Welcome to Our Year 4 Class at St. James’

Welcome to Year 4, my name is Miss Strawbridge and I am the Class Teacher. In Year 4 we are supported by a variety of teaching assistants 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

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 focusing 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 term, in science we will look  at Living Things and Their Habitats. We will learn how to become experts in the use of classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things. We look 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 will carry out research about the Book of Kells and study the illuminated lettering in these ancient manuscripts. We hope to collate some beautiful artwork which will be displayed over the next few weeks.

During 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 the Autumn 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.

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 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 including 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 learning about the features of volcanoes 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. We will also be making our very own volcano and testing how it works.

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.

In our DT topic, we will have the exciting opportunity to taste test and make our own tomato pasta sauce. We be learning about what vegetables are in season and even have a go at designing our own label to go with our sauce.

During this term, we will have the opportunity the use our Pray 2togther box. This is an exciting 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 Beyond the Farmer's Field. This will be 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.

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

We will be ready and looking forward to a well deserved break over the Easter Holiday after all of our hard work!

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.

Summer Term in Year 4

Watch this Space! This page will be populated in the Summer Term!