Year 4 Blog

Welcome back! We're excited to share what your children will be learning about this half term.

English

We will be diving into the magical world of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis as the focus for our English lessons. Using this much-loved classic as inspiration, we will explore a range of writing opportunities, including setting descriptions, character profiles, diary entries, and imaginative narrative writing. Through this, we will be developing our grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, as well as refining our ability to structure ideas effectively. We will also be enhancing our speaking and listening skills through drama, role play, and group discussions. 

During Reading lessons, we will be enhancing our comprehension skills, with a particular focus on inference and sequencing. To encourage all children to be engaged with and enjoy Reading lessons, we will be reading a range of different texts, including fiction, poetry and newspapers. There will also be lots of opportunities for the children to select their own books and enjoy reading for pleasure. The Book Fair will also be returning to school the week beginning 12th of May. All pupils will have the opportunity to visit with their class during the week and it will be open to parents as usual on Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th and Thursday 15th of May.

Things to do at home:

It is important that the children continue to read as often as they can, reading a wide range of texts. Don’t forget, you’re never too old for a bedtime story, you can keep reading to your children too and sharing books together. 

When writing at home, get your child to read what they have written aloud to you as you both check that what they have written makes sense. 

Maths

In Maths, we will be learning about decimals, linking this with our previous work on fractions and looking at the relationship between them in expressing parts of a whole. We will cover tenths and hundredths as well as the important skill of learning to divide by both ten and a hundred, recognising place value beyond the decimal point. We will then move on to looking at expressing money using decimals, converting between pounds and pence and comparing different amounts. We will continue to practice our multiplication recall as we are now only four school weeks away from completing the Multiplication Tables Check in June.

Things to do at home:

Keep practicing times tables, the rapid recall of those multiplication facts- this really helps with the multiplication and division lessons. Use of Times Table Rock Stars App is encouraged – children will all be familiar with this as we use this as part of our weekly times tables practice in school. Regular practice is also essential towards our preparation for the upcoming National Multiplication Tables Check in June.

Science

In Science, we will be continuing our topic on Animals, including Humans, where we will be learning about food chains and how they are different in different areas. Then we will move on to our final topic of the year, Living Things and Their Habitats, where we will recognise and group living things in a variety of ways, explore and use classification keys to group and identify different living things and evaluate habitats of animals, exploring the dangers and benefits of living there.

Foundation Subjects

Next half term, we will be finishing off our second Geography topic of ‘Food’ and moving onto our third Geography topic of ‘Rivers’. Our work at Hams Hall will be of great benefit, as we will have a great knowledge of the features of rivers, as well as how they are formed and change a landscape over time. After this, we will then move onto our Design Technology topic of ‘Simple Circuits and Switches’, where we will be evaluating, designing and making a specific product, using electricity, for a specific purpose. 

In Computing, we will be finishing off our ‘2Code’ topic on Purple Mash and will be moving onto using a software called ‘Logo’ to code and program different functions.

In P.S.H.E., we will be moving onto ‘Safety and the changing body’, where we will explore age restrictions on the internet, first aid issues (asthma), privacy and secrecy, the effects of tobacco and growing up. In R.E., we will be exploring the topic of Jesus and looking at his life, interactions prophesies and miracles. We will be continuing our Music topic of rivers, which will allow us to develop our instrument playing skills and work together to create a piece of music.

4T and 4H will also be visiting Ham’s Hall Environmental Centre as part of our Rivers topic on Thursday 1st May.

Our next P.E. topic will be Cricket, where we will be practicing our batting and fielding skills, hopefully in the sunshine!

Here is a reminder of our P.E. days:

Our P.E. days are as follows:

• 4D – Wednesday and Friday

• 4H - Thursday and Friday

• 4L – Monday and Friday 

• 4T – Tuesday and Wednesday

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit. Details of uniform required for P.E. can be found here: https://www.yardleyprimary.org/parents/uniform-equipment 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please do follow us for updates - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack is available to download using the button below. You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

Thank you for your continued support in your child’s education. We look forward to an enriching Summer 1 half term filled with exploration and discovery!

Please note that school will be closed due to the Bank Holiday on Monday 5th of May.

The Year 4 Team

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Aspire

What a fabulous half term we have had! There has been a lot of resilience shown recently, especially in English. We have increased the range of skills learnt, and 4D have shown great resilience in applying these skills to their work. The children have also shown a lot of determination in P.E, when understanding the rules of rounders and playing games in the sport. It has been great to see the improvement in their confidence, and to see them continuously try to improve their technique and knowledge.

Inspire

There has been so much creativity in lessons this half term! During our geography topic, we have been learning about where our food comes from, and the children have used excellent creativity to showcase their knowledge through a PowerPoint using the surface books. 4D have also shown lots of enthusiasm for our new maths topic of Fractions. We have played lots of games and used lots of tools to help us visualise and understand how fractions can be counted and converted, and the children were particularly enthusiastic when playing bingo, where we converted mixed numbers into improper fractions.

Teamwork

4D have shown a great sense of equality in R.E this half term, where we looked at how people show their devotion to their religion in different ways. We showed great understanding and respect when discussing our own personal ways of showing our devotion to our religion, and how this may be different for everyone, but that is okay. We have also worked well as a community in Art this half term, where we worked in teams to create shadow sculptures. We supported and encouraged our team-mates when creating our sculptures and listened to each other's ideas fairly when it came to creating the shadows with them, trying everyone’s ideas out.

Well done for all the hard work! I look forward to seeing what we achieve next half term! Have a great rest!

Miss Delaney

4H have enjoyed another fantastic half term filled with engaging learning experiences and exciting challenges.

Aspire

Exploring Sculpture and 3D: Mega Materials in Art allowed us to experiment with different ways to join materials and make thoughtful decisions about their placement. By stepping out of our comfort zones and drawing in unfamiliar ways, we embraced curiosity and took creative risks. This resilience enabled us to push our creative boundaries and produce unique sculptures that showcased our determination to refine our skills.

Investigating where our food comes from in Geography sparked insightful discussions about sustainability. As we identified the different biomes where foods grow, we considered which have the most significant negative impact on the environment. Through our learning, we developed a sense of responsibility and curiosity about the choices we make and how they affect the planet.

Inspire

Inspired by The Boy at the Back of the Class, we crafted persuasive letters to the Prime Minister, demonstrating our ability to think critically and communicate effectively. Carefully structuring our arguments and punctuating speech correctly, we refined our writing while expressing our thoughts with enthusiasm and conviction.

In Maths, we explored how to compare and order mixed numbers. Tackling these new concepts with determination, we strengthened our mathematical fluency and deepened our understanding of fractional values. By maintaining a positive mindset, we embraced the challenge of reasoning through complex problems with confidence.

Teamwork

Athletics in P.E. provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate respect and consideration for one another. As we developed our technique in relays, triple jump, long jump, javelin, and shot put, we encouraged and supported our classmates, fostering a strong sense of teamwork and community.

Recently, we started our new Science topic: Animals including Humans, where we explored the digestive systems basic functions. By investigating how different organs work together to process food, we gained a clearer understanding of how our bodies function. 4H asked thoughtful questions and engaged actively in discussions, deepening our knowledge of human biology.

Well done, 4H! Enjoy a well-earned rest. See you soon!

Mr Hogarth

Aspire

Our Mega Materials topic in Art allowed us to explore different ways to use materials, making decisions on their placement. We looked at different drawing techniques and styles, using our natural curiosity to experiment and push ourselves out of our artistic comfort zones.

