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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 Sue Whitehead.
Together, we will teach your children throughout this year, with the assistance of Mrs Sarah Coldwell, Mrs Leah Kaltsouni, MrsKate Purchase and Mrs Emy Buxton.
Our PPA cover teachers are Mrs Andrea Van de Velde (Beech) and Mrs Lou Pritchard (Maple).
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 and Maple 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 and 2 and Maple during Terms 4 and 5
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 taken 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.
Year_4_Bee_Spellings_Term_2.pdf
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 Whitehead 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
SWhitehead@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 2 2019
- October 25 2019
- February 14 2020
- February 25 2019
- July 22 2019
- July 20 2020
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:
English:
Book Blog
Welcome to our Year 4 Book Blog. This is where we will share some of the great books that we have been reading.
Lots of us have enjoyed reading the Harry Potter books. Here are some other recommendations for children who like adventure stories:
"Ingo by Helen Dunmore - when I read this book I loved it! I love the Sea and the Mer but the only problem with it is that you can't put it down. I recommend it to 8-11 year olds who like mystery and adventures. I haven't read the next book but I can't wait to read it."
"Legend of Podkin One Ear by Kieran Larwood - I would like to recommend this book for people who like a bit of adventure and fighting. It is a land of rabbits but they are not little cute bunnies, they are fierce. There are two books, the first is Legend of Podkin One Ear and the second is The Secret of Dark Hollow."
"The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis - I recommend this for children who are 10 years or over. It's very adventurous."
"ITCH by Simon Mayo - I recommend this book for Year 4 children and upwards who are science fans. There are 3 books in the series. The first is called ITCH, the second is Itch Rocks and the third is Itch Craft. It is about a person called Itch who finds a 126th radioactive element. Itch makes it safe but then people have to concrete up the building. Warning: not for the squeamish!
A lot of children in our class enjoy funny books such as the books by David Walliams and the Wimpy Kid series. Here are some other recommendations for funny books:
"Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell - I would recommend Radio Boy because it's full of adventure and is very descriptive. I would consider this for children from 8 - 12. Spike, who is the main character, gets fired from his hospital radio show and tries to make a secret show in his shed but he gets carried away. Also, it is quite funny."
"Tom Gates by Liz Pichon - I recommend Tom Gates to people who like fun, silly diaries of people. It is about Tom and the rest of his family. Also it is about Tom's band with his best friends, Derek, Finley and Norman. Norman goes crazy whenever he eats sweets or sugar. In their band, Derek is on the keyboard, Norman plays the drums and Tom plays the guitar. Tom is really good at drawing and he has an older sister, Delia. Delia is really grumpy. Derek has no brothers or sisters but he has a dog, Rooster, who is tiny. Norman has a brother. In Tom's class at school, his teacher Mr Fullerman has really big eyes. Tom sits next to the most annoying kid in his school. Marcus Meldrew! Marcus is really nosy and cheats at tests. Tom is in class 5F at Oakfield School."
"Timmy Failure by Stephan Pastis -this is a series of books which is good for fans of The Wimpy Kid and if you find reading hard. It is a about a kid who has a spy agency and he also has a polar bear.