Year 4
What to expect in Year 4
Times tables, confidence, and fun!
Congratulations! Your child is in Year 4. This can be a year in which teachers nurture and encourage the feelings of independent thinking, learning and decision making. So just what can you expect if you have a child in Year 4?
They already know the routines for the Juniors; they have already realised that they have to do homework; they already understand that they are expected to learn a lot in a year; they can dress themselves (mostly!). Read on for Oxford owl's guide to life as a parent of a Year 4 child here:
What to expect in Year 4 (age 8–9) at school | Oxford Owl
Welcome to Year 4!
We are really looking forward to welcoming you all back to the start of a fantastic academic year!
Mrs Pring will teach 4P and Mrs Hodge (Monday to Wednesday) and Mrs Steward (Wednesday to Friday) will teach 4HS. Mrs Biggs and Mrs C. Baker will also be supporting you with your learning in both classes, while Mrs Kohler and Mrs Biggs will be covering PPA on a Wednesday afternoon. We are all here to help you with any questions or problems you may have, so please do not hesitate to ask. Parents/carers should ring, email or make an appointment through the school office, or contact us through Seesaw o and we will get back to you as soon as we possibly can. Your happiness at school is very important to all of us.
Here is some important information about your school week:
Daily Equipment
Each day you will need:
- a water bottle
- your packed lunch (if you are not having a school dinner)
- a small simple pencil case, which will remain in school to store your equipment (which we will provide).
- healthy snack for break time as this is no longer provided in KS2 (fruit, cheese, yoghurt, vegetable sticks)
- appropriate coat for weather conditions as we will be outside as much as possible
P.E.
We start the term with three weeks of swimming, every morning. After this, P.E days will be on a Monday and Friday. No children should bring a PE kit to school. Please wear appropriate P.E kit to school on those days. Prepare for these sessions to be outdoors unless weather does not allow for this. If your child wears laced trainers, please ensure that they can tie their laces before coming to school.
Reading Books
You will have two reading books: one reading book that will be sent home and kept there until it has been completed; the other reading book will be a book to keep in school and read during independent reading time. Please continue to record your home reading in your reading diary and then bring this in to school each Friday so that we can reward you for your reading. Please feel free to read and record books from home or from the library aswell.
You should be reading every day at home (if possible) and, as a minimum, three times a week. Research into learning shows that the more that you develop your comprehension skills and understanding of vocabulary the better you will do in school across the whole of the curriculum. Please do give reading the priority it needs and make sure you keep a list of, and look up, any tricky words you come across- there is a space in your reading diary to make a list of these.
Further useful information to support your child in reading can be found on Oxford Owl, using the following link: https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/at-school/year-3-at-primary-school/
Times Tables are an important aspect of year four, due to the statutory Multiplication Tables Check (MTC), which takes place in June. Please follow this link for more information. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/multiplication-tables-check-information-for-parents
It is essential that you practise your tables regularly. By Year 4, the National Curriculum states that children should know all of these up to 12 x 12 by the end of the year, so if you are still learning them, make sure to practise daily. The more confident you are with your tables the easier other aspects of maths will be.
In year 4, we run a times tables 'Olympic Challenge,' in which children work their way up from finalist to Olympic level when they are secure on each set of multiplication and related division facts. This test will take place weekly.
We will also be encouraging children to use TT Rockstars as regularly as possible. The times tables set in the garage area will be matched to their level on our Olympic challenge, while the sound check feature is very similar to the MTC that the children will complete in June. As an incentive for regular times tables practice, we will be rewarding those children who have spent the most time practising each week.
Spellings
Spellings will be sent out as a half termly list with guidance on how to support your child at home. They will be tested in school throughout the term and practised as part of ongoing phonics sessions. There will no longer be a weekly spelling test within the school blue books, but you will be kept up to date with how your child is progressing at parents evenings.
We look forward to a very successful year ahead.
Best wishes,
The Year 4 team
Homework This will be set every 3/4 weeks linking to our Knowledge Organisers shown below. Each home learning grid will be uploaded onto Seesaw. They will consist of a variety of tasks across the curriculum (some compulsory and some optional tasks). Please help us by encouraging your children to complete their homework and share their work with us on Seesaw.
Parent information meeting Autumn 2021
Useful links to use at home
Please use the links below to support home learning.
If you forget your passwords at anytime please let a member of the Year 4 team know so we can help.