Who are the Y4 teachers?
What do we expect from your child in Year 4?
Our focus this year is to support and nurture the children as they return to school and to help them continue to build their independence and confidence ready for Upper Key Stage 2. In Year 4 the children will be encouraged to take on more responsibility for themselves and their learning journey. They will be expected to complete and return homework on time and encouraged to take responsibility for remembering the things that they need in school; for example, ensuring they get their reading diary signed by an adult at home, bringing in I Belong books, PE Kits and book bags. We will encourage the children to use the tools around them in their learning environment such as working walls, table resources/prompts and their peers to ‘have a go’ and become independent in their own learning. However, we will support and guide them in their learning when needed and strongly encourage them to ask for help if they need support.
First Holy Communion
When we return in Year 4, some of the children will be completing their preparation and making their First Holy Communion, which will be a very special time for them as individuals and as a class. We invite everyone in the class to be a part of this special journey. Please can all children bring their I Belong books into school on week beginning 7th September so that we can complete their preparation.
Times Tables Check
The children will also be preparing for to take the Statutory Times Tables Check in the summer term. This will be done online. The purpose of the times tables check is to determine whether children can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will help us to identify children who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that we can provide them with additional support as they move forward. Further guidance and resources to support your child at home will be sent out at a later date and some of the Maths Homework will include times tables practice.
Rewards and sanctions
This year in school, we will be using Class Dojo to reward children for a range of different things, from showing gospel virtues to contribution and teamwork. This will replace the current house point system but will work in a similar way.
As before, we will be using 'minutes' as a sanction- these will be taken off Golden Time at the end of a week.
As always, parental involvement is key and we will work with you to give praise or tackle any issues.
PE, Swimming and Forest School
Again this year, we will be having PE on a Wednesday so every child will come to school dressed in their PE kit. This should be their indoor kits (shorts/t-shirt) with black or navy joggers on top and outdoor trainers. Any hoodies worn should be either school branded or plain navy/black. Please ensure your kit is labelled to avoid any mix-ups or lost items!
Our second PE slot will be on Thursday afternoons, so children will need to bring their outdoor kit in a bag so they can change for the session.
We will have forest school on a rota basis on a Friday afternoon- you will be notified in advance but please have a kit ready including wellies/trainers, clothes you don't mind getting muddy and a waterproof jacket.
Homework
This year we are continuing with Enquiry Based Learning, so your child will be given a research question each Monday for them to make notes on in their research book ready for the following Monday. Please ensure that this is done or your child will have to catch this up at a lunch/break time.
Every Friday, your child will be given maths homework and spellings to learn- again they have a week to complete this and will have to do it at lunch/break if not complete.
If your child loses a sheet, it is their responsibility to come and ask for a new one so that their work can still be completed.
Thank you for reading! If you have any queries/questions, do not hesitate to get in touch.
Mrs Smith