Welcome to Year 4! We hope you all had a lovely summer and we are really looking forward to working with you. 

Please find our topic web for Term 1 and 2 below and an optional home learning grid.

Our PE days are Wednesday and Thursday.

Here's to a successful and rewarding year ahead!

Week 6

English 

This week in English, we have started learning about limericks. These are short, humorous poems with five lines and a distinctive rhythm. The first, second and fifth lines rhyme, while the shorter third and fourth lines form a different rhyming pair. We have been exploring how these features make limericks fun to read and perform. Can your child explain the rhyming pattern to you?

Maths

This week in Maths, we have been learning to use the written column method for subtraction with exchanges. We line up the digits carefully and begin with the column with the lowest value. When needed, we exchange one ten for ten ones, one hundred for ten tens, or one thousand for ten hundreds. We have been using our understanding of place value to explain each step and why an exchange is sometimes needed.

Science 

This week in Science, we investigated whether an ice cube melts more quickly in cool or warm water. We made predictions, measured the temperature of the water and timed how long each ice cube took to melt. We found that the ice melted more quickly in warm water because heat transferred from the water to the ice more quickly.

Topic 

This week in Topic, we have been learning about the rise of the Roman Empire and how it expanded from the city of Rome to rule over a vast area. We used maps to locate modern-day countries that were once partly or wholly under Roman rule, including Italy, France, Spain and Egypt. Can your child name any other countries that were once part of the Roman Empire?

Week 5

English 

This week in English, we have been writing the opening to our own adventure stories. Following the structure of our model text, we described the setting, introduced a character and built up to an approaching natural disaster. We worked on including fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases and the rule of three, before ending on a cliffhanger to leave the reader wanting more!

Can your child tell you about their story and explain what might happen next?

Maths

This week in Maths, we have been learning the written column method for addition. We line up the digits in their place value columns and add, starting with the column with the lowest value. When a column totals 10 or more, we make an exchange—for example, exchanging 10 ones for 1 ten—and include this in the next column. We have also been discussing mental strategies for adding two single-digit numbers.

Topic 

This week in Topic, we have been exploring daily life in Ancient Rome. We learned how the Romans used aqueducts to carry water and visited public baths to wash and socialise. We also discovered what life was like for Roman children, including school, toys and games, and explored popular entertainment such as chariot racing and trips to gladiator fighting. 

Art

This week in Art, we have been designing our own Roman-style mosaics. Inspired by Roman designs, the children included vases, animals and repeating patterns in their artwork. They thought carefully about their choice of colours and shapes and how to arrange them to create an effective design.

Week 4

Maths 

In Maths, we have been learning how to read and write Roman numerals. We explored how letters represent numbers and how their order tells us whether to add or subtract their values, such as VI meaning 6 and IV meaning 4. We are now beginning our addition unit and exploring the vocabulary addends, sum and equation. We are using these words to describe the numbers we add, their total and the calculations we write.

English 

In English, we have been exploring our innovated text, which is set in a busy metropolis. We have been applying the features we have learnt, including fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases and the rule of three, to create vivid descriptions and bring the city to life.

To celebrate National Poetry Day on Thursday, we explored The Magic Box by Kit Wright. Following the poem’s structure, we wrote our own versions, filling our imaginary boxes with magical objects, treasured memories and impossible things.

Topic

In Topic, we have been learning about the social structure of Ancient Rome and how life differed between groups. We explored the wealthy patricians, the plebeians who included farmers, traders and craftspeople, and enslaved people, who had very few rights. We discussed how a person’s position in society affected their daily life and opportunities.

Science

In Science, we are exploring how materials change between solids, liquids and gases. We will observe ice and chocolate melting, water boiling in a kettle, and water vapour from our breath condensing on a cool mirror. These practical activities will help us understand how heating and cooling can cause changes of state.

Week 3

English 

This week in English, we have been developing our descriptive writing skills. We have been learning how to use fronted adverbials to add detail and show when, where or how something happens. We have also explored powerful verbs and expanded noun phrases to make our descriptions more vivid and engaging.

Maths

This week in maths, we have been learning how to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. We have used our understanding of place value to identify which numbers are closer to the next multiple. We have also practised explaining our reasoning and checking that our answers make sense.

Topic

This week in Geography, we have been learning about Italy. We have located Italy on a map and identified some of its main cities, including Rome, Venice and Naples. We have also explored Italy’s major rivers and mountain ranges, developing our map-reading skills and understanding of the country’s physical and human features.

Art

This week in Art, we have been learning about the famous Spanish artist and architect Antoni Gaudí. We created our own fact files to find out more about his life, work and distinctive style. Next week, we will be taking inspiration from Gaudí’s colourful designs to create our own mosaics.

Week 2

Another great week of learning in Badgers class!

English

This week, we have been exploring the structure of our model text, focusing on the opening, which describes the setting, the introduction of characters and the build-up of the story. We have also identified key features of adventure stories, including powerful verbs and adverbs, expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials.

Maths

This week in maths, we have been learning how to compare and order numbers up to 10,000. We have used place value to help us identify which numbers are greater than, less than or equal to each other. We have also practised ordering numbers from smallest to largest and largest to smallest, explaining how we know which numbers are greater.

Science

This week in science, we have been learning about the three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. We have explored the properties of each state and discussed how their particles are arranged.

Week 1

English

We have started our new unit in writing: adventure stories. We are basing this around our class book 'Escape from Pompeii' where two Roman children escape from the erupting volcano, Mount Vesuvius. We have started to analyse our model text and explore new vocabulary.

Maths

Over the next couple of weeks we will focusing on place value of numbers up to 10,000. Including finding 10, 100 and 1000 more and less than a number and rounding numbers. 

Topic

We have started our new topic: The Romans. This week, we looked at the chronology of British history, and where the Romans fit into this. We also learnt how to use the terms BCE (before Common Era) and CE (common era).