Our Lady of Muswell Primary School

Y4 Curriculum Information

Term: Spring 2 2024

Home Learning:

Tasks are set twice a week.

Maths home learning is set on a Monday, and to be completed by Wednesday. This will be an online task through the My Maths platform.

English home learning is set on a Thursday, and to be completed by Monday. This will alternate between a reading comprehension task and a grammar task.

Weekly practice: Rapid recall test

Spelling test

Times tables test

Daily reading at home

Please check Google Classroom for homework instructions

Maths:

This term as well as working on our fluency and times -tables skills, we will be focusing on the following chapters from Maths No Problem:

Chapter 7 - Time

Pupils will learn about the 24-hour clock. They will learn how to use both the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock. They will convert between units of time, such as minutes and seconds, and hours and minutes. Pupils will learn how to solve time problems involving conversions and will calculate durations of time in relation to word problems.

Chapter 8-Decimals

Pupils will learn about tenths and hundredths. They will learn how to count, order and record the decimals in different ways. They will begin to see the equivalence between tenths and hundredths, and will be able to compare and order the numbers. Pupils will learn to continue linear number sequences as well as round decimals to the nearest whole number. They will also link tenths and hundredths with dividing by 10 and 100.

Chapter 9- Money

In this chapter, pupils will learn how to count and record in pounds and pence. They will make links between tenths and hundredths, and decimal notation for money. They will learn how to compare amounts of money by looking at significant digits, and by converting amounts from pounds to pence, and vice versa.

Chapter 10- Length, mass and volume

Pupils will learn how to estimate and measure mass, volume and length. They will learn how to convert units of measure from larger to smaller, and vice versa. Pupils will also be taught how to measure perimeter using centimetres and millimetres. They will use their knowledge of measures to solve problems involving all three aspects of measurement.

Chapter 11- Area and perimeter of figures

Pupils will learn about the concepts of area and perimeter. They will measure area by measuring surface coverage, e.g. counting squares before measuring area by using multiplication. They will find areas of figures that have squares and rectangles by counting and visualising. They will learn how to apply their knowledge of finding area to figures in different orientations.

Chapter 12- Geometry

Pupils will learn about types of angles. They will name and compare angles, and use this information to help when classifying triangles and quadrilaterals. Pupils will explore symmetry and symmetrical figures before applying this knowledge to the completion of symmetrical figures. They will draw lines of symmetry on shapes and figures, and will combine this knowledge and understanding to sort a variety of 2D shapes.

Chapter 13- Position and Movement

Pupils will learn how to describe the positions of objects and figures. They will learn how to describe positions on grids using coordinates. They will be introduced to the x and y axis', and build an understanding of how coordinates are written. They will learn how to translate shapes using the terms 'left', 'right', 'upwards' and 'downwards', and will use coordinates to describe a figure following a translation.

Chapter 14- Roman numerals

In this chapter, pupils will learn to read and write Roman numerals. They will learn how Roman numerals were used and how they are still used today.

English:

We begin the Summer term with exploring an age-old text, The Iron Man written by Ted Hughes. In this tale mankind must put a stop to the dreadful destruction by the Iron Man and set a trap for him, but he cannot be kept down. Then, when a terrible monster from outer space threatens to lay waste to the planet, it is the Iron Man who finds a way to save the world. We will build on knowledge and skills of figurative language to produce some exciting pieces of writing including; diary entries, informal/formal letters and character descriptions. We will also look at a collection of poetry by Joseph Coelho in Werewolf Club Rules. This collection contains several metaliterary poems, which teach readers about words and how to use them, but the real gems deal with family, friends, animals and school life.

The latter part of the Summer term we we will be reading The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Children will infer characters' thoughts, feeling and motives from their actions, explore the plot structure, discuss their opinions and listen to other's. The children will write diary entries, character and setting descriptions, arguments for & against, and monologues.

RE:

We follow the ‘Come and See’ scheme of work. Each topic usually lasts for four weeks. We begin by exploring what each topic means to us before moving on to how it relates to religion and the gospels. During the year we also learn about other faiths. At OLM we focus on Judaism and Islam. This is a brilliant way to teach respect for our community as a whole, regardless of cultures and beliefs.

Topic 7 – New life

Topic 8 - Building bridges

Topic 9-God's People

Islam week

Catholic Social Teaching

Throughout the year, OLM focuses on different elements of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Each half term we look at a different theme and discuss what each one means:

Autumn 1 - Care of Creation

Autumn 2 - Preferential Option for the Poor

Spring 1 - Solidarity and Peace

Spring 2 - Community and Participation

Summer 1 - Dignity of Workers

Summer 2 - Human Dignity

Science:

This is a great term for science the children will learning all about Electricity! During this topic the children will learn to:

identify common appliances that run on electricity
construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including cells, wires, bulbs, switches and buzzers
identify whether or not a lamp will light in a simple series circuit, based on whether or not the lamp is part of a complete loop with a battery.
recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether or not a lamp lights in a simple series circuit
recognise some common conductors and insulators, and associate metals with being good conductors

Geography:

During this half term, Year 4 will be learning all about ‘Earthquakes'. They will be exploring how earthquakes occur and the effects they can cause. We will be researching about the earthquake that took place in 1989 alongside the San Andreas Fault, where the North American plate meet the Pacific plate.

History:

This half term, Year 4 will continue to build on their knowledge about famous empires. Our new topic is part of the HEP scheme called 'Arabia and Islam'. We will learn about the start of Islam religion, how it spread amongst Arabia and the important role Muhammad played. We will build on our learning about the Aksum empire too!

Art/DT:

In Design and Technology this term, the children will be designing and constructing their own sling-shot cars. We will be using templates to create a 'body' which can be mounted onto a lolly-stick 'chassis'. Using a mechanism of an elastic band and paperclips, the car will be able whizz forward! The children will customise their car designs through personalised decoration of their cars' bodywork.

In Art we will be looking at Craft and design-Fabric of nature.

Children will generate ideas from a range of stimuli, using research and evaluation of techniques to develop their ideas and plan more purposefully for an outcome. They will learn how to use basic shapes to form more complex shapes and patterns. Students will learn that symmetry can be used to create repeating patterns.

Computing:

In the Summer term children will cover two areas of learning:

Creating media – Photo editing

The children will develop their understanding of how digital images can be changed and edited, and how they can then be resaved and reused. They will consider the impact that editing images can have, and evaluate the effectiveness of their choices.

Summer 2: Programming – Repetition in games

During this half term the children will explore the concept of repetition in programming using the Scratch environment. It begins with a Scratch activity similar to that carried out in Logo. We will have the opportunity to look at the difference between count-controlled and infinite loops, and use their knowledge to modify existing animations and games using repetition.

PE:

The children will have 1 lesson with our PE coach, and 1 with their class teacher.

Our topics will be Outdoor Adventure Activities and Summer Olympics.

Useful links

Reading and Book Lists:

.https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-4

https://www.booksfortopics.com/branching-out

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/

https://readon.myon.co.uk/library/browse.html

Maths:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/collections/year-4-and-p5-maths-lessons/1

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/daily10