Welcome back. We hope that you all had a wonderful Easter break and managed to have some quality family time.

The Spring term flew by and the children continued working hard in all areas of the curriculum. The children had a wonderful trip during the last week of term when they visited Aconbury Woods. The children learnt about how to identify different types of tree and hunted for minibeasts. All of the children participated well and were very well behaved. Check out the school website and Facebook page for photos and regular updates.

Please continue to add photos to Seesaw so the children can show what they have been up to over the holidays. We’ve seen some great photos including new pets, cub parade, trampolining and junior park run to name a few. Sharing the photos and discussing the children’s interests helps to develop their confidence as well as their speaking and listening skills.

As the weather is getting warmer can we kindly ask that your child wears sun cream brings a named sunhat into school. We will encourage the children to drink regularly and refill their drinks bottles.

Our learning this term

In English we will be looking at the narrative text ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’ by Charlie Mackesy. The children will be writing a story thinking carefully about the characters feelings and focussing on dialogue between the characters.

In Maths this term, the children will be focusing on measurement learning about money, time and capacity. The children will also learn about statistics and data handling. During our daily maths lessons the children will continue to practise their times tables.

In Science the children will learning about how sound is made and investigating how sound travels. We will learn about the different purposes of sound and how they can affect our emotions. We will also explore changing pitch and volume.

Our History topic is ‘Vikings’. Following on from our Saxon unit the children will find out what happened when the Vikings invaded Britain. They will learn where the Vikings came from and how they changed life in Britain.

In Geography the children will be learning about rivers and the water cycle. The children will find learn about the different parts of a river and discover how the water cycle works and why water is vital for life.

The children will have PE lessons on a Monday afternoon as well as a PE lesson on a Thursday now that swimming has finished.  

Our door is always open so please feel free to come and talk to us about any further questions or queries that you may have.

We look forward to another term full of fun activities and events.

Mrs Homer and Miss Corbin

Supporting learning at home

Reading – it is of utmost importance that children read regularly at home in order to apply and cement the knowledge they get at school.  The children should be reading their school reading book at least three times a week. We encourage the children to read their own texts in addition to the school reading books to help develop a love of reading.  

It is also important to talk to the children about what they have read, to make sure they understand what they read rather than just decoding it. Once the children have completed their reading book they complete an accelerator reading quiz in school to check their understanding.

Your comments in their reading diary are also greatly appreciated!  We will hear the children read their reading book at least once a week, alongside our daily reading for meaning sessions and reading comprehension sessions.

Times tables – The Year 4 pupils will be taking part in the Multiplication Check in the first week of June so please can you practise at home as much as possible. Please help your child to practise their times tables at home. By the end of Year 4, the children should know all of the times tables up to 12x12. The Year 4 pupils will sit a statutory Times Table Check in June to test their knowledge. The Multiplication Times Tables Check is an online test where the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question, you have 6 seconds to answer, and in between the questions, there is a 3-second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. 

Spelling – Your child will continue to have weekly spellings for them to practise. These spellings will help your child during our spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) lessons. As well as practising the spellings, please complete the other second sheet where they write the words into a sentence. This ensures that the children understand the meaning of the words, allowing them to apply them to their writing.   

Please Don’t Forget…

P.E. will be on a Monday and Thursday this term; please ensure the children have a full school P.E. kit in school so they can take part. The children may take part in extra PE sessions as we approach sport’s day so please keep the kit in school. Long hair must be tied up and earrings must be removed or covered up.

Bookbags are expected to be in school each day, and taken home each night; this is to enable staff to read with children, and change books when appropriate.

Please ensure all belongings are clearly labelled to avoid loss!

Healthy, nut-free snacks can be bought in from home each day, and children can eat them at breaktime.