Welcome to Year 4

Year 4 Staff

Kingfishers

Class Teachers: Ms D Jones & Mrs S Mackie

Kites

Class Teacher: Mr D McKay

Learning Support: Miss H MacLean & Mr J Smith

Key Information

4.9.26 – Children Return to School

15/09/26 – Kingfisher Swimming Starts

16.10.26 – Show Racism the Red Card Day

22.10.26 – Halloween Disco

26/10/26 – 01/11/26 – October half term

WB 9.11.26 – Parents Evenings

16.11.26 – Odd Sock Day

18.11.26 – School Photos (individual)

18.12.26 Last Day of Autumn Term

PE Days:

Kingfishers: Tuesday and Wednesday

Kites: Monday and Wednesday

The children will be going swimming on a Tuesday afternoon at Horizon Leisure Centre – please ensure your child has a swimming costume or trunks, goggles, a swimming hat (required by Horizon) and a towel on their swimming day. They can wear their PE kits to school. The Kingfishers will be swimming in the first half term, the Kites will follow. Please note that whilst we strive to be as punctual as possible, if the children take longer getting changed, we may be back a little after 3:15.

On a PE day, children should wear full PE kit on (a white t-shirt or their house colour t-shirt, black leggings / skirt / shorts / jogging bottoms, white socks and plimsolls or trainers – football kits and other tracksuits are not permitted).

Library Day: Tuesday

The children will be given an opportunity to visit our school library once a week, during which time they will be able to select two reading books of their choice.
We will read daily in class and there will be opportunities for independent and paired reading throughout the week.

We suggest that the children bring one library book home, to share with you, and keep one at school.

School Reading Book (Bug Club or Spot Book): Monday & Friday

The children will be able to change their school reading book once a week. We recommend re-reading books if they are finished before this time.
Longer texts, that require more than a week, can be kept until they need to be exchanged.

Celebration Assembly: Friday

As a school, we host our celebration assemblies on a Friday afternoon. Our ‘star of the week’ will receive a certificate in this assembly and their parents/adults are invited to join us. We also award two children with a ‘great job’ certification every day – these certificates are to recognise and celebrate those children who have shown great enjoyment, perseverance and success – in line with our school values.

Our exciting topic this term is South America!

In Geography, we’ll be exploring the fascinating country of Brazil – its culture, landscapes, and amazing people. In History, we’ll travel back in time to learn about the incredible Mayan civilisation and their remarkable achievements. In Music, we’ll get into the rhythm with lively Samba beats and discover the sights and sounds of the Brazilian Carnival. It’s going to be a vibrant and fun-filled half term!

Maths:

This half term we will be focusing on place value, addition and subtraction.

We will be covering the following learning objectives in each of these units:

Place Value

count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25 and 1,000
find 1,000 more or less than a given number
count backwards through 0 to include negative numbers
recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number (1,000s, 100s, 10s, and 1s)
order and compare numbers beyond 1,000
identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations
round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000
solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above and with increasingly large positive numbers
read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of 0 and place value

Addition and Subtraction

add and subtract numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction where appropriate
estimate and use inverse operations to check answers to a calculation

solve addition and subtraction two-step problems in contexts, deciding which operations and methods to use and why

Reading

This half term, we will be focusing on fluency and reading stamina. Children have access to new text exerts daily, where the key skills of retrieval, inference, prediction, summarise, and sequencing are built upon.

There will also be a range of guided texts during group reading where children can share their ideas and practise reading in small groups. We will also continue to develop the children’s reading stamina by ensuring that there is free-reading time each day and encouraging the children to read widely and often both in and outside of school.

Writing

In our English lessons, the children begin each unit by reading and responding to a high-quality text, exploring its themes, characters, and language. As the journey progresses, they are introduced to new grammatical concepts and writing techniques, while also revisiting and strengthening previously learned skills. These are practised through a range of short writing activities, building confidence and creativity. Towards the end of the unit, children bring everything together to plan, draft, edit, and publish a final piece of writing, showcasing their progress and understanding.

This term our writing will be mainly based on ‘Interview with a Kangaroo and Other Marsupials’ by Andy Seed. The pupils will eventually create their own interview inspired by the book.