Year Four Curriculum NewsletterAutumn 2024
Joy Excellence Service
"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
Psalm 126:5-6
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
During our first term, pupils will receive lessons and guidance through our focus topics and collective acts of worship. Our first topic focuses on people, where we will explore the meaning of family and delve into the history of Jesus' family tree. We will learn about Baptism and Confirmation and what it means to be called into the family of God. We will look at special books, including the Torah while learning about Judaism and we will explore the meaning of gifts during Advent and Christmas.
RSHE
In Year Four, we will hear and experience the Gospel story of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter. Through this story, the children will learn that they are created by God out of love and for love: they were designed for this purpose. We will start to explore how this knowledge should inform how they live their lives and decisions they will make. Children will recognise how human life is precious and begin to think about what they can do to show respect for each other.
ENGLISH
Children will enjoy a variety of texts and authors within our English lessons. We will write using a range of genres linked to our key texts whilst learning and applying a range of spelling, punctuation and grammatical skills. Using our first class text, The Great Kapok Tree, we will continue to develop planning and editing skills. Children will focus on descriptive writing and creating explanation texts. After half term, we will look at poetry and narrative writing. ln addition, children will read a range of extracts linked to our class topics. They will analyse the texts using and continue to develop the skills needed to answer word meaning, retrieval and inference questions.
MATHS
During the Autumn term, Year Four will be exploring place value, where they will be comparing, ordering and rounding numbers. They will also look at counting back from zero using negative numbers and representing Roman Numerals to 100. They will also be developing their skills in addition and subtraction, exploring the area of different shapes and focusing on multiplication and division. They will be developing their fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills by making links to real life situations. Learning times tables and related division facts will be a huge focus this year, and starting early in the Autumn term will support children’s understanding across the maths curriculum.
SCIENCE
Year Four's first science topic will be living things and their habitats where the children will group animals based upon their characteristics, such as vertebrate and invertebrate. They will explore the use of classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things and we will explore how environmental issues and human activity can affect a habitat. After half term, the children will learn about states of matter. During this topic, they will investigate how materials can be divided into solids, liquids and gases and how materials can change when heated or cooled. They will also explore the four main stages of the water cycle.
GEOGRAPHY
Through learning about Brazil and its Rain Forests, Year Four will develop their map reading skills, use compasses and grid references to describe locations and make comparisons between Brazil and The UK. They will learn about the structure of a rain forest and its environmental importance. We will then explore extreme climates including deserts and polar deserts. The children will refine their map drawing skills and will explore the physical features of these areas and how they effect human life.
ART/DT
We will be learning about sculpture this term, shape, pattern and colour. The children will explore the effects that can be created with colour, light and repetition and they will learn to make a structure for an installation. The children will look closely at the work of different artists, particularly Yayoi Kusama and Chagall. Taking inspiration from their work, children will have the opportunity to explore different styles and techniques whilst creating their own work.
MUSIC
In music, we will be learning about ABBA. The children will explore who they were and what music they produced. Pupils will have the opportunity to learn some of their songs as well as composing their own ABBA style performances. After half term, the children will learn about the glockenspiel. With the use of rhythmic patters, the children will compose their own songs using a glockenspiel.
MFL
This year, the children will be learning Spanish during their language lessons. In the Autumn term, the children will revise how to greet and say goodbye to each other, as well as counting and recognising numbers. Through the use of songs, games, spoken and written work, the children will learn how to construct spoken sentences with more than one noun and will start to construct simple written sentences. They will learn the different colours in Spanish and begin to use these as adjectives within their sentences.
P.E.
In the Autumn term, the children will be focusing on coordination and static balances. The children will be encouraged the challenge themselves to improve their performance and begin to recognise their strengths and areas for improvement. The children will develop these skills through a range of activities focusing on foot work. During their outdoor PE lessons, children will be taking part in athletics and orienteering. Once the new pool is open, children will begin swimming lessons.
COMPUTING
During this term, the children will learn about computer programming. Using a programme called Scratch, they will develop the skills needed to create a character within a game. They will learn how to design their character and how to code their character to move backwards and forwards within their game. They will work on their logical thinking and reasoning skills as well as their graphic design and debugging skills. Pupils will continue to learn about online safety and the types of information that can and cannot be shared on line.
