Year 4 - Ash Class
In Year 4 the children will cover a wide range of interesting topics, interwoven through thematic and linked learning. Each topic will give the children a chance to embed and expand upon their learning throughout school so far.
As they work their way through Year 4, the children will take increasing ownership over their learning. Children will be given more opportunities to challenge themselves in a safe space and feel more comfortable asking increasingly complex questions about the world around them.
Through an engaging and challenging thematic curriculum, the children will explore a variety of topics. History focuses on the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and how the world changed thanks to exploration during the Golden Age. Children will also travel back in time to discover what life was like during World War II, by learning how to ‘make do and mend’ and how everybody contributed to the war effort. In addition to this, children will also learn about the Roman Empire, the invasion of Britain, and the legacy left in as a result. Geography learning allows children delve into life in India – and compare the differences between lifestyles across two continents as well as looking at migration to Leicester as part of their studies. It also allows them to visit the Golden Mile in Leicester, a Hindu Mandir and perform in Indian dance workshops as part of their PE unit of work. Personal, Social and Health Education (Jigsaw) is also an important aspect of the Year 4 Curriculum. Through a variety of engaging texts, children learn about different types of relationships and the nature of the consequences of bullying and how to deal with it – online and offline. In Jigsaw sessions, children also identify a variety of emotions and strategies to help them self-regulate negative behaviours.
English in Year 4 links closely to our key questions and themed learning in order to spark the children’s interest and create a real purpose for writing. At the heart of all our English work is a strong foundation in reading and we expose the children to a wide variety of interesting texts, including fiction, such as XXXXXXXXXXXXX. Focussing specifically on developing children’s ability to analyse writers’ choices, the children will focus on the purpose and language of a text, as well as continuing to develop reading skills – such as inferring, predicting and summarising. Children will use a range of other quality texts to use as models to scaffold their writing and create engaging, well-structured, pieces of work. Using tiered vocabulary will help the children develop a stronger awareness and understanding of vocabulary. Additionally, being given the chance to vocalise their ideas through drama and debate will aid them in developing good rhetoric to further support their writing. The key grammar covered in Year 4 will include punctuation for speech, fronted adverbials and embedded clauses.
In Maths, to support the school’s practice of interleaving, the children will be taught in shorter blocks spread throughout the year. Expanding on and deepening their learning from Year 3, children will learn the place value of four-digit numbers – this will give them a solid foundation to help them compare, order, estimate and round numbers. Further learning will include decimal and fraction equivalents, identify a range of angle types and order these by size, understand the differences between discrete and continuous data and develop their problem-solving skills by independently deciding which methods to use. Reasoning and problem-solving feature throughout every Maths unit and children are encouraged to articulate their approaches to problems so that they can explore a variety of methods. Linking to our work on Character Education and having a growth mindset, children will be encouraged to embrace challenges and feel safe to make, and learn from, their mistakes and misconceptions.
In Science, children continue to develop their investigative skills through a range of topics such as XXXXXXXXX. Particularly focussing on developing the children’s independence in Science, so that they can confidently generate their own lines of enquiry, making decisions about what they will investigate, how they will carry out these investigations and how best to record and present their findings. This enables children to expand their knowledge through an enquiry-based approach which means they find out most of the answers for themselves. Children also develop skills such as how to create informed predictions, understanding comparative and fair tests, identifying patterns in results, drawing conclusions from investigations and posing further questions to explore. Children love the challenges they are presented, including creating a xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Key Questions to drive learning and progress
India: Luxury Living or Slum Survival?
Exciting events in Year Four
Visiting Leicester - The Golden Mile, Mandir and dance workshops.
A two night residential to PGL
Smartsy Arts - Glass workshop in school
Roman workshop in school with The Past Presents
Class Novels include