In our P.E. lessons, we have demonstrated both determination and resilience across many different athletic disciplines, such as sprinting, relay races, javelin and discus. This has been a great opportunity to encourage one another and become more well-rounded in our skill sets.

Inspire

We were lucky enough to have two visitors come into school to teach us some new art skills – we created Islamic art and learnt how to draw 3-D optical illusions. The pupils were inspired by both visitors, particularly when they discussed their own artistic journeys. These opportunities allowed the children to demonstrate their creativity, producing some excellent final pieces.

In our Fractions topic in Maths, we explored going beyond a whole and learned how to write these as mixed numbers and improper fractions. Tackling these new concepts with resilience, we strengthened our mathematical fluency and deepened our understanding of the link between fractions and division. By embracing positivity, we embraced the challenge of tackling more complex problems with enthusiasm.

We finish off the half term with a wonderful trip to Ham’s Hall Environmental Centre as part of our Rivers topic.

Teamwork

This half term, we have been inspired by our class text, The Boy at the Back of the Class. We wrote letters to our local MP asking for her support in donating some money to refugee charities. The children did a wonderful job at this and approached this writing with consideration and empathy.

We have had the opportunity to perform our class assembly - a story linked closely to our school values - to the rest of our school community. We worked extremely hard as a team to learn our parts, show respect to one another and our audience.

Have a fantastic half term break, 4L. 

Mr Lloyd

What a fantastic half-term we have had!

Aspire

During the recent Art topic, Sculpture and 3-D: Mega Materials, the children explored a variety of ways to produce interesting, unique and appealing art. Using unusual materials meant that the children were encouraged to make independent decisions when joining and manipulating the materials. They encountered some challenges, meaning the children demonstrated resilience to overcome these and ensure their work was of a high creative standard.  In geography, the children have been learning about the journey that different food products make. The children have shown great curiosity by asking insightful questions and showcasing their learning by being passionate to keep our environment green. Everyone has shown brilliant determination whilst learning about fractions, particularly when learning about fractions beyond 1. Tackling these new concepts with resilience, we strengthened our mathematical fluency and deepened our understanding of the link between fractions and division.

Inspire

This half term, 4T have been inspired by the class text, The Boy at the Back of the Class. To demonstrate the enthusiasm felt by the children, we wrote letters to our local MP asking for her support in donating some money to refugee charities. The children did a wonderful job at this and approached this writing with positivity, consideration and empathy. I was so proud of their final pieces! We were lucky enough to have two visitors come into school to teach us some new art skills – we created Islamic art and learnt how to add 3-D illusions to our work. The children were greatly inspired by both visitors, particularly when they discussed their own artistic journeys. These opportunities allowed the children to demonstrate their creativity, producing some great final pieces.

Teamwork

4T showed incredible teamwork whilst performing their class assembly on the Rainforest! It was wonderful to show off all the hard work to peers, teachers and parents, we really felt a sense of community! Everyone had an equal role in the assembly, and it was lovely to see the children supporting each other. In P.E., we have learnt how to play a fair and respectful game of Rounders. We have discussed the significance of trust and communication when working successfully in a team. It is clear the children are continuing the build these crucial skills and are improving greatly as we continue to learn about team sports. This half-term, we enjoyed World Book Day! The whole school community worked together, making it a very successful day!

Have a fun, relaxing and super break and I’ll see you for the final term of Year 4 soon!

Miss Trevis

Welcome back! We're excited to share what your children will be learning about this half term. 

English 

We will continue reading Boy at the Back of the Class, by Onjali Rauf, as the basis for some of our extended writing pieces. We will have the opportunity to practice writing a persuasive letter, as well as take part in a debate.  We will continue to practice more of the grammar curriculum, developing accuracy when punctuating direct speech, recognising word classes such as determiners and personal pronouns, as well continuing to develop our joined handwriting. 

In our Reading sessions, we will be exploring a wide range of texts, focusing mostly on poetry and non-fiction. These texts will provide a great opportunity for discussions and insights. We will continue to focus on essential reading skills, such as retrieving and summarising, but will be learning more about how to infer meaning from vocabulary choices and characters’ actions.   

Things to do at home: 

It is still really important that the children continue to read as often as they can, reading a wide range of texts. Don’t forget, you’re never too old for a bedtime story, you can keep reading to your children too and sharing books together.  

When writing at home, get your child to read what they have written aloud to you as you both check that what they have written makes sense.  

Maths 

 In Maths, we will be starting the half term by looking at Length and Perimeter, looking at using a ruler to measure the perimeter of 2D shapes, as well real-world practical applications. We will be learning how to measure using different units, such as metres, centimetres, millimetres as well converting between different units.  

We will then be moving on to fractions and decimals, exploring the link between them. We will learn to understand and convert improper fractions into mixed numbers. We will then move on to adding and subtracting improper fractions and mixed numbers. 

Things to do at home: 

Keep practicing times tables, the rapid recall of those multiplication facts- this really helps with the multiplication and division lessons. Use of Times Table Rock Stars App is encouraged – children will all be familiar with this as we use this as part of our weekly times tables practice in school. Regular practice is also essential towards our preparation for the upcoming National Multiplication Tables Check in June. 

Science 

In Science, we will be continuing to explore the states of matter – solids, liquids, and gases. We will investigate how materials can change state by heating and cooling, such as how ice melts into water and then evaporates into steam. Through exciting experiments, we will observe condensation forming on cold surfaces and even make predictions about how different materials change at various temperatures.  Understanding states of matter will help us see how the world around us changes every day! 

Foundation Subjects 

In our Art topic, Mega Materials, we will explore different ways to shape materials using more complex techniques, allowing us to create detailed and imaginative designs. We will also investigate how shapes can be formed and joined using wire, experimenting with different methods to create strong and interesting structures. As we progress, we will choose a variety of materials to make our own sculptures, thinking carefully about texture, form, and stability. This topic will allow us to be creative, experiment with new skills, and bring our artistic ideas to life in exciting ways! 

Here is a reminder of our PE days: 

Our PE days are as follows: 

• 4D – Wednesday and Friday 

• 4H - Thursday and Friday 

• 4L – Monday and Friday  

• 4T – Tuesday and Wednesday 

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us to keep up to date with all the wonderful things your children are up to  - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

Thank you for your continued support in your child’s education. We look forward to an enriching half term filled with exploration and discovery in 2025! 

The Year 4 team 

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

What a fabulous half term 4D! We have done so many amazing things this half term and I am so proud of you for the amount that you have learnt and grown over the past 6 weeks. 

Aspire

We have worked hard to participate in and complete our swimming programme, which has been very exciting. Every child has shown positivity and resilience in tackling different obstacles in the water.

Everyone is doing an amazing job at learning our times tables facts, up to 12 x 12. There have been so many children receive their ‘Gone Green’ certificate and join the ‘25 Club’. The community spirit around times tables in the class is at an all-time high, with children constantly excited about recalling knowledge and playing times tables games. 

Inspire

In our English lessons, we have learnt a range of different skills which have supported us to write and edit a diary entry, based on the story of Paddington Bear. The determination and positivity shown from everyone has been amazing, and I have seen such an improvement in the skill level of everyone! We have learned how to use inner thoughts and reflections, as well as rhetorical questions to make our entries personal. 

