Welcome to Autumn Term Year 3/4

2023-2024

We hope you had a fantastic summer break and enjoyed some quality time with your families. As we start a new term, we wanted to take a moment to update you on a few important matters.  We are thrilled to inform you that this term is packed with lots of exciting learning opportunities for your children. We have been hard at work creating engaging lessons and activities to ignite your child’s curiosity and deepen their knowledge across the curriculum.  We can already feel the buzz of excitement as your children return, eager to reunite with friends and embark on their learning journey once again.

Maths 

Throughout this term we will be focusing on the following knowledge and skills in Maths; Place value within 1,000, all four operations using formal methods, multiplication, division and money. We will also continue to practice our fluency of timetables through Times Tables rock Stars, including the statutory Year 4 Maths Timetable Check assessment which will take place next June. The MTC's purpose is to ensure the times tables knowledge is at the expected level. We are also introducing a new maths skills practice to support with fluency. 

English

This term in English we will be using the much-acclaimed ‘Coming to England’. The true story of Baroness Floella Benjamin’s move from Trinidad to London during the Windrush. This will fuel imaginations to support us to write a recount in the form of a letter.  After the October half term we will then immerse ourselves in winner of the 2022 Polari prize ‘Nen and the Lonely Fisherman’.  This will inspire us to write our own fantasy story based on a classic tale. These will support us to build our skills in grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and composition.                    

Learning Adventure - Stone Age

In our Learning Adventure this term we will be travelling back to the Stone Age.  We will become historians learning how to differentiate between primary and secondary sources, Explore what life was like during this period through enquiry and the chronology of this time. Children will also build on their Art and Design skills through learning about Stone Age art, recreating what art may have looked like.  Design Technology will enable us to understand the food of this period, making informed choices and decisions on ingredients and techniques.

Science

As budding scientists, we will investigate to classify animals.  Our challenge will be to identify and justify why living things can be grouped together.  We will use classification keys to enable us to identify animals.  Once we learn the knowledge and skills we will then apply this to create our own Animal Classification Book.

We shall also be using our investigation skills to explore and understand light.  We will learn how to explain how light travels, what a shadow is, what dark is and then carry out experiments to solve problems related to light.

PE

Our PE lessons are Tuesday and Friday every week. Please can PE kits be in school and labelled with your child’s name.

Homework

Homework will be set on Ed Shed, this will include spellings, maths and grammar. There are 3 parts to be completed every week.  Homework will be set on Fridays and needs to be returned by the following Wednesday. There will also be Times Table Rock stars (TTRS), your child will have their own individual login for both Ed Shed and TTRS.  This will be found inside their planners which are to be taken home and brought into school every day.  Homework is an essential part of their learning as it helps them consolidate what they are learning and take responsibility to work independently.

Reading

Reading for pleasure is a crucial part of learning and development.  It helps spark your child’s imagination and develop essential literacy skills.  Please support your child to read their Accelerated Reader books for 20 minutes each day at home.  They can also read any other books, be they fiction or non-fiction. Planners will be checked weekly and I would encourage you and your child to write about they are reading.  It could be about what they are enjoying, what is happening or how it makes them feel.

Planners/ Messages

If you wish to deliver a message to me, please use the planner as a form of communication but make sure they remember to hand it to me that morning so as to guarantee I see the message.  As always, we encourage open lines of communication between school and home. If you have any questions or concerns throughout the term, please do not hesitate to contact me through the school’s administration team.