St James Catholic Primary School, Hebburn

Solway Road, Hebburn, Tyne & Wear NE31 2BP

St James Catholic Primary School
Home / Curriculum / Year 4

Year 4

Welcome to our Year 4 Class at St James’

Welcome to Year 4, my name is Mrs Conroy and I am the Class Teacher. Our Teaching Assistants in Year 4 are Mrs Judd and Mrs Hudson, who support at various times throughout the week. One of our class rules is ‘to always try your best’; this is what we ask of the children in our class.

Year 4 Noticeboard
    • Homework is given out each Friday and should be returned for the following Thursday.
    • Spellings are handed out on a Friday and will be tested on the following Friday. If the Year 4 children misplace their spellings then spares are of course available.
    • We focus on a specific times table each week. Times table facts to be learnt for a test on the following Friday. We have lots of online support links that we send home which can support with this learning.
    • Accelerated Reader – The children will read their reading books for 15 minutes every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. They can take their book home on weekends for extra reading, but it must be back in class for reading on Monday.
    • PE in Year 4 is on a Thursday. Make sure you have your full St James kit.
    • Please bring fresh water daily.
    • We pray every day in school. Please help your child to become familiar with our prayers here Little Book of Prayers Lower KS2
Summer Term in Year 4

This term we are starting with a visit the Oriental Museum in Durham to launch our history topic about the Ancient Egyptians. On our visit, we will be taking on the role of archaeologists to explore life in Ancient Egypt by investigating artefacts and carrying out gallery trails. We will meet a three-thousand-year mummified priestess in her sarcophagus! Additionally, we will take part in a drama session re-enacting the mummification process. Throughout the term, we will be completing a study of the Ancient Egyptians focusing on the role of the pharaohs and Ancient Egyptian achievements as well the exploring the importance of the River Nile.

During our Science lessons, we will be learning about electricity followed by states of matter. We will be identifying common appliances that run on electricity and construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts. Also, we will learn how to group and sort materials into solids, liquids and gases as well as observing some materials change state when heated or cooled as well as understanding the terms evaporation and condensation.

In Art, we will create a relief sculpture in clay. We will explore the work of artists such as Nancy McCroskey and will compare different artworks. We will use the natural world as our inspiration and make rubbings of leaves from our own environment, exploring the shapes and patterns that we observe. Sketches, rubbings and their design will result in the creation of a whole class, collaborative piece in clay.

In our DT topic we will be investigating and exploring the work of Dan Sullivan, the designer behind the brand “Irregular Choice” shoes. We will follow a brief to design and manufacture a prototype shoe for a public figure of their choice. Designs will utilise found materials and create a shoe design of their own.

Finally, this term in Maths we are busy preparing for our Multiplication Check in June so it is a big focus on ensuing we have rapid recall of the multiplication and division facts up to 12 x 12.

Tips on how to help your child’s learning during the Summer Term

Spring Term in Year 4

Happy New Year to you all and hope that you have had a wonderful Christmas break. The Spring term will be an exceptionally busy one for our class full of exciting new learning opportunities.

In Science, we will be learning about teeth and carrying out an in-depth study of the digestion process. We will be carrying out investigations on a weekly basis, which the children have expressed a lot of excitement about. Our Science topic will tie neatly into our English lessons when we focus on our core texts The Enormous Crocodile and The Demon Dentist. Initially, we complete our newspaper reports about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii.

Geography this term, we will be focusing on learning about volcanoes and earthquakes. Our term will begin with making and testing volcanoes followed by learning about the features and impact on humans and the environment. We will be honoured to have a visit from Professor Richard Brown, who is Professor of Volcanology at Durham University. We will be sending him questions in advance from each of us and he will prepare a detailed presentation to help answer them all. He has promised to bring in a variety resources for us to handle and explore.

Learning the times tables in Year 4 will continue to be a particular focus this term. The children have been practising hard through games, songs and the Times table Rockstar Challenge to develop their rapid recall skills of the tables up to 12 x 12.

During this term, we will have the opportunity the use our new Pray 2togther box. This is an exciting, new resource that we will be using to help us plan our Celebration of the Word for our class.

Additionally, we will be taking part in the South Tyneside Music Festival in March at the Customs House, South Shields. We will be learning our songs and parts for the performance of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to take part in a renowned festival in our local area in partnership with other schools.

Please remember to look out for our Arbor Reward Points so that you can see exactly what they have been doing and praised for in class.

Tips on how to help your child’s learning during the Spring Term
  • Please encourage your child to practise their times tables on a regular basis. Knowing your times tables is so important in every area of Maths and we will be continuing daily during our multiplication and division unit in the first few weeks of this term. Remember each child has their own login for Times Tables Rockstars and is a fantastic, interactive resource to help them learn.
  • In a few months, the children will taking the statutory national Multiplication Check which will assess their rapid recall of the times tables up to 12 x 12.
  • Read a variety of writing, including comics, newspapers, novels, magazines, and your child’s own home reading book. The children are encouraged to take their book home during the week and especially on a Friday so that they can read to an adult.
  • Spelling continues to be a big focus with spellings being sent home on a weekly basis. In our spelling lessons, we will be looking at spelling strategies for that week’s spellings. Please encourage your child to practise and learn them – this could be counting the syllables and writing them out, creating flashcards and even playing hangman.
Its the end of the Spring Term

The Spring term has been an exceptionally busy one for Year 4 and the children having been working incredibly hard.

