Fox Hill Primary School Achieving Success in a Caring Environment

Year 4 - Autumn 2009

Hola! Well, it’s the start of a new academic year and exciting things are in store for Year 4! Not only will we be studying Spanish as an alternative to French this year, but we will also be launching learning from a creative perspective this term, taking a specially selected painting as our starting point. We hope that the children will enjoy the range of cross curricular activities we have planned for them based around this

Inspired by the painting by Georges Seurat called ‘The Bathers’, our topic this half term will take the real issue of pollution as its focus. Through this topic, the children will learn about the importance of doing their bit to preserve our local environment. Their learning will involve designing and making a personalised waterside haven of their own – watch this space for more information about how you can help with this! There will also be a walking trip to South Hill Park, where the children will carry out lots of practical activities relating to the river to enhance their learning. Any volunteers are more than welcome to join us.

Dates to Remember

25^th Sep

5^th Oct

6^th Oct

Year 4 Sharing Assembly

Walk to school month begins!

Yr 3/4 walk to South Hill Park

7^th Oct

School photographer

16^th Oct

Harvest assembly

26^th Oct

2^nd Nov

Half Term

STAFF INSET DAY

In Literacy we will begin by exploring the features of performance poetry - with a watery theme! This lends itself to lots of sensory exploration, designed to develop a richer vocabulary. The children will learn to play with words and enjoy the sound effects that they can create through their language choices and speaking styles. At the end of this unit, they will combine their skills to produce and perform a poem of their own, Later in the term, we will turn our attention to forms of persuasive speaking and writing, based on our learning within the emotive theme of pollution. The children will form debates, write letters and create appeals to convince an audience of their peers to take action against pollution,

* HOMEWORK * – Daily reading – aim to hear your child read for at least 5 minutes per evening! Weekly spellings – please help your child to learn these so that they are ready for their weekly test. Occasional additional activities to reinforce learning in class may also be set, as appropriate.

Maths

We will start the new term with a practical focus on measuring skills. Within this unit, we will support the children in learning to select and use appropriate measuring equipment and units of measurement to solve real life problems. This presents lots of opportunities for support at home: activities that involve weighing, pouring out quantities of liquids, using and exchanging money and finding out lengths and distances would all be invaluable ways to enrich your child’s understanding. Also during this all important first term, we will be reinforcing and developing basic skills in times tables facts, knowledge of number pairs that make ten, twenty or fifty and understanding place value. Willing parents are welcome to test their child on these facts as they wish! Or, as a more fun alternative, there are lots of traditional card and board games that are fantastic for developing basic number skills. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you want more ideas about this!

* HOMEWORK * - Weekly times tables or number facts – please help your child to learn these so that they are ready for their weekly test. A worksheet will also be given, based on learning in class, or occasional practical activities as an alternative to this.

Art and Design

EMERGENCY!!!

PROJECT: Design and make a class aquarium.

OLD SHIRTS DESPARATELY NEEDED DUE TO A DIRE SHORTAGE OF PAINTING OVERALLS! PLEASE HELP!!

P.E. ALERT!!!

Lessons in Year 4 are on a MONDAY and TUESDAY.

PLEASE remind your child to bring a full kit on these days, so that they do not miss out on this healthy and valuable part of their education.

ALSO, for safety reasons, earrings should be removed before school on P.E. days. If this is not possible, then please provide surgical tape so that the earrings can be covered to prevent injury.

In Science we are studying the topic of Habitats. The children will learn to recognise the features of different habitats and we will investigate to find out about the different creature living there and the relationships between these. Linking with our learning in other parts of the curriculum, we will also consider the impact of pollution on these habitats and the wider consequences of this.

MUSIC:

This term, the children will be introduced to the art of playing acoustic guitar. A pair of specialist tutors from Berkshire Maestros will lead lessons and children will be able to hire their own guitar to take home for practice throughout the ten week programme. Following this, there will be the option to book further tuition on an individual basis, Please ask for more details if interested!

In RE we will be considering the significance of water within different faiths. The children will hear religious stories as well as exploring customs, symbols and ideas relating to the theme of water.