with

Miss Lillis (4 Craufurd) 

4 Field - Mrs Davis (MON -WED) & Mrs McVeigh (THURS/FRI)

supported by Mrs Walta, Mrs Graham, Mrs Hicks and Miss Elliott 

PE in the Summer Term will take place on Mondays.  The units this half term cover rounders and athletics.

If your child is wearing the new uniform, including trainers, there is no need for a separate PE kit.  

This term, the children will be taking part in Forest School with Cal and Tamsin.  This is a child-centered, outdoor learning approach that uses the natural environment as a classroom. It emphasizes hands-on, experiential learning and encourages children to explore, learn, and develop confidence in a natural setting. 

Please note the day your child will take part in Forest School as each class is different.

Class 4C - Wednesdays

Class 4F - Thursdays

Children are to come in their usual PE kit for the day.  They may bring extra clothing to get changed into as arms and legs are required to be covered for safety.  Please refer to the letter sent to you via Parentmail for more information.  

We strongly encourage children to complete set homework. This can really help them to embed and extend the learning that takes place in school.

Reading for fifteen minutes every day at home can make an impact on all areas of the curriculum. In Year 4, we have a "STARBOOKS"  reading incentive. Children are rewarded for reading five times a week and having their reading diaries signed. They will have their Starbooks loyalty card signed each week and after eight weeks, will get a reward! Each week, everyone who reaches cup five enters our prize draw and two lucky winners get to a enjoy a hot chocolate treat at the Starbooks bar. We have even invested in a pod machine to make it an extra special treat!  

Tips for reading at home: 

1. Try to hear your child read aloud as much as possible. If this is not possible every day, then ask them to summarise for you, what they have read independently.

2. If your child comes across a tricky word which they can't read, try not to tell them the word straight away. Encourage them to sound it out or re-read the sentence to see if they can work out the meaning. 

3. Always check that your child understands what they have read by asking them questions about the book.

4. Aim to change home reading books every 1-2 weeks. Book change day is Friday in Year 4.

5. Read as widely as possible- not just your school book- read your library book, books from your shelf at home, swap books with friends, read on a kindle device, read magazines, newspapers- whatever you enjoy! 

6. Read to your children as much as possible. Hearing stories really helps them to develop attention and listening skills, imagination and vocabulary. It even impacts on writing skills. Plus, it's a lovely way to spend quality time together. 

7. Look out for the books we are reading in school and treat your child to their own copy at home. We often refer to them on Dojo. 

Children now have their Doodle Learning Username and Passwords.  They can access Doodle Learning from the internet or as downloaded apps on phones, i-pads/tablets or PC's.  

https://doodlelearning.com/

There are 4 areas/apps:

Spellings, Maths, Times Tables and English. 

Evidence shows that practising little and often enables learning to be transferred from the short term to the long term memory.  Therefore, we suggest 5 minutes a day. School homework policy expectations are that children access Doodle Maths, Doodle Times and Doodle Spell each week. Doodle English is there for any children who wish to use it but is only optional.  Children can receive Dojo Points weekly if they stay in the 'Green Zone'.

Our BIG QUESTION is:

Would you rather be a Hunter/Gatherer a Celt or a Roman?

We are going on a journey through time exploring the changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age then to the Celts and Roman invasion. We will look at Boudicca and the impact of the Roman invasion on Britain including food, numbers, towns, Gods/beliefs and even the calendar. Skills will include looking at contrasts and trends over time and developing the appropriate use of historical terms, changes in Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain.

Our class reader is, 'The Wild Way Home'. If your child has a copy at home, they are welcome to bring it in to read along.  

When Charlie's longed-for brother is born with a serious heart condition, Charlie's world is turned upside down. Upset and afraid, Charlie flees the hospital and makes for the ancient forest on the edge of town. There Charlie finds a boy floating face-down in the stream, injured, but alive. But when Charlie sets off back to the hospital to fetch help, it seems the forest has changed. It's become a place as strange and wild as the boy dressed in deerskins. For Charlie has unwittingly fled into the Stone Age, with no way to help the boy or return to the present day. Or is there?

What follows is a wild, big-hearted adventure as Charlie and the Stone Age boy set out together to find what they have lost - their courage, their hope, their family and their way home.​​​​​​

ART

This will be linked to our history as we develop techniques and skills in printmaking. We will  use a range of materials creatively to design and make products linked to our topic.  We will develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space.  We will be looking at examples of Celtic art, discussing how patterns were used in their jewellery and shields. We will then work on our pattern making skills by designing and annotating different types of repeated pattern such as full drop, half-drop, continuous, mirror. Our designs will lead us to make our very own Celtic shield using print making techniques.

Electricity

· I can identify common appliances that run on electricity

· I can construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers

· I can identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery

· I can recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit

· I can recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors.

Magnets

· I can notice that some forces need contact between two objects, but magnetic forces can act at a distance

· I can observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others · I can compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of whether they are attracted to a magnet, and identify some magnetic materials

· I can describe magnets as having two poles

· I can predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, depending on which poles are facing.

At the end of the term, the children will make their own electric or magnetic game linked to our topic on The Stone Age and Romans.  Look out for a Dojo message inviting children to bring in any games from home that use an electric circuit or magnets.  They will explore how these games work and gain ideas for their own game. 

In English, we will be looking at fiction as our focus connecting to our topic in History about the Stone Age. The children will look at a portal story as their first text type followed by a mystery one.

The skills we will be looking  at this term will include: show-not-tell- describing a character’s emotions using senses and the use of  settings to create atmosphere. We will also look at  how to select powerful, precise and well-chosen nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives to create  engaging and imaginative stories.  The use of personification, metaphors and similes to create atmosphere and the use of alliteration to add to the affect will also be developed.

As before, we will also be encouraging the children to increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting, joining their letters where possible. 

In June, children will sit the statutory Year 4 Multiplication Check.  Please continue to practise at home, particularly for speed.  This can be done through Doodle Learning or the following sites:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/

This term in Maths, the units will cover money, time, shape, statistics and position/direction.  We will continue to develop our skills and knowledge through concrete (practical resources), pictorial and abstract methods.  Once confident through fluency, the children will be stretched through reasoning and problem solving.

Time will involve reading and converting time between analogue and digital clocks, including converting between the 12 hour and 24 hour times.  

Shape will involve comparing angles (acute, right angles, obtuse), and studying triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons and symmetry.  

Statistics will involve interpreting information from various graphs, specifically line graphs. 

Position and Direction will involve describing the position of coordinates, plotting coordinates to draw shapes and translation.  

Examples:

The Roman Baths 

We are very excited to be taking the children to The Roman Baths on Thursday June 19th.  This will form a key part of our history curriculum and enrich the children's learning. It will be an amazing opportunity to bring learning to life, stepping back in time to discover and explore 2000 years of history.  

Look out for further messages closer to the time where we will let you know what the children need to bring with them along with times.  We will be leaving earlier and arriving later than the usual school day times.  

 Please note- any links above will take you away from the Oldswinford CE Primary website- we urge you to check ahead for unsuitable adverts on YouTube