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Year 4

Spring Term 2024 

Literacy

At the start of spring term, the children will be exploring the text ‘The Firework-Makers Daughter’ by Phillip Pullman.  This follows the story of Lila, who embarks on a dangerous journey to gather Royal Sulphur from the depths of Mount Merapi to prove herself as a firework maker. This will provide us with many extended writing, reading and drama opportunities. In the second half-term we will be studying ‘The Story of Tutankhamun’. With our topic being Ancient Egypt, we will be able to put our research, inference and writing skills to the test using this text. Along the way, the children will spend some time studying ‘Once upon a Raindrop’, linking to our Science module ‘States of Matter’, this text provides the pupils with an insight into the water cycle through the use of poetry. Jill and Fred’s Hysterical Historical Adventure is our Year 4 production and will give all of the year group an opportunity to understand play scripts and develop their drama skills. We have a very busy and fun packed term ahead.

SPaG

During the spring term, pupils will continue to develop their knowledge of spelling patterns and rules, they will be working towards using a variety of punctuation and enhancing their understanding and use of different grammatical terms. Children will look at ways to improve the quality of their sentences such as using conjunctions, fronted adverbials, apostrophes and inverted commas for direct speech. These are transferable skills which we hope will be applied to other curriculum subjects.

Numeracy

In our numeracy lessons this term, we will be focusing on Multiplication and Division, Measuring Area, Fractions and Decimals. In the multiplication and division topic, we will improve our knowledge of times tables facts up to 12x12, alongside this, we will be learning written methods for multiplication and division which will help pupils work out larger equations. Then, we will be looking at a variety of shapes and working out their area. We will be working with equivalent fractions, adding and subtracting fractions and fractions which are greater than 1. Also this term, we will be looking at tenths and hundredths as decimals and dividing numbers by 10 and 100. Finally, the children will continue to work on their times table facts up to x12 ready for the Year 4 Multiplication Check in the summer term. Throughout sessions we will focus on having a mastery approach whereby children will have plenty of opportunities to work on their problem solving and reasoning skills. We will also incorporate concrete, abstract and pictorial approaches to help support learners grasp new topics better.

Music

This term year 4 will use their music lesson to develop their vocal strength and stamina, and prepare for their production of “Jill and Fred’s Most Hysterical Historical Adventure” in March. Through warm-ups, exercises and rehearsals the students will become more aware of how to use their voice in a performance. In addition, Year 4 will perform "Pen Drumming", where all they need to create music is pens! They will read percussion scores and interpret these as well as learning new rhythms and performing these in context.

Science

In science this term we are going to investigate states of matter. Throughout this topic we will find out about solids, liquids and gases and what the properties of these materials are. We will compare and group materials based on their properties as well as investigate what happens to materials when we heat and cool them. The water cycle plays an important part of our learning this term as we understand how water changes from a liquid state to either a gas or solid state. We will learn some topic specific vocabulary as well as develop our working scientifically skills and our child led practical work. It will be a fun and hands on topic.

PSHE

Our lessons in personal, social and health education will this term cover the importance of being responsible, including why it is important to be on time and how we can show responsibility in school. We will also consider ways of dealing with the feeling of jealousy and discuss how to constructively proceed so it does not negatively affect our behaviour. Our final module this term will be Online Bullying and what this may look like and it will also include how we can stay safe online.

Geography

This unit is based around the North Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby, children will learn about the physical geography of Whitby. They will use maps, atlases and digital maps to explore the town and find out about what the land is used for and what there is to do in Whitby. Children will be encouraged to compare what they have learnt about Whitby with what they know about their own local area.

History

In the 2nd half of this term we will be studying Ancient Egypt. We will discover all about some of the Egyptians achievements in history, how they lived as a society and what their beliefs were and investigate the chronology of the past and where the early civilisations are placed in time. We will be continuing on our Egyptian journey with further studies after Easter too.

Computing

In the first half term we will be focussing on photo editing where the children will change the composition of digital images and make images for different uses. After we have had fun with photo editing we will then explore data logging. Data logging is an important part of the science curriculum. The children will use different sensors to collect data and will read and interpret data. E-safety is so important so the children will continue to learn about keeping safe online.

RE

We will begin our RE this term by finding out more about what a Muslim believes. The children will start by using some map skills to find out where Islam originated from and will then explore The 5 Pillars of Islam. During this study we will find out more about what it is like to be a Muslim including finding out about The Qur’an and Mecca and why they are important. In the 2nd half term we will spend time considering what the real meaning of Easter is for Christians and the children will find out about the events leading up to Easter Sunday.

PE

We recognise the importance PE plays in the curriculum and we are committed to providing all children with opportunities to engage in Physical Education. Sessions aim to develop children's basic physical competencies, build confidence in their ability and build the foundations for a lifelong love of sport, physical activity and a healthy lifestyle. PE lessons encourage children to compete against themselves and others whilst being challenged to improve their physical, social, emotional and thinking skills. We are lucky enough to have specialised sports coaches to deliver some of our PE sessions, the children this term will be covering ball skills, swimming, gymnastics and basketball.

Art

This term the children will be continuing to develop their sketchbooks as records of their own art journey. They will be looking at art linked to coasts in particular Whitby and will be sketching fossils and shells using a variety of medium. They will explore the work of Yorkshire born artist Emma Stothard and her sculpture trail in Whitby. They will also find out about artists who use the sea as their inspiration. Linking our art work to our Egyptian studies will allow the children to investigate the style, pattern and characteristics of Ancient Egyptian art.

DT

In DT this term the children will be learning about the different kinds of fabric that are available, especially looking at how sustainable different fabrics can be. They will then use this knowledge to design and make a handy bag or pouch to meet a design brief. They will learn about different stitches and fastenings to secure their pouch. This will be a fun textiles project to work on.