Our Year Four

We are writing to share some information about the Autumn term in year 4. 

Our two classes are Otters class with Mrs Gingell and Kingfishers class with Miss Murphy. Our teaching assistants are Mrs Harwood and Mrs Gaydon. 

Curriculum  

This term Year 4 begins with investigating the question “Which is the greatest civilisation?” We began our project with exploring different artefacts from Ancient Egypt. We discussed what some of these artefacts were, who would have used them and what they were made of. We then wrote down questions about the objects and hope to find out the answers later in the project. As the project evolves, we will investigate how people in Ancient Egypt lived their lives, the jobs that they did and the role and life of a pharoah. We also find out more about key leaders such as Hatshepsut and Tutankhamun. We will be investigating states of matter in science as then later exploring how sound is created and heard. In R.E. we explore the big question “Why do Christians still pray the Lord’s Prayer?” More information can be found on  St Wilfrid's C of E Primary - Our Curriculum 

Reading at Home 

Even when your child enjoys reading and reads well on their own, they still need to read aloud all the way through their junior years.  Books can be borrowed from the school library and each year group has a selection of books that your child can borrow and read at home. Every time your child reads at home, you (or your child) should fill in the page numbers/chapters read on their online reading record ‘Boom Reader’. Children have received their log in details for this. If they read 5 times in a week, they will receive reading reward time. We also celebrate which class has read the most in our celebration worship on a Friday.  

Our new ‘St Wilfrid’s Reading Challenge’ has also started where children are given the challenge of reading 6 carefully chosen texts for their year group across the school year. These books can be read independently by the child or enjoyed with an adult at home. The children will then have some questions to answer about the book when they return it to school. 

Homework 

English homework is set monthly and will be a short project, for example, making a game which teaches children an aspect of grammar or researching something in line with our project.  

Maths homework will be an activity on the website MyMaths. We also encourage the children to use TTRS in order to practise and learn their timestables. The following website is also very helpful for this mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/7/multiplication-and-division. Times tables and related division facts should be practised on an on-going basis, ideally a few minutes daily. Children are expected to know these and be making progress with them. The Spelling homework is set on Spelling Shed. These words will be a mixture of words from the statutory ‘word lists’ and those with particular spelling patterns. All children are expected to complete and submit their homework on time. Children have been given their log-in details for the above websites, but if these have been misplaced, please inform the class teacher. Spelling and Maths homework are set on a Wednesday and are due in on the following Tuesday. 

PE 

This term, PE takes place on a Tuesday and Wednesday and on these days, children should attend school in their PE kit.  If there is any reason why your child cannot participate in a PE session, please let the class teacher know via the year group email address.  PE is only cancelled in the event of heavy rain, icy or extremely cold conditions, therefore a pair of jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt (ideally navy) are allowed. Children with pierced ears must be able to remove their own earrings or cover these with tape brought from home. In Year 4 the children will attend swimming sessions at Hurst College on alternate Tuesdays.  

Water bottles and snacks 

Please remember to bring in a water bottle and a healthy fruit or savoury snack (for example, fresh fruit, a bagel, raisins) for break time. Please ensure any snacks are both nut and egg free. 

Uniform      

Please ensure your child has a waterproof coat in school every day. Children will only stay indoors at playtimes if it is raining heavily. All clothing, including PE kit, should be labelled with your child’s surname.   

We are looking forward to a great Autumn term.  If at any point you have a message for your child’s teacher, please contact us through the year group email: year4@stwilfrids-hh.school  

Please do contact us if you have any questions. 

Best Wishes 

Mrs Gingell and Miss Murphy