Dear Parents,
Welcome to Year 4! I hope that you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer holiday. I am delighted to have joined Skyswood Primary School and I am looking forward to working with your children over the coming weeks and throughout the year. This letter will hopefully clarify some of your questions about curriculum coverage and classroom routines this year.
In English, we will begin with a unit on (non-chronological) Report Writing, followed by a focus on Explanation texts. Throughout the term, there will be a strong emphasis on building imagery through poetry, using this to build vocabulary which children can use to enhance story settings and narratives. The children will enjoy several Guided Reading sessions each week, with reading for pleasure at the heart, that will often be linked to the genre they are studying.
Each Monday, there will be a focus on a particular spelling rule; spellings will be written in the Reading and Homework diary and tested on the following Friday. Please do help your children check the words that they have generated to learn and work with your child/children to practise their spellings. The children will be given their Learning Logs each Friday and should be returned by the following Wednesday.
During Maths, we will continue to build on prior learning from Year 3, developing skills in understanding number, calculating, shape, measuring and handling data. Mrs Loukes will be teaching the children for one of their lessons each week on a Thursday afternoon focusing on ‘Number Talks’, an exciting programme where the children use number relationships to mentally add, subtract, multiply and divide. We will also be making this part of our daily routine providing children with meaningful ongoing practice.
Our topic for Science is ‘States of Matter’ in which we will be examining the properties of solids, liquids and gases. Though a range of investigations, children will compare and group materials, observe how materials change state when they are heated or cooled and identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle.
We will be learning about Europe in our Geography Topic and this will link well with our work in PE on dance and in Art on European Artists. I am sure some food tasting and singing may also be involved!!
The children will be learning about Hinduism in their RE lessons and then link with Christianity, considering different ways that Christmas is celebrated throughout Europe. Music lessons will be taught by Mrs Constantin on Thursday mornings and French will be with Mrs Jones on Thursday afternoons.
As well as swimming on Wednesdays, starting on 14th September, Year 4 are timetabled for PE on Tuesdays. It would be helpful if they have their PE kits in school all week in case an extra PE lesson is arranged. Please can you ensure all kit is clearly named before it is brought into school to minimise lost property and that children have appropriate footwear and clothing for colder weather.
During the year, we will be taking Year 4 on class trips to support their learning and we will keep you informed of any costs when the details of each trip have been finalised. At present, we are planning to visit a Hindu Temple this term.
It would be very helpful if any parents are able to assist in the classroom, especially for support with times tables and hearing the children read. Parent helpers are always greatly appreciated, especially, for example, for the start of the morning or for a whole afternoon session or the end of the school day.
We hope that your child will be very happy in Year 4. We would like to thank you for your help and support in advance. As you may already be aware, there is a Parents’ Evening in November, but if you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, please feel free to contact me.
Kind regards,
Mrs Susie Ullman and Mrs Claire Traviss