Welcome to Year 4 Autumn Term 2024

Invasion Topic

In the Invasion project, your child will explore the effects of the Roman withdrawal and the chronology and geography of subsequent invasions. They will study the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in detail, examining their reasons for invading, their settlements and their everyday life. Your child will also look at monasteries and the Anglo-Saxon legacy. They will consider how we know about life in this period and investigate the Sutton Hoo ship burial. They will learn about Athelstan, an Anglo-Saxon king, and what happened after his death, before ending the project by learning about the Norman invasion of 1066.  They will expand their disciplinary and substantive knowledge building on their previous knowledge covered in key stage 1 and year 3.

Geography

Interconnected World

In the Interconnected World project, your child will use compasses to plot points on a map. They will revise four-figure grid references before learning about six-figure grid references to accurately pinpoint features on a map. They will identify the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and understand the characteristics of a tropical climate. Your child will learn about the countries, climates and culture of North and South America. They will identify significant physical features in the United Kingdom and use their map reading skills to learn about the National Rail network. They will extend this learning, by exploring the development of the canal network in the past and how the use of canals has changed over time. The class will conduct an enquiry to prove a hypothesis and use maps and surveys to gather information and draw conclusions.

Science

Food and the Digestive System

In the Digestive System project, your child will revisit the meaning of scientific vocabulary, including producer, consumer, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, predator and prey. They will learn about the features of ecosystems and the meaning of new terminology, including 'biotic', which means living, and 'abiotic', which means non-living. They will research an ecosystem and use the information gathered in future lessons. They will learn about two scientific diagrams, a food chain and a food web, finding out what these diagrams are and what they show. They will discuss the similarities and differences between food chains and food webs and sketch examples. They will revisit the word 'interdependence' and its meaning and discuss how living things depend on biotic and abiotic features of ecosystems for their survival. They will discuss the challenges different ecosystems face from human activities such as pollution or natural events such as deforestation. They will then learn about the digestive system of humans, naming the digestive organs, describing their functions and finding out what happens to the food they eat. They will learn the names and functions of the four types of human teeth and identify the differences between the teeth of carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. They will formulate and then ask a dental health professional questions to discover the importance of oral hygiene and its role in preventing tooth decay and gum disease. They will complete their learning by creating and carrying out an investigation into the effectiveness of fluoride toothpaste.

Sound

In the Sound project, your child will learn that sounds are vibrations that travel from sound sources, such as a person's vocal chords, musical instruments or pieces of machinery, through a solid, liquid or gas to the ears. They will explore the parts of instruments that vibrate to make sound and investigate the pitch, volume, distance and direction of sound. They will learn how sound waves are made and how they travel from a sound source to the ear. They will carry out research to find the answer to the question, 'How do we hear sounds?' and use diagrams and words, such as sound waves, vibrate, pinna, ear canal, eardrum, ossicles, cochlea and cochlear nerve, to record their findings. They will investigate the most effective ways to muffle sound and identify scenarios when muffling sound is important to prevent hearing damage. They will plan an investigation to learn how the volume of sound changes as they move away from a sound source and use a sound meter to measure the volume of sound. They will identify low and high-pitched sounds and then follow instructions to investigate the different ways the pitch of a sound can be changed. They will complete their learning by asking a scientific question about an aspect of sound that interests them before planning and carrying out an investigation to find the answer.

Art and Design Technology

Warp and Weft

This project teaches children about the artform of weaving and how it has developed over time, including the materials and techniques required to create woven patterns and products.

Fresh Food, Good Food

This project teaches children about food decay and preservation. They discover key inventions in food preservation and packaging, then make examples. The children prepare, package and evaluate a healthy snack.

Warm and Cool Colours

This project teaches children about colour theory by studying the colour wheel and colour mixing. It includes an exploration of warm and cool colours, Aboriginal art and how artists use colour in their artwork.

PE

This term we will be following our PE Planning scheme. This term our focus will be around Tag Rugby and swimming.  Swimming will be held on Thursday afternoons.  Children should bring a towel, one-piece swim suit for girls and fitted swim shorts for boys and a swimming cap (these can be purchased from the leisure centre on our first visit).   Our second PE session will take place on Friday’s, children can come to school in their P.E kits white t-shirt and black shorts trainers (outdoor PE).  A school sweat-shirt or cardigan and plain black joggers can be worn for outdoor PE. We would kindly ask that children do not wear football shirts or strappy vests.  Spare PE kit will provided in school for those that do have the correct kit.  Girls’ hair should be tied up and jewellery removed at home where possible.

Each week your child will have:

·         10 spellings to learn,

·         A short maths homework task.

These will be sent home on a Thursday and will need to be returned to school by the following Thursday.

In line with school policy, class 4 have a reading challenge encouraging children to read at least three times a week for ten minutes to an adult. Reading can include your child's school book or any online books or book at home that they enjoy reading. Reading diaries will be checked each week on a Monday morning.

Project homework task will also be sent home termly for the to complete at your leisure. Home learning projects will be celebrated in class using our Dojo rewards system.

Kind regards, Mrs Allott.