Year 4
Curriculum Overview for Year 4
Please click the button below for a termly overview of the curriculum topics that will be covered in Year 4.
Curriculum Information for Parents
The table below provides a more detailed overview of the curriculum, the specific topics to be covered, as well as practical ideas to help support your child’s learning at home.
| SUBJECT | OVERVIEW OF LEARNING | IDEAS FOR LEARNING AT HOME |
| MATHS | Place value: Ordering, comparing and rounding numbers up to 1000; counting in multiples of 6, 7, 9. 25 and 1000; counting backwards through zero to include negative numbers; recognising Roman numerals up to 100
Addition and Subtraction: Adding and subtracting numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written methods of column addition and subtraction and using these to solve one and two step problems. Estimating and using inverse operations to check answers to a calculation. Measurement: Measure and calculate the perimeter of rectilinear shapes and convert between different units of measure [for example, kilometre to metre] Multiplication and Division: Recall and use multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 × 12; multiply and divide mentally (by 0 and 1 and multiplying together three numbers); solve problems involving multiplying and adding. |
It is important that all of the children know all of the multiplication and division facts up to 12 x 12 by the end of the year; Times Tables Rockstars is a fun way to practise these.
When you are out shopping, can your child use their mental maths and rounding skills to estimate how much your shopping bill will be? |
| ENGLISH | Our class text for this term will be ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ by Cressida Cowell. This is the first book in a fantastic series about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, a smallish Viking with a longish name. Hiccup’s father is chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe and Hiccup must lead ten novices in their initiation into the tribe. They have to train their dragons or banished from the tribe for ever! As they read through the book together, the children will be writing in role as the main character; writing a newspaper report about events in the story; and finally writing their own version of the story. They will be focussing on using varied and rich vocabulary and a range of sentence structures, as well as developing their character descriptions to invoke different feelings in the reader, such as sympathy or dislike. | If your child enjoys ‘How To Train Your Dragon’, encourage them to follow further adventures of Hiccup and the Hairy Hooligans by reading the other books in this series. Perhaps they could design their own dragon at home or illustrate part of the story and bring it in to school to share with the class. |
| SCIENCE
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Our first science topic this term will be ‘Living Things and their Habitats’. The children will learn that all living things can be grouped in a variety of ways based on their different characteristics. They will use and create their own branching keys, asking appropriate questions to classify different animals. They will explore our school grounds on a ‘bug hunt’ and use their keys to classify the specimens they find. Of course they will need to know how to do this carefully to keep themselves and the animals safe and will write instructions for how to do this. They will also be thinking about animals that are endangered and designing posters to encourage people to protect them.
Our second topic will be ‘Teeth and Eating’. They will learn about the different types of teeth humans have and what we use them for, as well as the importance of looking after them!. Then they will delve further into the functions of the digestive system, writing about the journey a piece of food takes as it makes its way through the body. They will find out about some of the things that can wrong with the digestive system and the importance of a healthy diet. They will also study different food chains learning about the role of producers, predators and prey. |
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| HISTORY | Firstly the children will learn about Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons: who they were, when and from where they came, why they invaded Britain and where they settled. They will find out who King Alfred was and how law and order was kept in Anglo Saxon times. They will then build on their knowledge of the chronology of Britain to learn about the Viking invasions and the struggle for England. The children will look at contrasting views of how the Vikings should be remembered – were they really as vicious as some history books would have us believe? | Always a great favourite are the Horrible History programmes. Learn and sing together about the Smashing Saxons and the Vicious Vikings. Two great local museums to visit are Yorvik in York and Jarrow Hall Anglo Saxon farm and village. |
| GEOGRAPHY | Our learning in geography will be closely linked to our history topic. The children will be studying atlases, ordnance survey maps and computerised mapping to find out where early Viking and Anglo-Saxon settlers chose to settle, identifying what features would have made those areas attractive to settlers and how they used the land around them. They will also be thinking about modern day settlements, how they are different in rural and urban areas and the advantages and disadvantages of both. | Can your child name some of the physical and human features of the villlage/town that they live in? Perhaps you have OS maps at home that they could use to practise their knowledge of map symbols. |
| DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
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The focus of this term’s DT is food and the children will be linking their learning to the science and PSHE; understanding how this food is digested and the importance of a healthy diet. They will investigate healthy recipes, assessing them for taste, appeal and nutritional value and use this to design their own healthy diets. | Cooking is an essential life skill. Encourage your child to help with food preparation at home. As a family, you could try some fruit and vegetables that you’ve never tried before. |
| ART | This term the children will research the life and work of Wassily Kandinsky, finding out when & where he lived, what & where he studied and who influenced his work. They will explore some of Kandinsky’s works of art and the techniques he used. The children will develop their own painting skills (including mixing colours and using different brushes and techniques) to create their own version of Kandinsky’s work. | |
| RE | The children will be thinking about how and why Christians follow Jesus. They will build on their previous learning to understand why Christians believe that Jesus is significant and special and how the teachings of Jesus affect the way Christians live? They will think about how a person may be inspired to do something good by somebody else’s word or example and identify who they think of as a good role model. They will learn more about who Jesus was and about his life and teachings and they will think about how being a Christian affects how people live their lives. As we approach Christmas we will be asking why Christians call Jesus ‘light of the world’. The children will learn about the symbols of light found in the Christmas story and about the meaning of the Advent ring. | If you can, please come along to our Christmas carol service at All Saint’s Church. Date and time is on the ‘Dates for your Diary’ or can be obtained from the school office. |
| PE | Over the course of this term the children will be practising invasion skills in rugby with coaches from Mowden Rugby club. They will also do fitness training, gymnastics and orienteering. After half term, the children will have swimming lessons at the Dolphin Centre every Wednesday until Christmas. | Please ensure that your child remembers to bring their PE kit every Tuesday. We will be outside in all weathers (within reason) so warm tracksuit, waterproof, hat and gloves are also needed as we head into winter. Also swimming kit will be needed on Wednesdays after half term. |
| PSHE
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The children will start the year by thinking about rules and responsibilities, what they are and why we have them. They will learn more about healthy eating and create a healthy eating plan. They will also be thinking about the environment, discussing and debating local, national and international issues and learning about what it means to ‘go green’. As always we will be celebrating anti-bullying week in November which this year has the theme ‘Choose Respect’ and a special ‘Stop, Speak, Support’ theme focussing on cyberbullying. | There are often articles in the news or on Newsround about environmental issues which are good to watch and discuss together at home.
Find out more about anti-bullying week at: |
| MUSIC | The children will be learning a range of songs from different genres, from traditional to pop. They will be working on singing confidently and understanding how to approach and perform them differently according to the genre. They will also be learning how to follow a conductor; how to introduce dynamics into their performances; to listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory.
They will be listening carefully to each other’s performances and offering helpful feedback. In Autumn 2 the children will be working towards the whole school Christmas carol service. |
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| FRENCH | After revising the vocabulary learnt in Year 3, the children will begin to learn the correct pronunciation of letters in the French alphabet, recognising some similarities and differences between French and English. They will learn and join in with familiar phrases of a story ‘Les Quatre Amis’ (The Four Friends) which will teach them the names of some animals. They will also learn some vocabulary related to sports and healthy eating and will finish the term learning key words and phrases from the Christmas nativity story. | |
| COMPUTING | The children will be developing their own educational computer games using Scratch. They will learn how to use variables, selection and repetition and understand the importance of the user interface and what information will be input and output. After designing and making these educational games, the children will have the opportunity to play each others’ games and evaluate their effectiveness. | Encourage your child to be safe when online – can they tell you what the rules are? Use apps that support their learning. There are lots of amazing free apps and websites! |
