Year 4 Curriculum Outline Summer Term 2017

English – Brief overview / Mathematics – Brief overview
Stories from historical settings: The children will be using a story with a historical setting as a stimulus for a range of fictional pieces of writing.
Instruction texts: They will be learning how to write instructions based on our Romans topic eg. How to make a catapult.
Non-chronological reports: Children will be looking at a range of non-fiction texts, focusing on the structure and organisation of such texts.
Poetry: We will be looking at performance poetry, basing it on our Science work on habitats.
During the term we will use a range of texts to stimulate, support and engage the children, including ‘Escape from Pompeii’ by Christina Balit and ‘I Was There… Boudica’s Army’ by Hilary McKay.
Grammar and Punctuation: A range of grammar and punctuation work will be covered through all the units above, with a focus on fronted adverbials, the use of conjunctions to extend sentences and the accurate punctuation of speech.
Spelling: The focus for the Summer Term will be:
  1. Irregular tenses
  2. Homophones
  3. Revisiting and reviewing our list of spelling patterns
Please support your child in learning their weekly spellings, the aim of which is for them to apply these to their own writing.
Reading: There is regular reading and discussion of texts in Guided Reading sessions, both developing the enjoyment of reading and particular reading skills.
Regular reading at home is part of homework each week and children should record this in their Reading Record. / Place Value
Read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.
Fractions and Decimals
Understand the link between fractions and dividing, using this to calculate fractions of amounts. Recognise the equivalence of fractions and decimals. Identify the value of and count in tenths and hundredths. Order, compare and round decimal numbers.
Division and Multiplication
Multiply and divide decimal numbers by 10 and 100, linking this understanding to the value of tenths and hundredths. Continue to learn times table and division facts up to 12 x 12 (mentally recalling all of these is an end of Year 4 expectation).
Measurement
Measure the length, mass and capacity of objects. Reading scales accurately to record measurements. Convert units of measure e.g. centimetres to metres using knowledge of dividing and multiplying by 10 and 100. Measure and calculate the perimeter and area of rectilinear shapes.
Shape
Describe positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates in the first quadrant. Describe movements between positions as translations of a given unit to the left/right and up/down. Plot specified points and draw sides to complete a given polygon.
Statistics
Interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs. Solve comparison, sum and difference problems using information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs.
P.S.H.E. (Personal and Social Health Education) / Computing / R.E.
Key Questions for the units this term include:
Managing Risk and Safety Contexts
What risks are there for my safety, my friendships and my feelings?
How could friends affect my decisions about risk?
How do I feel and how does my body react in risky situations?
How are roads, fire and water risky and how can I reduce the risks?
How do I keep myself safe during activities and visits? How can I stop accidents happening?
Healthy and Safer Lifestyles – Sex and Relationships Education (please also refer to letter previously sent)
What are the similarities and differences between male and female bodies?
Why is it important to keep myself clean? / The children will be learning about algorithms (instructions) both offline and online which will be linked to our English work on instruction writing. Computing also supports learning in other areas of the curriculum, researching and locating information.
The children will continue to be taught how to use the internet safely, following advice on how to keep themselves safe when online both in school and at home. In particular, they will think about sharing media responsibly and managing pressure from others when online. / Children will be learning about Islam, focusing on The Five Pillars of Islam and their significance for Muslims.
P.E. / French / Science
Games – Net games and striking and fielding games, building up relevant skills and playing small sided games
Athletics – running, jumping and throwing
Dance – learning choreographed steps and creating own dance sequences linked to our Roman Britain project.
Gymnastics - balance / The children continue to have 30 minutes of French each week with Madame Monument. Songs, stories, rhymes and actions will be taught to help the children learn French vocabulary and phrases.
/ Plants
The children will identify and describe the functions of different parts of flowering plants: roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers. They will explore the requirements of plants for life and growth (air, light, water, nutrients from soil and room to grow) and how they vary from plant to plant. They will also investigate the way in which water is transported within plants and explore the part that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal.
Animals, including humans
The children will describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans. They will also construct and interpret a variety of food chains, identifying producers, predators and prey.
Living things and their habitats
The children will recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways and explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment. They will also recognise that environments can change and that this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.
The Romans
Art and DT
Children will be creating their own artwork linked to our Roman Britain topic including creating mosaics, designing and making shields and designing and creating model oil lamps from clay. They will also have the opportunity to develop skills in observational drawing using a range of media linked to our Science work on plants. / History and Geography
Through our unit on the Romans, the children will be using various sources to study the invasion and settlement of the Romans in Britain, the way of life before and after the invasion and Boudica’s resistance. They will find out about the Roman way of life including roads, buildings, dress and entertainment. They will look at the legacy of the Roman period including language, the calendar and place names.
Children will also practise their map skills by locating and plotting the extent of the Roman Empire. They will look at the geography of East Anglia in our work about Boudica’s rebellion.

If you have any expertise or knowledge that could be shared with the children in our school to enhance their learning, please do get in touch with your child’s class teacher.