1. January 2014 Dear Parents, Carers and Children, We hope you had a lovely holiday. We have already made a fantastic start to 2014 in the Year 4 classes. We have some changes to our timetable outlined below which you may want to make note of. Kind Regards, The Year 4 Team Year 4 are very lucky this term. Every other Thursday the children will receive FREE swimming lessons at the Oratory School. Please check the schedule or with us to for the timetable. Please ensure your child has the right swimming attire so that they can attend. We stress the importance of swimming caps for girls as we will not be able to dry hair and with the cold weather this could be very uncomfortable. HOMEWORK Some children are making massive amounts of effort with the competition and presentation of homework but this is not consistent. ALL children need to make sure homework is completed to a high standard and given in on time. Zebra’s homework is due in on Thursdays and Monkey’s on a Friday, Reading at home You need to read with your child every evening. This should involve listening to and questioning your child ’ s understanding of the book and key words. Please use the reading record book to voice any concerns or make comments about your child ’ s reading progress. Please visit the local library with your child to borrow books for researching our termly topic. Please support your child in learning their spelling words. Children need time to use the look, write, check strategy as well as mini tests carried out at home throughout the week.

2. What will we will be learning about this half term? Religious Education In RE your child will be learning about Humanism and the morals and values that it encompasses. The children will look at moral dilemmas and think about ways that Humanists would look at these problems. Science – Keeping Warm This term we will be using thermometers to measure temperature. We will investigating science questions around temperature and using this in maths and ICT lessons. Our Topic is VICTORIANS French The children are learning about months of year and singing songs to help them remember key words. We will be studying the Victorian designer, William Morris in Art this term. The children will be designing and making their own sheet of wallpaper. In music lessons the children will be learning and practising the song ‘Food Glorious Food’ from the movie Oliver Twist. In ICT we will be using the computer to input data collected in maths lessons. We will be comparing the different types of graphs and their pro’s and con’s. Maths We are learning about shape and space. We will be sorting shapes into different criteria. We will also be collecting data using various types of data collection tools. The children will be interpreting this data in order to answer questions. Our Power of Reading Text is Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, We are reading this world famous story by the famous Charles Dickens. The children will enjoy describing the characters and setting. The children will be writing diary entries, newspaper articles and stories about this great book. History – We are learning about The Victorians. We will be learning about life in Victorian Britain and the differences between rich and poor families and their life experiences. Dance We will be learning how to travel through dance and movement to the Oliver Twist soundtrack.