Year 4 Autumn Curriculum Letter

Autumn 2016 – Curriculum Newsletter

YEAR 4

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to school and to Year 4 of the National Curriculum! The children and I are quickly settling into the routines of school life and we are looking forward to an enjoyable and productive academic year. At the start of a new term it is useful to know about each year group’s routines and curriculum information. Our main project during the Autumn Term will be…

A Land of Litter

LITERACY – Where appropriate, Literacy is linked to our class project work. This allows us to establish meaningful contexts in which to develop oracy, reading and writing skills. Texts we will be using as part of our ‘A Land of Litter’ project include: ‘The Animals of Farthing Wood’ and ‘Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids.’ During the course of the year we will be developing the children’s narrative writing skills and exploring the language features associated with a range of non-fiction genres.

READING: This year the children will continue to be introduced to a range of reading material through individual books, group guided reading books and whole class shared texts. All children will take part in group guided reading sessions with the class teacher and/or another member of staff. They will be required to complete a reading journal in class to reflect upon what they have read. Pupils are expected to read at home under the guidance of parents and can select from books in school and/or their own reading material.

SPELLINGS: Lists are taken from the Literacy Strategy and may also include class or project spellings.

Pupils will normally bring home spellings to learn on a Friday to be tested on the following Friday.

NUMERACY

We follow the teaching objectives outlined in the National Numeracy Strategy. Class lessons include mental maths activities followed by a main teaching activity. During the Autumn Term the children will continue to develop their understanding of place value, data handling, written methods, fractions, decimals and percentages; alongside improving their application of shape, space and measures. Pupils are required to learn their tables on a regular basis. Pupil’s mental maths skills will usually be tested for speed and accuracy on a Friday.

SCIENCE

Our science curriculum during the Autumn Term will be covered through our theme ‘Earth Science’. This topic will include learning about materials and their properties, states of matter, rocks and fossils. Throughout the topic, learning will take place through scientific investigation, enabling your child to develop scientific skills alongside knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts.

GEOGRAPHY – The children will be looking at the impact of people on the environment through such actions as littering.  They will develop their mapping skills and locate rubbish islands floating in the Pacific.  They will also compare their lifestyles with those of the ‘rubbish dump children’ and consider how we can help save our planet.

ICT – Throughout our project the children will use Word and PowerPoint to plan, create, develop and combine information with a sense of purpose and awareness of audience. The children will be using Hwb to work collaboratively with others in the class by sharing documents and sending emails. They will also learn how to use the internet for research, following safety guidelines & discussing issues relating to internet safety.

ART – The children will be investigating the recent surge in upcycling.  They will be researching the development and use of wreaths and designing their own Christmas wreath using recycled materials.

DESIGN TECHNOLOGY – We will be looking at creating our own musical instruments in design technology.  Using various recycled materials, such as kitchen roll tubes, we will investigate, design and create a Year 4 orchestra.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – The children will explore the various festival celebration celebrated by a range of religions, including Harvest and Hanukah.

HISTORY – During our project the children will be using their historical enquiry skills to find out about the Tudors and Stuarts.  They will delve into a world where the plague was rampant and the Great Fire destroyed much of London.

ESDGC/PSE – Children will be encouraged to empathise with others’ feelings and experiences; understand that there is value both in the similarities and the differences between aspects of life in different countries and understand that the behaviour of individuals has an effect on the lives of others.

MUSIC – We will be continuing to learn through exploring rhythmic patterns, melodies and scales with sound colours. This takes place through a varied programme of singing, performing listening and appraising a variety of music.

PE – P.E. lessons are on a Wednesday morning (inside) and a Friday morning (outside). I would be grateful if you would ensure that the children have appropriate kit in school on these days, in particular a warm kit for games outside during the winter months. The children will be reminded of the school health and safety policy of no jewellery being worn during these lessons.

PUPIL VOICE

At Glasllwch School we continue to adapt and improve our school curriculum to encompass the interests and experiences of the children.  We believe that asking pupils about what they would like to learn is fundamental to providing an engaging and inspiring curriculum. Please discuss with your child what they would like to learn about during our project.

HOMEWORK

In addition to learning spellings and practicing multiplication and division facts, we may ask for your support in helping your child with the above projects in different ways.  The children may focus on literacy, numeracy, science or their project work.  Information sheets will be sent home with details of each homework task.

It is important that we work in partnership in order for your child to flourish and reach his or her potential. If you have any questions concerning your child’s education, do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Best wishes,

 

Miss Jenkins

(Year 4 Teacher)

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