with

Miss Lillis (4 Craufurd)  Mrs Davis & Mrs McVeigh (4 Field)

supported by Mrs Walta, Mrs Hicks and Miss Elliott 

PE in the Autumn Term will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays.  The units covered will be: OAA (Outdoor Adventure Activities), Tag Rugby, Gymnastics and Dodgeball.

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

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. Check Rising Stars online to see if there is a comprehension to complete for home reading books. (Not every book has one linked online, but many of them do, so please check each one)

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

6. 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! 

7. 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. 

8. 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 on each area.  Children can receive up to 20 Dojo Points a week  if they stay in the 'Green Zone'.

This term, we will learn about the journey of food from farm to fork.  

Our BIG QUESTION is:

Where does our food come from and do we all get a fair share?

This is a very hands-on unit.  The children will be comparing foods from around the world by collecting food packaging from home, finding their origins by searching in atlases and recreating some traditional dishes from the Mediterranean, Tropical and Temperate climates.  We will be debating the idea that maybe not everyone gets a fair share in the food industry and how we can help to ensure everybody gets the money they need to live a healthy and happy life. 

Our art work this term will be inspired by the artist 'Archimboldo', an Italian painter inspired by everyday objects including fruit and vegetables.  The children will be sketching observational drawings of seasonal produce and experiment with colour through crayon, water colours and oil pastels. There will even be a chance to win some pumpkins in time for October!

Our first science topic is, 'The Human Body'.   

National Curriculum objectives

• I can identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat
• I can describe the simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans
•  I can identify the different types of teeth in humans and their simple functions

The children will explore all the food groups and what makes a healthy diet.  They will have fun role-playing the journey of food as it travels through the digestive system.  

During the second half term, our topic will be 'Forces'.

National Curriculum objectives

• I can notice that some forces need contact between two objects
• I can compare how things move on different surfaces

The children will name different forces, including friction and explore this through the use of cars, ramps and lots of messy solutions!  How fast can we make a car travel?

CLASS READER

Madame Pamplemousse is the story of Madeleine, forced to work in her unpleasant uncle's horrible restaurant, The Squealing Pig. By chance she comes across the most marvellous shop, run by Madame Pamplemousse, which is quiet, discreet, yet full of delicious and otherworldly 'edibles' - Pterodactyl Bacon, Scorpion Tails in Smoked Garlic Oil, and Great Squid Tentacle in Jasmine-Scented Jelly. A quiet comradeship develops between Madeleine, Madame Pamplemousse, and Madame's cat, Camembert. And together they create some wonderful culinary magic.

Exquisite, beautifully formed prose that has echoes of Angela Carter belies a narrative that is full of pace. A wonderful fairy tale that will appeal to both adults and children.

In English, we will be focusing on fundamental English skills, following a series of lessons to embed sentence punctuation and grammar. We will also have a high focus on spelling and handwriting before moving onto units of fiction and non-fiction later on this term.

For the first half term, the children will practise the tables taught in Year 3. Following that, we will learn all the others, up to 12 x 12.  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 half term in Maths, the units will cover Place Value and Addition and Subtraction.  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.  

Examples:

The second half term will focus on the units of Area and Multiplication and Division.

The children will be finding the area of shapes by counting the squares inside.  

As well as leaning the following times tables: x6, x7, x9, x11, x12, the children will learn to multiply and divide by 1 and 0 and multiply 3 one-digit numbers. 

In RE, we will be finding out why food is an important part of faith. This will include festivals from different faiths including, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. 

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