In Science, we have been learning about teeth and carrying out an in-depth study of the digestion process. We had numerous opportunities for carrying out investigations which the children were particularly excited about.

Geography this term has been focusing on learning about volcanoes and earthquakes. Our term began by making and testing volcanoes followed by learning about the features and impact on humans and the environment. We were honoured to have a visit from Professor Richard Brown. He is Professor of Volcanology at Durham University. We sent him questions in advance from each of us and he prepared a detailed presentation to help answer them all. He brought with him huge volcanic bombs, magma, volcanic rocks and some even containing diamonds. Amazingly, we all received a piece of pumice which came from Mount Etna.

In Art, we have continued our work learning about the work of Gustav Klimt and the children culminated their learning by creating their own piece inspired by his style.

Learning the times tables in Year 4 has been a particular focus this term. The children have been practising hard through games, songs and the Times table Rockstar Challenge to develop their rapid recall skills of the tables up to 12 x 12.

Additionally, we took part in the South Tyneside Music Festival in March at the Customs House, South Shields. The children worked tirelessly learning our songs and parts for the performance. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to take part in a renowned festival in our local area in partnership with other schools.

During this term we have also celebrated World Book Day and Red Nose Day. On Red Nose Day, we learnt why we celebrate this important day and where the money we raise goes. The children were eager to see how it helps those in our country and around the world.

We are looking forward to a well deserved break over the Easter Holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for the Summer Term.

Autumn Term in Year 4

The children have already made a wonderful start to their first few weeks in Year 4 and demonstrating enthusiasm and a passion for learning.

In English, we are focus on our text The Thieves of Ostia as a basis for our reading and writing creating descriptions of Roman markets, diary entries as well writing our own playscripts based on the legend of Romulus and Remus.

Beyond, English and Maths, the children will be beginning their voyage back through history, learning about the Roman Empire and the impact of the Romans on Britain. The children are excited about the upcoming class trip to Segedunum Roman fort to participate in a full day immersing themselves in interactive workshops learning about life in a Roman fort.

This half term, in science we have been looking at Living Things and Their Habitats. We have been learning to become experts in the use of classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things.

We looking forward to carrying out fieldwork in our local area and making accurate observational drawings of an invertebrate found in the local environment.

Additionally, the children are learning about Celtic lettering. We have carried out research about the Book of Kells and studied the illuminated lettering in these ancient manuscripts. We have already seen some beautiful artwork collating their artbooks and we will be excited to see some impressive final pieces on our display boards in the next few weeks after competing our study of Paul Klimt.

In the second half of the Autumn term, the children will continue to learn about the Romans and move onto their geography unit which focuses on volcanoes and earthquakes. Our first Design and Technology unit Also falls within this half term which will look at cooking and nutrition.

Tips on how to help your child’s learning during the Autumn Term
  • Encourage your child to spend ten minutes a day on Timetable Rockstars – it is an easy and fun ay for the children to build up their rapid recall of the times table facts up to 12×12
  • Read a variety of writing, including comics, newspapers, novels, magazines, and your child’s own writing.
  • Ask questions about the text, characters, plot, setting, style of writing, and words.
  • If you can take a trip to Arbeia Fort where they have Roman artefacts and an opportunity to explore the impact of the Romans in the immediate, local area.
It’s the end of  our Autumn Term

The children in Year 4 have been very busy during November and December. They enjoyed an exciting trip to Segedunum Roman Fort where they immersed themselves fully in the life of a Roman soldier. They took part in role play, explored artefacts and even went up into the viewing tower. We completed our Roman topic by researching the significance of why the Romans wanted to invade Britain and important historical figures such as Boudica. We even performed her famous speeches and had an interactive day exploring Roman inventions.

In English lessons, we have been exploring the world of the Roman amphitheatre and taking part in acting out roles and situations. We have completed some wonderful persuasive articles comparing Roman forms of entertainment and those of today. Next, we moved onto learning about the devasting eruption of Mount Vesuvius and destruction of the ancient city of Pompeii. Our newfound knowledge will culminate in a newspaper article about the catastrophe.

In November, we celebrated Remembrance Day by writing acrostic poems and making poppies and wreaths to help us remember the lives of those who gave us their day for tomorrow. Additionally, during this month, we took part in Maths Week England which aims to highlight the importance of maths in daily life and foster a love of learning maths. Many of our lessons were active lessons focusing on puzzles, problem-solving challenges and interactive quizzes. The children were enthused by the challenges and were keen to share their experiences with other classes. We also enjoyed a visit from our local fire safety team and have taken part in events to raise money for Children in Need.

December has a been particularly busy for the children as they have practised tirelessly for their performance of A Prophecy Predicted. We were so impressed by their dedication to learning their lines, songs and abundance of enthusiasm. We were super proud of your wonderful performance last week.

We have had an amazing amount of enjoyment this term and an enormous amount of learning along the way.

 

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