Spring Term 2023-24

Welcome back to a new year - we hope you had a wonderful holiday! Please find some information regarding the Spring Term in Year 4 below.

In English this half term, we will be reading book the ‘Leaf’ by Sandra Deickmann. Year 4 will work towards writing an outsider's narrative in first person and an information report. We will mainly be focusing on developing language and using expanded noun phrases, as well as developing our use of prepositions, pronouns and fronted adverbials to show time, place and manner. We will also be reading 'The Boy Who Biked the World: Part Two The Americas' by Alastair Humphreys  as a class book.

During Maths lessons in Spring 1, we will be focusing on multiplication and division methods as well as studying length and perimeter.

The children will be taking the Multiplication Tables Check at the end of the school year, which determines whether the children can recall their times tables fluently. Knowing their tables is an incredibly important skill that will assist the children in many areas of Maths and will be an incredibly beneficial skill to take with them into upper KS2. Therefore, the children will be completing times tables activities most days as well as completing a Mastering Number session. This focusses on times tables patterns and two focus times tables each week. The focus time tables got towards our 'Going For Gold' Wall! Once we have completed the wall, the children will have practised and should have a good grasp on each times table.

In Geography, we will be learning about major environmental zones found in different countries around the world. We will also be developing map skills and understanding the significance and impact that latitude and longitude have on a regions climate and environment.  

In our History topic, we will be studying the Anglo Saxons and the Vikings. We will be learning about beliefs and general society in Britain during this time. We will use artefacts to find out about significant places, people and inventions and what impact this has had on society in the Britain today. 

In Science, we are learning about States of Matter. We will investigate the properties of solids,  liquids and gases and what happens when there is a change in state. Year 4 will also be conducting a number of experiments to deepen their understanding and use scientific enquiry. Alongside this, in DT we will be making Fairtrade cakes and noting changes of state when cooking!

PE

Year 4 PE days this term are Thursdays and Fridays. PE kits can be left in school during the half term to ensure the children have their kits on these days. This term, we will be focusing on hockey, gymnastics and dance. As a reminder, school P.E. kit includes a coloured T-shirt which represents the house your child belongs to, black or navy shorts (or tracksuit / jogging bottoms in colder weather) and trainers. No jewellery should be worn for safety reasons.

Homework

Homework will be set in the form of spellings, times tables and short Maths and English tasks. This will be set on Mondays to be returned on Fridays. We will have a times table test on Fridays and a spelling test on Mondays. There will be a different times table focus for each week which we really encourage the children to work on. These can be practised using TT Rock Stars and spellings can be accessed on Spelling Shed. Links to both of these can be found at the bottom of the page and the children’s logins can be found in their reading diaries.

The school also strongly encourages children to read with an adult nightly as part of their homework as well as discuss their books to develop comprehension skills. A record of this should be kept in their reading diaries. Developing confidence in reading will truly benefit the children in all areas of school life.

Please help your child plan when they will complete their homework, so they have time to ask any questions they may have in school before it’s due.

Reminders

• Children should arrive at 08:45am with the doors closing at 8.50.
• All children should bring their water bottle and reading book into school every day
• Having a coat in school each day is useful for our very changeable and unpredictable weather!
• Have PE kit in school every Wednesday and Friday

Useful Dates to remember

• Wednesday 3rd January                           Term starts
• Monday 12th  – 16th^th February            HALF TERM
• Monday 19th February                             Return to school
• Thursday 22nd February                          Carlisle Schools' Football Tournament 
• Tuesday 12th March                                  Trampolining and Badminton Festival at William Howard
• Wednesday 20th - 22nd March                Dukeshouse Wood Residential (2 night stay)                             
• Thursday 28th March                                 Break up for the Easter Holidays

Please look out for updates on Class Dojo. Feel free to contact us on there with any questions you might have. I look forward to all the exciting things that Spring Term has in hold for Year 4!

Best Wishes,

Miss Moss, Mrs Jackson and Miss Friel

Useful Links for Learning 

• Times Tables Rockstars Times tables practice

• Spelling Shed Spelling practice

• Hit The Button! Quick fire maths practise

• Dance Mat Typing Learn to type the fun way!

• Newsround Keep up to date with the latest news.