Year 4 - Beech & Maple Classes

Year 4

Welcome to Year 4 - Beech & Maple Classes

The teacher for Beech Class this academic year is Mr Domonic Cooper.

The teacher for Maple Class this academic year is Mrs Sarah Henderson.

Together we will teach your children throughout this year with the assistance of Mrs Sarah Coldwell, Mrs Gill Peddar and Mrs Lynette Blanchard (Learning Support Assistants ("LSA"))

We would also like to welcome Mrs Jenny Rodd our PGCE student who will be working in Maple Class

The school Day

At the start of the school day we try to encourage all children in Year 4 to come into class by themselves in the morning.

Children in Beech class are encouraged to enter via the double doors in the playground, opposite our new school hall, and will be dismissed from here at the end of the school day. School begins at 8.45am and finishes at 3.15pm each day.

Reading

In Year 4 we want your children to enjoy the freedom of reading.  Therefore, we encourage your children to read as often as possible and vary their reading material.  There are plenty of amazing books in our school library and in our classrooms.

Although we do not formally check your child's reading book, we do discuss with the children what they are reading to monitor understanding and would be grateful if you would do the same.

PE

Each class has an outdoor PE lesson and an indoor PE session.

Please ensure that your child’s PE kit includes a t-shirt, shorts and a pair of plimsolls or trainers. During the colder months we encourage the children to bring in a pair of jogging bottoms, a jumper, gloves and a hat to keep them warm.

This year swimming is for year 4 only. The swimming lessons are held at Strode Leisure Centre in Clevedon. The children will swim on a Thursday afternoon from 2.00pm until 2.30pm.  The coach will pick up us up at 1.30pm from school and return back to school in time for the end of the day.

Beech Class will swim during Terms 1, 2 & 3 and Maple during Terms 4, 5 & 6.

Letters confirming dates and contributions will be sent by the School Office.

• Please ensure your child has a NAMED swimming costume and towel in a small bag.

Important note:

•  Long hair must be tied back or use a swimming cap
• Goggles can be used if needed - please name
• If your child has a bad cold/cough or an open wound then they should not swim
• If your child suffers from asthma please make sure that they have their inhaler in school so that it can be Btaken to the pool for them
• No talcum powder due to allergies.

Water bottles and Snack

We are proud to have achieved a healthy school award and as part of this we encourage all children in Key Stage 2 to bring a healthy snack of either fruit or vegetables to eat at break time.

Children are also encouraged to bring in their own, labelled, water bottle which they have access to throughout the day. 

Home Learning

Within Year 4 your children will receive two lots of home learning a week, Spelling and Maths, which we encourage them to practice and complete 

 Spellings homework is issued on a termly basis.  Each week spellings follow a common spelling pattern focus as well as also including words from the statutory Y4 spelling list. Spelling is tested on a Wednesday morning.

Maths homework is issued on a weekly basis.  It is handed out on a Friday and checked in class the following Friday. 

We like to give the children additional topic learning to be done at home. A quick reminder to read your Year 3 and 4 newsletter about the homework project for this term.

Communication

Both Mr Cooper and Mrs Henderson are always available to talk to about any issues or concerns that you may have throughout the year. You are always welcome to come and speak to us at the end of the school day (please try and avoid Wednesday's though as this is our teacher meeting time) or alternatively we can be contacted via our school e-mails on:

DCooper@stnicholaschantryschool.org.uk

SHenderson@stnicholaschantryschool.org.uk

Parent Helpers

We are always grateful for parent helpers within our class. If you can spare an afternoon to hear some children read or help with some class cooking, when needed, please don’t hesitate to let me know. All classroom helpers will need to have a DBS check which can be carried out via the office.

Inset Days

This year’s planned inset days are as follows:

• September 3 2018
• October 26 2018
• February 15 2019
• February 25 2019
• July 22 2019
• July 23 2019

Trips

We thoroughly enjoy taking the children off site to enhance their learning. Dates and further information to follow!

What will we be learning this term?

 This term our topic focus, over the coming weeks, will be the Egyptians. Your children will have the opportunity to engage in lots of exciting learning as we delve into the past to find out more about this fascinating period of history!

Within Numeracy, this term, we will be learning about number, place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

In their Literacy lessons, working from the story 'The Tin Forest'  the children will be given the opportunity to write a creative poem and a story as well as developing their spelling, punctuation and grammar skills.

Our science focus is animal and their habitats in Term 1 and sound in Term 2.

In our computing lessons this term the children will be developing their knowledge and skills to design and edit their own word processing documents.

Our PSHE focus for this term is ‘Being Me In My World’ and ‘Celebrating Difference (including Anti-Bullying).

Within PE this term children will be improving their skills in gymnastics, swimming, netball and both their personal and social skills. 

Parent Helpers

We are always grateful for parent helpers within our class. If you can spare an afternoon to hear some children read or help with some class cooking, when needed, please don’t hesitate to let me know. All classroom helpers will need to have a DBS check which can be carried out via the office. 

 Newsletters

Curriculum Information

Maths:

• Year 4 Curriculum Overview

English:

• New Curriculum Statutory Spelling List Year 3 and 4