Teamwork

In History, we have been studying the Anglo Saxons, finding out how and why they invaded and settled in Britain. Our project involved creating wattle and daub structures in the same way the Anglo Saxons would have done to build their homes, minus the manure they used! During this project, the children have shown a great understanding of teamwork, through working in a range of different groups and with a variety of different people.  

Have a wonderful half term 4D. I hope you have a great week, full of fun and rest! 

4H have enjoyed another fantastic half term filled with engaging learning experiences and exciting challenges.

Aspire

Our swimming sessions in the pop-up pool provided the perfect opportunity to build water confidence, refine our technique, and develop a strong understanding of water safety. With each session, we grew more skilled, demonstrating not only our physical ability but also our determination to overcome challenges. 

In Art, we explored tints and shades to enhance our colour-mixing skills. Using this knowledge, we painted realistic 3D apples, carefully considering how to use light and shadow to create depth. We also experimented with a range of painting techniques, learning how different brushstrokes and textures can bring artwork to life. By embracing challenges and showing resilience, we successfully created detailed and impressive paintings. 

Inspire

In English, we used our creativity to write and edit diary entries based on the story of Paddington Bear. We explored how to include inner thoughts, reflections, and rhetorical questions to make our writing more personal and engaging. By maintaining a positive attitude and carefully editing and redrafting our work, we improved our use of grammar, punctuation, and handwriting, taking pride in both the presentation and quality of our writing. 

Another highlight of the half-term was our class assembly on the Anglo-Saxons. This was an exciting opportunity to bring history to life as we shared our learning through storytelling, drama, and presentations. We worked together with trust, relying on one another to deliver a confident and engaging performance. Our teamwork and dedication resulted in an informative and well-executed assembly, showcasing our growing confidence in public speaking and performance skills. 

Teamwork 

In P.E., we have developed our flexibility, strength, technique, control, and balance by performing dances using a range of movement patterns. We worked together to practise and refine sequences, demonstrating coordination, teamwork, and perseverance to improve our performances.   

In Maths, we deepened our understanding of multiplication and division, mastering multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100. We applied this to solving problems with 2- and 3-digit numbers divided by a 1-digit number, developing fluency through consistent practice. By approaching our learning with respect—listening carefully, supporting one another, and valuing different strategies—we strengthened our rapid recall of times tables and built confidence in our mathematical skills. 

Well done, 4H! Have a fantastic half term and a well-earned rest. 

Another half term has flown by in 4L. 

Aspire 

We completed our swimming sessions using the pop-up pool. We have become much more confident in the water showing resilience and positivity, and have learned to respect the water in order to keep us safe. 

We are continuing to work hard to recall our times table facts up to 12, through the use of Times Table Rock Stars. More and more pupils are now achieving full marks, again demonstrating the supportive community of learners we have within 4L. We are going to continue practising to improve our consistency ahead of the Multiplication Tables Check in June. 

Our Maths lessons have seen us learn how to multiply 1-digit by 2 or 3-digit numbers, using not only our multiplication skills, but our knowledge of partitioning and addition. 

Inspire  

In our English lessons, we have had the opportunity to write and edit a diary entry, based on the story of Paddington Bear. We have learned how to use inner thoughts and reflections, as well as rhetorical questions to make our entries personal. The pupils have all shown great enthusiasm and determination in not only writing for a specific purpose, but in improving the standards of their grammar and handwriting. 

Teamwork 

In History, we studied the Anglo Saxons, finding out how and why they came to inhabit Britain. Our project involved creating wattle and daub structures in the same way the Anglo Saxons would have done to build their homes. We have had the opportunity to look at a range of historical sources and see how these can teach us about the past. During this project, we worked together respectfully as a team to help each other learn, practising our communication and listening skills in the process. 

Have a great half term, 4L and a well-deserved rest. 

Wow, another half term completed!  

Aspire 

The children have shown brilliant determination this half term by completing their swimming programme with such enthusiasm. They were all super resilient to the changes we made to swimming which I was very impressed with. Across the class, we have seen incredible progress and I’m so proud of how well their confidence has grown. We would encourage you to continue to support your child’s progress by visiting a local pool whilst they are still enthusiastic. Alongside swimming, we have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons. Pupils were so interested and curious about this topic and they produced some incredible artwork that showed brilliant creativity. We were able to make lots of cross curriculum links, as well as links across different History topics. At home, challenge your children and see what they can tell you about the Anglo-Saxons.  

Inspire 

In Maths, we have been building on lots of multiplication and division skills. We have learnt lots of key vocabulary, such as factors and product. We have been learning different methods to approaching challenging questions, so we have been showing lots of creativity by using apparatus and pictorial representations. Also, we have been continuing to prepare for our MTC. The children have been showing excellent enthusiasm to this, we are very impressed with their progress. It would be extremely beneficial for them to continue practising their Times Tables at home, using all the different activities we have learnt at school.

Teamwork 

In computing, we have been learning about stop motion animation which the children have shown a real interest in. We have been working as a team to produce a creative animation and showing great teamwork skills. During Children’s Mental Health week, we completed some artwork, English work and had many mature discussions, where we showed how considerate we can be of others. It is lovely to see how the children are becoming more mature and learning the importance of respecting other’s views and beliefs. Our topic in PE has been Gymnastics and we have been working fantastically well as a team to produce some creative routines.   

Well done 4T for another excellent half-term! Have a wonderful break and I look forward to another fun-filled half-term.  

 Welcome to the new half term! We're excited to share what your children will be diving into in their classes this term.  

English 

In Writing, we will be using the book ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ by Onjali Rauf as the basis for some of our extended writing pieces. We will have the opportunity to practice writing a recount and a diary entry, considering the key features and differences between the two. We will be practicing more of the grammar curriculum, developing accuracy when punctuating direct speech, recognising word classes such as determiners and personal pronouns, as well continuing to develop our joined handwriting. 

In our Reading sessions, we will be exploring a wide range of texts, focusing mostly on poetry and non-fiction. These texts will provide a great opportunity for discussions and insights. We will continue to focus on essential reading skills, such as retrieving and summarising, but will be learning more about how to infer meaning from vocabulary choices and characters’ actions.  

Things to do at home:  

It is still really important that the children continue to read as often as they can, reading a wide range of texts. Don’t forget, you’re never too old for a bedtime story, you can keep reading to your children too and sharing books together.  

When writing at home, get your child to read what they have written aloud to you as you both check that what they have written makes sense. You can then discuss ways to improve the writing using our X posts as an inspiration.  

Maths

In Maths, we will continue to focus on securing our understanding of multiplication and division, building a solid foundation upon which to develop further skills. We will be covering essential knowledge, such as how to multiply and divide by 10 and 100, before moving on to finding the length and perimeter of 2-D shapes. 

Things to do at home:

Keep practising times tables, the rapid recall of those multiplication facts- this really helps with the multiplication and division lessons. Use of Times Table Rock Stars App is encouraged – children will all be familiar with this as we use this as part of our weekly times tables practice in school. Regular practice is also essential towards our preparation for the upcoming National Multiplication Tables Check in June. 

Taking a lead from our X posts, ask your child to teach you how we add and subtract in school using the column method, when they become the teacher, the learning embeds further.  

