Email: primary@selwyn.waltham.sch.uk | Telephone: 0208 527 3814
Year 4
Dear Y4 Parents/Carers,
We aim to use our broad and robust curriculum to ensure our children acquire knowledge in a sequential way that allows them to become confident and resilient, 21st century learners.
Our curriculum layout clarifies the end points that all children should achieve at the end of the week, term and year. We know how important it is that children are able to see the big picture of whatever they are learning and have broken our curriculum into manageable composites and components of knowledge blocks. As a progress model, our curriculum is sequential and ensures cumulative layers of knowledge. This enables our children to develop the dispositions that allow them to confidentially approach and tackle problems.
Year 4 Core Subject Curriculum
| Core Subject | Autumn | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | Develop efficient methods to calculate accurately including decimals | Estimate, compare and calculate different measures including money in pounds and pence | Solve a range of problems including fractions, time, measure and money |
| Reading | Draw inferences from texts | Develop understanding and summarise main ideas | Identify themes and conventions |
| Grammar | Use standard English in both oral and written composition and select appropriate grammar and punctuation | Select appropriate grammar, including figurative language, to write confidently | Have conscious control of oral and written language |
| Writing | Use varied and rich vocabulary in a range of sentence structures Use varied and rich vocabulary in a range of sentence structures | Write for a range of audiences and purposes using a range of devices | Write for a range of audiences and purposes to demonstrate understanding of structures, vocabulary and grammar |
Year 4 Main Subject Curriculum
| Main Subject | Autumn | Spring | Summer |
|---|---|---|---|
| History | Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots | The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England | A local history study |
| Geography | Land use | Key aspects of physical geography | UK and the Americas |
| Science | Living things and their habitats & Animals, including humans | States of matter | Sound & Electricity |
| Computing | Photography | Handling Data | Coding |
| Art | Charcoal | Colour and Line | Painting and colour |
| Design and Technology | Cooking and seasonality | Gears and pulleys | Materials to build structures |
| RE | Why is Jesus inspiring to some people? | Why do some people think that life is like a journey and what significant experiences mark this? | What does it mean to be a Hindu in Britain? |
| PSHE/ RSHE | Being Me in My World & Celebrating difference | Dreams and Goals & Healthy Me | Relationships & Changing Me |
| Music | Sing with accuracy | Play and compose melodies | Create and develop melodic ideas |
| PE | Football, Netball, Dance, Gymnastics, Swimming | Badminton, Rounders, Dance, Gymnastics | Outdoor orienteering, Athletics, Tag Rugby and Team Games |
Healthy eating
We encourage our children to eat healthily, we have subscribed to Food for Life to work with us to ensure our food takes sustainability into account. We have designed our curriculum to ensure that we teach children how to grow, cook and eat seasonal food that are mostly locally sourced. Please join us in monitoring what children bring into school for their packed lunch.
Charity work
As we emerge from the pandemic, there has never been a time when supporting charities has been more relevant. We want to continue showing our support for cancer and heart charities to name a few. We have local soup kitchens, residential homes for the elderly, hospices and lots of our local community that need our support. We will appreciate your support in carrying out this vital work and highlighting the need to serve the community to our children.
Sustainability
Our world needs children who understand and share the passion to save it from the climate emergency it faces. We want to highlight reusing and recycling in all we do at school and beyond the school gates. The children will be learning a lot about the effects our actions on the earth. They will be looking at litter, water usage and energy use, please join us in this drive. The curriculum ensures our children understand the consequences of travel and the food they eat.
Physical Education
PE is twice a week. This year we will continue to ask children to come in to school in their PE kit on the days that they have PE. Please ensure that your child wears the correct school recommended PE kit. They should wear (Please note that football kits or branded T shirts are not part of our school uniform):
- a light blue T shirt or polo shirt
- black/blue shorts, leggings or tracksuit bottoms
- trainers or plimsolls
- School jumper or fleece
PE Days:
Each class will have two PE lessons a week, which will be communicated to you by the class teacher.
Remote learning
To ensure that children do not miss out on their learning during days off sick or isolating due to covd-19, we use google classroom as an online platform for remote learning. Over the next week, we will be giving your child their login details, if they do not already have it, so that they can access google classroom. We use this platform when teaching remotely, in the case of self-isolation, and to upload weekly homework. Your child will be able to access their homework on a Friday and will need to complete it by the following Thursday. Homework can be completed either in the homework book provided or online.
Reading is at the heart of our curriculum, we want our children to read widely for pleasure. Children will bring a book home each week as part of their homework. We ask that you please read with your children daily and record your comments in the reading record provided. Books are changed every Thursday. As there are opportunities for us to hear your child read at school, we ask that they bring their reading books in each day with them.
We look forward to working closely with you over the year to support your child’s progress. If you wish to contact your child’s teacher please do so using the email address below:
Redwood: rebecca.sam@selwyn.arboracademytrust.co.uk
Maple : fran.markham@selwyn.arboracademytrust.co.uk
Juniper: aiysha.rashid@selwyn.arboracademytrust.co.uk / aimee.brady@selwyn.arboracademytrust.co.uk
Regards,
Jason Cook
Executive Principal