Year 4
Class Teacher
Class Teacher
Welcome to Year 4! Here we love exploring and learning together. We have high expectations of our pupils and we always give our best to every subject. Children in our class are polite, kind and thoughtful towards others. We are passionate about learning and we love to celebrate success with our peers. When we do not understand something, we work together to find the solution.
During the Autumn term, we study the fascinating Anglo-Saxons and explore what life was like for them. This includes understanding how the Angles and the Saxons influenced and shaped life in Britain, as well as learning about significant individuals who contributed to their way of life, including religious men like St Augustine who played a key role in converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.
In the Spring, we learn more about the continent of Europe, building upon what we know of the UK. During lessons, we identify geographical similarities and differences between different cities and countries within Europe. We recognise different biomes and weather patterns, as well as explore the important political role the EU plays in governing laws in Europe.
During the summer term, we are transported back to ancient Egypt and discover what life was like for the ancient Egyptians, including understanding the ancient ritual of mummification and identifying how life revolved around the River Nile. We learn about Howard Carter’s exciting discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. We even learn to write our own names in hieroglyphs!
In Year 4 we aspire not to have more but to be more.
Year 4 Curriculum Overview
Summer Term 2024
Curriculum Intent
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School is a unique and special place where our faith is at the heart of all we do. Our children learn to live the Gospel values of love, forgiveness and peace. Within our federation of Aspire London we use the National Curriculum and believe that our children deserve for it to be tailored to their needs. With this in mind we have prioritised the things we want our children to enjoy, experience and remember during their time with us.
Our curriculum at Aspire London has a set of ‘drivers’ developed from the deep knowledge of the pupils and their families within our School community.
The drivers which shape our curriculum ensure we give our pupils aspirational opportunities throughout their primary school years. We provide our children with the wealth of knowledge required to be informed and thoughtful members of our community and wider world. The breadth of our curriculum encourages pupils to be ambitious, develop an inquiring mind and a life-long love of learning.
Curriculum Drivers
| Significant People: Aspire London will: Develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the world and people, past and present, who shape itProvide identifiable role models to raise ambition and aspiration |
Community: Aspire London will: Immerse the children in the historically rich and diverse nature of LondonGive pupils an understanding of the positive impact of migration and a cultural appreciation of our community |
Equality & Justice: Aspire London will: Empower pupils to be advocates who address issues of prejudice and discriminationEnsure pupils value fairness and resolve differences through positive discussion |
| Environmental Responsibility: Aspire London will: Educate children of the need to protect God’s planet from environmental damageCreate eco- friendly citizens who are aware of the impact of their individual actions and those of the wider world. |
Summer Term 2024
| English During our lessons we will read ‘The Story of Tutankhamun’ by Patricia Cleveland and ‘Tom’s Sausage Lion’ by Micheal Morpurgo. We will evaluate our work by proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences and use noun phrases, fronted adverbials and present perfect form. We will extend the range of sentences with more than one clause by using a wider range of conjunctions and peer edit, checking for punctuation errors and proposing vocabulary changes. We will increase our familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends and retell some of these orally. We will predict what might happen from details stated and implied. |
Maths During our lessons we will recognise and write decimal equivalents and round decimals to with one decimal place to the nearest whole number. We will compare numbers with the same number of decimal places up to two decimal places. We will solve simple measures and money problems, including fractions and decimals to two decimal places. We will convert between different units of measure and solve problems involving converting from hours to minutes, minutes to seconds, years to months and weeks to days. We will identify lines of symmetry in different orientations and describe positions on a 2-D grid. We will interpret and present continuous and discreet data using graphical methods. |
RE In our topic, The Early Christians, we will learn about Jesus making Peter the head of the Church and reflect on what this means for all Christians. We will reflect on the challenges of being an apostle and will learn the story of St Paul and his courage and faith. When learning about The Church we will consider the church as a family we belong to. We will learn about the seasons of the church and why each of these is important. We will learn that God calls each of us and we can respond in different ways to the call. We will reflect on Mary’s response to her call from God. We will celebrate the joyful mysteries of the rosary. |
Science In our topic Animals Including Humans we will learn about the different systems and functions of parts of our bodies. We will look carefully at the job of the digestive system. We will identify different types of teeth in humans and how to care for them. We will research how teeth vary between carnivores and herbivores. In our study of Living Things and Habitats we will learn to group living things in a variety of ways. We will look at our local environment and identify living things we see and compare with living things in other environments. We will look at environmental changes both positive and negative and describe environmental dangers to endangered species. |
History/Geography We will be studying Ancient Egypt and will learn about life there. Children will learn about famous aspects of this historic period including mummification and hieroglyphs! We will look at the importance of the River Nile to the people of Ancient Egypt and learn about significant figures from the period such as Cleopatra and Tutankhamun. |
Computing We will understand what a search engine is and use search effectively to find out information. Children will recall how a web browser works. We will learn about the hardware in a computer and recall the different parts that make up a computer. |
PE In Gymnastics we will further our knowledge of shapes and balances as well as competing and performing. In Athletics we will focus on improving skills in running, jumping and throwing. We will compete and perform in each of these areas. |
Art We will focus on Sculpture this term, understanding what it is and looking at a range of historical pieces. Linking to the Egyptian theme of our learning we will look at hieroglyphs and papyrus paper. |
DT We will follow a design brief select from a range of tools and equipment, explaining our choices. We will design our own shaduf based on research and build a more complex crane using levers and pullies. We will evaluate technological developments and designs that have helped shape the world of construction and use computer-aided design to develop and communicate our ideas. |
Music We will increase our musical vocabulary by learning about long and short sounds – legato and staccato. We will investigate the difference between theme and accompaniment. We will widen our musical knowledge by learning about chamber music, symphonies and concertos. |
PSHE/RSE In the topic Being my Best we will look at the fact that everyone is unique and there are times children will make the same choices as their friends and times when they will differ. |
Summer Term Knowledge Organisers
For speech and language resources and advice and tips for parents working at home with children who have SLCN visit:
https://speechandlanguage.info/parents
BBC Bitesize and Purple Mash are excellent resources for you to use. Click on the icon, have a look and see what you can learn!
