Year 4 – Autumn Term Newsletter
Friday 15thSeptember 2017
Dear Parent(s)/Carer(s),
Welcome back!
I hope everyone enjoyed a well-deserved, relaxing and fun summer break. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those of you who do not already know me and outline some of the exciting things planned for this term. Having taught Year 6 for the past three years at All Souls’, I too am new to Year 4 and am as eager as the children are for our new adventure together. I have really enjoyed getting to know each and every member of the class so far. Everyone has made a strong start and the children are beginning to come to terms with the higher expectations that Year 4 holds. I am thoroughly looking forward to teaching, supporting and helping to develop this fantastic class of children over the coming school year – as well as having some fun along the way too, of course!
Curriculum
English: The first book we will be using as a stimulus to our learning will be Flotsam by David Wiesner. Picture books are one of my favourite ways to inspire children’s creativity and I can’t wait to see how this undersea adventure comes to life through their writing in a variety of forms including descriptive writing, formal and informal correspondence, diary writing and narrative. This will be supplemented with discrete spelling, grammar and punctuation lessons to support their progression in this area. This picture book will also provide many fantastic and interesting opportunities to help develop our reading comprehension skills.
Maths: We have already begun our first unit building on their knowledge of place value to understand the meaning and value of numbers in order to prepare them for the challenging maths Year 4 has to offer. It is even more important that your child’s times tables and related division facts are secure as this is an aspect of maths that provides the foundations to many other areas. Any extra practice at home would be of great benefit!
RE: We are beginning with ‘The Beginning’ as we develop our understanding of the image of God through the story of Creation and exploring the Old Testament.
Science: ‘Animals including humans’. Over the coming weeks we will look closely at the digestive system (not literally), different types of teeth and different food chains.
Geography: ‘Fascinating Forecasts’.
History: ‘Vikings and the Anglo Saxons’
Art: We will be focusing on Still Life for our unit on ‘Painting’ building on our sketching and drawing skills.
DT: Musical Instruments
PE: Handball and Orienteering
Music: Animal Magic
Spanish: Numbers, greetings, days of the week, months of the year, colours and more!
NB: Like all good plans, there is likely to be some variance as the term progresses. This will be updated as and when necessary:
Key Information
As you can see, the Year 4 timetable is a busy one and for each child to get everything that they can out of it, it is really important that they complete and take part in the following:
Expectations:The children are going to have to work harder and faster than ever if they are going to keep up with the pace – as some of them have already discovered. There will not be time available for children to finish off work that wasn’t completed within the lesson, so there may be times when they will be expected to work through parts of their break times or take unfinished work home to complete. We ask that all children complete each piece of work to the best of their ability and organise it clearly, including homework, in accordance with the expectations of the school’s policy for presentation. Where work falls below this standard, children will be asked to repeat the work, in their own time.
Homework:
Reading is the most valuable homework that your child could ever do and in Year 4 it is expected that they read for about 15 minutes each day outside of school. Whether loved or loathed, everybody has to read to get about their daily lives and so if your child has no interest in developing their reading as a passion, then they must develop it as a skill! They have been provided with a home reading record which should be completed frequently, detailing what they are reading and with whom. I ask for your support in encouraging and monitoring your child’s reading, and that you sign their reading record each week to confirm that what is detailed is a true record (even if it says that they haven’t read anything!). This should be brought into school by your child each Monday so that either I or Miss Fox can sign it. Your child may still be on our school reading scheme, in which case they will bring a specific book home to read and return it to school to be changed. If this is not the case, then they are classed as a ‘free reader’ and may choose material of an appropriate ability to read. Please remember that reading is reading, and that reading the sport section of the newspaper with a certain level of interest is far more beneficial than pretending to read a Harry Potter book! Please also remember that, whatever your child’s reading ability, there is much to be gained from spending time reading with your child and discussing books.Don’t battle with your child over reading! If you are really struggling to get them to do it, talk to me and I’ll battle with them instead.
Spellings and Times Tables will be given out each week, on a Friday, for children to take home and practise or complete associated tasks. These are two very important aspects of learning which can be easily supported with extra practice at home. The spellings which children will need to learn are dictated by the government’s expectations which are set out in the National Curriculum and outlined per year group in our Spelling Policy however will be differentiated where possible according to children’s spelling abilities. Children will be tested on both of these weekly on a Friday.
P.E.: Year 4 will have P.E. on Tuesdays and Fridays. It is therefore important that their kit is in school on these days. Mr Youson and Mr Cooke have planned an exciting range of sports and activities covering the P.E. National Curriculum to be delivered throughout the school year, and I am looking forward to getting involved with these. We are beginning the P.E. curriculum with Handball and Orienteering. Orienteering will take place outside so please make sure that your child had the appropriate kit.
Clubs: Many of you have already signed children up for school clubs, if you have not yet done this and would like to, please return the form as soon as possible as some clubs have limited availability. All Souls’ offers a great range of extra-curricular opportunities and I think it would be great to see Year 4 take full advantage of this.
School Website: Please visit Year 4’s class page on the school website to see what we have been up to by reading our blog and looking at our gallery.
Important Dates
Sunday 24th SeptemberFamily Mass
Sunday 1st OctoberReception Class Welcome Mass
Tuesday 3rd OctoberOpen Evening
Friday 6th OctoberCAFOD Family Fast Day
Tuesday 10th OctoberYear 3/4 Class Mass
Sunday 15th OctoberFamily Mass
*Half Term Friday 20th October – Sunday 29th October *
Thursday 2nd NovemberAll Souls’ Feast Day
Tuesday 28th NovemberYear 3/4 Class Mass
Saturday 2nd December PTA Christmas Bazaar
Tuesday 19th DecemberCarol Service
*Please stay up to date with dates for your diary and any changes that may occur by regularly checking our school webpage.
I am extremely excited about the year ahead and look forward to helping your children develop academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.I also look forward to working closely with you and meeting you at the open evening in October. In the meantime,should you have any questions, comments or concerns that you would like to raise with me,please make no hesitation in arranging to come into school to discuss them.
Kind regards,
Jo HartwellDawn Fox
Year 4 Class TeacherYear 3 and 4Teaching Assistant