1. CURRICULUM EVENING Welcome to Year 4!

2. THE TERRIBLE TUDORS What does our topic involve at the moment?  History – the Tudor era  Art – Tudor Portraits – sketching and painting skills.  DT – weave a mini Tudor rug.  PE – Tudor Dancing/Swimming  ICT – coding Tudor characters to create a mini cartoon.  TRIP – Samlesbury Hall

3. HISTORY The children have been investigating the events which took place during the Tudor period, 1485 – 1603. In depth, children have/will study the Battle of Bosworth (the War of the Roses), Henry VII’s reign, Henry VIII and his many wives and the causes and consequences of the Spanish Armada.

4. ART AND DT The children will be using different hardnesses of pencil to show line tone and texture. They will investigate the uses of water colours to build up texture on their painting and add depth. The children will use these skills to create Tudor Portraits. In DT, the children will look at a range of materials to decide upon which would be most successful to create a ‘mini’ rug. They will then weave these materials.

5. PE This half term, the children have been investigating and creating Tudor style dances. Looking at formations, basic steps and partner work. Tudor dancing takes place on Tuesday afternoons. On Thursday mornings, children go swimming at Salt Ayre for lessons. This will continue all year.

6. ICT  The children have been using a coding program called ‘Scratch’ to manipulate characters (sprites) to move and act in various ways.  These skills will be used to create mini Tudor cartoons.

7. SHARING! The fun doesn’t end there! We’d like to invite all parents into school for a Tudor Dance Festival where parents will be asked to dance by their children! Friday 16 th October – 2pm – 3pm.

8. WHAT'S NEXT? Our next topic will be… A bunch of Hocus Pocus!  The history of the Pendle Witches.  Literacy based on stories set in imaginary worlds  Sharing event for parents to be decided upon.  Trip to Lancaster Castle

9. AUTUMN TWO TOPICS The Secret Detectives  Detective adventure stories  Problem solving activities  Detective journals  The Year 4 production

10. WEEK COMMENCING 30/11/15 ENTERPRISE WEEK  CONFIDENTIAL - The children will be making a product to sell at the fair…

11. OTHER TOPICS Over the year, you can expect some topics such as…  Clever Caveman  Earth Shattering Earthquakes and Sly Tsunamis  Electrifying!  The Story Writers Club  The Great Outdoors

12. YOUR IDEAS…  What memories of primary school do you have?  What experiences would you like your child to have in year 4/primary school?  If you were back in primary school now, what kinds of topics would you like to learn about?

13. SCHOOL ROUTINE PE – Swimming on Thursday, Dance in the hall on Tuesdays. Home/School Reading – Children are asked to read 4x weekly, when they have read we ask that they write some sentences about what they have read to show their understanding of the story. Spellings – Children will be given spelling lists each week, we ask that they practise these ready for a spelling activity each week (4d – Wednesday and 4H – Friday) Times Tables – Please can children be practising these at home as well as in school, we will be going for our calculator rulers as soon as they are ready. Comprehension – Children will be given a reading comprehension to do every fortnight. This should be completed in their home/school diary.

14. SCHOOL WEBSITE We have a fantastic new school website! http://www.torrisholme.lancs.sch.uk/

15. ANY QUESTIONS? Finally… Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns, however please can we ask that appointments are made and parents only pop into class before school if it’s urgent or very quick so that the children’s lesson can start on time. Thank you for your cooperation. Your year 4 class teachers