LITERACY/ENGLISH
Emphasis will continue to be placed on the sound work the children have acquired lower down in the school, focusing on punctuation particularly capital letters, full stops, commas, exclamation and speech marks.
Handwriting will also be developed further, focusing on the cursive style.
Spelling will play a major role, focusing on a different spelling pattern each week. These will be set on a Monday and a spelling and dictation test will be given on the following Monday morning.
Each week a different genre will be studied. This will enable the children to look at how particular styles of text are written and their associated vocabulary. These will incorporate both Fiction and Non Fiction, including Newspapers, Plays, Poetry, Novels and Short Stories. Children will have an opportunity to write their own examples, which will be displayed in the classroom, as part of class displays.
Library
We would like all pupils to be members of and use the local library so that they can find information books and dip into them for research skills. This gives them more choice of fiction and non fiction books.
NUMERACY / MATHEMATICS
The main focus for this year is on number. Consequently a great deal of work will be done on using and applying children’s knowledge of number bonds to 10,000+, looking at number patterns and various different strategies for the four operations, some of which may be new to the children as well as yourselves. This is to give every child a number of different ways of working out the same sum. This should enable the pupils to find a way that they feel confident to use in solving both number and word problems quickly and effectively.
Mental arithmetic will also be strongly emphasised, in every lesson and therefore it would be beneficial for your child to practise as often as possible. This may be in the form of tables, word problems or number problems.
Each week will have a different focus, which will be introduced in Monday’s numeracy lesson.
There will be a mental arithmetic test once a week, which will consist of 10 questions based on work previously done that week or from previous years. They may also be given a speedy tables test.
Parents can help greatly by practising their child’s tables and number bonds and by setting simple practical tasks.
SCIENCE
The children will be encouraged to investigate, fair test and record accurately when studying Science this year. Children will be asked to record their work using pictures, tables and graphs, labelled diagrams and text.
The children will cover the following topics:-
Electricity
Moving and Growing
Habitats
Keeping warm
Solids, Liquids and Gases
Friction
Children will be asked to design their own experiments in school and at home and will be asked to write them down using a sheet which they will always have in their Science books.
HISTORY
The children will look at:
Chronology, life and legacy of the Ancient Greeks
The Roman occupation of Britain.
Ancient civilisations which have invaded Britain and why
The Celts, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
GEOGRAPHY
The children will study the following topics:- Improving the Environment, Village Settlers, Life in India, How we spend our leisure time.
INFORMATION and COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
The children will mainly be working on word processing skills, the use of Logo and Word Art. In addition they will access the Internet for research in different subjects.
P.E. / GAMES / SWIMMING
All Year 4 pupils will have 2 lessons of P. E (indoors) on a Friday morning. They will wear their white P.E. shirt, blue shorts and indoor trainers. They should come to school in their P.E. Kit and bring their school uniform to change into after the lesson.
J4F will have a double games lesson on a Tuesday morning. For the games lesson, your child will need blue football shorts and football shirt, football socks and football boots. J4Y will have their double Games lesson on a Wednesday afternoon. The swimming lesson is on a Monday morning each week.
Your child will also need a pair of outdoor trainers for lunchtime play and some games lessons.
The swimming costume should be mainly blue. One piece for girls and trunks, not shorts, for boys. Swimming costumes/hats are available to purchase from the Junior School Office. All pupils will be required to wear a hat.
In summer, the pupils will wear their P.E. kit for games lessons as well.
HOMEWORK
This will be set every night and should take between 30-35 minutes. If your child is experiencing difficulty or cannot complete the task in the allotted time, just initial this in their homework diaries. Any comments that you wish to make, please write in their homework diaries and encourage your child to show them to me.
VISITS / SPECIAL EVENTS
We aim to have a visit each term.
The Glyn House Christmas Parties and Disco will be held on Wednesday
13th December.
We will give you more information nearer the time.
ASSEMBLIES
Assemblies take place everyday. Once each half term we meet as a whole Junior School at Chessington Lodge. We hold an assembly in the Church for J1-J6 twice a term.
The Carols by Candlelight service will be held on Tuesday 12th December at
6.00 pm.
We hope as many of you as possible will join us for these services in the Church.
If you have any concerns or problems during the year please do not hesitate to come and see Miss Fox, Mr Young or Mrs Crossley.
