.
Be The Change – Our final theme of the year focuses on sewing within DT where we will design and make our own design. IN P.E we will look at rounders and in Science, states of matter. We also reflect on our school year and all the wonderful learning that has taken place by creating a timeline of events.
For more information, please see our parent planners.
Check it out:
In Year Four, we value many trips and experiences that enhance our learning. Within our learning we enjoy partaking in many different ways of learning including using drama, cooking, swimming, using the outdoors to learn, science experiments.
Curriculum:
Follow the links below to our Parent Planner for more information on our themes for this term and to view our Year Overview:
Contact us
If you have any questions, please email on: year4@carnforthschool.org