Welcome to Ravens Class!
Welcome to Year 4 and to Ravens class! We hope you all had a lovely summer! We are so excited to welcome the children into Year 4 and we are so looking forward to all the exciting things we have planned for them. For regular updates about the class, please follow the class Facebook page: Ravens Blackgates. We will be posting regular updates and photos of the work in class.
Mrs Barrie (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
Miss Gutteridge (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)
We are continuing with our writing scheme The Write Stuff. Writing is such an important skill and we want the children to really love it so please ask your child about what they have written that day and discuss the different styles of writing they have done. This half term they will be writing an explanation text based on the water cycle as well as an adventure story about a boy and his paper boat.
Maths
This half term we are learning about the place value of 4-digit numbers. Within this unit, we will explore representing and partitioning numbers up to 10,000, comparing and ordering 4-digit numbers as well as roman numerals up to 100 and rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. We have introduced Number Sense and the children will focus on their basic skills and developing their knowledge of times tables. We would appreciate you continuing to support your child with their times tables at home.
Topic
This half term we are investigating the question: Do we love where we live? We will be focusing on our local area and how it has changed over time. As part of our topic, we will be completing a local fieldwork study at the White Rose Shopping Centre as well as learning about how the local reservoir helps with our water supply and visiting the Headingly Water Treatment works to enhance our science learning on the water cycle. We would love it if you could talk to the children about this and support them in any queries or research they may wish to carry out. Information about upcoming trips will be sent out over the following weeks.
Homework
Homework will be set on a weekly basis each Friday and will be due back the following Friday.
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Spelling – this will be an activity based around the spelling rule they have learned this week as well as practising the statutory spellings for year 3 and 4. Children have access to Spelling Shed and can also play games which will be set weekly for them.
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Reading – reading a minimum of 3 times per week (15 minutes) with your child and signing the reading record. These will need to be handed into your child’s teacher on a Monday morning to be checked.
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Maths – we will set a weekly maths task. This will be linked to the learning completed in class this week and is an opportunity to consolidate learning.
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Times tables – Times Tables are a vital component of your child’s mathematical understanding. In June, the children will complete the Multiplication Table Check (see attached information). The purpose of the check is to determine whether your child can fluently recall their times tables up to 12. It will consist of 25 questions, with 6 seconds to answer. A letter with more detail will be sent out at a later date. In order to best prepare, TTRS state, “It's more effective to practice three minutes a day at least four times a week than practising for the same total duration once a week.”
Children have access to TTRS at home and have their username and password already. Times table tests will take place every Monday.
PE
Ravens PE will be on a Tuesday (indoor) and Friday (outdoor). We are asking Year 4 children to come to school in their PE kits for the full day. Please ensure your child has the appropriate PE kit, which is a white t-shirt with no buttons, black shorts and black pumps. For the outdoor session, children may bring a plain black jumper or black tracksuit bottoms for outdoor PE and please wear appropriate footwear such as trainers.
Water bottles- We would also ask that your child is sent to school with water in a suitable bottle to keep them hydrated throughout the day. We would appreciate it if these could be labelled with your child’s name.
Lunches – Your child will get to choose their lunch each day and will have a choice of meat, vegetarian and halal foods if they are having a school dinner. Children with packed lunches will store these in the classroom.
Attendance
Research highlights the importance of regular attendance at school and the long term impacts this has on children’s social and academic progress. At Blackgates, we prioritise attendance and would ask that for any planned absence a Leave of Absence form is completed. These can be collected from the office. We understand that there could be occasions where children are too unwell to attend school but, in these instances, please ensure the school office is informed at the start of the day.
Should you wish to ask any further questions, please contact the school office who will direct your query to one of us, and we will contact you. Please note that Mrs Barrie will be in class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Miss Gutteridge will be in class Tuesday mornings, Thursday and Friday.
Mrs Barrie and Miss Gutteridge
