Autumn One

We've had an amazing half term in Year 4! It's been wonderful getting to know your children, and we're happy to say that everyone has settled in smoothly.

In English this half term, we began by looking at a descriptive narrative about a dangerous dragon from Krakow. We based this on a model text on the Polish Legend “The Dragon of Krakow”.  We completed a variety of lessons looking at different literary techniques, such as add appropriate description, as well as punctuation and grammar before combining our learning to create our own journey narrative themed as a “The Raven of Rome”, which ties into our geography learning journey. We then moved on to an information text about France to help us create our own about Rome. For this we focused on formal writing using technical vocabulary, well as the different punctuation and grammatical feature that make up an information text.

This half term in maths, we started by revisiting our previous year's learning on place value. We explored the different place value columns and worked on recognizing numbers up to 10,000. We practiced partitioning and flexibly partitioning these numbers, and the unit concluded with rounding and estimating. Next, we moved on to addition and subtraction, where we reviewed prior skills from Year 3 and built on them to learn how to add and subtract two 4-digit numbers, both with and without exchanges. After the half term, we will begin our new topic: multiplication and division.

This half term in science, we explored the topic of animals, including humans, with a focus on teeth and the digestive system. We started by studying the human digestive system, learning about its components and how they work together to process and digest food. Next, we examined different types of teeth, their functions, and how tooth types vary among animals. We then made connections between teeth, an animal's diet, and its position in various food chains. Our learning journey concluded with students designing their own animals, considering the habitat, food chain position, features, and types of teeth their animal would have.

In geography this half term we have been learning about Italy.  We began by looking at where Italy is in the world and locating it on a map using used coordinates to map out several parts of the city of Rome. We then took part in a research lesson about Rome looking at its characteristics such as climate, a brief history and its famous landmarks. We finished the topic off by creating a persuasive brochure encouraging people to visit Wonderful Rome!

This half term has been filled with fun and exciting opportunities. Each week we have had the pleasure of a specialised teacher who has been showing us how to play the trumpet. We also had a wonderful assembly from Surrey Hedgehog Association who told us about Hedgehog highways and how we can make our garden accessible for our spikey friendly fiends. We then had father Andrew from St Mary’s Church in Sunbury come in for our annual harvest festival celebration. And finally we were also lucky enough to be able to participate in a drumming workshop.

We're excited about the various learning journeys awaiting us next half term and look forward to welcoming you back after a well-deserved week of rest!

All the best,

The Year 4 Team