Welcome to Year 4! Class 15 Mrs Gosset Class 16 Miss Barnett Mr Menhenitt

Timeline for the year! All on the learning section on the website!

Year 4 expectations In Year 4, we are looking for the children to develop their independence. Our aim is for the children to be able to work problems through, organise themselves and drive themselves to achieve their best. The school is continuing with our reward scheme to promote resilient learners. Gem Power!

Uniform and Jewellery Please can we ask that the children are wearing the correct uniform, as per the uniform letter which was sent out at the beginning of the year. Please can all items of clothing have your child’s name in. Jewellery – the children are allowed to wear a small pair of stud earrings (gold or silver). Please can we ask that they do not have any other items of jewellery.

PE Days PE is on Tuesday and Thursday (Terms 1 & 2) All children are expected to have the correct kit in school at all times. Outdoor PE kit is long trousers, jumper, trainers (and socks!) and their PE t-shirt. Indoor PE kit is shorts and PE t-shirt. Earrings must be taken out for PE sessions as per school policy. If your child is unable to remove their earrings by themselves, please could you remove them before school. Please, please, please make sure everything is named!

Swimming The expectation is that all children will be able to swim at least 25 metres by the end of KS2 using the correct strokes. We have 3 swimming slots- Term 1, Term 3 and Term 6. Please see the swimming letter for specific dates and times for each class. This year we have been lucky to secure enough space for all children to swim in each swimming block. This will give the children the opportunity to either develop their swimming technique further, or to drive towards swimming 25 metres. Swimming groups are set by the leisure centre’s swimming teachers, who assess the children in each swimming block. Thank you to all of the offers to help so far; we would really appreciate any further volunteers.

Forest Schools Throughout the year the children will have the opportunity to take part in Forest Schools. This year we have 3 ‘off-site’ Forest Schools sessions each lasting for 2 days. Our first forest school sessions are the first week of October. Miss Barnett’s class will be going on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mrs Gosset’s class will be going on Thursday and Friday.

Forest Schools The other dates this year will be: Week 1 of term 4 (week beginning 25th February) Week 6 of term 6 (week beginning 8th July).

Maths English Two maths groups – broadly ability based Same curriculum / different pace There may be some movement between groups but understandably this will be limited Differentiation within groups English Taught in classes Differentiation within the class groups

Spellings We have tested the children’s ability to spell the Year 3 and 4 Common Exception words, and we will retest them in week 5. Three spelling groups broadly based on their results this term. This year we continue with our school spelling scheme, Nelson Spelling, which we will draw their spelling lists from. This may mean groups having similar lists in some weeks! This scheme will progress throughout each year group and the spellings will get progressively harder throughout the year. The focus is to ensure that the children fully understand the word, can identify synonyms to improve the word and can use the word in context in their independent writing.

Homework Please could the children continue to read at least 3 times a week, practise their mental addition and subtraction and times tables (badges). Reading records – Class 15 bring them in on book change day; Class 16 bring them in on Tuesdays please! My Maths – will be set approximately every 2 weeks. Bug Club (Both of these will be up and running by the end of September, when children have been moved up to their new year groups) Homework quizzes!

Reading Records Targets: 1st book = 30 reads 5th book = 75 reads 2nd book= 30 reads 6th book = 75 reads 3rd book = 50 reads 7th book = 100 reads 4th book = 50 reads 8th book = 100 reads

Fruit and water The snack shop has been a roaring success. If your child would like to purchase a snack, please could they be sent in with 20p for break time. Alternatively, if your child would prefer to bring in their own piece of fruit (only fruit please!), they are more than welcome. We encourage all children to have their own water bottle and within reason they can drink regularly throughout the day.

Home/School communication Please do not hesitate to come and see us at the end of the day if you have any concerns (sooner rather than later please). Obviously if there is something that will affect your child’s learning that day please come and see us in the morning or send us a note! If your child is going home with somebody else please inform us by note or in person. Clubs – if your child is unable to attend a club, please inform us in writing.

Ways to help at home Telling the time. Tying shoe laces. Quick mental calculation games. Board games to help problem solving skills. Working with money. Encourage children to extend their sentences with ambitious vocabulary. Reading – checking comprehension / helping children understand unfamiliar vocabulary

Parent helpers If you are interested in becoming a parent helper, i.e. to come in and listen to readers, please come in and speak to us! This would ideally be once a week at a regular time so we can make the most of your time. We appreciate that we will also need help periodically for things such as swimming, forest schools and trips.

Any questions?