Welcome to Year 4.
We have lots of exciting things planned so please keep an eye on the Year 4 blog where we will try to post regular photos/updates.
4B have Miss Boyce and 4CS have Mrs Soars (Monday/Tuesday and Wednesday) and Mrs Benson (Wednesday/Thursday and Friday). Mrs Parrott will be supporting both classes in the mornings and one afternoon.
We can provide all your stationery but it would be useful if you could bring a pencil case containing some basic stationery:
Please make sure that your pencil case isn’t too large as it needs to fit in your tray.
We like to use the chromebooks and ipads with headphones. Although we have some in school, it would be useful if you could bring your own - the old white cabled earphones with a jack are perfect.
Regular PE days are Mondays (indoor) and Thursdays (outdoor) but please have all PE kit on all days in case this changes. For the first half term our indoor PE will be on a Tuesday.
Recorders
Children in year 4 are fortunate to have whole class recorder lessons instructed by Mrs Tong. They will be provided with recorders at school but should children wish to bring their own, they are more than welcome to do so.
Homework
Homework in year 4 will consist of the following:
It is useful to keep homework, reading books and reading records in a zipped envelope folder, just to keep everything together. See below for further information about possible ways to support spellings and times tables at home.
Practising Spellings at School and at Home
In year 4, and throughout KS2, Spelling Shed is used to support the teaching and learning of spellings.
Children will be taught a new spelling pattern each week as part of their English lessons. These spellings will be visible when the children log in to Spelling Shed (which can be accessed at home) but will also be given out each week on paper. We have a weekly class Spelling Hive (usually on a Friday) where children are quizzed on their spellings.
At the beginning of the autumn term, we check children’s knowledge of the statutory year 3 spellings. We will share this with you. As part of your child’s homework, they should ensure that they know these spellings. (Note- year 4 spellings are visited as part of the Spelling Shed scheme throughout the year).
Practising Multiplication Tables at Home
As you may know, all year 4 children complete the national multiplication tables check in the summer term with the purpose being to ensure their times tables knowledge is at the ‘expected level’.
Our year 4 multiplication quiz is on a Tuesday. Your child should be aware of the tables they are currently being quizzed on and should aim to complete the school’s times table challenge by the end of the year (reaching Platinum is the goal!).
Repetition is key with learning tables so use these sites to help (or of course any of the more traditional methods!).
Login Details
As a school, we subscribe to a range of different learning websites which your children have accounts for (we will give these logins and passwords out at the start of the year to remind you). These websites are for use at both home and school and can be really powerful learning tools! The websites include: SpellingShed, MathsShed, TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars), Letterjoin (handwriting) and MyMaths. Maths Shed in particular is useful for getting your head around certain aspects of maths as it includes lessons with linked quizzes and games. If you would like more information about one of these websites, just ask.
If you need to speak to us, please feel free to stop at the classroom door for a quick chat or arrange with the office for a longer appointment.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Benson, Mrs Soars and Miss Boyce
cbenson@edwardfrancis.essex.sch.uk
jsoars@edwardfrancis.essex.sch.uk
eboyce@edwardfrancis.essex.sch.uk
Autumn term
Our topic is ‘Superheroes’. This is a brilliant topic for learning about natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes (linking into our geography curriculum) and links well into finding out about changes of state and sound in science. The superhero topic is continued across the curriculum within both English, Art and PE too! A special "Mad Science" day with a special visitor will take place in November.
Spring term
Our topic is Anglo saxons and Vikings.
Winter term
Our topic is Food and Farming.