Science 

In our Science lessons, we will be exploring the fascinating topic of States of Matter! Together, we’ll investigate solids, liquids, and gases, learning about their unique properties and how they behave in different situations. Through hands-on experiments, we’ll discover how heating and cooling can change a material’s state. We’ll also dive into the water cycle, uncovering how water moves through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. To make things even more exciting, we’ll play with unusual substances like slime oobleck to see if it acts like solids, liquids, or something in between. By the end of this term, you’ll be experts in states of matter and ready to share your amazing discoveries with others! 

Foundation Subjects

In Computing, we will be learning all about Stop Motion Animation. In groups, we will design and make a story, using different characters, and taking pictures of movements frame by frame to create a moving video. During this term, we will also be celebrating ‘Safer Internet Day’ where we will learn about how to use the internet safely and responsibly.  This is also a great time to discuss this at home, how to use the internet to help us, safely. Talk about what you’ve used search engines for and discuss the risks.  

In History, we will embark on an exciting journey into the Anglos Saxons, immersing ourselves into life as an Anglo Saxon! We'll explore the tribes within the Anglo Saxons and uncover the reasons behind the invasion of Britan. Building on from our previous history topics, we will gain awareness of where the Anglo Saxons lie within the historical timeline and make connections between the Anglo Saxons and the Romans. There will be lots of opportunities for our pupils to apply a range of skills to this project, including art and design, religious knowledge, geography and much more! With this being such a wide and interesting topic, we would warmly encourage the children to deepen their curiosity by reading books related to this topic – there will be many options if you take a trip to the local library.  

In RE, we are addressing the question ‘Just how important are our beliefs?’.  To explore this question, we will be investigating a range of different beliefs, views and scripture from a different worldwide religion, including Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. We will be looking at the relationship between beliefs, commitment and sacrifice and reasons which underpin these religious practices. As part of this topic, we will also be looking at non-religious examples to deepen pupils’ understanding.  

This term in PSHE, our focus is on Health and Wellbeing, where we’ll learn how to care for both our bodies and minds. We’ll explore the importance of dental health, understanding why brushing, flossing, and regular check-ups are essential for maintaining a healthy smile. Alongside this, we’ll practice relaxation techniques, such as visualisation, to help us stay calm and focused in challenging situations. We’ll also embrace the value of making mistakes, viewing them as opportunities to learn and grow, and discuss mental health, exploring why it’s important to care for our emotions and support one another. By the end of this term, we’ll have developed new skills and knowledge to help us feel healthier, happier, and more confident in tackling life’s challenges. 

In Spanish, we will be continuing to learn about the gender agreement of nouns in Spanish, whilst recapping our knowledge of stationary. We will also be moving onto learning vocabulary for family and pets, with opportunities to speak, write, read and listen to Spanish words.  Do not worry if you cannot speak Spanish, you have your own personal tutor at home now that can teach you what they have been learning in school!  

In January, the following Year 4 classes will begin their swimming lessons:  

• Classes 4H and 4T will swim from the 8th January to and including the 28th January 2025.  

• Classes 4D and 4L will swim from the 29th January to and including the 12th February 2025. 

Whilst children are swimming, weekly P.E. sessions will not take place.

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us to keep up to date with all the wonderful things your children are up to  - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

Thank you for your continued support in your child’s education. We look forward to an enriching half term filled with exploration and discovery. 

The Year 4 team

Follow us on X (formerly Twitter)!

Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Aspire

This term has been very different from any usual term! We started off with our swimming lessons and Rainforest project in the first three weeks, which was so exciting! All the children showed great determination and resilience in their lessons, not giving up when the lessons got tough, and working through any fears they had to smash their final swimming lesson! If you can, please keep up your child’s swimming ability and enthusiasm by taking them to a swimming pool near you – they can show off how wonderful they are! The children were also curious about the Rainforest project and got really stuck into every lesson. There was a variety of activities they completed, such as writing a story about saving the Rainforest, learning about different biomes and biodiversity, and beautiful pieces of artwork inspired by the Amazon Rainforest.

Inspire

After our 3-week swimming/Rainforest project, we went back to our usual timetable, full of exciting lessons. In Maths, we have been developing the skills that children have previously learnt and building upon them to make them more challenging. We have also learnt new topics, like area – which is learning about how much space is taken up by a shape. Alongside this, we have also been practising our times tables by using the ‘Soundcheck’ on TTRS, which is a similar layout to the MTC. The children have showed excellent enthusiasm and positivity when practising, and their scores have improved so much – I am so proud of them! In art, we have been looking at shade and tone, and we are working towards creating our final joint piece of work, where we use prints of machinery to make a giant, collaborative piece of artwork. I have seen such creativity already through their collages and individual designs. I can’t wait to see their final pieces!

Teamwork

In our PSHE lessons we have been learning all about families and relationships. Within this, we have been learning about manners, boundaries and how to treat people. We have also looked at different stereotypes about different characteristics, and how they can be very unkind and hurtful. The children in 4D have been extremely considerate in the lessons, and they have had great ideas about how to be respectful. In RE, we have been discussing the sacred things about different religions, including how scriptures are used and how important they are in different faiths. We have also looked at whether all religions are equal. We explored origins of different religions, and through discussion, we found that a lot of the religions are extremely similar in beliefs or how they were founded. This has given 4D a great sense of community and respect, as we are more able to understand each other’s religions and beliefs. In PE, we have worked on our team-building skills and playing basketball together, helping us to show teamwork and respect.

We’ve had a very busy and extremely fun half term, and I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas break, and I will see you in the New Year! Stay safe and enjoy!

Miss Delaney

Aspire

What an exciting half term it has been for 4H! This term, the children have taken the plunge—quite literally—with their swimming lessons. Many of our pupils have shown incredible bravery, especially those swimming for the very first time. It has been wonderful to see their resilience as they worked hard to improve their confidence and technique in the water. If you can, we encourage you to continue this progress by visiting your local pool as a family.

In addition to swimming, we delved deep into the Rainforest! 4H were captivated by this topic, exploring its unique wildlife, plants, and climates. They channelled their curiosity into creating fantastic projects, from informative presentations to vibrant artwork. Their eagerness for sharing rainforest facts has been inspiring—don’t be surprised if they quiz you on which animals live in each layer of the forest!

Inspire

In Art this term, 4H explored Power Prints and learned about mechanical engravings, grasping concepts such as proportion, composition, and pattern in their drawings, and combining different media to create striking effects in their drawing-to-print development. 4H showed great creativity and skill as they developed these techniques, producing impressive and thoughtful work.

Maths lessons have focused on multiplication and division, revisiting Year 3 learning around multiplying by 3 and the 3 times-table and building on this knowledge to explore the 6 times-table. Pupils have used a range of strategies to support their fluency, such as looking for number patterns and finding unknown number facts from known number facts. Their enthusiasm and growing confidence in these skills are brilliant to see, and we encourage you to keep up the quizzing at home!

The class has also made excellent progress in quickly recalling multiplication facts. Their enthusiasm and growing fluency are brilliant to see, and we encourage you to keep up the quizzing at home!

Teamwork

Teamwork has been a major theme this term. In Science, we explored electricity, where the children worked together to build circuits, experimenting with insulators and conductors. Watching them collaborate and apply their knowledge to solve problems has been a joy.

Basketball lessons have provided another opportunity to work as a team. The children have been refining their passing, dribbling, and shooting skills, improving their confidence and camaraderie along the way.

4H, you have truly embodied our school values this term: striving for excellence, inspiring others with your creativity and enthusiasm, and working together to achieve success.

Well done, 4H. I look forward to even more exciting adventures with you next term.

