Year 4

Welcome to Year 4

Summer 2 2024

Dear Parents,

I am wishing you all a warm welcome back after the holidays, I hope you have had a restful break and are ready for the final half term.  In Year 4, we will revise our school values of Respect, Good Manners, Patience, Perseverance and Honesty.  We will continue with our 'Brookhouse Monsters University' rewards scheme to acknowledge positive attitudes and behaviours that are consistent with our values.  If your child is in the winning team, they will celebrate with a party at the end of term.  Homework will be collected in on a Wednesday to be marked and returned by Friday.  There will also be online tasks to complete on PurpleMash, SPAG.com, Reading Plus and Times Tables Rockstars.

Our topic for this half term is 'Hunted'.

English

The first unit for this half term will be Folk Tales.  Our class novel will be 'Brer Rabbit' by Enid Blyton.  To start, pupils will listen, read and discuss a range of folk tales.  Then, they will make predictions and draw inference around characters' thoughts, feelings, actions and motives using evidence from the text.  By the end of the unit, pupils will write a narrative based on a text using complex sentences with adverb starters, fronted adverbials for where and when, inverted commas for dialogue and elements of the writer's toolkits.  The following unit of work is Debate linked to hunting, pupils will have to consider both sides of the argument and provide points for and against.  At the end of the unit, pupils will create a formal debate and discussion text.  All units will utilise the 'Talk for Writing' strategy of Imitate, Innovate and Invent.

Reading is a priority of ours at Brookhouse therefore Whole Class Reading sessions take place everyday, where children are expected to read a range of texts and answer questions by summarising, retrieving, making inference and explaining.  We also have a specific focus on vocabulary, which will be sent home to learn before the lesson.  In school, we will continue to use the online reading resource called 'Reading Plus' and encourage children to complete lessons at home.  It is imperative for you to support your child with reading, please use the question stems to ask your children questions to check for understanding.  Also, ensure your child is learning their spellings for ten minutes daily. 

Mathematics

In Maths, our aim is to improve maths fluency, reasoning and problem solving.  We do this through concrete, pictorial and abstract models.  In Summer 2, pupils will focus on geometry and learn about different types of angles.  They will name and compare angles and use this information when classifying triangles and quadrilaterals.  Pupils will explore symmetry and symmetrical figures. Next, pupils will learn how to describe the position of objects and figures.  They will learn how to describe position on grids using coordinates, introduced to the x and y axes and build understanding of how coordinates are written.  Finally, pupils will focus on number and place value, learning how to read and write roman numerals, how they were originally used and how they are still used today.  They will then apply this knowledge to reasoning and problem solving by utilising the QUACK method. Summer 2 concludes with an end of year review of learning and key concepts.

Please encourage your child to practice their timetables up to 12x tables as they are required to complete the official Multiplication Tables Check on Wednesday 12th June, to see if their knowledge is at expected level.  During the Multiplication check, children will have 25 questions to answer with only 6 seconds per question.  In order to aid them with this, your child can use Times Tables Rockstars, UR Brainy MTC and the maths area on Purple Mash, all website links can be located on the Website Star. Please familiarise yourself with the multiplication tables check parent guidance in the useful documents section above. 

Science

In Science we will learn about 'Living Things and Their Habitats' (Biology).  By the end of the unit, children will be able to name living things in a range of habitats and use classification keys when sorting living things.  To conclude the unit, pupils will provide examples of how an environment may change both naturally and due to human impact.  Children will be expected to work scientifically by setting up simple practical enquiries including comparative and fair tests, making careful observations, identifying similarities and differences, gathering, classifying and presenting data, recording findings using scientific language, drawing and labelled diagrams. They will use scientific evidence to answer questions or support their findings.  Please encourage your child to learn their knowledge organiser which will assist them with their weekly quizzes.

History

In History, pupils will continue to learn about the Ancient Egyptian civilisation which lasted for over 3000 years.  The unit will start by exploring artefacts.  Then, they will create a timeline comparing early and late Egypt, paying particular attention to the key events that occured.  The unit will teach about influential people during that period such as King Narmer, Cleopatra and Alexander the Great.  After that, pupils will learn about the inventions for example hieroglyphics and papyrus.  Finally, pupils will research about the River Nile and why the Egyptians settled by the body of water and how they utilised it. 

Design Technology

In Design Technology, children will start their food technology unit where they are required to make a vegetable raita with nutritional benefits.  They will taste test different fruits and vegetables and plan the ingredients for their own.  Pupils must also think about the aesthetic qualities (look, taste, smell and texture) as well as presentation.  The final product will be evaluated by themselves and others.

Geography

In the Summer term, pupils will develop their locational knowledge, by looking at world maps, this time with a focus on the oceans that separate the continents of the world.  They will expand on their previous physical knowledge of the UK by looking at water sources, and which can be identified on a UK maps for example rivers, lakes, reservoirs and canals.  Pupils will learn about water flow and how the streams and rivers they have identified are connected to the sea.  They will finish the unit by building upon their prior human geographical knowledge of land use and settlements by identifying reasons that people created settlements near water, and why the reasons for this may have changed over time.

Physical Education

P.E sessions will take place on a Thursday afternoon, our unit is Cricket.  Pupils will master the fundamental movement skills of running, throwing (underarm and overarm) and catching in a sporting context.  Pupils will develop their striking and fielding skills.  Please ensure your child comes into school wearing their full P.E kit.  The kit should include a yellow P.E top with the school's logo matched with black shorts, joggers or leggings and black pumps or trainers.  Over the top, children will wear their school jumper or cardigan.  All jewellery must be removed, ensure earrings are taken out before the session or covered with plasters.

PSHE

Our unit is Keeping Safe, pupils will learn how about the importance of school rules for health and safety, how to get help in an emergency and keeping safe in the local environment.  Furthermore, well-being will be a main focus throughout the year, children will have the opportunity to share and discuss any concerns or worries openly.  For the final couple of weeks, we will start to prepare for transition. 

Music

For Summer 2, pupils will reflect, rewind and replay in order to consolidate learning with increasing concentration on how the inter-related dimensions of music can be used to create different moods and effects.  In addition, pupils will continue to learn how to play the recorder. 

Computing

Pupils will start their Information Technology unit of Animation utilising the 2Animate program.  They will start by creating simple flick book animation.  Then, pupils will use backgrounds, sound and the onion skin tool to create more complex, imaginative animations.  Eventually, pupils will make a stop motion animation. 

Oracy - Voice 21

As a school we are developing our oracy, learning through talk and learning to talk.  In class, we have created discussion guidelines to aid meaningful discussions.  We encourage children to fully participate by taking on a range of roles and utilising sentence stems to articulate their ideas.  We will provide opportunities for discussion in all areas of the curriculum.

If you have any queries, do not hesitate to discuss these with us at the end of the school day or arrange an appointment through the school office.

Thank you for your support.

Yours Sincerely,

Miss Martin (Class Teacher), Miss Matadar (Special Support Assistant), Mrs Khonat and Mrs Patel (Higher Level Teaching Assistant).