Class 4 2024 - 2025

Miss Hymers

Class Teacher Class 3 and Class 4, Art and Design, Design and Technology

Mrs Glew

Class 4 Teacher, Wellbeing and Fitness

Mrs Rowley

Class 4 Teaching Assistant, Eco Committee

Welcome to Class 4

Mrs.Glew, Miss Hymers and Mrs. Rowley,

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Class 4. It is lovely to see the children back in school and settling so well. We have tried to include in this letter all the information that you need to know in order to help with equipment they may need, explain our routines and to help you support your children at home.

Curriculum

Children will be taught the National Curriculum 2014 and we pride ourselves on teaching a full, creative curriculum which fosters curiosity, is enriching and promotes independent well-rounded learners.

English Literacy

Our theme this term is 'Migration and movement'. Our first class novel will be Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave before we move onto Benjamin Zephaniah's Windrush Child. These books will not only inspire our writing but also initiate many cross curricular links with Oracy and debate opportunities, Geography and History links and I hope will energise our children in their courageous advocacy.

Reading

The children should all have arrived home with a new reading book by now. They are able to change their reading books as often as they require. In class the children will be reading a wide variety of genres and will be exposed to many new concepts and vocabulary but we also encourage their reading for pleasure. The impact that reading each day can have on a child's understanding of literacy is well documented and we have a fantastic selection of books for them to borrow and explore. We welcome your support on reading with them, being read to and discussing their books with them. Your child should record their reading in their reading record at school each morning. Please ensure they read for ten minutes each day and encourage them to talk about what they have read and understood. If you have a reluctant reader, please do let me know and I can provide reading material until they are in the flow of their reading book.

Whole Class Reading

We will read either our whole class novel or extracts related to our curriculum subjects daily. Every child will read aloud at least twice a week, this will be a focused read; involving class and partner discussion, quizzes and comprehension questions.

Topic Work

Our first Topic work in History is “The Kingdom of Benin” where through historical enquiry and analysis of artefacts we will be learning about Africa's past and present, the Obas of Benin, daily life, their trade and talents and the decline of the Benin Empire.

PE this year will be taught twice weekly, delivered by West Lancs Sports Partnership and the class teacher. We have planned wherever possible to have lessons outside, so therefore days may change depending on the weather. Please could we therefore ask that their PE kits are in school every day. During colder weather, navy blue tracksuit bottoms and jumpers can be worn.

NB Earrings cannot be worn at any time during PE. Please ensure your child can either remove and replace their own earrings or they take them out before school on the days of PE and put them back in after school.

Homework

Homework will be sent weekly on Thursdays, we encourage the children to take ownership of their homework and attempt it independently though obviously we welcome your support and input.

In year 6 we always have one eye on preparing your children for high school and encourage them to take increasing responsibility. There may be times when your child finds a gap in their understanding, please encourage them to talk to us if they need help or it is causing anxiety. Homework is a further opportunity for children to retrieve and revise information and embed knowledge, understanding and strategies though on some occasions may also be research in preparation for something in class. Homework will be set on google classroom so it is easy for both parents and children to find.

Spelling

In addition to the homework above, there will be a weekly spelling focus and list of words to learn, these words will be taught in class and opportunities to practise them provided in school. We welcome your support in learning these spelling patterns at home so that children can apply them confidently in class. The words can be learnt by using the games set on Spelling Shed, learning spelling patterns and using look, cover, say, write.

On occasion a mini homework may be sent home outside these times, if this is the case the task will take no more than 10 minutes and will usually involve completing something started in school that day or additional practice to a task found tricky.

Snack Time

Children are allowed water bottles filled with water (not juice).

Only healthy snacks or toast are allowed at morning break time.

Children can buy up to two pieces of toast at a cost of 20p each.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch at any point this year. We operate an open-door policy and are available if you ever have any concerns.

Mrs Glew, Miss Hymers and Mrs Rowley

Spelling practice:

https://spellingframe.co.uk/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zv48q6f

http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2literacy.html

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar

https://grammarsaurus.co.uk/portal/category/spag/games/