Aspire

This half term has been very exciting because Year 4 have been having swimming lessons in our playground pool!  Pupils have shown resilience and determination during their swimming lessons, and all have made huge improvements in their swimming ability – we are really proud of them.  If you are able to support your child to keep swimming by visiting a local pool, that would be fantastic. Alongside their swimming lessons, Year 4 pupils completed a project on Rainforests.  They were so interested and curious, finding the topic fascinating!  Pupils produced a range of different work, including art and written pieces.  I’m sure they have been sharing rainforest facts with you at home, so please keep asking them questions!

Inspire

In Maths we have been re-visiting some skills that pupils learnt in Year 2 and Year 3, as well as learning some new skills.  One new maths topic pupils have been learning about is area – the space taken up by a 2D shape or surface.  Working out the areas of shapes has allowed pupils to show their creativity, as one of the challenges has been to create shapes using different numbers of squares and then calculating the area.  We have also been continuing with our MTC preparation.  Year 4 pupils have continued to show excellent enthusiasm and positivity in learning their times tables, with more and more pupils gaining higher scores and greater fluency.  We have had a particular focus on the 6 times table, so please support your child at home by quizzing them on this!

Teamwork

In our PSHE lessons we have been learning about our health and wellbeing.  We have covered all sorts of topics from “healthy teeth” to “celebrating mistakes”.  We have discussed what our mental health is, and how we can be considerate of other people.  In our R.E. lessons we have been thinking about how sacred writings are a major part of some world religions.  We found out how the Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikh religion.  Finding out about different religions has helped us to learning more about our school community, and helped us to respect other views and beliefs.  In P.E. we have been improving our basketball skills, and enjoying playing sport together.  This has improved our teamwork and our physical health!

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, 4L.

Feliz Navidad!

Mr Lloyd, Mrs Corcoran, Mrs Hodgkiss

Aspire

We have had lots of fun this half term and we have so much to celebrate! 4T have thoroughly enjoyed swimming this half term and have shown resilience, determination and maturity. We are very proud of their incredible improvements in swimming, and we would encourage, if possible, them to continue practising all the learnt skills at a local pool. Alongside their swimming lessons, 4T have learnt all about Rainforests. We were very lucky to have a visitor into school who shared lots of interesting knowledge about rainforests around the world, and we got to meet some animals that originated from rainforests. Lots of children said how they aspire to visit a rainforest one day because of their curiosity and interest! They have produced some incredible work that they are very proud of. See what facts they can share at home about rainforests!

Inspire

In Maths, we have spent time re-visiting skills that were previously taught in Year 3 but this year we have been working with larger numbers. One topic which we all really enjoyed was area – this was a new topic for us, but we approached this with enthusiasm. Pupils have shown creativity during maths this half-term by exploring lots of different methods to approach multiplication and division. We have been working very hard to prepare for the MTC which we will take later this year. The children have shown enthusiasm and positivity in learning their times tables and are always very keen to improve their scores and win the TTRockStar battles! We have now learnt every single times table but our focus this half term has been on the 6 and 9 times tables. We encourage children to keep practising at home, using TTRockStars and any other games we have showed them.

Teamwork

In our P.S.H.E. lessons, we have been learning about different families and healthy friendships. It was lovely to see the children showing consideration and kindness during this topic. In our R.E. lessons, we have been discussing different religions and how sacred writings are a major part of some world religions. It was wonderful for the children to have the opportunity to discuss their own beliefs, with everyone being respectful and considerate of others. Learning about different world religions has helped us to learn more about our school community and becoming a strong team!

Well done 4T for all of your fantastic achievements this half-term! Have a wonderful break over the winter holiday and I look forward to seeing you in the new year!  

Miss Trevis

Welcome back Year 4. We hope you have had a lovely break!

In English this half term, we will be recapping our GPS skills, like homophones and sentence structure. We will also be writing a short story about the rainforest from different perspectives. In reading, we will be working on our predicting and summarizing, as well as other reading skills such as vocabulary. We are reading ‘Aliens Invaded My Talent Show’ this half term, and it has already started to be a very funny book!

In Maths this half term, we will be working hard to recap the skills learnt last year and last half term, as well as our new topics of area and multiplication and division. This will help us lots with our recall of our times tables facts, and the more we can practice Times Tables at home, the easier the lessons will be!

4D and 4L are swimming first this half term, which means that this is their PE topic for 3 weeks. Alongside swimming, they will be learning all about the rainforest, including the layers, the animals that live there and where they are located. 

In the meantime, 4T and 4H will be focusing on their science lessons, which will be based around electricity. They will be learning all about electrical appliances and how to be safe around electricity, as well as building circuits and trying to make a torch. As well as science, they will be learning about their art topic of Light and Dark, where they will experimenting with shading techniques to create a 3D effect.

After 3 weeks, the sets of classes will swap and complete the work they haven’t done yet.

For a reminder of all things swimming, visit our swimming page here.

Learning at Home 

All pupils should be undertaking regular reading practice at home; as little as a regular five minutes a day will make a huge impact on their learning and progress. Also, multiplication grids and spellings can be found in the planners for children to practise. 

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us to keep up to date with all the wonderful things your children are up to  - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as Times Table Rockstars.

Winter Disco

Yardley Fundraisers (our PTFA) will be holding a Winter Disco for Years 3 and 4 on the following date:

• Tuesday 3rd December / 5.30pm to 6.45pm

Click here for further information and how to book.

The Year 4 Team

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Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

What a great half term 4D! 

We have done so many exciting things since coming back, and you have settled in really well to school!

In English, we have been focusing on recapping our basic skills, as well as learning new things, like fronted adverbials, and adding them into our writing. We have been reading The Demon Headmaster, and we have really enjoyed seeing his evil plan unravel. We have written some excellent pieces, like a letter and a description of the school. 

In Maths, we started off with our place value topic, which we all did incredibly well in. It was tricky at times, learning numbers up to 10,000 but everyone did so well! We also started our addition and subtraction topic, which has taught us different ways to add and subtract 4 digit numbers correctly and effectively. 

In science, we learnt all about sound. We did so many cool experiments to understand more about how sound is made, changed and how it moves through the air. We have just started our introduction to our new topic of electricity, and we are really excited to learn about how we create circuits. 

Our foundation topics have been DT and History. In DT, we learned how to make a product for a purpose and a user, which was a biscuit box to protect a biscuit. We had to reinforce our structure to make it stronger to keep the biscuit safe. In History, we have been trying to answer the question of ‘Why did the Romans settle in Britain?’. We have learnt so much in this topic, and it was even more fun when Professor McGinty came in to do a Romans workshop with us!

We have looked at how to celebrate different religions in RE, and how to celebrate all people and show kindness to one another in PSHE. In PE, we have recapped our team building skills and learnt how to play basketball games. 

Have a restful half term, and I look forward to seeing you on Monday 4th November, ready for new learning and swimming.

It is the end of a very long eight week term! The pupils have all settled in so well to year 4 and have made an excellent start to the year. It has been a long half term with lots of learning that we can’t wait to share with you. 

We have been reading ‘The Demon Headmaster’ by Gillian Cross in English. We have produced some good pieces of writing such as a description of Yardley Primary School and we even wrote a letter from Dinah telling her friend about her new school. We have been focusing on out handwriting and presentation too this half term to make sure our work is the best it can be. 

