Year 4
4K are taught by Mr Kirk and 4D by Miss Duncombe. They are supported by Katrina and Nicky.
They can be contacted via year4@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk
Autumn 2024 Update
Welcome to the new year, Year 4!
In Year 4 we have a great term ahead. We hope you had a restful summer break and are raring to go!
We are really excited about our Topics for this term where we will be discovering the Anglo Saxons and Vikings! The key questions we will be covering are:
Anglo-Saxons:
• What was Britain like before the invasion?
• Where did Anglo Saxons come from and why?
• When did the Anglo Saxons Rule and who was Alfred the Great?
• What were the features of an Anglo Saxon settlement?
• Who did more for Britain, the Anglo Saxons or the RomansVikings:
• Why did the Vikings want to come to England and how did they get here?
• How can we find out where the Vikings settled?
• What made the Vikings settle where they did?
• How did Viking life differ from the Anglo Saxons?
• Who was King Canute and what impact did he have on Viking Britain?Our Science learning will focus on Electricity in the first half of the term and Sound in the second half. During the first half of the term, we will be learning about what electricity is used for, and how to use it safely. We will also be exploring how electricity works by creating our own circuits using different components and investigating the impact of altering the circuit in different ways. Our focus scientist is the African-American inventor Lewis Latimer. We will be using a range of science skills such as prediction, observation, and asking and answering questions. During our ‘sound’ focus, we will explore how sound travels and the inner workings of the ear. Get your white scientist coats on!
In English, we will start with a Talk4Writing short text which will help us get back into our writing again along with a ‘visual literacy’ stimulus to create narratives around an alien. After that, we will explore a wonderful book called The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber. Please continue to encourage a love of reading by listening to your child read regularly. Frequent practice of their spellings will also help your child greatly so please make sure you remind them. All the children will have access to Doodle English https://www.doodleenglish.com/ which has lots of short, fun activities to help test their spelling and grammar. The children’s logins remain the same as last year. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you need these again.
At the end of Year 4 the children are expected to know all their times tables up to 12x12 and to recall them at speed. Our Multiplication Tables Check will take place in June. Please make sure your child is practising every day so they will be able to take the test confidently. Your child can practise their times tables using Times Tables Rockstars https://play.ttrockstars.com/auth. We will regularly test the children so that we can support them in closing any gaps, and your support with this at home will be greatly appreciated. All other Maths learning can be consolidated using DoodleMaths https://www.doodlemaths.com/ . This is an intuitive programme that will set the tasks for your child based on their abilities. The children’s logins remain the same as last year. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you need these again.
In Year 4, the children have a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a brass instrument. This is provided by Wandsworth Council’s scheme, Wider Opportunities, who come into school for an hour lesson every week. The children can bring their instruments home throughout the year to practise. An important thing to mention is that in order to achieve excellence in anything, we must show commitment so please support your child in caring for their instrument at home and ensuring that they practise regularly (this can be done without the mouthpiece when necessary). A brass concert will be arranged for the Summer term so families can see how much progress the children have made!
We’re really excited to start another year at Earlsfield and we can’t wait to see how much the children progress!
Year 4 Team
Key Learning
You can find out about our approach to all our subjects through the curriculum page but the headlines for the year group are below.
