Class 4 Newsletter – Spring Term 2025

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a lovely Christmas break with your children. We have returned to school focused and ready for some hard work. Below is a break-down of everything that we will cover and what you need to know for the coming term.

In maths we are recapping the formal written methods for multiplication, including long multiplication. We will then move on to generalising arithmetic which has a huge focus on division: mental division, bus stop method including remainders and decimal answers and for the year six children, long division. We will then apply this knowledge to some problem solving and introduce algebra. After half term, we will be investigating statistics, we will spend a short time revisiting prior knowledge of reading and interpreting Information from line graphs and tables. We will also spend some time learning about pie charts and finding the mean average of data. Finally, we will look at measures – converting between imperial and metric measures and exploring different units of measurement. Children will have a daily 10-minute mental arithmetic session – either Mastering Number (some Y5 children) or Schofield and Sims.

In English, we are continuing with Comprehension Bug, we will have a daily 30-minute reading session. We will be using Spelling Shed alongside spelling games to practise the year 5/6 spelling list. We will have a written test each Friday. In writing, we will plan, draft and edit different text types, focusing closely on the purpose and audience of our writing. We will be basing some of our writing on the wider curriculum including science, geography, computing and My Happy Mind. We will also use Literacy Shed video clips; a range of texts and current news to inspire our writing. The children will write for a range of different purposes – to entertain, to inform, to persuade and to discuss.

In Science, we are learning about living things and their habitats. The children will classify plants and animals based on specific characteristics, giving reasons for their decisions. After half term, we will be exploring light – how light travels, how we see light and how shadows are formed. The children will be using all five types of investigation – pattern seeking, classification and grouping, observing over time, fair testing and scientific research.

Geography will be taught discretely. First, we will finish exploring Eastern Europe, comparing places based on physical and human characteristics and we will explore what happened in Chernobyl. We will then move on to geographical skills including using atlases effectively, reading map symbols, using the 16 compass points and six-figure grid references to plan a route.

In Art and design we are going to focus on the history of art throughout the years. Children will learn about art movements and art periods throughout history. We will learn more closely about The Renaissance, focusing on the art skill of perspective; Baroque, focusing on the art skill of tonal values; Ukiyo-e, Rococo, Neoclassical and Romanticism – children will develop their own sketchbooks. We will explore Impressionism, Neo-impressionism, Post-impressionism, Cubism and Abstract Art. In computing, we will be using Purple Mash with a focus on networks, game creation and 3D modelling.

Class four children have been enjoying leading Wake Up Shake Up for the rest of the school – they are also given opportunities to run sports activities on a lunch time as play leaders. Mr Swankie will continue to lead a lunch time sporting club each Tuesday and all children are welcome. He also teaches class four on a Tuesday afternoon including cross country practice and a range of invasion games.

We are continuing with our reading reward scheme in Class 4, where the children are rewarded each time they read and write a reflective comment in their reading journal. The total number of tallies at the end of autumn term was poor. Please encourage your child to read every day at home! When the children have read 80 times in total, they will receive a bookmark and 100 times in total they will receive a new book.

Please remember to write any notes for me in the children’s blue planners rather than reading journals. These planners are designed to promote independence and organisation.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We are looking forward to our new year together!

Miss Rowling, Mrs Taylor and Miss Laws.