In Reading, we have been  doing a lot of  reciprocal reading  based upon several different texts such as: narratives, setting descriptions, non-chronological reports and a leaflet. It has been good to apply our understanding of the four areas (summarising, clarifying, questioning and predicting) and have been spending lots of time skimming and scanning the texts in order to retrieve.

In Maths we have completed our place value block. We have enjoyed learning numbers up to 10,000 and applying skills such as rounding and estimation to these numbers. We even learnt about Roman Numerals which was so much fun. We are working through our current unit on Addition and Subtraction right now and have enjoyed learning how to use the column method to add and subtract 4-digit numbers. 

In PE, the children have enjoyed team-building activities this half term. It was so lovely to see the class working together in a respectful way.  We have also come to the end of our basketball topic, where we learnt to pass the ball in different ways and practiced our shoot skills.

In Science, we have enjoyed exploring sound and how it works. In History, we’ve learnt all about the Romans, what they did for us, and enjoyed dressing up as Roman soldiers in order to understand why and how the Roman army was so powerful. In our D&T topic we learnt all about shell structures. We thought about packaging and even made our own boxes. We enjoyed learning how to make the boxes stronger and more durable. 

Have a wonderful rest, 4H! Stay safe and I look forward to seeing you all back in school on Monday 4th November.

What a long eight weeks it has been! Well done to all the pupils for settling so well into year 4 and it is lovely to see how much of a good start the pupils have made. We have been very busy learning lots and it is safe to say that we are all well deserving of a break. 

In English, we have been reading ‘The Demon Headmaster’ by Gillian Cross and have written a letter from Dinah telling her friend about her new school. We enjoyed writing a description of Yardley Primary School too and enjoyed comparing the two schools. We had to think carefully about whether our letter would be formal or informal and learnt lots about informal language. 4L produced some amazing letters that made Mrs Corcoran very proud!

In Reading, we have been having reciprocal reading discussions based upon several different texts such as: narratives, setting descriptions, non-chronological reports and a leaflet. The children are beginning to show a super understanding of the four key reading skills (summarising, clarifying, questioning and predicting) and have been spending lots of time skimming and scanning the texts in order to retrieve.

In PE, the children have enjoyed team-building activities and have come to the end of their basketball topic. The children have been supportive of each other and congratulated each other on their excellent contributions during lessons. We are excited to start our swimming topic next half term.

In Science, we have enjoyed exploring sound and how it works. In History, we’ve learnt all about the Romans, what they did for us, and enjoyed dressing up as Roman soldiers in order to understand why and how the Roman army was so powerful. In our D&T topic we learnt all about shell structures. We thought about packaging and even made our own boxes. We enjoyed learning how to make the boxes stronger and more durable. 

Have a wonderful rest, 4L! Stay safe and I look forward to seeing you all back in school on Monday 4th November.

Wow I can’t believe we have completed the first half-term of year 4! I’m so proud of the children for how well they have settled into new routines, expectations and learning. 

We have been reading The Demon Headmaster throughout this half term. We have spoken at length about the characters and the plot. This has helped us develop our reading techniques by clarifying, predicting, summarising and answering a multitude of questions about the text.  We have all really enjoyed this book and I’ve loved hearing lots of the children confidently read out loud to myself and their peers. 

In English, we have focused on building simple and effective sentences to ensure our writing is correct. The children have been working very hard to ensure their presentation is to the best of their ability and I’ve been very impressed with their dedication to this. I was blown away by our most recent piece of writing which was a letter to Aliyah (a character from the Demon Headmaster). The children demonstrated their incredible understanding of the book, as well as showcasing all of their taught writing skills. 

In Maths, we started the half-term by focussing on Place Value. We have consolidated previous learning from Year 3 and then progressed on to reasoning and problem solving questions. We have learnt about Roman numerals (and linked this to our History topic), values of digits, rounding and estimating numbers on a number line. We then moved on to Addition and Subtraction where the children have been adding and subtracting up to 4-digit numbers. We have used various methods to solve these problems with amazing results. 4T have done really well this term with their timetables too and I’m looking forward to watching their continued progress with this. I’ve loved hearing about the ‘times table battles’ that the children have been having with each other! 

In Science, we have looked at 'Sound'. We have learnt about what sound is and how the ear collects sound. We have also planned, investigated and evaluated a range of experiments to improve our knowledge of sound. More recently, we moved on to learning about electricity which the children shared some interesting prior knowledge. 

In Design and Technology, the children produced some very strong biscuit packets! The children enjoyed exploring different shell types and then using a computer-aided design (CAD) (which they created independently) to make their final product. They all did a fantastic job at ensuring they were appealing for prospective buyers. 

In History, we have focused on the Romans. I and 4T have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Romans. We have learnt about Roman life, their military and the reasons that they invaded Britain. We were even lucky enough to be visited by Professor McGinty who performed us a hilarious workshop which taught us even more about Ancient Rome. 

This term we have further extended our Spanish knowledge. We have recapped some greetings, colours and numbers before learning the contents of a pencil case and masculine and feminine grammar. 

In PE, we worked on our team building skills and demonstrated brilliant teamwork. We have now moved on to learning skills within basketball which we are thoroughly enjoying.

Well done 4T on an incredible start to Year 4. Have a lovely, relaxing half-term break and I’ll see you for lots more fun learning in Autumn 2. 

Miss Trevis

We hope you have all had a fantastic summer break, ready for a new year in Year 4! Here’s what we’ll be up to this half term.  

Writing 

We will be looking at writing a variety of shorter pieces over Autumn term, including letters to persuade, instructions and recounts. We will also focus on handwriting and presentation, sentence structure, word classes (verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs) and tenses.  

To reach the expected standard at the end of Key Stage 2, pupils must be able to write legibly with joined handwriting.  

Reading 

Our class text this half term is The Demon Headmaster which pupils will be reading with their class teacher on a daily basis. In our Reciprocal Reading lessons, we will be spending time exploring a broad range of different texts, including fiction, poetry and non-fiction. We will be focusing on the skill of retrieval and doing lots of skimming and scanning to secure our understanding of the text. 

All pupils have had the opportunity to choose a reading book and have been issued with a reading diary to record any reading taking place at home as part of our 50 Nights of Reading initiative.  

Maths 

Yardley Primary School follows the White Rose scheme of work for Maths. Our units of study this term will be as follows: 

• Place Value – Partitioning, rounding, representing numbers with up to 4-digits, finding 1, 10, 100, 1000 more or less, ordering and comparing numbers up to 10,000, Roman Numerals 

• Addition and Subtraction – Adding and subtracting two 4-digit numbers with more than one exchange using the column method. 

Year 4 will sit the Multiplication Tables Check in June 2025 in which they are required to recall their multiplication tables from 1 – 12 from memory. Regular practice of times tables both at school and at home will be essential.  

Science 

In Science, we will be studying Sound. In this topic we will be identifying how sounds are made and recognise that vibrations from a sound travel through a medium to the ear. We will be conducting experiments throughout the term to explore patterns between the pitch and volume of sound. 

D&T 

Our first D&T topic this year will be Shell Structures. In this unit, pupils will be exploring different ways in which they can strengthen a structure through a variety of different techniques. We will also be making use of CAD (Computer Aided Design) to support the design stage of our projects.  

Computing 

We will be doing lots of work on Digital Safety, exploring how we manage relationships online in order to keep us safe. We will then move onto using Microsoft Excel to create spreadsheets, exploring the many different functions within this program. 

RE/PHSE 

Expressing Joy, Being Thankful, Harvest. 

