Class teachers - Miss Lincoln, Mrs Morcom Lewis and Miss James

• September - Respect and Responsibility 

• October - Compassion and Hope 

• November -  Friendship and Forgiveness 

• December - Understanding and Patience

Year 4 will continue with the Literacy Tree scheme to develop our literacy, language and communication skills this term. We will learn through the book ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes. Pupils will explore the devices of mystery and suspense. They will write various text types, including letters, news articles, and poems, with the extended written outcome being a published narrative. They will work independently and in groups, using digital devices and enhancing their presentation skills. 

During the second half of the term, Year 4 will focus their literacy work around 'Winter’s Child' by Angela McAllister. The pupils will write descriptive poems, postcards (recount), dialogue, setting descriptions as a letter, and retellings. 

Pupils will participate in a Whole-Class Reading session each day. Over the week, they will read with the teacher and complete tasks independently and as part of a group, developing Voice 21 skills, spelling, and comprehension. 

We encourage the pupils to read every day at home with an adult. We ask you to ask questions about what is read, developing pupils' recall, vocabulary, and understanding of their chosen text. These can be magazines, fiction or nonfiction books, journals—anything that interests and engages them. 

During Welsh sessions, pupils will build on previous knowledge of questions such as Pwy wyt ti? And Ble rwyt ti’n byw?  Moving onto more complex sentences and developing role-play conversations. Later in the term, pupils will build vocabulary around parts of the body and how to describe one another.

During the Autumn term, Year 4 will start with Place Value, developing knowledge of number values up to and including 10,000.  Pupils will use manipulatives to deepen their understanding and enhance their technical language, ensuring they can discuss numeracy and apply their knowledge.  Pupils will use their retrieved and new knowledge to order numbers and identify greater than and less than using all associated symbols. Once these skills have been mastered, pupils will apply them to subtraction and addition problems, moving on to inverse, showing deeper understanding. Answering questions using missing boxes and algebra equations will finish our Place Value objectives. 

In the later part of the term, pupils will begin their maths journey of multiplication and division. They will recall multiplication facts and vocabulary previously learned in Year 3 and apply them to procedural and reasoning-style questions. Much of our work will be oracy-based, so please feel free to ask them what they can remember and apply. 

Practising times tables daily will help pupils calculate problems more efficiently. In Year 4, pupils should know their 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 10 times tables.

Physical Education will be on a Wednesday. It will rotate between theory-based and practical sessions, but we want pupils to wear PE kits every Wednesday. This term, pupils will create their own sports, using research and discussion skills to create a game and teach their peers during physical sessions towards the end of the year. 

Year 4 will continue to focus on building relationships and friendships and displaying kindness to those around them this term. 

Over the term, school values will include Responsibility, Managing Changes, Perseverance, Compassion, and Hope. These values will be covered throughout lessons, Morning Thoughts, and school assemblies. 

Pupils will explore the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), focusing on having freedom of thought and the right to express our ideas, thoughts and opinions. They will research the UNCRC and how the rights impact aspects of their own life.

During our Topic, we will start building the foundation for their work in Years 5 and 6. Much of the pupils' learning will be identifying who they are, where they belong, and about the wider world, building identity and self-esteem. We will delve deeper into religion and cultures close to us and worldwide, identifying similarities, differences, beliefs, values, class systems and other factors outside our local community.  Building upon this knowledge, pupils will be forming their own opinions about themselves and the broader world in a respectful and accepting manner. 

Our work will develop independent and group working, using digital platforms for research.  Many of our tasks will be oracy-based using the Voice 21 Framework. Collaboration will be essential this term, as will working in class and with members across the year group. 

PE will take place on a Wednesday, and children should wear their PE kit to school on this day.  

Children should bring a water bottle with them each day.

Children should bring their reading books to school every day. 

We have a number of children in school with a nut allergy.  We strive to be a nut-free school so please do not send in nut products in packed lunches such as nutella.

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To contact your child's teacher please drop us an email via ask@oldcastleprimary.co.uk or call us 01656 815790.  

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