Year 4

Welcome to the Year 4 page!

Miss Smith, Miss Harris and Miss Flude are the lucky teachers who are facilitating year 4 learning this year. We are also joined by our super support team, Miss Kazi, Mrs Inskip, Miss Fergusson, Mrs Haynes and Mrs Guesford.

We will be updating this page, throughout the year, to keep you informed about all the interesting and exciting learning our year 4 classes are getting up to. We hope that you will also follow our school twitter accounts for instant updates. We love to have new followers!

Twitter accounts:

@HJAMissSmith     @HJAMissHarris      @HJAMissFlude

Novel Studies

This year we will be studying The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan, The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis and Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo!

Maths

Throughout the year, year 4 will be covering calculation, fractions, shape, measure, data and number work. We love working with practical resources to embed our understanding! We are also beginning to demonstrate a depth of understanding of maths through our problem solving and reasoning abilities. This will be throughout a variety of different contexts.

Project Based Learning

Autumn Term Project: How can we help endangered animals? 

For our first project in Year 4, we investigated why different animals around the world are becoming endangered. Throughout the project we covered habitats, food chains, causes of extinction and what we can do to prevent extinction rates continuing to grow! In particular, children researched the reasons why Sea Turtles have become critically endangered.

The children produced amazing videos to persuade people to help sea turtles. We hosted exhibition across the city where we showcased our learning and asked members of the public to commit to a pledge of helping to save Sea Turtles. We designed and created an amazing 3D model of a Sea Turtle as part of a mini design project.

We also visited the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham and learnt lots of new things too. Check out some pictures below.

Spring Term Project: How can I explore Space?

Throughout the Spring Term, we have investigated what is in Space and have even visited the National Space Centre! We have learnt all about the Sun, Moon, Earth and the other planets in our Solar System. We have even investigated the force of gravity through different experiments and had lots of fun doing this! We have learnt about why Earth is unique and can sustain life, who has explored Space (in particular Mars) and the roles in which the Sun, Earth and Moon play in the Solar System. 

We are looking forward to showcasing our learning at the end of the term and showing off our 3D models of the Solar System!

Check out some of our pictures from the National Space Centre trip!

Design and Technology Projects

In Year 4 we love challenging ourselves with exciting design and technology projects! So far this year, we have developed our practical skills by designing and making a 3D dragon based on the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon from The Iron Man! First, we had to design and critique our Space-Bat-Angel-Dragons to help us improve the second draft then we went on to create them in out D+T studio!

We are also looking forward to creating our 3D models of our Solar System at the end of the Spring Term too! Check back here in a few months to see our designs!

How could you support your child at home?

• Read each night for at least 10 minutes. It is even better to read with an adult, or an older brother or sister, so that you can talk about what you read and check that you understand the book fully! This will help the child's comprehension and will help them to become a successful reader!
• Practise the times tables will make your child's mental and written maths skills much quicker! In year 4, we are aiming to know all of our times tables (up to x12) by the end of the year. We learn them in this order: 2, 5, 10, 3, 4, 6, 8, 7, 9, 11, 12
• Handwriting is another skill that is great to practise at home. We expect all children to join their writing neatly and correctly by the end of Year 4. You can ask your teacher for copies of handwriting sheets to take home.
• Spelling homework is given out on a Friday and should be completed by the next Thursday. Children MUST practise during the week, more than once, to be able to improve at spelling!
• Homework is given out on a Friday and is due in the following Wednesday. Homeork is designed to suit your level of learning but if you find it tricky, please speak to your child's teacher before hand in day!
• Finally, get researching! PBL work is on-going throughout every term. To become an expert, and to be truly excellent in PBL, you should research work, and ideas that you have, at home. We will also be giving out home project work for you to complete too. We are always excited to receive original and thoughtful PBL homework that shows time and effort.

In year 4 we want you all to aim high and be independent in your learning at home and in school.

“Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn." Benjamin Franklin