Music 

Our first music topic will Body and Tuned Percussion using the theme of the rainforest. Pupils will be using a range of percussion, including their own bodies to compose rhythms and themes, learning about structure, tempo and time-keeping.  

P.E./Sports 

This half term, we will be taking part in team building activities and starting tri-golf.  

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

PE Days:

• 4D - Wednesday and Thursday 

• 4H - Thursday and Friday  

• 4L - Tuesday and Thursday 

• 4T - Tuesday and Wednesday 

Outdoor Learning 

On the days of Outdoor Learning sessions, normal school uniform should be worn but children will need: 

A pair of wellies (place these in a bag and label each boot with your child’s name and class). 

*Children will be provided with appropriate outdoor learning clothing to cover their uniform.* 

Important Information 

• Year 4 children enter school and leave for dismissal at the link corridor door (near the theatre hall/lunch hall.) 

• Year 4 enter the school between 8:40 and 8:55 and must be collected at 3:25 

• Pupils should bring a water bottle to school each day and take it home to be cleaned. 

Learning at Home 

All pupils should be undertaking regular reading practice at home; as little as a regular five minutes a day will make a huge impact on their learning and progress. Also, multiplication grids and spellings can be found in the planners for children to practise. 

All classes are on X (formerly Twitter) so please follow us to keep up to date with all the wonderful things your children are up to  - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download soon using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as Times Table Rockstars.

Thank you for your continued support. 

The Year 4 Team

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Don’t forget to follow our classes on X.  Click a button below to find your child's class on X.

Dear 4A,

I cannot believe I am writing this in our final week of Year 4! I have been so incredibly lucky to teach and get to know every single one of you over the year. You have all worked unbelievably hard over the year and have continued to show your enthusiasm and determination throughout this final term. I look forward to hearing about your progress in Year 5. 

In English, we created our own alternative worlds and wrote the start of a narrative linked to our class text, ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. We have also finished the term off by writing an emotive email to our New Year 5 teacher, Miss Wood.

In Maths, we completed all our topics and have thoroughly enjoyed learning about how to read and plot co-ordinates. The children also completed their MTC check this term and their scores were phenomenal! We are all extremely proud of the progress every pupil has made. Keep this up in Year 5. 

In Reading, we have further developed our understanding of the four key reading skills: predicting, summarising, clarifying and questioning. We have looked at different style texts and test based questions to support us as we enter upper Key Stage 2. 

In Art, we completed our final topic called ‘Fabric of Nature’, where we were able to use different materials to create repeated patterns. Throughout the topic we were inspired by the work of William Morris. We were also lucky enough to have an ‘Artist in Residence’ in ex Yardley Primary School teacher, Mr Thacker! We made a really cool poster with him, based upon our school values: aspire, inspire and teamwork.

In History, we learnt about the Vikings. Our big question was ‘Were the Vikings invaders, settlers or raiders?’ We engaged in different trading activities and learnt about what life was like for a Viking. 

In Design and Technology, we spent a day creating a healthy meal for our busy teachers, which we got to try at home! 

Have an amazing summer and I will see you all in September.

Fabulous work 4A!

Miss Ashmore x

What an incredible year we have had together. The final term of our learning has been one of much joy.

In English, we have written for different audiences completing our very own narratives and creating from emails ready for our new teachers. We have attempted to apply many of the techniques we have learnt this year with much success.

In Reading, we have continued with activities such as prediction, sequencing, retrieval and summarising – all of which have further developed our skills. We have also discussed our favourite texts from this year and compared the texts we have read.

In Maths, the children worked incredibly hard on their timetables and flourished with amazing results. I can honestly say that on that day I was beaming with pride. In addition, we have looked at Geometry, Statistics and Position and direction. During these topics we plotted co-ordinates, interpreted graphs and dug deeper when it came to shape.

For Science, we have spent some time recapping the different topics. We have carried out investigations and experiments, based on the topics we have already learnt about this year. We thoroughly enjoyed coming up with tests, making predictions and then making conclusions based on the results we had found.

In foundation we have been very busy! We have completed and art topic named ‘fabric of nature’, a History topic based on the Vikings and In D&T we spent a day creating a healthy meal which we even sampled at home. The fun didn’t stop there either. We have been every so lucky to be visited by Loudmouth who focused on talking about problems, Professor McGinty who wowed us with more information about the Vikings and finally Mr. Thacker who visited us for half the day teaching new skills in Art.

In PE, we thoroughly enjoyed a new topic called Netball. The children really took on board the concepts of Netball and applied them ever so well to game situations. The application was fantastic. In addition we worked on our Football skills during the second phase of this term. Finally, we really enjoyed ourselves on Sports Day, where both the children and parents were fantastic. Everyone was competitive, positive and encouraging which really made myself happy.

What a bitter sweet moment! I am so proud of you all this year but with a heavy heart it is time to say goodbye.

Best of luck… Mr. G

What an incredible year we have all had together. The final term of our learning has been action packed and loads of fun! 

In English, we have written for different audiences completing our very own narratives and creating emails ready for our new teachers. We have attempted to apply many of the techniques we have learnt this year with much success. We have recapped all of the GPS skills for KS1, Year 3 and Year 4 ready for moving on to Year 5. 

In Reading, we have continued with activities such as prediction, sequencing, retrieval and summarising – all of which have further developed our skills. We have also discussed our favourite texts from this year and compared the texts we have read. We read “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” as part of our English lessons, we all really enjoyed reading this book and learning about the context of the book- WWII 

In Maths, we have worked incredibly hard on our timetables and flourished with amazing results. We can honestly say that we were beaming with pride. In addition, we have looked at Geometry, Statistics and Position and direction. During these topics we plotted co-ordinates, interpreted graphs and dug deeper when it came to shape.

For Science, we have spent some time recapping the different topics. We have carried out investigations and experiments, based on the topics we have already learnt about this year. We thoroughly enjoyed coming up with tests, making predictions and then making conclusions based on the results we had found.

In foundation we have been very busy! 

In Art we have looked at patterns and repeated patterns in the topic, ‘fabric of nature’, in this topic we used pastels to create images and Batik on fabric to produce textured pattern. 

In History we continued our journey through the invaders, raiders, traders and settlers of Britain by learning all about the Vikings! Professor McGinty wowed us with more information about the Vikings when he visited us.

In D&T we spent a day creating a healthy meal which we sampled at home. We learnt how to use a knife safely to cut vegetables using a bridge and claw method.

The fun didn’t stop there either, we have been ever so lucky to be visited by Loudmouth who focused on talking about problems linked to PSHE, and finally Mr. Thacker who visited us for half the day teaching new skills in Art.

In PE, we thoroughly enjoyed a new topic called Netball. The children really took on board the concepts of Netball and applied them ever so well to game situations. The application was fantastic. In addition we worked on our Football skills during the second phase of this term. Finally, we really enjoyed ourselves on Sports Day, where both the children and parents were fantastic. Everyone was competitive, positive and encouraging which really made myself happy.

What a bitter sweet moment! We are so proud of you all this year but with a heavy heart it is time to say goodbye. 

Best of luck for Year 5! 

Mr Bulloch and Mrs Stepien

Hello 4P! I can’t quite believe that this is the last blog I am writing as your teacher. It has been a fantastic year that has flown by, which is due to your vibrant characters and brilliant personalities! I have had a brilliant year with you all and feel very lucky that I will get to watch you progress further as you enter Year 5. 

