Welcome to Year 4
Welcome to Year 4, the second year of Key Stage 2. In Year 4, we continue to foster a love for learning while nurturing the growth of essential social and emotional skills.
We aim to make learning stimulating and connected, using cross-curricular links to give children a well-rounded education. Our goal is to spark their curiosity with our captivating topics and exciting extracurricular opportunities. The Year 4 curriculum is packed with fantastic topics this year, from exploring the ancient world of The Romans to discovering the fiery power of Volcanoes!
Year 4’s classes and teachers are as follows:
4G: Miss Gilbert
4V: Mr Vandorpe
4K: Miss Kielty
Mrs Kursteiner is our LSA and she provides general support for all three classes.
Mrs Matthews, Mrs Warner, Mrs Barton and Mrs Whittaker all provide 1:1 support for children across the year group.
Termly Overviews
Our termly overviews show the range of topics covered throughout the year. Please see below for our curriculum maps that give you more information about the aspects of the topics we will cover.
Key Vocabulary
Throughout the year, we will be introducing different vocabulary to the children as part of the topics they will learn. Please see the links below for specific vocabulary for each term which you may begin to introduce at home too:
Reading
The children will access a range of genres through class readers and guided reading sessions. They will be exposed to a variety of question types and will be taught how to retrieve the answers.
We encourage children to read at least three times weekly at home. Children will now be accessing longer texts so it is important to break these down into manageable chunks and focus on their understanding through questioning. Books can be changed at any point and reading records are checked regularly by class teachers.
Handwriting
We teach and encourage a consistently cursive handwriting style, with formal lessons taking place twice weekly. There will also be the opportunity for the children to achieve their Pen Licence, which enables them to complete any written tasks with a special handwriting pen provided by the school. This licence is awarded to pupils who produce consistently neat handwriting over an extended period of time.
Spellings
Spellings are tested once every fortnight and the learning of these spellings is supported by twice-weekly spelling lessons. Children will explore various activities, such as pattern spotting and spelling rules, to help them recall words more effectively. Your continued help with spellings at home is greatly appreciated.
Please see the link below for the year group spellings:
Multiplication Tables Check
The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a statutory national assessment for Year 4 pupils and usually takes place in June. It is designed to check instant recall and provides 25 online questions covering the 2 to 12 times tables. Pupils will have a 6-second time limit per question, with a 3-second rest between each one. Questions about the 6-, 7-, 8-, 9- and 12-times tables come up most regularly. We practise all times tables in paper, verbal and digital format regularly in class to ensure that the children feel confident and relaxed.
For more information on the MTC, please follow this link:
Your support with learning times tables at home is greatly appreciated. Please see the links below which provide a platform for children to practise:
Times Tables Rockstars – Logins for this are provided by the school. If you have misplaced yours or are new to the school, please send a Dojo to your child’s class teacher to request it.
Trips
We hope to take the children to the Verulamium, the Gurdwara and the London Transport Museum this year. We also hope to carry out various local learning walks.
What have our pupils said about their Year 4 journey?
Child 1
What was your biggest achievement in year 4? Passing Gold 1 on the Glebe challenge.
What is your favourite memory? Seeing my self-portrait on the online art exhibition.
Which subject/topic did you enjoy learning the most? Why? I enjoyed learning about the Romans because we learnt about how they tried to survive and learning about volcanoes and erupting them.
How did your teachers support you in your learning? Telling me I can do it and helping me when I’m stuck.
Use 3 words to describe your time in year 4. Fun, interesting, exciting
Child 2
What was your biggest achievement in year 4? How good my handwriting is now.
What is your favourite memory? When we went out outside and did the volcano eruptions with baking soda and vinegar.
Which subject/topic did you enjoy learning the most? Why? The Romans because when someone came in to tell us about it. It was interesting to learn about it.
How did your teachers support you in your learning? They explained things really well and give us explanations more than once.
Use 3 words to describe your time in year 4. Wonderful, tricky, fun
Child 3
What was your biggest achievement in year 4? Getting my pen licence.
What is your favourite memory? When we went made bread because I have never made bread before and it was nice experience.
Which subject/topic did you enjoy learning the most? Why? I enjoyed learning about the Romans because it’s cool to learn about things that happened in the past. We had a visitor and we use find shelter when we heard the siren like they used to.
How did your teachers support you in your learning? My teacher supported me by explaining. For example, when we made the stockings my teacher showed me how to do it. Also, when my teacher marked my work, she told me how I can improve it.
Use 3 words to describe your time in year 4. Exciting, successful, memorable
As part of our topic on volcanoes, we have made our own volcanoes and erupted them with some special ingredients!
We have designed and made Anderson shelters using a range of techniques and materials.
In D.T. we have researched and made bread
