Welcome back,

Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn term. The whole Year 4 team have been very impressed by how the children have settled and all of their hard work and enthusiasm in the first half term in class. We are looking forward to continuing on an exciting journey of learning this half term as we enjoy the autumn days.

How have the lives of children changed? In our History Project this term, we will be investigating the changes in children’s lives through time. We will explore how spare time, children’s health and work have changed. They explore the most crucial change - work - in more detail, learning about a day in the life of a working child before learning about the significance of Lord Shaftesbury and his impact on schools and working conditions.

We have a trip planned to Morwellham Quay to help us understand the life of children locally during Victorian times. During this trip we will experience the work children carried out in the mining community as well as experience school life in the village. In addition, we will ride through the mine exploring the life of the men and boys who worked extracting the copper ore and other minerals from beneath the ground of the Tamar valley. This trip is planned for the 9th November and more details will follow via Classdojo.

To further embed our understanding of how children’s lives have changed, we will be reading ‘Street Child’ by Berlie Doherty as a class which explores the life of a boy and how the charity Barnado’s began.

English

In English we will work on our note-taking skills and research methods to learn about the lives of children in the past and create an information text to display our learning. We will explore and learn about the features and purpose of diary entries and recounts before planning and writing our own inspired by our project learning and school trip. Later in the term we will explore Aesop’s fables in a narrative unit of work.

Maths

This term in Maths, we will be focusing on Place Value and addition and subtraction and continuing to practice our times tables. We are currently revising the 7 times tables, and this will be followed by the 9 times tables. Although it helps if the children understand the concept of times tables i.e. how many groups of a number have been made (and we do practice this in school), our aim is for them to gain fluency in all the times tables by the end of Year 4. The best way to do this is through repeated, deliberate practice. Please could you encourage your child to play https://ttrockstars.com/ at home as well as https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button.

Reading

Please ensure children are reading at home regularly - children are given time to quiz and quietly read daily. We celebrate children who are reading at home weekly. Please ensure they have their reading book and reading record in school every day.

Parent Consultations

I look forward to meeting with you in person in the next few weeks at Parent meetings which are on Tuesday 7th November 1.30-6pm and Tuesday14th November 1.30-5pm for Year 4. Please book by contacting the office by phone or email secretary@stoke-climsland.cornwall.sch.uk. These meetings provide the opportunity to have a brief 10 minute talk about your child and their progress in class. Please could I ask that, should you have a pressing matter you wish to discuss with me, that you drop me a message on ClassDojo in advance of us meeting, so that I can prepare to answer your questions as the time is very limited. This will allow us to make best use of your time with me.

General Reminders

PE remains on Monday and Friday. Outdoor learning is on a Monday as the weather changes please ensure children have appropriate outdoor clothing including hats and gloves which are labelled with their name. Wellies and outdoor shoes are essential if children wish to play on the field during their break times as well as for outdoor learning.

All the best,

 

Mrs Hunter (Year 4 class teacher)