In English, we have continued to build upon our ability to write for a variety of audiences. We came up with an alternative world for Narnia in our narratives and wrote an e-mail to our new Year 5 teacher (Mrs Wainwright) that included subordinate clauses, fronted adverbials and past, present and future tense.

In Reading, we have further developed our understanding of the four key reading skills: predicting, summarising, clarifying and questioning. We have looked at a selection of different texts and answered comprehension questions based upon them. In addition, we have enjoyed completing our class text ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’.

In Maths, we completed our MTCs with admirable confidence and determination. The children’s scores were phenomenal and left their teachers extremely proud! Although some children achieved 24 when ordinarily they would achieve 25, they should still be incredibly proud of their progress. Nerves just got the better of some of us on the day! 

In addition, we have studied Geometry, Statistics and Position and direction. During these topics, we plotted co-ordinates, interpreted graphs and explored properties of shape.

We have spent the past 7 weeks recapping some of the different topics we have learnt about this year in Science. We have completed a lot of investigations and experiments and have been able to answer lots of scientific questions using appropriate vocabulary. We have also discussed in depth what a ‘fair test’ is and how to conduct these within our lessons. 

We have been very busy across the Foundation curriculum. We have completed an Art topic called ‘Fabric of Nature’, where we were able to use different materials to create art based upon the world’s rainforests. We learnt about the Vikings in History, and learnt that they lived amicably alongside the Anglo-Saxons for a period of time. In Design and Technology, we spent a day creating a healthy meal for our busy teachers, which we got to try at home! We had a company called ‘Loudmouth’ come and visit us to discuss the importance of knowing how to handle problems we may encounter as we progress through life. We were also lucky enough to have an ‘Artist in Residence’ in ex Yardley Primary School teacher, Mr Thacker! We made a really cool poster with him, based upon our school values: aspire, inspire and teamwork.

In PE, we thoroughly enjoyed a topic called Netball. The children really took on board the concepts of Netball and applied them ever so well in game situations. The application of their skills and ability to work effectively as a team was fantastic. In addition, we worked on our Football skills to finish off our learning in Year 4. Finally, we really enjoyed ourselves on Sports Day, where both the children and parents were fantastic. Everyone was competitive, positive and encouraging which really made all of the Year 4 teacher’s happy and proud.

It is now time to say goodbye; I shall miss you all terribly next year but I look forward to hearing about your future accomplishments as you enter upper key stage 2. Do not forget me, I certainly won’t forget you!

Have a wonderful summer and I will see you in September.

Miss Perkins x

Hello everyone! We cannot believe it is the last seven weeks of Year 4 for this wonderful cohort of children. They have had a fantastic year, and it has zoomed by due to their dedicated nature and wonderful personalities. We loved teaching them and watching them grow personally and academically, and we know that this last half term will be phenomenal! 

English 

In English, we are recapping our grammar, punctuation and spelling knowledge whilst preparing to write a narrative based upon Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We will include direct speech between two characters and ensure we are using all the appropriate punctuation whilst we do this. We will also be writing an email using past, present and future tense to our prospective Year 5 teachers. This will be a very exciting task as we will be able to reflect upon our time in Year 4 in past tense, write about how we feel now in present tense and state what we look forward to in Year 5 in future tense. 

Reading

In Reading, we will continue to read a variety of texts, including narratives and poems, and use our reciprocal reading skills to analyse them and expand our vocabulary. During this term, we will be making predictions, ensuring that we use evidence to justify them as well as writing summaries about a piece of text and insuring we only include key relevant information. We will also continue to build upon our knowledge of retrieval, comprehension and inference skills to secure our key reading skills, ready for Year 5.  

Maths

In Maths, we are continuing our work on time converting to and from digital times. After we have completed this topic, we will be working on Shape and Geometry focusing on angles and turns, polygons, quadrilaterals and lines of symmetry. In addition, we will look at Position and Direction where we shall plot co-ordinates and translate shapes on to grids. Finally, we will also cover statistics where we shall interpret charts and draw line graphs.  

Science

In Science, we will continue learning about Living things and their habitats, as well as recap the previous topics: Sound, States of matter, Electricity and Animals including humans. We will focus on working scientifically by using and making simple guides and keys to explore and identify local plants and animals, raising and answering questions based on their observations of animals and what they have found about other animals that we have researched. 

History

In History, we are continuing our work on Invaders, Raiders and Settlers. We have learnt about the Romans, The Anglo-Saxons and now we will be learning about the Vikings. We will learn about when and why the Vikings came to Britain and what impact the Vikings had on life in Britain.

Art

In Art, our topic is called “Fabric of Nature”. We will be looking at patterns in nature and creating repeating patterns inspired by nature. We will then be designing clothes that have been inspired by nature and patterns in nature.  

Computing

In Computing, we are going to be using a program called KODU. We will be creating a landscape and then using algorithms to add a KODU to the landscape and control them. We will be changing aspects of the landscape and the KODU whilst we are using the program as well as changing the camera angle and making the KODU invincible.  

R.E./P.H.S.E.

In PSHE this half term we will begin to look at the changes that take place in the human body during puberty. We will also look at how we keep our bodies clean and what personal hygiene is.  

In RE, we will be looking at being temperate, self-disciplined and seeking contentment. We will look at Gandhi and how he impacted so many lives.  

Music

Our music topic this term is all about nature and the sounds of nature. We will be creating pieces of music inspired by nature and performing in groups. We will be adding lyrics to our piece of music to show that our voices can work with instruments to create a composition.  

P.E./Sports

Our P.E. topics this half term are:  

•  Football

•  Netball

On the days of P.E. lessons, pupils should come to school in their P.E. kit.  Details of kit required for P.E. can be found here. Please ensure that they still have a warm, waterproof coat for lunch and play times on these days too. 

Please remember, if your child wears earrings, there are three options on P.E. days:

1. Children do not wear their earrings on the day that they have a P.E. lesson.  This is the safest option.

2. Children have plasters put on at home so that their earrings are already covered for their P.E lesson.

3. Send plasters in so that their earrings can be covered.  Children will need to do this themselves, staff are not able to.

PE Days:

• 4A - Tuesday and Wednesday

• 4G - Monday and Friday

• 4MS - Thursday and Friday 

• 4P - Wednesday and Friday 

Outdoor Learning

On the days of Outdoor Learning lessons, pupils should come to school in clothing that is appropriate for being outside instead of their school uniform. Please note that these clothes are likely to get dirty! 

Forest School dates are as follows: 

4A - Tuesday 11th June, 25th June and 9th July 

4G - Tuesday 11th June, 25th June and 9th July 

 4MS - Wednesday 5th June, 19th July and 3rd July 

4P - Tuesday 4th June, 18th June and 2nd July 

 Learning at home

Children should be undertaking regular reading practice at home; even as little as a regular five minutes a day can make a huge impact on their learning. Also, multiplication grids can be found in the planners for children to practise.

All classes are on Twitter so please follow us to keep up to date with all the wonderful things your children are up to  - use the buttons below.

The latest 'Learning At Home’ pack will be available to download this week using the button below.  Please let us know if a paper copy is required.  You can also visit our Learning Hub using the button below.

We also encourage the use of websites such as Times Table Rockstars.

Children should bring a water bottle to school each day and take it home to be washed. 

More news will follow regarding end of half term celebration assemblies.

Thank you for your continued support. We are here if you have any questions or need support with anything.

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