Reading
Children can maintain positive attitudes to reading and understanding by:
- I can listen to and discuss a wide range of texts including fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction, reference and textbooks
- I can read books that are structured in different ways and read for a range of purposes
- I can use dictionaries to check the meanings of words I have read
- I can read a wide range of books and re-tell some of these orally
- I can identify themes and conventions in a wide range of books
- I can recognise different forms of poetry e.g. free verse, narrative poetry
- I can prepare poems and play scripts to read aloud and perform
Children can understand what they read in books they can read independently by:
- I can check that the text makes sense and discuss my understanding (and explaining the meaning ) of words in context
- I can ask questions to improve my understanding of a text with increasing complexity
- I can draw inferences such as inferring characters' feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justify inferences with evidence clearly taken from the text
- I can predict what might happen from details stated and implied
- I can identify main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph and summarise these
- I can identify how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning including paragraphs, use of pronouns for cohesion, inverted commas for speech, apostrophes to mark possession and fronted adverbials
- I can retrieve and record information from non-fiction over a range of subjects
- I can participate in discussions about both books that are read to me and those that I can read for myself, taking turns and listening to what others say
Writing
Writing
- I can create more detailed settings, characters and plot in narrative pieces to engage the reader
- I can write narratives with a clear beginning, middle and end and a coherent plot
- I can write non-fiction pieces using appropriate structures
- I can organise paragraphs around a theme.
- I can proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
- I can use standard English forms
- I can use the correct tense consistently
- I can use expanded noun phrases (modifying adjectives, nouns and prepositional phrases) E.g. The strict teacher with curly hair
- I can use fronted adverbials E.g. As quick as a flash, Last weekend: usually demarcated with a comma
- I can use appropriate pronouns or nouns within and across sentences to aid cohesion and to avoid repetition
- I can use conjunctions, adverbs or prepositions to indicate time, place or cause
- I can extend the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions E.g when, if, because, although
- I can use inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate speech
- I can use apostrophes for singular and plural possession
- I can use correct punctuation to demarcate sentences : capital letters and full stops , question marks and exclamation marks
Spelling
- I can spell most of the year 3 and 4 spelling words correctly
- I can spell all words with prefixes and suffixes correctly
- I can spell homophones correctly
Handwriting
- I can produce legible, joined handwriting
Greater depth (working above the national expected standard)
- I can write well-paced and well-structured narratives
- I can proofread consistently and amend my own writing, correcting errors
- I can use commas after the reporting clause and all end punctuation within inverted commas
- I can expand noun phrases with the addition of ambitious modifying adjectives and prepositional phrases E.g the heroic soldier with an unbreakable spirit
Statutory spellings
| Autumn 1 | Autumn2 | Spring 1 | Spring 2 | Summer 1 | Summer 2 |
|
accident believe strange reign interest various possible grammar |
woman women promise therefore opposite ordinary although pressure |
particular calendar popular position possess possession complete potatoes |
straight favourite strength suppose surprise bicycle business medicine natural naughty |
straight favourite strength suppose surprise bicycle business medicine natural naughty |
peculiar occasion occasionally probably knowledge experiment experience question disappear important |
Maths
In Maths we follow the White Rose Hub. You can find out more about White Rose through our dedicated maths page
Science
Living things and their habitat
Topics
Did life in Britain regress under Anglo Saxon Rule?
Did the Vikings deserve their violent reputation?
What is happening to our rainforests?
Homework
We set homework in Key Stage 2 in the following ways:
- Spellings - bring handbook to school as usual
- Guided Reading - bring handbook to school as usual
- Literacy and Topic - Google Classroom
- Talking Homework - Google Classroom
- Maths - TTRS (Times Tables Rock Stars) and Mathletics
Students without digital access will get paper copies (need to return book)
You can access our guide to google classrooms or if you have any technical or password issues please email techsupport@earlsfield.wandsworth.sch.uk
Days to remember
| Day | Activity |
| Monday |
Spelling test New spellings sent home
|
| Tuesday |
Homework turned in on Google Classroom Wear PE kit to s chool Brass - bring instrument to school |
| Wednesday |
|
| Thursday |
Wera PE kit to school Homework set in Google Classroom
|
| Friday |
Handbooks in school for weekly reflection - please make sure an adult has signed to show your child has completed their homework activities. Times Table Quiz
|
| As frequently as possible but at least x times per week | Reading, Times Tables Rockstars and Doodle |
Other things you need to know
| School Uniform | Packed Lunches & Snacks | Contact Us |
