Year 4

Welcome- meet the staff team

Welcome to Year 4, thank you for visiting our page. Our classes are 4G and 4S and the class teachers are Mrs Gait and Mrs Steed.  The additional adults in the staff team are Mrs Freer, Mr Cope and Mrs Richardson who support Maths and Writing.  You can contact the team at year4@elp.rbksch.org.

Overview of learning

Year 4 is the last year of lower Key Stage 2 . Throughout the year, the children will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a range of topics including: Navigating the Globe, The Anglo Saxons, Time on the Thames, The Water Cycle, and Ancient Greeks. Our learning is cross curricular and engaging for all. During the year, the children will experience a range of different activities including educational visits such as The Natural History Museum, external visitors and experience days in school such as Anglo Saxon and Ancient Greece Days to support our learning too. We are also looking forward to sharing our knowledge with you during our year group assembly later in the year. 

The PE day in Year 4 is a Thursday. On these days your child will need to be wearing their PE kit and they can stay in this all day. 

 Trips and experiences

We believe that trips and experiences are vital for bringing knowledge to life. They create context to what they learn in traditional lessons. Parental support for these trips and experiences is welcomed and appreciated.

Year 4 trips planned for 2023/24 are:

• Invertebrate hunt (local area) - September

• Natural History Museum - October

• DT day (sewing a money holder) - October

• Dangers to habitat (local area) - October

• Anglo Saxon Day - December

• South Bank Trip - April

• DT day (creating a toy) - May

• Ancient Greek Day - July

• DT day (creating a food container) - July

Photo Gallery

Statutory assessment information

In June, children in Year 4 will complete the statutory Multiplication, Times Table Check often referred to as the MTC. This is a series of 25 multiplication questions ranging anywhere from 2x to 12x a given number. The check is digitised and completed on Chromebooks using an official website. The children have 6 seconds to answer each question. The guidance is very clear that this is called a check not a test and families will be given their child’s score. 

Homework

In Year 4, all children are expected to complete one double page of their own CGP homework books for both maths and English every week. These books are sent home with the children every Wednesday and can be returned at any time before the following Tuesday. Additionally, weekly spellings will be sent home on Wednesday but are tested on Mondays. 

The CGP books are a fantastic resource for the children to be able to practise new and known skills. Their completion will also support the children with speed and accuracy. 

Finally, the children will also be required to read daily and to log onto Times Table Rock Stars 3 times a week. 

Helping your child at home 

Reading

Our Year 4 children take home a range of reading books weekly and are expected to read daily at home. This should be recorded in their reading records, providing an insight into their progress and allowing for home school communication. Reading regularly is important for vocabulary development as well as speaking and listening skills. Through being exposed to a range of text styles and genres, children are also more equipped for writing independently at school. This year we are promoting Reading for Pleasure. Please do see the supporting documents below for top tips to encourage and promote Reading for Pleasure at home. 

To encourage Reading for Pleasure, you can use Oxford Owl to read and listen to a variety of books on the computer or I-pad! Each class will have a log in for the children to access more books and audiobooks at home.

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/ and go to ‘my class login’. 

Epic Books (free eBooks) https://www.getepic.com/ 

Spelling and Writing

We follow the Sounds Write Phonics Programme at Ellingham. In KS2, pupils are developing their accurate spelling and applying this knowledge to their writing. Regular exposure to the Year 4 common exception words will help your child to read and write them independently. We are extremely grateful for additional support at home to help pupils learn their weekly spellings. These websites provides useful support for grammatical concepts. 

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary 

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/english/primary-grammar/grammar-year-4-age-8-9/ 

Maths

Supporting your child’s mathematical fluency is key for instant recall. Each child has a login for Times Tables Rockstars (TTRS) https://ttrockstars.com/ and we encourage children to access this regularly throughout the week. 

You can also encourage your child to use their maths skills in a real-life context (eg. cooking, calculating totals when shopping). 

This website has a range of games to improve factual fluency in maths. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ 

Other useful links

BBC Bitesize  (KS2) https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/levels/zbr9wmn 

National Geographic kids https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/ 

DK Find outs (Great for topic knowledge) https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/ 

Handouts

Year 4 long term plan