Summer Term 2024 

Maths

We have lots to fit in during the summer term. This will include learning about fractions, decimals, money, time and statistics. We aim to develop the children’s learning by using concrete, pictorial and abstract resources. The children will continue to use Times Table Rock Stars and mental maths sessions to improve their knowledge of multiplication and division facts up to 12. The children will need to work on their accuracy and speed ready for the Year 4 Multiplication Check later in the term. We aim to help the children understand topics so they can use their knowledge in different situations and then apply it to problem solving and reasoning questions.

Literacy

During the summer term, we will use the book ‘The Egyptian Cinderella’ by Shirley Climo as inspiration for our written work. The children will consider how the author has taken a traditional story and placed it in a different cultural setting. We will be looking at a variety of writing styles whilst recapping lots of skills learnt in our grammar lessons. We will also be looking at different poems from the poetry book ‘I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree’ which includes many poems about nature. We will read popular poems and learning about their features. We will then use our knowledge to create a variety of poems. Linked with our Science work we will also read ‘The Night Flower’ which will form the basis of further creative writing opportunities.

Grammar

During the summer term, pupils will continue to develop their knowledge of spelling patterns and rules, they will be consolidating their usage of a variety of punctuation and enhancing their knowledge of different grammatical terms. Children will look at ways to improve the quality of their sentences such as using commas, paragraphs, figurative language and powerful adjectives. These are all skills that they can transfer to different areas of the curriculum. such as using commas, paragraphs, figurative language and powerful adjectives.

Art

As artists this term, we will continue to use Ancient Egypt as our inspiration and find out more about the contemporary Egyptian artist Alaa Awad. We will use pastels to sketch Egyptian Gods and we will also further develop our skills with working with clay to create Egyptian canopic jars. In the 2^nd half-term we will link our art skills and learning to our Farm to Fork topic and spend some time sketching our own landscapes and will find out about foreground, middle ground and background. We will study the work of the British artist David Hockney and create our own Hockney inspired landscapes. We will also be practising our observational drawing skills by sketching feathers. Throughout the whole term we will be developing our sketchbook skills and using these as a record of our work.

Science

Plants-In Science this term we will find out about plants and identify and describe the different functions of the roots, stem/trunk, leaves and flowers. We will revisit the requirements for growth and investigate the way that water is transported within plants. We will explore the parts that flowers play in the life cycle of plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal, which links well with our DT Seasonal Fruits unit. Throughout our learning we will be developing our working scientifically skills.

Living Things-After half-term Year 4 will continue developing their working scientifically skills while recognising that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways. The children will be introduced to classification keys and will help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local environment. They will develop their understanding of how environments can change and how this can sometimes pose dangers to living things.

PSHE

Our lessons in personal, social and health education this term will cover the importance of breaking down barriers and recognising our own strengths and weaknesses and also discussing how it is our differences as a class that make us stronger. We will also begin to understand basic first aid and the steps that the pupils can take to seek emergency help, if necessary. Finally, one of our final modules this term will be, Chores at Home and how we can best support our families and carers.

 DT

This term we are going to look at which seasonal fruits are native to the UK and understand that not all fruits and vegetables can be grown in the UK. The children will understand how transporting food to England has an impact on the environment and that eating seasonal fruits are beneficial to us for a variety of reasons. We will discuss what the term seasonal means and the children will experience tasting and preparing seasonal fruits, whilst developing their knife skills and understanding of kitchen hygiene.

History

We will continue our study of Ancient Egypt. We will discover many of the Egyptian’s achievements in history, how the Ancient Egyptians lived as a society, what housing typically looked like during this time and which materials were used. Finally, we will discover how the Egyptians became so powerful by comparing and contrasting primary and secondary sources.

Geography

During the Farm to Fork topic, the children will investigate the historical nature of farming and the importance it has within our country. The children will look at how farming has developed with machinery and technology throughout the last few centuries. Using their map skills, the children will identify the parts of the UK and countries around the world where farming takes place and understand the landscapes and climates needed to grow certain foods. This will also include the distance certain foods have travelled for us to be able to eat them in the UK as well as looking at supporting Fairtrade farmers across the world. The children will look at the impact climate change is having on farming and the consequences this is having on food production. They will also investigate the growing amount of food waste created and how this can be used to help those living in food poverty.

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 Dodgeball, OAA, Cricket and Athletics. 

Music

Year 4 will be looking at different types of Classical Music, and how it has influenced music we more commonly listen to today. They will be looking at different instruments in the orchestra, how the orchestra grew, who “Mozart” was and why he was important, and also learning to play pieces of music using “music notation”.  They will also be looking at a timeline of how music developed. 

Computing

We are going to kick start this term by looking at e-safety and reminding the children of the importance of staying safe online. In computing we are going to create programs by planning, modifying, and testing commands to create shapes and patterns, using Logo. Logo is a text-based program. Children will use Logo commands to read and write codes and they will look at repetition and loops within programming. It will be a fun yet rewarding topic.