Welcome to Year 4

Our class is called Apollos and we are taught by Mrs Rowson.

Our teaching assistant is Miss Bourne.

PE

Our PE lessons will take place on a Monday afternoon (when the children will be taught by our specialist PE teacher, Mr Stevenson-Leigh) and a Friday afternoon (when the children will be taught by Mrs Rowson).  

Library

Children in Apollos will have the opportunity to visit the school library every Thursday where they will be able to choose a book that they can read for pleasure as well as changing their reading practice book. Each day, children will spend some time reading a book of their own choice and therefore should bring their library book to school each day if they wish to read it during our reading for pleasure time.

Home Learning

Give Me Ten - Children are expected to read for at least ten minutes every day and should record this in their reading record. Children should bring their reading book and reading record to school every day. In year 4, children are not always expected to always read to an adult, however a parent/carer will need to sign their reading record to show that they have read at home. We hope to see lots of children becoming Reading Champions each term! 

Maths Magicians - There are a number of key mathematical facts that children should know and remember. These are, of course, taught in school but it is essential that children practise them at home too. You can find out which facts your child is currently working on by checking the front of their home learning book.  Please practice these facts at home. Children will be quizzed on their maths facts every Friday. As they progress through the different stages of facts, children have the opportunity to earn rewards and work towards becoming Maths Magicians! In year 4, most of our Maths Magicians facts relate to times tables.

Times Tables - Times tables (and the associated division facts) are a vital part of mathematical knowledge and understanding. It is crucial that your child practises these skills at home daily. One great way to do this is by logging onto Times Table Rockstars - your child's log in for this is on the first page of their homework book. In June, the Year 4 children will participate in the Multiplication Tables Check and we will provide you with more detail about this closer to the time. Please see the maths star on our class page for a link to the practice page for this.

Spelling - In school, we will teach the children spelling patterns and rules. At home, we would like the focus to be on learning and practising the Year 3 and 4 statutory spellings (you can find these by clicking on the spelling star at the top of this page).

Maths and English

Each week, your child will receive a grid of homework for maths and English that will focus on revisiting current learning as well as tracking back to learning completed the week before. Please be aware that this homework should only take them a maximum of 20 minutes and won't include any new learning. If your child needs any support with their homework, please do let me know by finding me on the door or writing a note in their homework book. Not only will this homework be a great way to consolidate any prior and current learning but will support your child in becoming more independent and will inevitably help to prepare them for homework in secondary school. 

Handwriting

In order to support your child with their handwriting please use letter join - https://www.letterjoin.co.uk/. For more information on how to log on at home, with your child, head to the handwriting star.

Autumn 1 Update

Apollos have had an excellent first half term back at school. They have settled back into the routine of school really well and have been enthusiastic and curious learners.  I have really enjoyed getting to know each of them.

This halt term, in English, we have focused on writing for a purpose. We began with a unit inspired by ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’ where we wrote to entertain our readers. We created our own quest story and turned part of it into a page from a graphic novel. We have also worked on writing to persuade. The children wrote and delivered really engaging and interesting speeches about an issue that they thought was important. Topics ranged from introducing a ‘Bring your Pet to School’ day to changing the school uniform. They worked on using direct and persuasive language to convince their audience. We have also studied poetry and have all written our own poem about finding a strange creature.  The children impressed me with their creativity and use of ambitious vocabulary. We are continuing to focus on improving their use of punctuation and spelling as well as using a variety of sentence structures.

In maths, the children have been learning about how they can use their understanding of number to solve problems in the most efficient way. They have looked at place value and how to accurately position numbers on a number line. They have learnt about how to round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000 as well as looking at a variety of mental methods for addition and subtraction.  The children have shown great resilience in trying out a variety of methods for mental calculation that have required them to think flexibly. More recently, we have been looking at formal methods for addition and subtraction. The children have shown a growing awareness of the importance of organised presentation in their books. They have been learning how to tackle addition and subtraction calculations with numbers that include thousands, as well as testing their understanding with trickier missing number calculations.  Please continue to focus on helping the children to learn their times tables facts as recall of these is essential in Year 4.

History, this term, has been all about the Romans and the effect that their arrival in Britain had on the country.  We looked at why the Romans came to Britain and the resistance that native tribes and leaders like Boudica put up against the invaders. We also examined what life was like for Romans living in Britain. We explored evidence for why Emperor Hadrian decided to build a wall across the north of Britain. Finally, we learnt about the Roman ruins that are found all across Britain, including here in St Albans.  We loved our visit to the museum and the children were brilliant on the trip and the walk there and back. At the end of term, the children have also written a persuasive letter to explain why living in Verulamium was so good AND showed off their oracy skills while presenting their Romans learning to the rest of the class.

In computing this half term, the children have been learning about 'The Internet' - what it is made up of, how it works, different parts of a website name and how web pages are broken up. The children learnt new key vocabulary, such as 'switch', 'router' and 'data centre' and the different roles that each of these play in 'The Internet'. They have also looked at different ways to access the internet and looked at 'content'; what web content is, how it is uploaded to the internet, who has access and authorisation to upload content to the internet and why.

Our French lessons this term have focussed on introducing ourselves. We have learnt how to say hello, our names, how old we are, where we live, and our nationality.  The children have had shown good conversational skills as they have role played conversations in French.

In PE, the children have developed their hockey and netball skills and have practised working as a team. Their attacking and defending skills have progressed well across both sports.

In science, we have been learning about living things and their habitats. We have focused on how and why scientist classify living things in the way that they do. We have done lots of practical work – from creating our own human classification system on the field to hunting for mini-beats outside. The children have developed their ability to ask questions that separate one type of plant or animal from another and have impressed me with their curiosity.

In music, we have been working with Mr Mitchell on our drumming, rhythm and improvisation skills.

In art, Mrs Campbell-Pugh has worked with the children to develop colourful batik art based on close ups of plants and animals. These are now displayed the dining hall. Year 4 have also practised their collage and drawing skills.

In RE, we have learnt about a non-religious worldview – Humanism. We have learnt that Humanists do not believe in a god and instead choose to behave towards others in the way that they would like others to behave towards them. We have learnt that they use science and reason to explain the world.

In PSHE, we began our first topic: ‘Being Me in My World’. We explored what rights we have as individuals as well as looking at the responsibilities and rights of all members of our school community.  We talked about rewards and consequences; as well as how our actions affect us and other people.  Additionally, we celebrated Hello Yellow Day – where we learnt just how important it is to care for ourselves and others, as well as wearing red to support anti-racisim. Throughout October we have celebrated Black History month by learning about stories of significant black pioneers in science, civil rights, sport and the arts.

Your children have worked so hard this half term and have lived by our Margaret Wix values. I hope you enjoy a restful break Apollos and I look forward to seeing you soon!

Mrs Rowson