Mrs Beth Hay
Class Teacher
Mr Keith Cotterill
Teaching Assistant
Homework
- Reading should be enjoyed daily. Reading records are to be handed in on a Monday morning, checked and then returned by Tuesday. The children will have Accelerated Reader books pitched to their correct level but are also encouraged to read wider books for pleasure. Your child will need to read to an adult at home and have their Reading Record signed, daily if possible.
- We encourage the children to practice times table facts as often as possible as these are expected to be fluent by year 5 and 6. For Year 4, there will be a statutory times table assessment which tests the children’s accuracy and recall speed. Times Table Rockstars is a fantastic resource for practice that can be easily accessed at home. Pupils in Year 4 will also be doing an online multiplication tables check in June. Pupils are asked to answer 25 questions on times tables from 2 to 12. They are given six seconds per question, with three seconds rest between each question, so the test should last less than five minutes.
The children demonstrated fantastic learning attitudes throughout last year and I have no doubts they will show the same positive outlook this year. I would like to reiterate that we welcome your feedback on any aspect of your child’s time in school and I am always contactable through an email to the office, a phone call or at the school gate.
English: For Autumn 1, we will be following a scheme of learning which focuses on the ‘place value’ of punctuation and grammar. This scheme is intended to equip the children with a secure understanding of how various sentence structures are formed. Moving into Autumn 2, we will be focusing on a non-fiction text where the children will be able to demonstrate their understanding of sentence structure and punctuation from Autumn 1. We will be writing a non-chronological report about dragons. In addition to this, the children will focus on letter writing that will link to our text ‘Charlotte’s Web’ - I can’t wait to see their creativity flourish!
Class novel: Our class novel will be ‘Charlotte’s Webb’. We will read sections of this during some reading comprehension sessions but mostly for pleasure. This is a classic children's novel by E.B. White that tells the heartwarming story of friendship between a pig named Wilbur and a clever spider named Charlotte. The story highlights themes of friendship, loyalty, and the cycle of life.
Maths: We will follow the White Rose Year 4 and 5 units for learning in this subject. Year 4 will focus on: place value, addition & subtraction, area and multiplication & division. With the statutory times table test happening in Year 4, a focus in each lesson will involve the children’s fluency of times tables up to 12 x 12. This quick recall greatly helps their fluency in maths units when moving to upper-key-stage 2. Year 5 will cover: place value, addition & subtraction, multiplication & division and fractions. The current Year 5’s did extremely well with their times table recall last year and this will continue to be a focus to help sustain their fluency in upper-key-stage two.
Science: Our science topic this half term is ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’. Year 4 will learn about the seven life processes; grouping and sorting animals; what vertebrates are; what a classification key is and which living things can be found in our local areas. Year 5 will focus on animal and plant reproduction and life cycles. In Autumn 2, both year groups will move on to the topic ‘Animals Including Humans’. Year 4 will focus on the digestive system, teeth and food chains whilst Year 5 will learn about how humans change throughout their life including puberty and senior ages.
History: Our history topic for Autumn is ‘What were the greatest achievements of the Ancient Egyptians?’. During Autumn 1, the children will learn about the chronology of Egypt including what life was like in early Ancient Egypt and how we know this from their recordings. As historians, we will learn about the Ancient Egyptians Gods and what they believed about the afterlife. We will discuss how the pyramids were built and take a trip to the Royal Cornwall Museum for a workshop titled ‘Tales from the Tomb’. During Autumn 2, we will consider invasions on the Egyptian Empire and how it came to an end.
Art: Our art project for Autumn 1 will be based around surface and colour as we explore patterns. This will be linked to our Ancient Egyptian learning as we consider making drawings inspired by ‘rules’. The children will have the opportunity to research Ancient Egyptian patterns before creating their own. These will be shared in a ‘class gallery’ at the end of the unit.
DT: In Autumn 2, we will move on to our Design and Technology unit named ‘Tomb Raiders’. The focus of this unit will be helping the children to understand and build pulley and lever systems linked to the Ancient Egyptian’s pyramid building.
Geography: In this subject, we will focus on ‘What facilities are in my local area and how do people travel there?’. The children will consider the types of land use in their local area and what the important features of a settlement are. They will think like geographers to discover how to record the facilities that are available to them and how to present and analyse this information.
PSHE: We will follow a structured plan for both Year 4 and Year 5 from the SCARF units for PSHE. Our first topic is titled ‘Me and My Relationships’. This unit focuses on the children understanding friendship, collaboration, compromise and different emotional needs. In Autumn 2, we will move on to ‘Valuing difference’ where the children will consider what makes them unique, understanding others and challenging stereotypes.
RE: Throughout the Autumn term, both year groups will focus on Hinduism units taken from the ‘RE Today’ scheme. For Autumn 1 and 2, Year five will focus on the unit ‘Why do Hindus want to be good?’. Year 4 will look at the unit ‘What do Hindus believe God is like?’ in Autumn 1 and will then move on to ‘What does it mean to be Hindu in Britain today?’ in Autumn 2.
MFL: In French, the children will continue to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. Year 4 will cover the unit ‘All around town and Year 5 will cover the unit ‘Pleased to meet you’. For our second topic, Year 4 will look at ‘On the move’ and Year 5 will look at ‘All about ourselves’. Within these units, the children will have the opportunity to expand their vocabulary and consolidate their understanding of conversing in French about a variety of topics.
Music: Our music learning this half term is based on ‘Favourite Song’. Favourite song is in a fast, folk-rock style with a driving rhythm, reminiscent of the style of Mumford and Sons with a simple verse/chorus structure and easy to follow chord pattern. During the unit, pupils will learn to sing and play the song, develop technical skills on tuned percussion, and experience playing in a class band.
Computing: Throughout the term, children will be encouraged to use ICT as a tool for furthering their understanding in other curriculum areas. Throughout the term, there will be a focus on keeping ourselves safe online, including a ‘safer internet’ day. Further to this, we are following the ‘Digital Learning Cornwall’ units for Years 4 and 5. Both year groups will focus on ‘Computer systems and context’ in Autumn 1 and ‘Digital Media’ in Autumn 2.
PE: For the first half term, we will have a sport focus of ‘invaders’, a fitness focus of ‘bootcamp’ and a health focus on healthy: inside out. The second half of the term will look at the units ‘dynamic dance’, ‘Mighty movers’ (boxercise) and Healthy mind: going for goals. On weeks beginning 9th, 16th and 23rd of September children will need to be in PE kit on Mondays and Wednesdays. From week beginning 30th of September our PE days will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This is because we will have an external football session delivered to us for the first three weeks on a Monday.
PE kit:
- Black shorts, leggings or tracksuit bottoms
- Green T-shirt with logo
- Trainers or plimsolls
- Tracksuit may be worn for outside PE during colder weather
- No earrings or jewellery
Please can all items of kit and school uniform be named.
